The Mali Empire

West Africa's greatest medieval empire, founded by Sundiata Keita and at its height under Mansa Musa I, when Mali was the world's primary gold exporter.

Region
West Africa
Period
c. 1235 – 1645

Founding and rise

Sundiata Keita defeated the Sosso king Sumaguru at Kirina in 1235 and founded the empire. Mali controlled the trans-Saharan trade routes and was the world's primary gold exporter, with Timbuktu and Djenné as its intellectual capitals.

Mansa Musa I

Under Mansa Musa I (1312–1337) Mali reached its peak. His pilgrimage to Mecca in 1324–25, with 60,000 men and 80 to 100 camel-loads of gold, flooded Cairo with gold and depressed Egyptian prices for twelve years. Mamluk court archives record that the kings of the Sudan kept consulates in Cairo, and Ibn Battuta's nine-month stay in 1352–53 left the fullest account of the court.

Evidence

Excavations at Niani confirm the capital's location, with radiocarbon-dated pottery, an Arab quarter and funeral urns. Oral tradition preserved by seven griot lineages remains one of Africa's richest historical resources, and the Sundiata epic was recited at the seven-year Kamablon ceremony.

References

  1. UNESCO General History of Africa, Vol. IV
  2. Library of Congress, Timbuktu Manuscripts
  3. vHMML Reading Room
  4. World History Encyclopedia, Mali Empire
  5. Kitab al-Ibar (14th c.)
  6. Masalik al-Absar (14th c.)
  7. Rihla (14th c.)

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