Gonja

The Gonja, self-styled Ngbanya, are a Mandé-derived people of the savanna north of Ghana's Black Volta. Their kingdom grew from a Mali cavalry expedition of the mid-1500s under Prince Naba, who ruled from Buipe from 1552 to 1582; his successor Manwura adopted Islam through Muslim scholars, and the first Buipe mosque was built under King Amoah after 1600.

After Songhai's collapse in 1591 the clan crossed the Black Volta under Sumaila Ndewura Jakpa (r. 1622 to 1699), conquered the White Volta valley, made Yagbum capital and by 1675 ruled through a paramount, the Yagbongwura, posting sons over provinces.

Gonja grew rich carrying gold and kola between Begho and Hausaland, Salaga earning the nickname Timbuktu of the South, society dividing into the Ngbanya elite, Muslim Karamo scholars and commoner Nyemasi. Wars with Dagbon went badly; in the 1740s Gonja became an Asante vassal, and Asante protected the Salaga trade.