The 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 a small Mandinka kingdom at the upper reaches of the Niger River, centered around the Manding. During the 11th and 12th centuries, an empire began to develop following the decline of the Ghana Empire, or Wagadu, to the north. During this period, trade routes shifted southward to the savanna, stimulating the growth of states such as Bonoman. The early history of the Mali Empire (before the 13th century) is unclear, as there are conflicting and imprecise accounts by both Arab chroniclers and oral traditionalists. Sundiata Keita is the first ruler for which there is accurate written information (through Ibn Khaldun). Sundiata Keita was a warrior-prince of the Keita dynasty who was called upon to free the Mali people from the rule of the king of the Sosso Empire, Soumaoro Kanté. The conquest of Sosso in c. 1235 gave the Mali Empire access to the trans-Saharan trade routes.

Following the death of Sundiata Keita in c. 1255, the kings of Mali were referred to by the title '' mansa''. In c. 1285 Sakoura, a former royal court slave, became emperor and was one of Mali's most powerful rulers, greatly expanding the empire's territory. He made a pilgrimage to Mecca during the reign of Mamluk Sultan An-Nasir Muhammad (r. 1298–1308), but died on his voyage home. After the reigns of two more emperors, Musa Keita became mansa in c. 1312. He made a famous pilgrimage to Mecca from 1324 to 1326. His generous gifts to Mamluk Egypt and his expenditure of gold caused significant inflation in Egypt. Maghan I succeeded his father as mansa in 1337, but was deposed by his uncle Suleyman in 1341. It was during Suleyman's 19-year reign that Ibn Battuta visited Mali. Suleyman's death marked the end of Mali's Golden Age and the beginning of a slow decline.

It is known from the Tarikh al-Sudan that Mali was still a sizeable state in the 15th century. The Venetian explorer Alvise Cadamosto and Portuguese traders confirmed that the peoples of the Gambia were still subject to the ''mansa'' of Mali. Upon Leo Africanus's visit at the beginning of the 16th century, his descriptions of the territorial domains of Mali showed that it was still a kingdom of considerable area. However, from 1507 onwards neighboring states such as Diara, Great Fulo and the Songhay Empire chipped away at the outer borders of Mali. In 1542, the Songhay invaded the capital city but were unsuccessful in conquering the empire. During the 17th century, the Mali empire faced incursions from the Bamana Empire. After unsuccessful attempts by Mansa Mama Maghan to conquer Bamana, in 1670 the Bamana sacked and burned the capital, and the Mali Empire rapidly disintegrated and ceased to exist, being replaced by independent chiefdoms. The Keitas retreated to the town of Kangaba, where they became provincial chiefs.

Name

''Mali'', ''Mandé'', ''Manden'', and ''Manding'' are all various pronunciations of the same word across different languages and dialects. The version recorded by medieval Arab geographers is Mali ( ar, مالي, Mālī). ''Mali'' is the Fula form of the word. In the Manding languages, the modern descendants of the language spoken at the core of the Mali Empire, ''Manden'' or ''Manding'' is the name of the region corresponding to the heartland of the Mali Empire.

Medieval sources are divided over whether Mali is the name of a town or a region. Ibn Battuta, who visited the capital city from 1352 to 1353, called it Mali. The 1375 Catalan Atlas portrayed a "city of Melly" ( ca, ciutat de Melly) in West Africa. Leo Africanus said that the capital city was called Melli. However, al-Umari gives ''Mali'' as the name of the capital province and Ibn Khaldun refers to ''Mali'' as a people, with each giving different names for the capital city itself. Whether ''Mali'' originated as the name of a town or region, the name was subsequently applied to the entire empire ruled from Mali.

Another hypothesis suggests that the name Mali is derived from Mandé ''mali'' "hippopotamus", an animal that had special significance to the Keitas, and that Mandé means "little manatee". A legend claims that Sunjata transformed into a hippopotamus. However, these hypotheses have been rejected by locals and are inconsistent with the apparent cognate status of ''Mali'' and ''Mandé''.

