Pre-Imperial Mali
Encyclopedia
Written Sources
There are a few sketchy references to pre-Imperial Mali in written sources. The oldest reference comes from al-Bakri's account of the Western Sudan written in 1068. In this section, he names two countries "Daw" and "Malal" located near the Niger and close to gold-fields, which are likely to be the core of the eventual Empire of Mali. Al-Bakri goes on to describe how the unnamed ruler of the kingdom was converted to Islam by a merchant when he witnessed the miraculous shower of rain that ended a drought. This event occurred at least one generation preceding 1068, since al-Bakri noted that the ruler's descendants and his nobles kept Islam, even though the common people were not converted. Ibn KhaldunIbn Khaldun
Ibn Khaldūn or Ibn Khaldoun was an Arab Tunisian historiographer and historian who is often viewed as one of the forerunners of modern historiography, sociology and economics...
, a North African historian living in Egypt interviewed shaykh Uthman, who was the faqih of Ghana and described as wide and learned. Uthman provided information on the past kings, presumably from oral tradition current in his day (1394), and named the first Muslim king Barmandana. In al-Idrisi's account of 1154, he noted that the two towns of Daw and Malal had four days' travel between them, located in a river valley that joins the Nile (by which he meant the Niger). Malal was described as a "small town, like a large village without a surrounding wall, built on an unassailable hill of red earth."
Archaeology
In 1965 and beyond a Polish archaeological team excavated at NianiNiani
Niani may refer to...* Niani District, along the banks of the River Gambia, in the Central River Division of The Gambia. Named after the Niani tribe of The Gambia.* Niani village, in north east Guinea....
, reputed to be the ancient capital of Mali. They discovered remains of buildings and other artifacts that showed a fairly intensive occupation of the site since the sixth century CE, though the site could not be classified as urban until much later, perhaps the fourteenth century. At its height, Niani comprised a number of densely occupied clusters scattered over the countryside, including a remarkable number of iron-producing sites, pointing to the town as a major industrial center. There are also evidences of a Islamic presence, supporting the idea that there was a Muslim or commercial town and a royal town, as well as other sites. These excavations provided the strongest support for the traditional claim that a state of some complexity pre-existed the imperial period in Mali's history.
Oral Traditions
Some of what historians have written about pre-Imperial Mali is based on oral tradition collected since the late nineteenth century. Much of the tradition focuses on the "Epic of Sunjata
Epic of Sundiata
The Sundiata Keita or Epic of Sundiata is an epic poem of the Malinke people and tells the story of the hero Sundiata Keita, the founder of the Mali Empire...
" a series of tales about early Mali that griots assemble into longer versions. There are several of these versions in print, the most famous of which is that of D. T. Niane, thanks to its lively narrative style and early translation into other languages. Niane's work, however, is not a literal translation of an original oral discourse, though it is surely largely based on tales told by a certain Mamadou Kouyate of Keyla. Rather, it is a reworking in literary form of Kouyate's tales. More literal versions of the tradition have since been published in French, English and Mandinka versions.
According to these traditions, 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
Ghana Empire
The Ghana Empire or Wagadou Empire was located in what is now southeastern Mauritania, and Western Mali. Complex societies had existed in the region since about 1500 BCE, and around Ghana's core region since about 300 CE...
. This area was composed of mountains, savannah and forest providing ideal protection and resources for the population of hunters. History of Africa translated from French Those not living in the mountains formed small city-states such as Toron, Ka-Ba and Niani
Niani
Niani may refer to...* Niani District, along the banks of the River Gambia, in the Central River Division of The Gambia. Named after the Niani tribe of The Gambia.* Niani village, in north east Guinea....
. The Keita dynasty from which nearly every Mali emperor came traces its lineage back to Bilal
Bilal ibn Ribah
Bilal ibn Rabah or Bilal al-Habashi was an Ethiopian born in Mecca in the late 6th century, sometime between 578 and 582.The Islamic prophet Muhammad chose a former African slave Bilal as his muezzin, effectively making him the first muezzin of the Islamic faith...
