General Description
After the gradual decline of the Ghana Empire, the power vacuum left in the Sudanese region was filled with several smaller successor states, including the Sosso Kingdom.
[1]
In the early 13th century CE, several Malinke chiefdoms from the Upper Niger region united against the Sosso and slowly aggregated into what would become the Mali Empire.
[2]
This polity, also known as the Mandingo Empire,
[3]
was the largest of the West African empires, and flourished from the early 13th to the late 14th/early 15th century, at which point it started to decline.
[4]
[5]
The apogee of the Mali Empire corresponds to the reign of Musa I of the Keita dynasty, the mansa (emperor) who reigned over 24 cities and their surrounding territories from 1312 to 1337.
[6]
His empire extended from the Atlantic to Gao and the Niger Inland Delta, and from the southern Sahara to the tropical forest belt.
[3]
Musa I is also famed for his patronage of Islam in Mali and for his lavish distribution of gold when he set off on a pilgrimage to Mecca in 1325.
[7]
Population and political organization
The kings of the Keita dynasty sat at the apex of a confederation incorporating smaller kingdoms such as Ghana and Mema.
[8]
At its height, the empire comprised 12 provinces made up of smaller, village-centred clan units.
[9]
The mansa (emperor) was thus a ’chief of chiefs’, assuming the mantle of a supreme patriarch, and he could dispense justice personally.
[10]
He received advice from the griot, chosen from the Kouyate clan, who was also his spokesman and the tutor of princes.
[10]
The aristocracy formed around the Malinke warrior class,
[11]
including an elite corps of cavalry.
[12]
The empire maintained a strong army, with garrisons stationed in the main towns.
[13]
The merchant class, known as Dyula or Wangara,
[14]
formed settlements at the margins of the forest regions, such Kankan in modern-day Guinea, Bobo Dioulasso in modern Ivory Coast, and Begho in modern Ghana.
[15]
The cities of Mali were cosmopolitan, inhabited by people of every occupation and from every province of the empire,
[16]
and prospering from their participation in Trans-Saharan trade networks and the export of gold, ivory, salt and slaves.
[17]
Their characteristic mudbrick architecture, known as banco, can still be admired today.
[18]
This distinctive architectural style is one of many signs of Mali’s legacy in the region, as its language, laws and customs spread through West Africa. In the 15th century, however, a long period of gradual decline began. Timbuktu was captured by the Tuareg in 1433,
[19]
and a few decades of internal political struggles made it difficult for the emperors to maintain control over such a large region, leading to the contraction of the empire’s territory.
[20]
The empire was densely populated, with a reported 400 towns in the region and a compact net of villages near the trading city of Jenné.
[21]
When the Andalusi diplomat Leo Africanus visited Niani in the 16th century, he described a thriving city of ’six thousand hearths’.
[22]
[1]: (Conrad 2005, 33) David C. Conrad. 2005. Empires of Medieval West Africa: Ghana, Mali, and Songhay. New York: Facts On File.
[2]: (Conrad 2005, 31) David C. Conrad. 2005. Empires of Medieval West Africa: Ghana, Mali, and Songhay. New York: Facts On File.
[3]: (Diop 1987, 93) Cheikh Anta Diop. 1987. Precolonial Black Africa, translated by Harold Salemson. Chicago: Lawrence Hill Books.
[4]: (MacDonald et al. 2011, 52) K. C. MacDonald, S. Camara, S. Canós, N. Gestrich, and D. Keita. 2011. ’Sorotomo: A Forgotten Malian Capital?’ Archaeology International 13: 52-64. http://doi.org/10.5334/ai.1315.
[5]: (Lapidus 2012, 592) Ira M. Lapidus. 2012. Islamic Societies to the Nineteenth Century: A Global History. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
[6]: (Conrad 2010, 45) David C. Conrad. 2010. Empires of Medieval West Africa: Ghana, Mali, and Songhay. Revised Edition. New York: Chelsea House Publishers.
[7]: (Niane 1984, 148) Djibril Tamsir Niane. 1984. ’Mali and the Second Mandingo expansion’, in General History of Africa, Vol. 4: Africa from the Twelfth to the Sixteenth Century edited by D. T. Niane, 117-71. Paris: UNESCO.
[8]: (Niane 1984, 158-60) Djibril Tamsir Niane. 1984. ’Mali and the Second Mandingo expansion’, in General History of Africa, Vol. 4: Africa from the Twelfth to the Sixteenth Century edited by D. T. Niane, 117-71. Paris: UNESCO.
