Burkina Faso

Iron-age artefacts found at Boura in southern Burkina Faso suggest settlement dating from around the 3rd century AD. The West African state, much of which is a plateau forming the headwaters of the Volta River, was the scene of several competing kingdoms from the 9th century. The Songhai Empire, centred on Gao (in present-day Mali) controlled the northeast of Burkina Faso, as well as much of Niger and parts of Mali. It developed as a powerful Islamic state, reaching its peak under Sonni Ali Ber (1465–92) and Askia Mohammed (1492–1529), before sliding into civil war. Further undermined by prolonged drought and disease, it fell to Morocco in 1591.