The pages above are from Timbuktu Manuscripts written in Sudani script (a form of Arabic) from the Mali Empire showing established knowledge of astronomy and mathematics. Today there are close to a million of these manuscripts found in Timbuktu alone. The rock art in the Sahara suggests that northern Mali has been inhabited since 10,000 BC, when the Sahara was fertile and rich in wildlife. Early ceramics have been discovered at the central Malian site of Ounjougou dating to about 9,400 BC, and are believed to represent an instance of the independent invention of pottery in the region.[33] Farming took place by 5000 BC and iron was used by around 500 BC. In the first millennium BC, early cities and towns were created by Mande peoples related to the Soninke people, along the middle Niger River in central Mali, including Dia which began from around 900 BC, and reached its peak around 600 BC,[34] and Djenne-Djenno, which lasted from around 300 BC to 900 AD. Through approximately 6th century BC and 4th century BC, the lucrative trans-Saharan trade in pack-animals, gold, salt and slaves had begun, facilitating the rise of West Africa's great empires. There are a few references to Mali in early Islamic literature. Among these are references to "Pene" and "Malal" in the work of al-Bakri in 1068,[35] the story of the conversion of an early ruler, known to Ibn Khaldun (by 1397) as Barmandana,[36] and a few geographical details in the work of al-Idrisi.[37] Mali was once part of three famed West African empires which controlled trans-Saharan trade in gold, salt, other precious commodities, and slaves majorly during the reign of Mansa Musa from c. 1312 – c. 1337.[38] These Sahelian kingdoms had neither rigid geopolitical boundaries nor rigid ethnic identities.[38] The earliest of these empires was the Ghana Empire, which was dominated by the Soninke, a Mande-speaking people.[38] The empire expanded throughout West Africa from the eighth century until 1078, when it was conquered by the Almoravids.[39] The Battle of Kirina in 1235, culminated in a victory for the Mandinka under the command of the exiled prince Sundiata Keita, which led to the downfall of the Sosso Empire. Map of the Pashalik of Timbuktu (yellow-striped) as part of the Saadi dynasty of Morocco (outlined black) within the Songhai Empire (outlined red), c. 1591 Griots of Sambala, king of Médina (Fula people, Mali), 1890. Photo by Joannès Barbier. The Mali Empire later formed on the upper Niger River, and reached the height of power in the 14th century.[39] Under the Mali Empire, the ancient cities of Djenné and Timbuktu were centers of both trade and Islamic learning.[39] The empire later declined as a result of internal intrigue, ultimately being supplanted by the Songhai Empire.[39] The Songhai had long been a major power in West Africa subject to the Mali Empire's rule.[39] In the late 14th century, the Songhai gradually gained independence from the Mali Empire and expanded, ultimately subsuming the entire eastern portion of the Mali Empire.[39] The Songhai Empire's eventual collapse was largely the result of the Moroccan invasion of 1591 under the command of Judar Pasha.[39] The fall of the Songhai Empire marked the end of the region's role as a trading crossroads.[39] Following the establishment of sea routes by the European powers, the trans-Saharan trade routes lost significance.[39] At that time, the Mali Empire's abundance in wealth expanded its commercial assets of salt and gold. One of the worst famines in the region's recorded history occurred in the 18th century. According to John Iliffe, "The worst crises were in the 1680s, when famine extended from the Senegambian coast to the Upper Nile and 'many sold themselves for slaves, only to get a sustenance', and especially in 1738–1756, when West Africa's greatest recorded subsistence crisis, due to drought and locusts, reportedly killed half the population of Timbuktu."[40] French colonial rule[edit] See also: French West Africa Cotton being processed in Niono into 180 kg (400 lb) bales for export to other parts of Africa and to France, c. 1950 Mali fell under the control of France during the Scramble for Africa in the late 19th century.[39] By 1905, most of the area was under firm French control as a part of French Sudan.[39] In November 1915, a large anti-French uprising broke out among the tribes in the regions of present-day Mali and Burkina Faso.[41] The last resistance was suppressed only in September 1916. During the suppression of the uprising, over 100 villages were destroyed by French colonial troops.[42] On 24 November 1958, French Sudan (which changed its name to the Sudanese Republic) became an autonomous republic within the French Community.[43] In January 1959, Mali and Senegal united to become the Mali Federation.[43] Independence[edit] The Mali Federation gained independence from France on 20 June 1960.[39] Senegal withdrew from the federation in August 1960, which allowed the Sudanese Republic to become the independent Republic of Mali on 22 September 1960, and that date is now the country's Independence Day.[44] Modibo Keïta was elected the first president.[39] He quickly established a one-party state, adopted an independent African and socialist orientation with close ties to the East, and implemented extensive nationalization of economic resources.[39] In 1960, the population of Mali was reported to be about 4.1 million.[45] On 19 November 1968, following progressive economic decline, the Keïta regime was overthrown in a bloodless military coup led by Moussa Traoré,[46] a day which is now commemorated as Liberation Day.[47] Moussa Traoré regime[edit] The subsequent military-led regime, with Traoré as president, attempted to reform the economy. His efforts were frustrated by political turmoil and a devastating drought from 1968 to 1974,[46] in which famine killed thousands of people.[48] The Traoré regime faced student unrest beginning in the late 1970s and three coup attempts. The Traoré regime repressed all dissenters until the late 1980s.[46] WWI Commemorative Monument to the "Armée Noire" Opposition to the corrupt and dictatorial regime of General Moussa Traoré grew during the 1980s. During this time strict programs, imposed to satisfy demands of the International Monetary Fund, brought increased hardship upon the country's population, while elites close to the government supposedly lived in growing wealth. The government continued to attempt economic reforms, and the populace became increasingly dissatisfied.