, the faithful muezzin
Muezzin
A muezzin , or muzim, is the chosen person at a mosque who leads the call to prayer at Friday services and the five daily times for prayer from one of the mosque's minarets; in most modern mosques, electronic amplification aids the muezzin in his task.The professional muezzin is chosen for his...
of Islam’s prophet Muhammad
Muhammad
Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
. It was common practice during the Middle Ages for both Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
and Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
rulers to tie their bloodline back to a pivotal figure in their faith’s history. So while the lineage of the Keita dynasty may be dubious at best, oral chroniclers have preserved a list of each Keita ruler from Lawalo (supposedly one of Bilal’s seven sons whom settled in Mali) to Maghan Kon Fatta (father of Sundiata Keita
Sundiata Keita
Sundiata Keita, Sundjata Keyita, Mari Djata I or just Sundiata was the founder of the Mali Empire and celebrated as a hero of the Malinke people of West Africa in the semi-historical Epic of Sundiata....
).
Chronology
The French colonial administrator and historian Maruice Delafosse was one of the earliest Western historians to attempt a comprehensive history of the region in his book Haut-Sénégal-Niger (1912) produced a fairly detailed and exact chronology of Mali. However, he never explained how he arrived at the dates he presented there, or elsewhere, and indeed, the primary sources on which he relied did not give clear indications of chronology at that level of detail. Scholars since then, while occasionally noting the issue, have accepted this chronology and it is thus widely reported and repeated. There is little question that it is approximately correct, since the Arabic materials are fairly abundant and give a number of clues, but it would be wrong to repeat this chronology as being confirmed by original material.The Kangaba Province
According to modern traditions, during the height of Ghana's power, the land of Manden became one of its provinces, though the contemporary evidence of al-Bakri does not support such a large extent for Ghana's rule. According to traditions, 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 probably known as faama
Faama
Faama is a Mandinka word meaning "king". It was commonly used within the area of pre-imperial Mali. The title spread into areas conquered by Mali and was later used by the Bamana Empire and the Wassoulou Empire of Samori Toure and non-Mandinka groups in the Kenedougou Empire.-See also:*Mali...
s ruled Manden from Ka-ba
The Twelve Kingdoms
Modern oral traditions maintain that after the fall of Ghana the Kangaba province, splintered into twelve kingdoms with their own maghan
Maghan
Maghan I 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 inherited the empire at the height of its glory. He reigned for only four...
(meaning prince) or faama. Manden was split in half with the Dodougou territory to the northeast and the Kri territory to the southwest.http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=fr&u=http://www.manden.org/&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=1&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3DManden%26hl%3Den The tiny kingdom of Niani was one of several in the Kri area of Manden. Archaeological work places Niani, which later writers named as the capital of the country, in this region.
The Soso hegemony
According to traditions current in the fourteenth century and reported to the historian ibn KhaldunIbn Khaldun
Ibn Khaldūn or Ibn Khaldoun was an Arab Tunisian historiographer and historian who is often viewed as one of the forerunners of modern historiography, sociology and economics...
by the faqih
Faqih
A Faqīh is an expert in fiqh, or, Islamic jurisprudence.A faqih is an expert in Islamic Law, and, as such, the word Faqih can literally be generally translated as Jurist.- The definition of Fiqh and its relation to the Faqih:...
of Ghana, shaykh Uthman in 1394, the Almoravid movement weakened Ghana, to the extent that "the authority of the rulers of Ghana dwindled away, and they were overcome by the Susu, a neighboring people of the Sudan, who subjugated and absorbed them." Traditions in Mali related that the Soso attacked and took over Mali as well, and the ruler of the Soso, Sumaouro Kanté took over the land.
Sundiata
The tradition of the final emergence of Mali as an imperial power was also first revealed by shaykh Uthman, when he told ibn Khaldun that Mali emerged following its defeat of the Soso. "Their greatest king, he who overcame the Susu, conquered their country and seized their power from their hands, was named Mari Jata." The story of the rise of Sundiata (or Sunjata), as he is known modern tradition is still the most widely recited tradition among Mandinka speaking people, a group of stories concerning his reign known as the Epic of SundiataEpic of Sundiata
The Sundiata Keita or Epic of Sundiata is an epic poem of the Malinke people and tells the story of the hero Sundiata Keita, the founder of the Mali Empire...
. While there are many versions of the story, most agree that 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 or Sundjata. The anglicized version of this name, Sundiata, is also popular. According to shaykh Uthman in 1394 as reported by ibn Khaldun, the name was "Mari, which in their language means 'prince of the royal line' and Jata, which means 'lion.'"
Sundiata was prophesized to become a great conqueror. To his parent's 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 Sundiata, 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 Sundiata 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
Kissidougou
Kissidougou is a city in southern Guinea. It is the capital of in the Kissidougou Prefecture, and had a population of 66,018 in the 1996 census. Following intensified conflicts in Sierra Leone and Liberia during the fall and winter of 2000, many people from the city of Guéckédou fled to...
.
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, 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 KirinaBattle of Kirina
The Battle of Kirina, also known as the Battle of Krina , was a confrontation between the Sosso king Sumanguru Kanté and the Mandinka prince Sundiata Keita...
(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 roughly to emperor. At the age of 18, he gained authority over all the twelve kingdoms in an alliance known as the Manden Kurufa.http://66.218.71.231/language/translation/translatedPage.php?tt=url&text=http%3a//www.journee-nationale-communes.org/dec_chart1.htm&lp=fr_en&.intl=us&fr=yfp-t-501 He was crowned under the throne name Mari Djata becoming the first Mandinka emperor.
Manden Kurufa
The Mali Empire was the second in a wave of successive states forged in the Sahel characterized by stronger and stronger centralization. Whereas the Ghana Empire had very little centralization outside of the edicts of its emperor, the Mali Empire would emerge as West Africa’s first federalized state with sweeping laws that were more or less uniform over an area roughly the size of Western Europe. This trend of centralization would be adopted and further developed by the Songhai during Mali’s decline as well as Bamana, Wolof and FulaFula people
Fula people or Fulani or Fulbe are an ethnic group spread over many countries, predominantly in West Africa, but found also in Central Africa and Sudanese North Africa...
states thereafter.
Organization
The Manden Kurufa founded by Mari Djata I was composed of the “three freely allied states” of Mali, Mema and Wagadou plus the Twelve Doors of MaliTwelve Doors of Mali
The Twelve Doors of Mali were the possessions of the mansa of the medieval Mali Empire starting in around 1235. These lands were either allied to or conquered by Sundiata Keita on his campaign to free the Mandinka heartland from the Susu kingdom of Kaniaga.-The Twelve Doors:*Bambougou; conquered...
. It is important to remember that Mali, in this sense, strictly refers to the city-state of Niani.
Mema was a powerful city-state near the bend of the Niger River
Niger River
The Niger River is the principal river of western Africa, extending about . Its drainage basin is in area. Its source is in the Guinea Highlands in southeastern Guinea...
outside of Manden. It was allied to Sundiata throughout his campaign against Kaniaga. Its faama
Faama
Faama is a Mandinka word meaning "king". It was commonly used within the area of pre-imperial Mali. The title spread into areas conquered by Mali and was later used by the Bamana Empire and the Wassoulou Empire of Samori Toure and non-Mandinka groups in the Kenedougou Empire.-See also:*Mali...
(sometimes referred to as a mansa in oral traditions) was allowed to keep his crown and not prostrate before Sundiata, because of the latter’s exile at that court.
Wagadou, another land outside of Manden, was also allowed to keep its monarch. The Ghana ("warrior-king") of Wagadou received the same benefits as Mema and for the same reasons.
The twelve doors of Mali were a coalition of conquered or allied territories, mostly within Manden, with sworn allegiance to Sundiata and his descendants. Upon stabbing their spears into the ground before Sundiata’s throne, each of the twelve kings relinquished their kingdom to the Keita dynasty. In return for their submission, they became “farbas” a combination of the Mandinka words “farin” and “ba" (great farin). Farin was a general term for northern commander at the time. These farbas would rule their old kingdoms in the name of the mansa with most of the authority they held prior to joining the Manden Kurufa.
The Kouroukan Fouga
Immediately after being crowned mansa, Mari Djata instituted a universal constitution for all subjects of his new state called the Kouroukan FougaKouroukan Fouga
The Kouroukan Fouga or Kurukan Fuga is purported to be the constitution of the Mali Empire , created after the Battle of Krina by an assembly of notables to create a government for the newly established empire. It was first alluded to in print in Djibril Tamsir Niane's book, Soundjata, ou la...
