Drought devastates the Sahel
1033
A prolonged drought struck the grasslands south of the Sahara, stressing the pastoral communities of the western Sudan and weakening the agricultural base of the Ghana Empire. Herders pushed southward into the forest margins in search of water and pasture, accelerating the population movements that would reshape West African political geography in the coming century.
In context
Also in 1033 (3 other events on record)
- Famine sweeps Latin Europe · Europe · Disaster
- Song court commissions encyclopedia of materia medica · East Asia · Science
- Ly Thai Tong establishes Vietnamese civil examinations · Southeast Asia · Politics
Before and after in Africa
Before and after in Disaster
Era
High Middle Ages (1000–1300), one of 1,306 events from that era on Saeculum.