The Mali Empire

The Mali Empire (Manding: Mandé or Manden Duguba; Arabic: مالي, romanized: Mālī) was an empire in West Africa from c. 1226 to 1610. The empire was founded by Sundiata Keita (c. 1214 – c. 1255) and became renowned for the wealth of its rulers, especially Mansa Musa (Musa Keita). At its peak, Mali was the largest empire in West Africa, widely influencing the culture of the region through the spread of its language, laws, and customs. The empire began as a small Mandinka kingdom at the upper reaches of the Niger River, centered around the Manding region. It began to develop during the 11th and 12th centuries as the Ghana Empire, or Wagadu, declined and trade epicentres shifted southward. The history of the Mali Empire before the 13th century is unclear, as there are conflicting and imprecise accounts by both Arab chroniclers and oral traditionalists. The first ruler for which there is accurate written information is Sundiata Keita, a warrior-prince of the Keita dynasty who was called upon to free the local people from the rule of the king of the Sosso Empire, Soumaoro Kanté. The conquest of Sosso in c. 1235 marked the emergence of Mali as a major power, with the Kouroukan Fouga as its constitution. Following the death of Sundiata Keita, in c. 1255, the Emperors of Mali were referred to by the title mansa or "Manden Massa" means King of Kings in the native language. Several Mansas succeeded Sundiata Keita after his death : Wati, who ruled for four years, followed by Khalifa, traditionally portrayed as a tyrannical ruler. His brief reign of about one year is often interpreted particularly through the lens of Ibn Khaldūn as a symptom of dynastic decline. He was likely deposed by Mansa Abubakari, who ruled for approximately ten years (1275–1285), before being overthrown in a military coup led by Sakura, a former slave of the imperial family who had risen to the rank of general. Sakura’s seizure of power reflects a profound crisis within the Mali Empire, as he did not belong to the Keita lineage when he claimed the throne. He ruled for fifteen years, from 1285 to 1300. In his Kitāb al-ʿIbar, Ibn Khaldūn reports that Sakura performed the pilgrimage to Mecca (hajj) during the reign of the Mamluk sultan An-Nasir Muhammad. He notes that Sakura was killed on his return journey, probably around 1300, near Tajura in present-day Djibouti. The imperial lineage of Sundiata Keita was restored with the accession of Mansa Gao (c. 1300–1305), followed by his son, Muhammad ibn Gao (c. 1305–1310). The subsequent succession of Abubakari II remains uncertain, as his identity has been questioned by modern historians in the 21st century⁸. Mansa Musa took the throne in c. 1312. He made a famous pilgrimage to Mecca from 1324 to 1326, where his generous gifts and his expenditure of gold caused significant inflation in Egypt. Maghan I succeeded him as mansa in 1337, but was deposed by his uncle Suleyman in 1341. It was during Suleyman's 19-year reign that Ibn Battuta visited Mali. Suleyman's death marked the end of Mali's Golden Age and the beginning of a slow decline. The Tarikh al-Sudan records that Mali was still a sizeable state in the 15th century. At that time, the Venetian explorer Alvise Cadamosto and Portuguese traders confirmed that the peoples who settled within Gambia River were still subject to the mansa of Mali. Upon Leo Africanus's visit at the beginning of the 16th century, his descriptions of the territorial domains of Mali showed that it was still a kingdom of considerable size. However, from 1507 onwards neighboring states such as Diarra, Great Fulo, Yatenga, and the Songhai Empire chipped away at Mali's borders. In 1542, the Songhai invaded the capital but were unsuccessful in conquering the empire. Mali made a brief comeback in the late 16th century and was poised to take advantage of Songhai's collapse after the 1593 Moroccan invasion, but a disastrous defeat outside Djenne in 1599 ended those hopes. After that, the empire rapidly disintegrated, being replaced by independent chiefdoms. The Keitas retreated to the town of Kangaba, where they became provincial chiefs.

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