Kingdom of Diarra

Origins

Diarra, or Diara, arose in the Kingaga region around present-day Nioro du Sahel as the Ghana Empire fragmented. Tradition dates it to 1076, the year associated with the Almoravid Empire's attack on Ghana. Its first ruling house was the Niakhate clan, later replaced by the Diawara.

Rule and society

Diarra's Soninke rulers governed a mixed population of farmers and herders and profited from the trade between the desert and the savanna. The kingdom was usually a vassal of a larger power, first of the Mali Empire and then of the Songhai Empire, while keeping its own dynasties.

Decline and legacy

In the 18th century Diarra was overrun by the Bambara of Kaarta, who took its lands in 1754, according to the register's dating. The Diawara remain a recognised Soninke clan in western Mali.

Few sources survive for this state; details are uncertain.