The Soninke, also called Saraculeh or Serahuli, are a Mande people who descend from the Bafour and closely related to the Imraguen of Mauritania.
After contact with Muslim Almoravid traders from the north around 1066, Soninke nobles of neighboring Takrur were among the first ethnic groups from Africa to embrace Islam.
When the Ghana empire dispersed, the resulting diaspora brought Soninkes to Mali, Senegal, Mauritania, Gambia and Guinea-Bissau.
This diaspora included Wangara, famous traders who spread far from traditionally Mande areas.
Hence the term Wangara is used today in Ghana and Burkina Faso to describe the Soninke populations in cities and towns.