The river villages and fishing camps along the Niger east of Timbuktu's lakes, where the river runs east past Gourma-Rharous and Bamba to the rock gorge of Tosaye.
Their people are Songhay-speaking: the Sorko, fishermen, boatmen and hunters of hippopotamus who knew the river's spirits, and the Do, farmers of the floodlands. The pottery of Gao-Saney is found along this reach (Timbuktu, Gourma-Rharous), a sign of one river world. No lord is attested for them on 1 January 1200.
Who holds it
- Title
- masters of the water and of the earth in each village
- Since
- not applicable
- Confidence
- low
How things stand that morning
Self-governing river villages between the gha researcher's ground at Timbuktu's lakes and the king's river core below Tosaye; the Berber herders of the Azawad graze the north bank in the dry season.
Customs and assemblies
Village heads, Sorko masters of the river and Do masters of the earth, who kept the cults of the water spirits (later ethnography and the Ta'rikh al-Sudan's legends).
Overlord claims
The king of Kawkaw may have taken tribute from them; not attested for 1200.
What the year holds
What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.
- 1200No dated event is recorded.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Archaeology of pottery along the middle Niger and the chronicles' picture of the Sorko; nothing dated to 1200.
On the map: A corridor about 20 km to each side of the river; the western end is an arbitrary line about 55 km east of Timbuktu.
Sources and studies
- Gao-Saney (Wikipedia)
- UNESCO General History of Africa IV (1984): Niane ch. 6, Cissoko ch. 8 (the Songhay), Izard ch. 9 (the Niger bend and the Volta basin), Lange ch. 10
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.