HISTORY OF THE GAMBIA.

EARLY HIATORY:

The modern-day Gambia was once part of the Mali and Songhai  Empires.

The first written accounts of the region come from records of [Arab] traders in the 9th and 10th centuries AD. In medieval times, the area was dominated by the trans-Saharan trade. The Mali Empire, most renowned for the Mandinka people (Mandinka) ruler [Mansa] [Kankan Musa], brought worldwide recognition to the region due to its enormous wealth, scholarship, and civility. The North African scholars and travellers visited the area in 1352 and said this about its inhabitants:

''The people possess some admirable qualities. They are seldom unjust, and have a greater abhorrence of injustice than any other people. There is complete security in their country. Neither traveller nor inhabitant in it has anything to fear from robbers or men of violence.

Ibn Battuta: Travels in Asia and Africa 1325-1354  pg323-335}}

From the early 13th century, the [Kouroukan Fouga], [Mali]'s constitution, was the law of the land. The [Songhai Empire], named after the (Songhai people) Songhai people,whose king assumed formal control of the Empire, came to dominate the region in the 16th century. As time went on the area began to suffer from continuous [Morocco|Moroccan] and [Portugal|Portuguese]] invasion and looting. By the end of the 16th century, as the raids continued, the empire collapsed and was conquered and claimed by [Portugal].

In 1588, the claimant to the Portuguese throne, [Antonio, Prior of Crato]], sold exclusive trade rights on the Gambia River to English merchants; this grant was confirmed by letters patent from [[Queen Elizabeth I]]. In 1618, King [[James I of England|James I] granted a charter to the [[Royal African Company]] for trade with the Gambia and the [[Gold Coast (British colony)|Gold Coast]] (now Ghana). Between 1651 and 1661 part of Gambia was (indirectly) a colony of [[Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth]]; it was purchased by the [Duchy of Courland|Courland]]ish duke [[Jakub Kettler]]. At that time [Courland], in modern-day [[Latvia]], was a fiefdom of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The Courlanders settled on [[James Island (the Gambia)|James Island]], which they called St. Andrews Island and used as a trade base from 1651 until its capture by the English in 1661.