Part 11: 1040-1059, Civil Works

Sakoura takes on some kids on the battlefield.



He then sends his retinue into Umayyad territory to raid, they defeat this army twice before running away from the 8,000 men sent south.



He also trains his troops, but Yunus finds that they are poor quality levies.







Troops are raised across Ghana. There is a claim by some of his lower vassals for Aoudaghost, and both sides have called in their allies. The Mansa sits back and watches this tribal squabble.



The war is very one-sided.



The Kumbee-Tenga branch of the family is now the largest in Ghana. Mayroumfa has ten vassals of his own.







While constructing a new training ground in the capital, Sakoura makes his aim to get more men into the field.



He follows the training ground with a new barracks.



He also has to deal with the fact that his forth son gets married without his permission.







The Muslims in the north are not accepting the wisdom of worshipping the Snake in the Well..



The rebels surprise the Mansa's retinue and rapidly defeat them.



This blatant revolt is enough to make the true Ghanan lords accept their leaders calls for higher taxes.



Sakoura raises up some troops and crushes the rebellion.



This is not the end to the religious turmoil however. Tunka is replaced and his successor sent back in to convert the masses.







Sakoura's fourth son dies tragically young.



the Umayyad's refuse to splinter, and with his advancing age Sakoura does not want the same thing to happen to his son that happened to him, succession during a war. So the Mansa decides to found another city in the capital.







Sakoura's son Birama has some strange ideas – people getting punished for infidelity? In Ghana?



He then set about trying to remove a Muslim vassal in control of a Well-Snake worshipping province.




Its a shame his drunken half-brother is so loud.



Sometimes more direct methods are needed.







Sakoura is nearly killed by a bear, only intervention by his sixth son saves him. When the city of Gumbu is finished, it is given to him.







Mansa Sakoura has lived a long life, and moves on to the next one.



His Son, Zakoi I of Ghana takes the throne. He is already well into his middle age, and has seven children and a of-age heir. He is a naive appraiser, a shy charitable and temperate man, he can be arbitrary at times. He also inherits a good amount of wealth from his father.



His largest problem is Kambine, his heir. The man is a craven, wroth-full envious imbecile. Letting this man become Mansa would ruin Ghana!







The solution to the problem comes of age. Although still craven, he is far superior to his older brother. He is known to spend more time terrorising the male servants than the female ones, but that may just be due to the sheer numbers of Ogoonu around, there may be a shortage of women!



There is only the problem of removing Kambine. The first attempt fails as the Mansa's heir manages to walk out of the prepared death trap.




Two hundred gold is paid out once more, and the succession problem is solved.



With that settled, Zakoi now waits for the Umayyad's to start a war so he can try and claim Marrakesh. He passes the time in the good old Ogoonu way.







The Ogoonus continue to expand their linage, how can her father be mad at her?







With the Muslims to the north undergoing a period of peace, so does Ghana, there are the occasional minor squabbles amongst the tribe leaders about land, but most of the time and money is spent on building up the country – The Mansa's income in the last twenty years has gone up from twelve gold a month to eighteen at this time!



The country is strong, and growing stronger, so it is only a matter of time before the Mansa can lead troops north.