Before the arrival of the Arabs (in the 7th & 9th centuries) and the Europeans (in the 14th century) great empires and powers existed in this region, including the Ghana Empire, the Mali Empire, the Songhay Empire, and the Hausa States. Even at this time, these kingdoms were known to those civilizations above the Sahara desert, and in fact, Ghana was known in some parts as the “Land of Gold.”