Sundiata and the founding of Mali (c. 1235)

Part oneThe Mandinka and the gold of Bure

The Mandinka people lived along the upper Niger, south of old Ghana. Gold was found at Bure in their lands, and it drew their clans together. Hunters' associations guarded the caravans that carried it north. Berber and Tuareg merchants had brought Islam among them from the ninth century, and the king of Malel had accepted it in the eleventh. Mandinka tradition even traced the people back to Bilal ibn Rabah, the Companion of the Prophet ﷺ, whom they called Bilali Bounama.

As Ghana faded, others fought for its place. In the early thirteenth century the Susu, under their king Sumanguru, conquered much of the region and pressed hard on the Mandinka chiefs.

Part twoSundiata and Kirina

The story of Sundiata Keita, also called Mari Jata, has been told for centuries by the griots, the hereditary storytellers and singers of the Mandinka. In their telling he was a prince who could not walk as a child, was mocked for it, and grew into a man of great strength. Driven into exile with his mother, he came back to lead his people against the Susu. The griots' epic mixes history with legend, but its main events are well remembered.

Some sources say Sundiata was born into a Muslim family, and Ibn Khaldun says he accepted Islam as an adult. In about 1235, at Kirina, he defeated Sumanguru. The Mandinka chiefs then gathered and swore loyalty to him, and he is said to have worn Muslim dress for the ceremony. The chiefs kept their own clans and lands, but they now had one ruler, and Islam became a bond that rose above tribe and region. That was the birth of the Mali Empire. Sundiata ruled until about 1255, with his base at Niani on the upper Niger. The rulers of Mali took the title mansa, meaning king.

Part threeAn empire on the trade roads

Sundiata's heirs kept growing the state. His son Mansa Ule added Walata and Timbuktu in the north and Gao in the east, and in the west reached the Senegal and Gambia rivers and the Atlantic coast. Mali now held the main trade routes of the region, both the north-south roads across the Sahara and the east-west roads along the Sahel. Gold, salt, copper, cloth and kola nuts all passed through its markets, and the mansas taxed them.

The kings were Muslims, but they ruled many people who were not. Like the kings of Ghana before them, they kept parts of the old court customs and honoured the griots, and they also built mosques, appointed judges and sent their sons to Muslim teachers. Several made the pilgrimage to Makkah.

One mansa, Abu Bakr II, became famous for a stranger voyage. The story told later in Cairo was that he wanted to know what lay at the far edge of the Atlantic. He sent ships west, and when they did not come back, he gave up his throne and set out with a large fleet himself. He was never seen again. In 1312 his deputy took the throne. His name was Musa.

The chiefs kept their own lands, but they now had one ruler and one faith to bind them.

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The mapWhere it happened

• Kirina
• Niani
• Bure
• Walata
• Timbuktu
• Gao
• the Gambia river
• the Atlantic coast

This map is a simple sketch to help you picture where events took place. Positions, distances and borders are approximate, so please use it for reference only, not as an accurate map.

SourcesSources for this chapter