Sudanic Empires 105kings vanquished by Sumanguru and defeated the Sosso.
He then restored the sovereignty of the conquered king-
doms and reorganized them into the empire of Mali. Niani
became the capital of the empire and a great political and
commercial center. Al-Umari and Ibn Khaldun, who
wrote about Mali during the 14th century, reported that
Niani was highly populated, well watered, and fi nancially
stabilized with an affl uent market where caravans from
the Magrib, Ifriqiya, and Egypt frequently exchanged
goods brought from every country. Th e nations that were
part of the empire were guaranteed their autonomy as
well as the protection and support of the empire so long
as they paid tribute and adhered to the principles of the
constitution.
Sundiata’s military conquests were extended under the
leadership of his brilliant generals Tira Maghan Tarawele
(Traore), Fran Camara, and Fakoli Koroma, who conquered
all the lands that had been under the control of Ghana, then
moved westward, conquering the kingdom of Jaloff and es-
tablishing several kingdoms in Senegambia, Guinea, and
Guinea Bissau, the largest of which was Kaabu.
Sundiata’s son and successor, Mansa Wulin, and his
general succeeded in capturing Gao and Tekrur. Stretch-
ing from the Atlantic coast to Gao, the empire inherited the
fl exible federation structure of the empire of Ghana. Each
country retained its institutions and authorities that ruled
alongside the farin or governor representing the imperial
authority of Mali. Only the Malinke military maintained
garrisons throughout the regions to ensure the security of
the territory against invaders and brigands.
Th ere were four major structural changes in the Ma-
linke government that distinguished it from the government
of Ghana. One was a 44-article constitution defi ning social
and political relationships, hierarchies, customs, terms of
succession, and the fundamental human rights of women,
men, and children. Sundiata proclaimed an end to the insti-
tution of slavery and all the nations of Mali took an oath to
abolish slavery and the slave trade in their territories. A law
requiring all able-bodied men and women to cultivate the
land regardless of their occupation greatly expanded Mali’s
agricultural output, and a law granting ownership to those
who cleared the land initiated a national incentive for col-
lective work, production, and distribution of goods and ser-
vices. Far from the feudal system generally designated to a
medieval Sudanese economy, the government of early Mali
spawned an economic structure that resembled an Africanthe Soninke recaptured the lands taken by the Almoravids
12 years later, the government was weakened politically
and fi nancially. Th e defi nitive disaster told in the Soninke
legend of Wagadu was a seven-year drought that destroyed
all the cultivable lands and dried up the rich gold reserves
produced from the gold-bearing rains. Th ese phenomenal
rains were the special gift of Wagadu’s protective deity, the
Bida of Wagadu, who demanded in exchange the annual
sacrifi ce of the most beautiful virgin of the empire. When
the Bida was killed by Mamadou Sahko Dekote, the out-
raged fi ancé of a chosen sacrifi cial virgin, the empire was
cursed with drought for seven years, seven months and
seven days. Th e famine that ensued decimated the popula-
tion and forced millions to seek greener pastures in other
parts of West Africa. Th e people scattered north, south,
east, and west, leaving a once-great populous empire to the
anonymity of the encroaching sands.
Many of the Soninke and Kakolo groups migrated and
settled southeast of Kumbi-Saleh along the Niger Bend,
renamed their country Mande, and called themselves the
Mandenka (“People of Mande”). Malinke, which is the Fula’s
term for “People of Mali,” has a slightly diff erent nuance in
that it includes not only the Mandenka but Soninke, Fula,
and Songhai lineages that were incorporated into Malian
society under Sundiata. Malinke is used here as the postim-
perial name, while Mande refers to the small warring king-
doms that existed prior to the rise of Sundiata. Such was
the status of Mande before Sumanguru/Soumaoro Kante,
king of the Mande kingdom of Sosso/Susu, waged war
against the other Mande states and brought them under his
dominion.
Sundiata Keita, son of Nare Maghan Kon Fatta Konate,
the king of Niani, was a child of a miraculous birth and a
disadvantaged childhood who overcame his physical and
social limitations to become an exceptional warrior and
king. Diviners had predicted even before the marriage of
his parents that Sundiata would be the successor to his fa-
ther, but Sassouma Berete, the fi rst wife of Maghan Kon
Fatta, conspired to put her son, Dankaran Touman, on the
throne by fi rst attempting to kill Sundiata and then sending
him and his mother, Sogolon Conde, into exile. It was dur-
ing Sundiata’s exile that Sumanguru Kante attacked Niani,
plundering and subjugating its peoples and launching a
reign of terror against any who opposed him.
Determined to take back his country from the Sosso,
Sundiata formed a formidable army along with other