Soninke Wangara

The Wangara (also known as Wakore) were Soninke clans specialized in trade, Islamic scholarship and law (as lawyers and cadis). Particularly active in the gold trade, they were a group of Mande traders, loosely associated to the medieval West African Empires of Ghana and Mali.

Peter Bakewell described the Wangara as, "Malians who specialized in the management of long-distance commerce, and the growth of the west African gold trade was closely linked with the extension of the range of their activities. They were the first link in the chain that reached from the producers of gold in West Africa to the consumers in the Mediterranean basin and beyond." Al-Bakri called them "specialist gold traders in the region of the Senegal and Niger rivers." Ibn Battuta described them in 1352 as traders from "west of the interior delta of the Niger." Muhammad al-Idrisi referred to the Wangara as being from "the land of gold, famous on account of the great quantities and good quality of that metal." The Tarikh al-fattash refers to the Wangara as "one who engages in trade and travels from one horizon to another." Valentim Fernandes mentions the Wangara gold traders operating out of Jenne, controlling the gold trade between Jenne and the Akan goldfields. They were noted for their honesty and industry.

A Malian source, cited in the Tarikh al-Sudan, distinguishes the Wangara on a socio-professional level from their Malinke kinsmen by claiming the latter to be princes and warriors and the former "traders who carry gold dust from country to country as the courtiers of princes".

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