Soninke Wangara

The Wangara ( different spelling Wankara and Vankara ) were the most important group of traders of the West African Middle Ages. They came from the Mande region and their main city was slide on a tributary of the Niger between Djenne and Timbuktu.

The Wangara were made famous by the gold trade. They were the essential connecting link between the producers of the gold fields of Bure (Guinea) and Bambouk (Senegal) and the Berber and Arab trans-Saharan traders. The exchange of goods took place in the capitals of the great West African empires of Ghana, Mali and Gao. The active today descendants of Wangara are the Diula dealer.

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