Ghana was the first West African kingdom. It was formed around 750 BC. Mali, then known as Audaghost and Mauritania known as Kumbi Saleh were both part of the Ghana kingdom. Later, the Berber dynasty from the coast of Senegal conquered Audaghost and Kumbi Saleh in the eleventh century. Ghana fell.
The Mandinka tribes of Mali made themselves independent. They set up their own kingdom with Niani as its capital. Sundiata Keita, the founder of the kingdom took the title of ‘Mansa’ or king of kings. The Kingdom of Songhai replaced Mali around 1375 AD. The conqueror Sunni Ali occupied Djenne and Timbuktu. In 1591, the kingdom was conquered by the Sultan of Morocco. The Hausa and Banza states rose in the area of present day Nigeria, Niger and Chad.