Located in the Western region of Africa, Ancient Ghana, which is now encircled by Côte d'Ivoire, Togo and Burkina Faso, was the first of three powerful centralized states to emerge in the savanna. Ghana flourished from the 8th to the 11th century. The empire's success if greatly attributed to its control of the Trans-Saharan trade of salt and gold.
The origin of Ghana is uncertain although by the first century A.D. a number of farming clans of the Soninke began to settle in the region. By 750 A.D., the Soninke came together under the leadership of Dinga Cisse, perhaps in response to nomadic attacks. Dinga Cisse is considered the first ruler of unified Ghana. He established a capital at Kumbi Saleh which sat along one of the emerging Trans-Saharan trade routes.