Historiography

Imperial Mali is best known through three primary sources: the first is the account of Shihab al-'Umari, written in about 1340 by a geographer-administrator in Mamluk Egypt. His information about the empire came from visiting Malians taking the hajj, or pilgrim's voyage to Mecca. He had first-hand information from several sources, and from a second-hand source, he learned of the visit of Mansa Musa. The second account is that of the traveller Ibn Battuta, who visited Mali in 1352. This is the first account of a West African kingdom made directly by an eyewitness; the others are usually second-hand. The third great account is that of Ibn Khaldun, who wrote in the early 15th century. While the accounts are of limited length, they provide a fairly good picture of the empire at its height.

After Ibn Khaldun's death in 1406, there are no further Arab primary sources except for Leo Africanus, who wrote over a century later. Arab interest in the Mali Empire declined after the Songhai conquered the northern regions of the empire which formed the primary contact between Mali and the Arab world. For the later period of the Mali Empire, the major written primary sources are Portuguese accounts of the coastal provinces of Mali and neighboring societies.

Geography

The Mali Empire began in and was centered around the Manding region in what is now southern Mali and northeastern Guinea.

Territory

The Mali Empire reached its largest area under the Laye Keita ''mansas''. Al-Umari, who wrote down a description of Mali based on information given to him by Abu Sa’id 'Otman ed Dukkali (who had lived 35 years in the capital), reported the realm as being square and an eight-month journey from its coast at Tura (at the mouth of the Senegal River) to Muli. Umari also describes the empire as being south of Marrakesh and almost entirely inhabited except for few places. Mali's domain also extended into the desert. He describes it as being north of Mali but under its domination implying some sort of vassalage for the Antasar, Yantar'ras, Medussa and Lemtuna Berber tribes. The empire's total area included nearly all the land between the Sahara Desert and coastal forests. It spanned the modern-day countries of Senegal, southern Mauritania, Mali, northern Burkina Faso, western Niger, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, the Ivory Coast and northern Ghana. By 1350, the empire covered approximately . The empire also reached its highest population during the Laye period ruling over 400 cities, towns and villages of various religions and elasticities. During this period only the Mongol Empire was larger.

Al-ʿUmari reported that Mali had fourteen provinces. His list does not necessarily accurately reflect the actual organization of the Mali Empire, and the identification of the listed provinces is controversial. Several of the names are spelled in a variety of ways in different manuscripts. Al-ʿUmari's list, which is quoted with slight differences by al-Qalqashandi, is as follows:

*Ghana (): Corresponds to the former Ghana Empire.
*Zafun (): Diafunu
*Tirafka (): Probably the same as Tiraqqa, a town on the Niger between Timbuktu and Gao mentioned by several other sources. Alternatively, may be Tiringa, between Kayes and Nioro, or the same as , which may be Futa Toro.
*Takrur (): On 3rd cataract of the Senegal River, north of Jolof. By the 14th century, the term Takrur had become commonly misused by Arab writers.
*Sanghana (): A region surrounding the mouth of the Senegal river. The name of the river may be derived from the name Sanghana.
* ( ar, بانبعو) or ( ar, بانبغو): Possibly the Bambuk region, between the Senegal and Faleme rivers, which was a major source of gold, but identification is uncertain.
*Zarqatabana ()
* ( ar, بيترا): Possibly a typographical error for , referring to the Bambara people.
*Damura ()
*Zagha (): Dia. Ruled by a sultan who was a vassal of the Mansa of Mali.
*Kabura (): Along the Niger upstream of Zagha. Like Zagha, ruled by a sultan who was a vassal of the Mansa of Mali. Identified with Diafarabé by Delafosse and Kaara (south of the Niger, opposite Kokry) by Bazin. Also spelled Kabara or Kabira; not to be confused with Kabara, Timbuktu's port on the Niger.
*Bawaghuri ():) and ( ar, براغودي) Possibly Zagra (), ten days' travel south of Walata.
* Kawkaw (): The city of Gao, which was called Kawkaw by medieval Arabic sources. Formerly an independent kingdom, it was annexed into the Mali Empire by either Mansa Sakura or Mansa Musa. It would later become the capital of the Songhai Empire.
*Mali (): The capital province, for which the empire gets its name. Al-'Umari reports that the capital itself, located in the province of Mali, was called .

