Gao - City of Mali

Gao is a city in Songhai and capital of the Gao Region on the River Niger.It is also the capital of the surrounding cercle of Gao.

Through much of its history, Gao was a center of trade and learning, and was capital of Songhai Empire. It is similar to, and culturally connected with the great Trans-Saharan trade cities of Timbuktu and Djenne.

The city was founded around the seventh century as Kawkaw, its first recorded monarch being Kanda, who founded the Za Dynasty of what became the Songhai Empire. He ensured the city’s growth by allowing trans-Saharan traders to visit and Berbers to settle. Trade increased after Za Kossoi converted to Islam in 1009.

The Mali Empire conquered Gao sometime before 1300, but Ali Golon re-established Songhai rule. A distinguished author of the period, Al-Idrissi, described it as a "populous, unwalled, commercial and industrial town, in which were to be found the produce of all arts and trades necessary for its inhabitants". Tim Insoll from St. John's College, Cambridge University, carried out important excavations in Gao. Some of his finds have been on display at the British Museum. Particularly intriguing was an exhibit entitled: "Fragments of alabaster window surrounds and a piece of pink window glass, Gao 10th - 14th century."

Under Ali the Great in the late fifteenth century the city became centre of an empire, with about 70,000 residents and a 1,000-boat navy, but Gao was largely destroyed by the Moroccan invasion of 1591. The town remained small until French rule was imposed in the early twentieth century, expanding the port and establishing a colonial base.

The population of Gao mostly speak Songhay but includes many ethicities, including the Bozo , Fulfulde/Fulani cattle herders, and Tuareg nomads, as well as Bambara peoples from western Mali.

The seventh Festival des arts et cultures songhay was celebrated in February 2007 at Gao, reflecting ithe cities importance as a Songhay cultural capital.