Sunjata
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Sunjata
Sundiata Keita (Mandinka, Malinke: ; 1217 – c. 1255) (also known as Manding Diara, Lion of Mali, Sogolon Djata, son of Sogolon, Nare Maghan and Sogo Sogo Simbon Salaba) was a prince and founder of the Mali Empire. He is also the great-uncle of the Malian ruler Mansa Musa, known for being the wealthiest person of all time.Cox, George O. ''African Empires and Civilizations: ancient and medieval'', African Heritage Studies Publishers, 1974, p. 160. Written sources augment the Mande oral histories, with the Moroccan traveller Muhammad ibn Battúta (1304–1368) and the Tunisian historian ibn Khaldun (1332–1406) both having travelled to Mali in the century after Sundiata's death, and providing independent verification of his existence. The semi-historical but legendary ''Epic of Sundiata'' by the Malinké/Maninka people centers on his life. The epic poem is primarily known through oral tradition, transmitted by generations of Maninka griots (''djeli'' or ''jeliw'').Conrad, Davi ...
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Epic Of Sundiata
''Sunjata'' [] (also referred to as ''Sundiata'' or ''Son-Jara'') is an epic poem of the Malinke people that tells the story of the hero Sundiata Keita (died 1255), the founder of the Mali Empire. The epic is an instance of oral tradition, going back to the 13th century and narrated by generations of griot poets or ''jeliw'' (''djeli''). There is no single or authoritative version. Material pertaining to the epic first began to be collected during the early 20th century in French Sudan, notably by the French elite school École William Ponty, resulting in the "modern" version of the tale as considered standard today, as published in "novelistic" form in French translation by Djibril Tamsir Niane in 1960 (English translation 1965). Historical context and significance The amount of historicity of the events portrayed in the epic is open to debate. There are some limited 14th-century Arabic historiographic sources available on the early history and of the Mali Empire, notably ...
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Mali Empire
The Mali Empire ( Manding: ''Mandé''Ki-Zerbo, Joseph: ''UNESCO General History of Africa, Vol. IV, Abridged Edition: Africa from the Twelfth to the Sixteenth Century'', p. 57. University of California Press, 1997. or Manden; ar, مالي, Mālī) was an empire in West Africa from 1226 to 1670. The empire was founded by Sundiata Keita (c. 1214 – c. 1255) and became renowned for the wealth of its rulers, especially Mansa Musa (Musa Keita). The Manding languages were spoken in the empire. At its peak, Mali was the largest empire in West Africa, widely influencing the culture of the region through the spread of its language, laws and customs. Much of the recorded information about the Mali Empire comes from 14th-century Tunisian historian Ibn Khaldun, 14th-century Moroccan traveller Ibn Battuta and 16th-century Andalusian traveller Leo Africanus. The other major source of information is Mandinka oral tradition, as recorded by storytellers known as griots. The empire began as ...
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Mansa Musa
Mansa Musa ( ar, منسا موسى, Mansā Mūsā; ) was the ninth ''mansa'' of the Mali Empire, which reached its territorial peak during his reign. Musa is known for his wealth and generosity. He has been subject to popular claims that he is the wealthiest person in history, but his actual wealth is not known with any certainty. His riches came from the mining of significant gold and salt deposits in the Mali Empire, along with the slave and ivory trade. At the time of Musa's ascension to the throne, Mali in large part consisted of the territory of the former Ghana Empire, which Mali had conquered. The Mali Empire consisted of land that is now part of Guinea, Senegal, Mauritania, The Gambia, and the modern state of Mali. Musa went on hajj to Mecca in 1324, traveling with an enormous entourage and a vast supply of gold. En route, he spent time in Cairo, where his lavish gift-giving is said to have noticeably affected the value of gold in Egypt and garnered the attention of the ...
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Mansa Wali Keita
Mansa Uli, also known as Yérélinkon, was the second mansa of the Mali Empire. He was the son and successor of Sunjata. Uli was one of the greatest rulers of Mali. The 20th-century historian Nehemia Levtzion suggested that Uli may have been the first mansa of Mali to extend his rule to Walata, Timbuktu, and Gao Gao , or Gawgaw/Kawkaw, is a city in Mali and the capital of the Gao Region. The city is located on the River Niger, east-southeast of Timbuktu on the left bank at the junction with the Tilemsi valley. For much of its history Gao was an impor ..., though Timbuktu and Gao are usually regarded as later additions to the empire. Uli went on the hajj at some point between 1260 and 1277. Uli was apparently succeeded by his brother Wati, who is not attested by oral tradition. Some oral traditions assert that Uli was Sunjata's only biological son, though Sunjata may have adopted others. Uli had a son, Qu, who would gain the throne during the early 14th century. Footn ...
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Uli (mansa)
Mansa Uli, also known as Yérélinkon, was the second mansa of the Mali Empire. He was the son and successor of Sunjata. Uli was one of the greatest rulers of Mali. The 20th-century historian Nehemia Levtzion suggested that Uli may have been the first mansa of Mali to extend his rule to Walata, Timbuktu, and Gao Gao , or Gawgaw/Kawkaw, is a city in Mali and the capital of the Gao Region. The city is located on the River Niger, east-southeast of Timbuktu on the left bank at the junction with the Tilemsi valley. For much of its history Gao was an impor ..., though Timbuktu and Gao are usually regarded as later additions to the empire. Uli went on the hajj at some point between 1260 and 1277. Uli was apparently succeeded by his brother Wati, who is not attested by oral tradition. Some oral traditions assert that Uli was Sunjata's only biological son, though Sunjata may have adopted others. Uli had a son, Qu, who would gain the throne during the early 14th century. Footn ...
