Mansa Mahmud Keita IV (also known as Mansa Mamadou III, Mali Mansa Mamadou and Niani Mansa Mamadou) was the last emperor of the
Mali Empire according to the
Tarikh al-Sudan
The ''Tarikh al-Sudan'' ( ''Tārīkh as-Sūdān''; also ''Tarikh es-Sudan'', "History of the Sudan") is a West African chronicle written in Arabic in around 1655 by the chronicler of Timbuktu, al-Sa'di. It provides the single most important primary ...
. Prior to his rule there was a vacancy of some sort, indicated by the long period of the time in which neither written or oral sources give a ruler. We do know that more than one person made a claim for the throne, which caused the
Sankar-Zouma and
Farima-Soura to refuse aid to Mansa Mahmud IV and the Keita family, on his military operation against
Djenné.
Battle of Jenne
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, ...
Mahmud Keita IV launched an attack on the city of
Djenne in 1599 with
Fulani
The Fula, Fulani, or Fulɓe people ( ff, Fulɓe, ; french: Peul, links=no; ha, Fulani or Hilani; pt, Fula, links=no; wo, Pël; bm, Fulaw) are one of the largest ethnic groups in the Sahel and West Africa, widely dispersed across the region. ...
allies, hoping to take advantage of
the Songhai Empire's defeat. Moroccan
fusiliers, deployed from
Timbuktu
Timbuktu ( ; french: Tombouctou;
Koyra Chiini: ); tmh, label=Tuareg, script=Tfng, ⵜⵏⴱⴾⵜ, Tin Buqt a city in Mali, situated north of the Niger River. The town is the capital of the Tombouctou Region, one of the eight administrativ ...
, met them in battle, exposing Mali to the same technology (
firearms) that had destroyed Songhai. Despite heavy losses, the mansa’s army was not deterred and nearly prevailed; however, the army inside Djenne intervened, forcing Mansa Mahmud Keita IV and his army to retreat to Kangaba.
Africa and Slavery 1500-1800 by Sanderson Beck
/ref>
Mandinka oral history says that the three sons of Mahmud IV divided the kingdom and fought amongst themselves.
References
See also
* Mali Empire
* Keita Dynasty
Mansas of Mali
Mali Empire
16th-century African people
Keita family
{{Mansas of Mali Empire