At a glance
Era 7- Dates
- Ruled c. 1235-c. 1255 CE
- Who
- Mandinka leader who defeated the Susu and founded Mali
- Era
- West Africa
ProfileSundiata Keita
Sundiata Keita, also called Mari Jata, is the hero of the Mandinka people of the upper Niger. The griots, the hereditary storytellers of West Africa, tell that as a child he could not walk and was mocked, that he grew into a man of great strength, and that after years of exile he returned to free his people.
In the early thirteenth century the Susu king Sumanguru had conquered the region. In about 1235, at Kirina, Sundiata defeated him. The Mandinka chiefs then swore loyalty to Sundiata, and the Mali Empire was born. Some sources say he was born into a Muslim family, and Ibn Khaldun says he accepted Islam as an adult. He is said to have worn Muslim dress when the chiefs gave their oath.
He ruled until about 1255, and his heirs built Mali into one of the great empires of Africa.
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SourcesSources for this profile
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