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Khalifa Keita
Khalifa was a 13th-century Mansa of the Mali Empire mentioned by the medieval Arab scholar Ibn Khaldun. All that is known of Khalifa's life comes from a brief mention in Ibn Khaldun's ''Kitāb al-ʻIbar'': Oral tradition does not mention Khalifa, which the historian Djibril Tamsir Niane Djibril Tamsir Niane (9 January 1932 – 8 March 2021) was a Guinean historian, playwright, and short story writer. Biography Born in Conakry, Guinea, his secondary education was in Senegal and his degree from the University of Bordeaux. He was ... attributed to oral historians often only remembering rulers who left descendants. While Ibn Khaldun's genealogy implies Sunjata had at least three sons, oral tradition varies on the number of sons Sunjata had, but many traditions claim he had only one, Yerelinkon, who corresponds to the Mansa Wali mentioned by Ibn Khaldun. However, some traditions claim that in addition to his biological son(s), Sunjata adopted the sons of his generals, though it ...
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Mansa (title)
''Mansa'' ( ''mansaw'') is a Maninka and Mandinka word for a ruler, generally translated as "king". It is particularly known as the title of the rulers of the Mali Empire, such as Mansa Musa, and in this context is sometimes translated as "emperor". The word ''mansa'' ( ar, منسا, mansā) was recorded in Arabic during the 14th century by North African writers such as Ibn Battuta and Ibn Khaldun, who explained it as meaning "sultan". Cognates of ''mansa'' exist in other Mandé languages The Mande languages are spoken in several countries in West Africa by the Mandé peoples and include Maninka, Mandinka, Soninke, Bambara, Kpelle, Dioula, Bozo, Mende, Susu, and Vai. There are "60 to 75 languages spoken by 30 to 40 million ..., such as Soninke ''manga'', Susu ''menge'', and Bambara ''masa''. According to Misiugin and Vydrin, the original meaning of the root word was probably "chief of hunters" or "chief of warriors". An alternate translation of ''mansa'', which ...
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UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It has 193 member states and 12 associate members, as well as partners in the non-governmental, intergovernmental and private sector. Headquartered at the World Heritage Centre in Paris, France, UNESCO has 53 regional field offices and 199 national commissions that facilitate its global mandate. UNESCO was founded in 1945 as the successor to the League of Nations's International Committee on Intellectual Cooperation.English summary). Its constitution establishes the agency's goals, governing structure, and operating framework. UNESCO's founding mission, which was shaped by the Second World War, is to advance peace, sustainable development and human rights by facilitating collaboration and dialogue among nations. It pursues this objective t ...
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Griots
A griot (; ; Manding: jali or jeli (in N'Ko: , ''djeli'' or ''djéli'' in French spelling); Serer: kevel or kewel / okawul; Wolof: gewel) is a West African historian, storyteller, praise singer, poet, and/or musician. The griot is a repository of oral tradition and is often seen as a leader due to their position as an advisor to royal personages. As a result of the former of these two functions, they are sometimes called bards. They also act as mediators in disputes. Occurrence and naming Many griots today live in many parts of West Africa and are present among the Mande peoples ( Mandinka or Malinké, Bambara, Soninke etc.), Fulɓe (Fula), Hausa, Songhai, Tukulóor, Wolof, Serer,Unesco. Regional Office for Education in Africa, ''Educafrica, Numéro 11'', (ed. Unesco, Regional Office for Education in Africa, 1984), p. 110Hale, Thomas Albert, ''Griots and Griottes: Masters of Words and Music'', Indiana University Press (1998), p. 176, Mossi, Dagomba, Mauritania ...
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Griot
A griot (; ; Manding: jali or jeli (in N'Ko: , ''djeli'' or ''djéli'' in French spelling); Serer: kevel or kewel / okawul; Wolof: gewel) is a West African historian, storyteller, praise singer, poet, and/or musician. The griot is a repository of oral tradition and is often seen as a leader due to their position as an advisor to royal personages. As a result of the former of these two functions, they are sometimes called bards. They also act as mediators in disputes. Occurrence and naming Many griots today live in many parts of West Africa and are present among the Mande peoples ( Mandinka or Malinké, Bambara, Soninke etc.), Fulɓe (Fula), Hausa, Songhai, Tukulóor, Wolof, Serer,Unesco. Regional Office for Education in Africa, ''Educafrica, Numéro 11'', (ed. Unesco, Regional Office for Education in Africa, 1984), p. 110Hale, Thomas Albert, ''Griots and Griottes: Masters of Words and Music'', Indiana University Press (1998), p. 176, Mossi, Dagomba, Mauritan ...
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Sogolon Condé
Sogolon is a town and sub-prefecture in the Télimélé Prefecture in the Kindia Region of western-central Guinea Guinea ( ),, fuf, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫, italic=no, Gine, wo, Gine, nqo, ߖߌ߬ߣߍ߫, bm, Gine officially the Republic of Guinea (french: République de Guinée), is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the we .... References Sub-prefectures of the Kindia Region {{Guinea-geo-stub ...
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