Kassi (fl. 1352) (also called ''Qasa'') was an empress of the

Kingdom of Mali 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, Māl� ...

and one of the wives of

Mansa Mansa may refer to: Places In India * Mansa, Gujarat, a town in northern Gujarat, Western India; the capital of: ** Mansa, Gujarat Assembly constituency ** Mansa State, a princely state under the Mahi Kantha Agency in India * Mansa district, ...

Suleyman (r. 1341–1360). She was called Qasa, which means 'the Queen'. Principal wife and paternal cousin of Suleyman, Kassi ruled jointly with her husband, as was traditional.

Ibn Battuta Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Battutah (, ; 24 February 13041368/1369),; fully: ; Arabic: commonly known as Ibn Battuta, was a Berbers, Berber Maghrebi people, Maghrebi scholar and explorer who travelled extensively in the lands of Afro-Eurasia, ...

wrote, "the queen is his partner in the kingship, following the custom of the blacks. Her name is mentioned in the

pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, access ...

". Having one's name read in the pulpit during Muslim services in the mosque is an honor due only to an actual

sovereign ''Sovereign'' is a title which can be applied to the highest leader in various categories. The word is borrowed from Old French , which is ultimately derived from the Latin , meaning 'above'. The roles of a sovereign vary from monarch, ruler or ...

, not a mere consort. Qasa was one of twenty female Muslim rulers who met the Muslim criteria of sovereignty. She was extremely popular with the royal court, which counted many of her relations among its members. But she soon fell out of favor with her husband, who preferred a commoner named Bendjou. Eventually, he divorced her to marry the latter. The noble ladies of the court took Kassi's side, continuing to recognize her legitimacy and refusing to honor the new royal wife. Such insubordination – they threw earth on their heads to honor Kassi while throwing earth on their hands to insult Bendjou – soon angered Suleyman and his new wife, to the point that Kassi was forced to seek sanctuary in the mosque. Civil war soon erupted, as she encouraged the nobility, including her relations, to revolt. The war was a struggle between two ideological factions; one group supported Suleyman, while the other supported not only Kassi but sons of the former ruler,

Maghan Maghan I (1280s-1341) was a mansa of the Mali Empire, following his father Kankan Musa I's death in 1337. Aside from legendary founder Sundiata, Kankan Musa I is generally regarded as the most successful of the Malian emperors, and Maghan inheri ...

. Suleyman and his chiefs eventually defeated Kassi and her cousins, discrediting her by showing that she and her cousin, Djathal, who had been banished for treason, were in league together. The

coup d'état A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...

happened in 1352 or 1353. Kassi was the mother of Kassa, who succeeded Suleyman briefly before being replaced by his cousin

Mari Diata II Mansa Jata, commonly referred to as Mari Jata II, possibly incorrectly, was mansa of Mali from 1360 to 1374. He was an ineffective ruler, and his reign, recorded by the contemporary North African historian Ibn Khaldun, marked the beginning of the ...

References

{{Mali Empire Malian royalty Keita family 14th-century women rulers Women monarchs in Africa 14th-century monarchs in Africa Queens regnant in Africa