[9]: (Niane 1984, 161) Djibril Tamsir Niane. 1984. ’Mali and the Second Mandingo expansion’, in General History of Africa, Vol. 4: Africa from the Twelfth to the Sixteenth Century edited by D. T. Niane, 117-71. Paris: UNESCO.
[10]: (Niane 1984, 160) Djibril Tamsir Niane. 1984. ’Mali and the Second Mandingo expansion’, in General History of Africa, Vol. 4: Africa from the Twelfth to the Sixteenth Century edited by D. T. Niane, 117-71. Paris: UNESCO.
[11]: (Niane 1975, 36) Djibril Tamsir Niane. 1975. Le Soudan Occidental au temps des grands empires XI-XVIe siècle. Paris: Présence africaine.
[12]: (Niane 1984, 162) Djibril Tamsir Niane. 1984. ’Mali and the Second Mandingo expansion’, in General History of Africa, Vol. 4: Africa from the Twelfth to the Sixteenth Century edited by D. T. Niane, 117-71. Paris: UNESCO.
[13]: (Niane 1984, 164) Djibril Tamsir Niane. 1984. ’Mali and the Second Mandingo expansion’, in General History of Africa, Vol. 4: Africa from the Twelfth to the Sixteenth Century edited by D. T. Niane, 117-71. Paris: UNESCO.
[14]: (Davidson 1998, 42) Basil Davidson. 1998. West Africa Before the Colonial Era: A History to 1850. Routledge: London.
[15]: (Oliver and Atmore 2001, 64) Roland Anthony Oliver and Anthony Atmore. 2001. Medieval Africa, 1250-1800. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
[16]: (Niane 1984, 145) Djibril Tamsir Niane. 1984. ’Mali and the Second Mandingo expansion’, in General History of Africa, Vol. 4: Africa from the Twelfth to the Sixteenth Century edited by D. T. Niane, 117-71. Paris: UNESCO.
[17]: (Conrad 2005, 42) David C. Conrad. 2005. Empires of Medieval West Africa: Ghana, Mali, and Songhay. New York: Facts On File.
[18]: (Niane 1984, 150) Djibril Tamsir Niane. 1984. ’Mali and the Second Mandingo expansion’, in General History of Africa, Vol. 4: Africa from the Twelfth to the Sixteenth Century edited by D. T. Niane, 117-71. Paris: UNESCO.
[19]: (Ly-Tall 1984, 174) Madina Ly-Tall. 1984. ’The decline of the Mali empire’ in General History of Africa, Vol. 4: Africa from the Twelfth to the Sixteenth Century edited by D. T. Niane, 172-86. Paris: UNESCO.
[20]: (Conrad 2005, 46) David C. Conrad. 2005. Empires of Medieval West Africa: Ghana, Mali, and Songhay. New York: Facts On File.
[21]: (Niane 1984, 156) Djibril Tamsir Niane. 1984. ’Mali and the Second Mandingo expansion’, in General History of Africa, Vol. 4: Africa from the Twelfth to the Sixteenth Century edited by D. T. Niane, 117-71. Paris: UNESCO.
[22]: (Davidson 1998, 43) Basil Davidson. 1998. West Africa Before the Colonial Era: A History to 1850. Routledge: London.
alliance with [---] |
Mande |
Mande States |
[1,700,000 to 1,900,000] km2 |
continuity |
UNCLEAR: [continuity] | |
Succeeding: Jolof Empire (se_jolof_emp) [None] |
unitary state | |
confederated state |
Unknown |
inferred Present |
Unknown |
inferred Present |
inferred Present |
Present |
Unknown |
inferred Present |
inferred Present |
inferred Present |
Year Range | Mali Empire (ml_mali_emp) was in: |
---|---|
(1235 CE 1410 CE) | Niger Inland Delta |
Variable | Coded Value | Tags | Year(s) | See More | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Loading...
|
|||||||||||
Loading...
|
|||||||||||
Loading...
|
|||||||||||
Loading...
|
|||||||||||
Loading...
|
|||||||||||
Loading...
|
|||||||||||
Variable | Coded Value | Tags | Year(s) | See More | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Loading...
|
|||||||||||
Loading...
|
|||||||||||
Loading...
|
|||||||||||
Loading...
|
|||||||||||
Loading...
|
|||||||||||
Loading...
|
|||||||||||
Loading...
|
|||||||||||
Loading...
|
|||||||||||
Loading...
|
|||||||||||
Variable | Coded Value | Tags | