Everything about The Mali Empire totally explained
The
Mali Empire or
Manding Empire or
Manden Kurufa was a
medieval West African civilization of the
Mandinka from c.
1235 to c.
1600. The empire was founded by
Sundiata Keita and became renowned for the
wealth of its rulers, especially
Mansa Musa I. The Mali Empire had many profound cultural influences on West Africa allowing the spread of its language, laws and customs along the
Niger River. At its height, it was, according to some experts, the wealthiest civilization in the world. The Mali empire extended over an area larger than western Europe and consisted of numerous vassal kingdoms and provinces.
Manden
The Mali Empire grew out of an area referred to by its contemporary inhabitants as Manden.
(External Link
) Manden, named for its inhabitants the Mandinka (initially Manden’ka with “ka” meaning people of),
(External Link) comprised most of present-day northern
Guinea and southern
Mali. The empire was originally established as a federation of Mandinka tribes called the Manden Kurufa (literally Manden Federation), but it later became an empire ruling millions of people from nearly every ethnic group imaginable in West Africa.
Etymology
The naming origins of the Mali Empire are complex and still debated in scholarly circles around the world. While the meaning of “Mali” is still contested, the process of how it entered the regional lexicon is not. As mentioned earlier, the Mandinka of the
Middle Ages referred to their ethnic homeland as “Manden”.
Among the many different ethnic groups surrounding Manden were
Pulaar speaking groups in
Macina,
Tekrur and
Fouta Djallon. In Pulaar, the Mandinka of Manden became the
Malinke of Mali. So while the Mandinka people generally referred to their land and capital province as Manden, its semi-nomadic Fula subjects residing on the heartland’s western (Tekrur), southern (Fouta Djallon) and eastern borders (Macina) popularized the name Mali for this kingdom and later empire of the Middle Ages.
Pre-Imperial Mali
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. The Keita dynasty from which nearly every Mali emperor came traces its lineage back to
Bilal, the faithful
muezzin of Islam’s prophet
Muhammad. 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 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 who settled in Mali) to Maghan Kon Fatta (father of Sundiata Keita).
The Kangaba Province
During the height of Wagadou's power, the land of Manden 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 Twelve Kingdoms
Wagadou's control over Manden came to a halt after 14 years of war with the
Almoravides,
Muslims of mostly
Berber extraction from
North Africa. The Almoravide general
Abu Bekr captured and burned the Wagadou capital of
Kumbi Saleh in
1076 ending its dominance over the area. However, the Almoravides were unable to hold onto the area, and it was quickly retaken by the weakened Soninké. The Kangaba province, free of both Soninké and Berber 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.
(External Link) 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 masters. 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 terrorized much of Manden stealing women and goods from both Dodougou and Kri.
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The Lion Prince
During the rise of Kaniaga, Sundiata of the Keita clan was born around AD 1217. 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.
Prince Sundjata was prophesized to become a great conqueror. To his parent's dread, the prince didn't have a promising start. Sundiata, according to the oral traditions, didn't walk until he was seven years old. 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. He was crowned under the throne name Mari Djata becoming the first Mandinka emperor. 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 Great Assembly
The
Gbara 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.
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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.
Mari Djata I
Mansa Mari Djata’s reign saw the conquest and or annexation 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 1,000 miles east to west with those borders being the bends of the Senegal and Niger Rivers respectively.
(External Link) After unifying Manden, he added the
Wangara goldfields making them the southern border. The northern commercial towns of
Oualata 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), and
Kaabu were added into Mali by Fakoli Koroma,
Mansa Ouali proved to be a good emperor adding more lands to the empire including the Gambian provinces of Bati and Casa. He also conquered the gold producing provinces of Bambuk and Bondou. The central province of Konkodougou was established. The Songhai kingdom of Gao also seems to have been subjugated for the first of many times around this period. This helped in strengthening ties with North Africa and Muslim merchants. He reigned for four years spending lavishly and ruling cruelly according to the djelis. Upon his death in 1274, the other adopted son seized the throne. The Gbara replaced him with
Manding Bory in 1275.
(External Link)
The Court Mansas 1275-1300
After the chaos of Ouali and Khalifa’s reigns, a number of court officials with close ties to Mari Djata ruled. They began the empire’s return to grace setting it up for a golden age of rulers.
Abubakari I
Manding Bory was crowned under the throne name
Mansa Abubakari (a Manding corruption of the Muslim name Abu Bakr). Mansa Sakura also opened direct trade negotiations with
Tripoli and
Morocco. While it was as good as gold in the north, it was even better in the south. The people of the south needed salt for their diet, but it was extremely rare.
(External Link) The northern region on the other hand had no shortage of salt. Every year merchants entered Mali via Oualata with camel loads of salt to sell in Niani. According to Ibn Battuta whom visited Mali in the mid 14th century, one camel load of salt sold at Walata for 8-10 mithkals of gold, but in Mali proper it realizes 20-30 ducats and sometimes even 40.
Copper
Copper was also a valued commodity in imperial Mali. Copper, traded in bars, was mined from Takedda in the north and traded in the south for gold. Contemporary sources claim 60 copper bars traded for 100 dinars of gold. Another common weapon of Mandekalu warriors was the poison javelin used in skirmishes. Imperial Mali's horsemen also used chain mail armor for defense and shields similar to those of the sofas
The Gao Mansas
Ko Mamadi was crowned
Mansa Gao and ruled over a successful empire without any recorded crisis. His son, Mansa Mohammed ibn Gao, ascended the throne five years later and continued the stability of the Kolonkan line. The county level administrators called kafo-tigui (county-master) were appointed by the governor of the province from within his own circle. The empire's total area included nearly all the land between the
Sahara Desert and coastal forests. It spanned the modern-day countries of Mauritania, Senegal, the Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Mali and part of Niger. By 1350, the empire covered approximately 439,400 square miles. The empire also reached its highest population during the Laye period ruling over 400 cities, towns and villages of various religions and ethnicities. During this period only the Mongol Empire was larger.
The dramatic increase in the empire’s size demanded a shift from the Manden Kurufa’s organization of three states with twelve dependencies. This model was scrapped by the time of Mansa Musa's hajj to Egypt. According to al'Umari, whom interviewed a Berber that had lived in Niani for 35 years, there were fourteen provinces (really tributary kingdoms). In al-'Umari's record, he only records the following thirteen provinces.
- Gana (this refers to the remants of the Ghana Empire)
- Zagun or Zafun (this is another name for Diafunu)
- Tirakka or Turanka (Between Gana and Tadmekka)
- Tekrur (On 3rd cataract of the Senegal River, north of Dyolof)
- Sanagana (named for a tribe living in an area north of the Senegal river)
- Bambuck or Bambughu (gold mining region)
- Zargatabana
- Darmura or Babitra Darmura
- Zaga (on the Niger, downriver of Kabora)
- Kabora or Kabura (also on the Niger)
- Baraquri or Baraghuri
- Gao or Kawkaw (province inhabited by the Songhai)
- Mali or Manden (capital province for which the realm gets its name)
Musa I
The first ruler from the Laye lineage was Kankan Musa, also known as Kango Musa. After an entire year without word from Abubakari II, he was crowned Mansa
Musa. Mansa Musa was one of the first truly devout Muslims to lead the Mali Empire. He attempted to make Islam the faith of the nobility, He would only reign a year before a descendant of Mansa Gao removed him.
Maghan III
Mahmud, possibly a grandchild or great-grandchild of Mansa Gao, was crowned
Mansa Maghan III in 1390. During his reign, the Mossi emperor Bonga of
Yatenga raids into Mali and plunders Macina. The Gambia was still firmly in Mali’s control, and these raiding expeditions met with disastrous fates before Portugal’s Diego Gomez began formal relations with Mali via its remaining Wolof subjects.
(External Link) Cadomasto, a Venetian explorer, recorded that the Mali Empire was the most powerful entity on the coast in 1454.
(External Link)
Despite their power in the west, Mali was losing the battle for supremacy in the north and northeast. The new
Songhai Empire conquered Mema, The Songhai Empire does keep Mali’s ambitions in check, but never fully conquers their old masters.
After liberating the capital, Mahmud III abandons it for a new residence further north.
Manden Divided
The old core of the empire was divided into three spheres of influence. Kangaba, the de facto capital of Manden since the time of the last emperor, became the capital of the northern sphere. The Joma area, governed from Siguiri, controlled the central region, which encompassed Niani. Hamana or Amana, southwest of Joma, became the southern sphere with its capital at Kouroussa in modern Guinea.
The Bamana Jihad
Then, in 1630, the Bamana of Djenné declared their version of holy war on all Muslim powers in present day Mali.
(External Link) They targeted Moroccan Pashas still in Timbuktu and the mansas of Manden. In 1645, the Bamana attacked Manden seizing both banks of the Niger right up to Niani.
(External Link) This campaign gutted Manden and destroyed any hope of the three mansas cooperating to free their land. The only Mandinka power spared from the campaign is Kangaba.
Manden Divided
Mama Maghan, mansa of Kangaba, campaigned against the Bamana in 1667 and attacked Segou.
(External Link) Segou, defended by
Biton Kouloubali, successfully defended itself and Mama Maghan was forced to withdraw to Kangaba. Either as a counter-attack or simply the progression of pre-planned assaults against the remnants of Mali, the Bamana sack and burn Niani in 1670.
(External Link)Further Information
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