The Mali Empire 12th – 14th Centuries

Abstract

Following the decline of the Empire of Ghana around the 11th Century by the invasion of the Almoravids. Small ethnic kingdoms emerged with the same ambition to build an empire among them the Kingdom of Sosso, and the Kingdom of Mande, who were all contenders to take back the territories of Ghana. West Africa has known three empires including Ghana, Mali, and the Songhoy. The Mali Empire was one of the greatest mediaeval empires in West Africa. It emerged from a small ethnic kingdom which gathered the Mande people in the early 13th century. This Kingdom was ruled by Sundiata’s father (Maghan Kon Fata the Mande King) who chose Kangaba as the capital of his newly established kingdom, but after the arrival of Sundiata Keita to the throne in 1235, a lot would change in the Mande Kingdom. Sundiata’s reign permitted the empire to expand and gain a vast territory that extended from the Atlantic Coast south of the Senegal River to Gao in the east of the Middle Niger bend. Unlike the Ghana Empire, Mali Empire witnessed a bright era in the 14th century because it became a wide trading and scholarship centre in West Africa, especially after Mansa Musa’s pilgrimage to Mecca in1324, which allowed the empire to be known among the Muslim Empires. He came back with scholars and architects to build mosques and universities to spread the knowledge of Islam across his kingdom and West Africa. This research work examines two significant eras of Mali history, that is to say, the eras of Sundiata (1235-1255) and Mansa Musa’s reign (1312-1337), with a special focus on their achievements and influence on the Malian society.