Complex of independent western African kingdoms (
c. 1500 – 1895) around the headwaters of the
Volta River, within present-day Burkina Faso and Ghana. Though tradition held that their ancestors came from the east, perhaps in the 13th century, the kingdoms' origins are obscure. The
Mossi people harassed the empires of
Mali and
Songhai and vied for control of the
Niger River. From
c. 1400 the states acted as trading intermediaries between the forest states and the cities of the Niger. They remained independent until the French invasions of the late 19th century.
For more information on Mossi states, visit Britannica.com.