Place · region

Western Sudan

The Western Sudan is a historical term for the Sahel and savannah region of West Africa south of the Sahara, from the Atlantic to around Lake Chad. It was the home of the Ghana, Mali and Songhai empires, whose wealth rested on gold and trans-Saharan trade. Accounts of the Songhai Empire note that Askia Muhammad was recognised by the Abbasid shadow caliph as viceroy of the western Sudan.

Western Sudan
Image: Timothy Akolamazima · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Mentioned in 4 profiles

Almoravid EmpireImpactGhana EmpireMilitarySonghai EmpireFoundation, ImpactKingdom of KanoImpact

See also

Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Western Sudan. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/western-sudan
MLA
“Western Sudan.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/western-sudan. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Western Sudan.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/western-sudan.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Western Sudan’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/western-sudan (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