Mali, trading empire that flourished in West Africa from the 13th to the 16th century. The mali empire developed from the state of kangaba, on the Upper niger river east of the fouta djallon, and is said to have been founded before ad 1000. The malinke inhabitants of Kangaba acted as middlemen in the gold trade during the later period of ancient ghanasundaita,
the brother of Kangaba’s fugitive ruler, won a decisive victory against
the Susu chief. (The name Mali absorbed the name Kangaba at about this
time.)
In extending Mali’s rule beyond Kangaba’s narrow confines, sundaita set a precedent for successive emperors. Imperial armies secured the gold-bearing lands of Bondu and Bambuk to the south, subdued the Diara in the northwest, and pushed along the Niger as far north as Lac Débo. Under Mansa musa (1307–32?) Mali rose to the apogee of its power. He controlled the lands of the Middle Niger, absorbed into his empire the trading cities of timbuktu and gao, and imposed his rule on such south Saharan cities as Walata and on the Taghaza region of salt deposits to the north. He extended the eastern boundaries of his empire as far as the Hausa people, and to the west he invaded Takrur and the lands of the fulani and tukulor peoples. In morocco Egypt, and elsewhere he sent ambassadors and imperial agents and on his return from a pilgrimage to Mecca (1324) established Egyptian scholars in both Timbuktu and Gao.
. Their dislike of the Susu chief Sumanguru’s harsh but ineffective rule provoked the malinketo revolt, and in 1230
In the early thirteenth century, the exiled prince Sundiata Keita led a Mande revolt against the powerful Soso king Sumanguru Kante that marked the ascension of the Mali empire. Both a real historical personage and a cultural hero, Sundiata’s rise to power. After Sundiata, the most famous ruler of the Mali empire is Mansa Kankan Musa I, who came to power several decades after the death of his legendary predecessor. Musa was not the first emperor of Mali to embrace Islam; unlike the Soninke and the Soso, Mande royalty adopted the religion relatively early. However, Musa’s hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca) of 1324–25 drew the attention of both the Islamic world and Europeans, who were unprepared for the lavish wealth and generosity that the Malian king displayed during his stopover in Egypt. Accompanied by an enormous entourage, Musa apparently dispensed so much gold in Cairo that the precious metal’s value plummeted and did not recover for several years thereafter. The Mali empire, previously little known beyond the western Sudan, now became legendary in the Islamic world and Europe. The image of Mansa Musa bearing nuggets of gold was subsequently commemorated in maps of the African continent.
The fourteenth-century traveler Ibn Battuta visited ancient Mali a few decades after Musa’s death and was much impressed by the peace and lawfulness he found strictly enforced there. The Mali empire extended over an area larger than western Europe and consisted of numerous vassal kingdoms and provinces. Following Mansa Musa’s death, Mali went into a long decline, shrinking to the size of its original territory by 1645.
In extending Mali’s rule beyond Kangaba’s narrow confines, sundaita set a precedent for successive emperors. Imperial armies secured the gold-bearing lands of Bondu and Bambuk to the south, subdued the Diara in the northwest, and pushed along the Niger as far north as Lac Débo. Under Mansa musa (1307–32?) Mali rose to the apogee of its power. He controlled the lands of the Middle Niger, absorbed into his empire the trading cities of timbuktu and gao, and imposed his rule on such south Saharan cities as Walata and on the Taghaza region of salt deposits to the north. He extended the eastern boundaries of his empire as far as the Hausa people, and to the west he invaded Takrur and the lands of the fulani and tukulor peoples. In morocco Egypt, and elsewhere he sent ambassadors and imperial agents and on his return from a pilgrimage to Mecca (1324) established Egyptian scholars in both Timbuktu and Gao.
In the early thirteenth century, the exiled prince Sundiata Keita led a Mande revolt against the powerful Soso king Sumanguru Kante that marked the ascension of the Mali empire. Both a real historical personage and a cultural hero, Sundiata’s rise to power. After Sundiata, the most famous ruler of the Mali empire is Mansa Kankan Musa I, who came to power several decades after the death of his legendary predecessor. Musa was not the first emperor of Mali to embrace Islam; unlike the Soninke and the Soso, Mande royalty adopted the religion relatively early. However, Musa’s hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca) of 1324–25 drew the attention of both the Islamic world and Europeans, who were unprepared for the lavish wealth and generosity that the Malian king displayed during his stopover in Egypt. Accompanied by an enormous entourage, Musa apparently dispensed so much gold in Cairo that the precious metal’s value plummeted and did not recover for several years thereafter. The Mali empire, previously little known beyond the western Sudan, now became legendary in the Islamic world and Europe. The image of Mansa Musa bearing nuggets of gold was subsequently commemorated in maps of the African continent.
The fourteenth-century traveler Ibn Battuta visited ancient Mali a few decades after Musa’s death and was much impressed by the peace and lawfulness he found strictly enforced there. The Mali empire extended over an area larger than western Europe and consisted of numerous vassal kingdoms and provinces. Following Mansa Musa’s death, Mali went into a long decline, shrinking to the size of its original territory by 1645.
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