Short History Of Mali and Culture

Malians express great pride in their ancestry. Mali is the cultural
heir to the succession of ancient African empires--Ghana, Malinke, and
Songhai--that occupied the West African savannah. These empires
controlled Saharan trade and were in touch with Mediterranean and Middle
Eastern centers of civilization.

The Ghana Empire, dominated by the Soninke people and centered in the
area along the Malian-Mauritanian frontier, was a powerful trading state
from about A.D. 700 to 1075. The Malinke Kingdom of Mali had its
origins on the upper Niger River in the 11th century. Expanding rapidly
in the 13th century under the leadership of Soundiata Keita, it reached
its height about 1325, when it conquered Timbuktu and Gao. Thereafter,
the kingdom began to decline, and by the 15th century, it controlled
only a small fraction of its former domain.

The Mali Empire reached its zenith in the early 14th century. After its decline, the territory became part of the Songhai Empire, which was brought to an end by the Moroccan invasion of 1591. With the decline of the trans-Saharan trading routes, the area enjoyed little strategic importance and was divided into small kingdoms for the next two centuries until the arrival of French colonists. Mali was absorbed into French West Africa in 1895. In 1960, together with what is now Senegal, it achieved independence as the Federation of Mali, although Senegal seceded after a few weeks.

The first President was Modibo Keita, who severed ties with France and developed strong links with the USSR. In 1968, a military coup overthrew Keita and the coup leader promised a return to civilian rule. This failed to materialise until in 1991, army officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Amadou Toumani Touré, assumed power.

In presidential elections later that year, the leader of the Alliance pour la Démocratie au Mali (ADEMA), Alpha Oumar Konaré, won and dominated Malian politics for the next 10 years:

Konaré secured re-election in 1997 but the political environment was far from peaceful during the period of ADEMA rule. The country was beset by strikes, student protests, as well as a revolving door of prime ministers, few of whom lasted more than a year.

In 2002, after a decade in the political wilderness, Touré returned to office. French approval quickly became evident when the bulk of Mali's debt to France was cancelled within months of the election. Touré won elections again in 2007.