.http://google.com/search?q=cache:lPDmWk42EHkJ:www.wildaf-ao.org/eng/IMG/pdf/THE_CHARTER_OF_KURUKAN_FUGA__Anglais_1.pdf+Somono+clan&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=17&gl=us At a site just outside the town of Kangaba, he formalized the government and established the Gbara or Great Assembly.http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=fr&u=http://www.manden.org/&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=1&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3DManden%26hl%3Den
The Great Assembly
The GbaraGbara
The Gbara or Great Assembly in Old Malinke was the deliberative body of the Mali Empire, which ruled much of West Africa during the Middle Ages...
or Great Assembly would serve as the Mandinka deliberative body until the collapse of the Manden Kurufa in 1645. Its first meeting, at the famous Kouroukan Fouga (Division of the World), had 29 clan delegates presided over by a belen-tigui (master of ceremony). The final incarnation of the Gbara, according to the surviving traditions of northern Guinea, held 32 positions occupied by 28 clans.http://google.com/search?q=cache:lPDmWk42EHkJ:www.wildaf-ao.org/eng/IMG/pdf/THE_CHARTER_OF_KURUKAN_FUGA__Anglais_1.pdf+Somono+clan&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=17&gl=us
Social, economic, and government reform
The Kouroukan Fouga also put in place social and economic reforms including prohibitions on the maltreatment of prisoners and slaves, installing women in government circles and placing a system of banter between clans which clearly stated who could say what about in who. Also, Sundiata divided the lands amongst the people assuring everyone had a place in the empire and fixed exchange rates for common products.Another crucial fact established at the Kouroukan Fouga was the supremacy of Manden over all realms controlled by or allied to the federation including Wagadou and Mema. All future mansas would have to be chosen from the Keita clan, and the city-state of Niani
Niani
Niani may refer to...* Niani District, along the banks of the River Gambia, in the Central River Division of The Gambia. Named after the Niani tribe of The Gambia.* Niani village, in north east Guinea....
(in present-day Guinea
Guinea
Guinea , officially the Republic of Guinea , is a country in West Africa. Formerly known as French Guinea , it is today sometimes called Guinea-Conakry to distinguish it from its neighbour Guinea-Bissau. Guinea is divided into eight administrative regions and subdivided into thirty-three prefectures...
) would become the federal capital. Mansa Mari Djata returned to and rebuilt the capital of Niani, which had been destroyed by Soumaoro in his absence, and made it the most important center of trade in West Africa for the next 200 years.
Mari Djata I
Mansa Mari Djata’s reign saw the conquest and or annexation of several key locals in the Mali Empire. When the campaigning was done, his empire extended 1,000 miles east to west with those borders being the bends of the Senegal and Niger Rivers respectively.http://www.vmfa.state.va.us/mali_geo_hist.html After unifying Manden, he added the WangaraWangara
Wangara may refer to:*The Soninke Wangara of West Africa*Wangara, Western Australia*Wangara, Burkina Faso...
goldfields making them the southern border. The northern commercial towns of Oualata
Oualata
Oualata or Walata is a small oasis town in south east Mauritania that was important in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries as the southern terminus of a trans-Saharan trade route...
and Audaghost were also conquered and became part of the new state’s northern border. Wagadou and Mema became junior partners in the realm and part of the imperial nucleus. The lands of Bambougou, Jalo (Fouta Djallon
Fouta Djallon
Fouta Djallon is a highland region in the centre of Guinea, West Africa. The indigenous name is Fuuta-Jaloo...
), and Kaabu
Kaabu
The Kaabu Empire was a Mandinka Kingdom of Senegambia that rose to prominence in the region thanks to its origins as a former province of the Mali Empire...
were added into Mali by Fakoli Koroma, Fran Kamara, and Tiramakhan Traore,http://leadinternational.com/about/history_gb.php respectively.
When Mari Djata I dies, as the result of either drowning in the Sankarani river
Sankarani River
The Sankarani River is a tributary of the Niger River Flowing northward from the Fouta Djallon highlands of Guinea, it crosses into southern Mali, where it joins the Niger approximately 40 km upstream of Bamako...
or an errant arrow in a celebration, he had a standing army and control over the coveted trans-Saharan trade routes.