Catalan_Atlas_BNF_Sheet_6_Mansa_Musa_(cropped)

''Mansa'' ( ''mansaw'') is a

Maninka Maninka (also known as Malinke), or more precisely Eastern Maninka, is the name of several closely related languages and dialects of the southeastern Manding subgroup of the Mande language family. It is the mother tongue of the Malinké peopl ...

and Mandinka word for a ruler, generally translated as "king". It is particularly known as the title of the rulers of 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, Māl ...

, such as

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 ...

, 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 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, ...

and

Ibn Khaldun Ibn Khaldun (; ar, أبو زيد عبد الرحمن بن محمد بن خلدون الحضرمي, ; 27 May 1332 – 17 March 1406, 732-808 AH) was an Arab The Historical Muhammad', Irving M. Zeitlin, (Polity Press, 2007), p. 21; "It is, of ...

, who explained it as meaning "

sultan Sultan (; ar, سلطان ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it ...

". 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 Jansen attributes to the followers of Marcel Griaule, is that ''mansa'' means "god", "the divine principle", or "priest-king". Jansen notes that they have not provided their reasoning for choosing this translation.

References

Works cited

* * * * * * * {{coord, 23, 25, 48, N, 72, 40, 12, E, region:IN_type:city_source:kolossus-viwiki, display=title Mali Empire Titles of national or ethnic leadership