Al-ʿUmari also indicates that four Amazigh tribes were subjects of Mali:

*Yantaṣar or Kel Antasar: Located in the vicinity of the Adrar des Ifoghas.
*Tīn Gharās or Yantar'ras: Correspond to the modern Kel Gres. Located in the vicinity of Tadmekka in medieval times.
*Madūsa: Members of the Sanhaja confederation located on the Niger between Ghana and Tadmekka.
* Lamtūna: Members of the Sanhaja confederation in the vicinity of the Adrar Plateau and Tagant Plateau.

Gomez instead suggests that these tribes would have inhabited territory in the vicinity of Mema, Ghana, and Diafunu.

Capital debate

The identity of the capital city of the Mali Empire is a matter of dispute among historians. Scholars have located the capital in Niani, or somewhere on the Niger, or proposed that it changed several times, that there was no true capital, or even that it lay as far afield as the upper Gambia River in modern-day Senegal. Seemingly contradictory reports written by Arab visitors, a lack of definitive archaeological evidence, and the diversity of oral traditions all contribute to this uncertainty. A particular challenge lies in interpreting early Arabic manuscripts, in which, without vowel markings and diacritics, foreign names can be read in numerous different ways (e.g. Biti, Buti, Yiti, Tati). Ibn Battuta and Leo Africanus both call the capital "Mali."

Early European writers such as Maurice Delafosse believed that Niani, a city on what is now the border between Guinea and Mali, was the capital for most of the empire's history, and this notion has taken hold in the popular imagination. Djibril Tamsir Niane, a Guinean historian, has been a forceful advocate of this position in recent decades. The identification of Niani as imperial capital is rooted in an (possibly erroneous) interpretation of the Arab traveler al Umari's work, as well as some oral histories. Extensive archaeological digs have shown that the area was an important trade and manufacturing center in the 15th century, but no firm evidence of royal residence has come to light. Niani's reputation as an imperial capital may derive from its importance in the late imperial period, when the Songhay Empire to the northeast pushed Mali back to the Manding heartland. Several 21st century historians have firmly rejected Niani as a capital candidate based on a lack of archaeological evidence of significant trade activity, clearly described by Arab visitors, particularly during the 14th century, Mali's golden age. In fact, there is a conspicuous absence of archaeological samples of any kind from Niani dated to the late 13th through early 15th centuries, suggesting that Niani may have been uninhabited during the heyday of the Mali Empire.

Various sources cite several other cities as capitals of the Mali Empire, some in competition with the Niani hypothesis and others addressing different time periods. A city called Dieriba or Dioliba is sometimes mentioned as the capital or main urban center of the province of Mande in the years before Sundiata, that was later abandoned.

Many oral histories point to a town called Dakajalan as the original home of the Keita clan and Sundiata's childhood home and base of operations during the war against the Soso. It may have been located close to modern Kangaba. Mande bards in the region speak of the Dakajalan site, containing Sundiata's grave, as sacrosanct. Kangaba became the last refuge of the Keita royal family after the collapse of the Mali Empire, and so has for centuries been associated with Sundiata in the cultural imagination of Mande peoples. If Dakajalan was, in fact, situated near Kangaba, this may also have contributed to their conflation, beginning with Delafosse's speculation that the latter may have begun as a suburb of the former.

According to Jules Vidal and Levtzion, citing oral histories from Kangaba and Keyla, another onetime capital was Manikoro or Mali-Kura, founded after the destruction of Niani.

Parallel to this debate, many scholars have argued that the Mali Empire may not have had a permanent "capital" in the sense that the word is used today, and historically was used in the Mediterranean world. Rather, authority would rest with the mansa and his court, wherever he went. Therefore, Arabic visitors may have assigned the "capital" label merely to whatever major city the mansa was based out of at the time of their visit. It has been suggested that the name given in the Arabic sources for the capital of Mali is derived the Manding word "bambi", meaning "dais", and as such refers to the "seat of government" in general rather than being the name of a specific city. Such impermanent capitals are a historically widespread phenomenon, having occurred in other parts of Africa such as Ethiopia, as well as outside Africa, such as in the Holy Roman Empire.

History

Pre-imperial Mali

The Rock art in the Sahara suggests that northern Mali has been inhabited since 10,000 BC, when the Sahara was fertile and rich in wildlife. In the first millennium BC, early cities and towns were created by Mande peoples related to the Soninke people, along the middle Niger River in central Mali, including at Dia which began from around 900 BC, and reached its peak around 600 BC, and Djenne-Djenno, which lasted from around 250 BC to 900 AD. By the 6th century AD, the lucrative trans-Saharan trade in gold, salt and slaves had begun, facilitating the rise of West Africa's great empires.

