West Africa independently developed agriculture, and the “human experiment” proceeded for many centuries as West Africa developed large and complex states, before getting caught up in the “unification of the world zones.”
The Ghana empire
While there were many city-states and small kingdoms in West Africa for centuries, the Ghana Empire was the first major agrarian empire to arise in the region. Its history is shrouded in mystery. While they had a complex society, a division of labor, wealth, and trade, the Ghana Empire (like the Inca in the Americas) did not have a form of writing as we know it. As such, much of the information we have of the civilization depends on oral histories and the medieval writings of Arab traders. The story goes that a man named Kaya Magar Cissé, king of a realm called Wagadou, rose to prominence in West Africa around 300 CE. The sons and grandsons of his house then extended their rule over several other kingdoms, turning them into vassal states. Many of the names of the Ghana rulers are unknown and only a few of their deeds have passed into recorded history.