Mali Empire

Mali, 1235–1670. Draft, not yet reviewed

The Mali Empire was an empire in West Africa. It was founded by Sundiata Keita and became renowned for the wealth of its monarchs, especially Mansa Musa. 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. After that, the empire rapidly disintegrated, being replaced by independent chiefdoms.

Seat of power: Kangaba

No rulers documented for this era yet.

Culture

• 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.
• 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.
• It was during Suleyman's 19-year reign that Ibn Battuta visited Mali.

Picture

The city gradually expanded as an important Islamic city on the Saharan trade route and attracted many scholars and traders before it became part of the Mali Empire early in the 14th century.

Image: Flickr user: Emilio Labrador Santiago de Chile https://www.flickr.com/people/3059349393/, CC BY 2.0, file

Sources

• Mali Empire (Wikipedia)
• Mali Empire (Wikidata)
• About the picture (Wikipedia)

Text adapted from the Wikipedia articles listed as sources, CC BY-SA 4.0.