There are a few references to Mali in early Islamic literature. Among these are references to "Pene" and "Malal" in the work of al-Bakri in 1068, the story of the conversion of an early ruler, known to Ibn Khaldun (by 1397) as Barmandana, and a few geographical details in the work of al-Idrisi.

In the 1960s, archaeological work at Niani village, reputed to be the capital of the Mali Empire, by Polish and Guinean archaeologists revealed the remains of a substantial town dating back as far as the 6th century.

Modern oral traditions also related that the Mandinka kingdoms of Mali or Manden had already existed several centuries before Sundiata's unification as a small state just to the south of the Soninké empire of Wagadou, better known as the Ghana Empire. This area was composed of mountains, savannah and forest providing ideal protection and resources for the population of hunters. Those not living in the mountains formed small city-states such as Toron, Ka-Ba and Niani. Through the oral tradition of griots, the Keita dynasty, from which nearly every Mali emperor came, claims to trace its lineage back to Lawalo, one of the sons of Bilal,Niane, D. T.: "Sundiata: An Epic of Old Mali". Longman, 1995. the faithful muezzin of Islam's prophet Muhammad, who was said to have migrated into Mali and his descendants established the ruling Keita dynasty through Maghan Kon Fatta, father of Sundiata Keita.Nasr, Seyyed Hossein. ''The Heart of Islam: Enduring Values for Humanity''. New York: HarperCollins, 2009, p. 92. Print. .

It was common practice during the Middle Ages for both Christian and Muslim rulers to tie their bloodline back to a pivotal figure in their faith's history, so the lineage of the Keita dynasty may be dubious at best, yet African Muslim scholars like the London-based Nigerian-British cleric Sheikh Abu-Abdullah Adelabu have laid claim of divine attainments to the reign of Mansa Mousa: "in Islamic history and its science stories of Old Mali Empire and significance of Mansa Mousa by ancient Muslim historians like Shihab al-Umari, documenting histories of African legendaries like Mansa Kankan Musa did actually exist in early Arabic sources about West African history including works of the author of Subh al-a 'sha one of the final expressions of the genre of Arabic administrative literature, Ahmad al-Qalqashandi Egyptian writer, mathematician and scribe of the scroll (katib al-darj) in the Mamluk chancery in Cairo as well as by the author of Kitab al-Masalik wa al-Mamalik (Book of Highways and Kingdoms) Abū ʿUbayd Al-Bakri, an Arab Andalusian Muslim geographer and historian emboldened Keita Dynasty", wrote Adelabu.

In his attempt to justify the importance of the Keita and their civilisation in early Arabic literatures, Adelabu, the head of Awqaf Africa in London, coined the Arabic derivatives ك – و – ي K(a)-W(e)-Y(a) of the word Keita which in (in what he called) Arabicised Mandingo language Allah(u) Ka(w)eia meaning "Allah Creates All" as a favourable motto of reflection for Bilal Ibn Rabah, one of the most trusted and loyal Sahabah (companions) of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, whom he described (quoting William Muir's book ''The Life of Muhammad'') as 'a tall, dark, and with African feature and bushy hair'Muir, Sir William. ''The Life of Mohammad From Original Sources''. Edinburgh: J. Grant, 1923, p. 59. Print. . pious man who overcame slavery, racism and socio-political obstacles in Arabia to achieve a lofty status in this world and in the Hereafter.

The Manding Region

The history of the Mandinka started in Manding region. This region straddles the border between what is now southern Mali and northeastern Guinea. Hunters from the Ghana Empire (or Wagadou), particularly mythical ancestors Kontron and Sanin, founded Manding and the Malinké and Bambaras hunter brotherhood. The area was famous as a hunting ground for the large amount of game that it sheltered, as well as its dense vegetation. The Camara (or Kamara) are said to be the first family to have lived in Manding, after having left, due to the drought, Ouallata, a region of Wagadou, in the south-east of present-day Mauritania. They founded the first village of the Manding, Kirikoroni, then Kirina, Siby, Kita. A very large number of families that make up the Mandinka community were born in Manding.

