Koumbi Saleh, sometimes Kumbi Saleh is the site of a ruined mediaeval town in south east Mauritania that may have been the capital of the Ghana Empire.

From the ninth century, Arab authors mention the Ghana Empire in connection with the trans-Saharan gold trade. Al-Bakri who wrote in eleventh century described the capital of Ghana as consisting of two towns 6 miles apart, one inhabited by Muslim merchants and the other by the king of Ghana. The discovery in 1913 of a 17th century African chronicle that gave the name of the capital as Koumbi led French archaeologists to the ruins at Koumbi Saleh. Excavations at the site have revealed the ruins of a large Muslim town with houses built of stone and a congregational mosque but no inscription to unambiguously identify the site as that of capital of Ghana. Ruins of the king's town described by al-Bakri have not been found. Radiocarbon dating suggests that the site was occupied between the late 9th and the 14th centuries.

The earliest author to mention Ghana is the Persian astronomer Ibrahim al-Fazari who, writing at the end of the eighth century, refers to "the territory of Ghana, the land of gold". The Ghana Empire lay in the Sahel region to the north of the West African gold fields and was able to profit from controlling the trans-Saharan gold trade. The early history of Ghana is unknown but there is evidence that North Africa had began importing gold from West African before the Arab conquest in the middle of the seventh century.

Saleh or Șāliḥ (Arabic: صالح‎; meaning Pious) was an Arabic prophet of ancient Arabia mentioned in the Qur'an, who prophesied to the tribe of Thamud. He is mentioned nine times throughout the Qur'an and his people are frequently referenced as a wicked community who, because of their sins, were ultimately destroyed. Saleh is sometimes equated with the Shelah of the Hebrew Bible, however there is almost nothing in common between the Qur'anic narrative of Saleh and the Biblical narrative of Shelah. The preaching and prophecy of Saleh is linked to the famous Islamic story of the She-Camel, which was the gift given by God to the people of Thamud when they desired a miracle to confirm the truth of the message Saleh was preaching. Chronologically, scholars believe Saleh's prophesying to have been post-Antediluvian^{[clarification needed]} but pre-Abrahamic.

Thamud people are believed to have been the successors to the ancient tribe of ʿĀd. Their ancestral descendant may have been Eber, the great-grandson of Noah and their location is likely to have been in the Northwest corner of Arabia, between Madinah and Syria. In later Islamic history, when Muhammad led his expedition to Tabuk against the Romans, on a reported Roman invasion from Syria, the prophet - and his companions - came across the remains of Thamud. With the advance of material civilization, the people of Thamud became materialistic and arrogant as well as godless. Thus, God sent the prophet and seer Saleh, to warn them about the impending doom they would face if they did not mend their sinful ways.

Kumbi is a town and a nagar panchayat in Bishnupur District in the Indian state of Manipur. It is 55 km far away from its capital Imphal. Kumbi is 10 km far away from the historical place Moirang where Azad Hind Fauz hoisted Indian National flag in the Indian territory for the first time in the Indian history context with their Freedom fighter leader Netaji Subhash Chandra bose. This small town is known for its richness in the field of arts and culture. This town is divided by a small river called "Khuga Turel" (river).

This town has a small market under the care of Eema Keithel Lairembi. The people of this town are very conservative and well cultured in nature. Almost all the people depends their livelihood in seasonal cultivation and fishing. This beautiful town has five famous local deities' temples like Ibudhou Sandhong Khubam, Ibudhou Ishingchaiba Khubam, Ema Phouoibi Khubam, Epa lai soraren and Ema keithel lairenbi Khubam. This small town has river, hills and a lake which has decorated this place. Kumbi Kangjeibung Mapal which means Kumbi Polo ground is the famous ground of this small town which plays a major role in describing the area where the then Home minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel had erected a memorial stone.