The Kangaba province

During the height of Sundiata's power, the land of Manden (the area populated by the Mandinka people) became one of its provinces. The Manden city-state of Ka-ba (present-day Kangaba) served as the capital and name of this province. From at least the beginning of the 11th century, Mandinka kings known as ''faamas'' ruled Manden from Ka-ba in the name of the Ghanas.

The two kingdoms

Wagadou's control over Manden came to a halt after internal instability lead to its decline. The Kangaba province, free of Soninké influence, splintered into twelve kingdoms with their own ''maghan'' (meaning prince) or ''faama''. Manden was split in half with the Dodougou territory to the northeast and the Kri territory to the southwest. The tiny kingdom of Niani was one of several in the Kri area of Manden.

The Kaniaga rulers

In approximately 1140 the Sosso kingdom of Kaniaga, a former vassal of Wagadou, began conquering the lands of its old rulers. By 1180 it had even subjugated Wagadou forcing the Soninké to pay tribute. In 1203, the Sosso king Soumaoro of the Kanté clan came to power and reportedly terrorised much of Manden stealing women and goods from both Dodougou and Kri.

The Hungering Lion

According to Niane's version of the epic, during the rise of Kaniaga, Sundiata of the Keita clan was born in the early 13th century. He was the son of Niani's ''faama'', Nare Fa (also known as Maghan Kon Fatta meaning the handsome prince). Sundiata's mother was Maghan Kon Fatta's second wife, Sogolon Kédjou. She was a hunchback from the land of Do, south of Mali. The child of this marriage received the first name of his mother (Sogolon) and the surname of his father (Djata). Combined in the rapidly spoken language of the Mandinka, the names formed Sondjata, Sundjata or Sundiata Keita. The anglicised version of this name, Sunjata, is also popular. In Ibn Khaldun's account, Sundjata is recorded as Mari Djata with "Mari" meaning "Amir" or "Prince". He also states that Djata or "Jatah" means "lion".

Prince Sundjata was prophesied to become a great conqueror. To his parents' dread, the prince did not have a promising start. Sundiata, according to the oral traditions, did not walk until he was seven years old. However, once Sundiata did gain use of his legs he grew strong and very respected. Sadly for Sundjata, this did not occur before his father died. Despite the ''faama'' of Niani's wishes to respect the prophecy and put Sundiata on the throne, the son from his first wife Sassouma Bérété was crowned instead. As soon as Sassouma's son Dankaran Touman took the throne, he and his mother forced the increasingly popular Sundjata into exile along with his mother and two sisters. Before Dankaran Touman and his mother could enjoy their unimpeded power, King Soumaoro set his sights on Niani forcing Dankaran to flee to Kissidougou.

After many years in exile, first at the court of Wagadou and then at Mema, Sundiata was sought out by a Niani delegation and begged to combat the Sosso and free the kingdoms of Manden forever.

=Battle of Kirina

=

Returning with the combined armies of Mema, Wagadou and all the rebellious Mandinka city-states, Maghan Sundiata led a revolt against the Kaniaga Kingdom around 1234. The combined forces of northern and southern Manden defeated the Sosso army at the Battle of Kirina (then known as ''Krina'') in approximately 1235.. This victory resulted in the fall of the Kaniaga kingdom and the rise of the Mali Empire. After the victory, King Soumaoro disappeared, and the Mandinka stormed the last of the Sosso cities. Maghan Sundiata was declared "''faama'' of ''faamas''" and received the title "''mansa''", which translates as "king". At the age of 18, he gained authority over all the 12 kingdoms in an alliance that would become the Mali Empire. He was crowned under the throne name Sunidata Keita becoming the first Mandinka emperor. And so the name Keita became a clan/family and began its reign.

Mari Djata I/Sundiata Keita I

Mansa Mari Djata, later named Sundiata Keita, saw the conquest of several key locals in the Mali Empire. He never took the field again after Kirina, but his generals continued to expand the frontier, especially in the west where they reached the Gambia River and the marches of Tekrur. This enabled him to rule over a realm larger than even the Ghana Empire in its apex. When the campaigning was done, his empire extended east to west with those borders being the bends of the Senegal and Niger

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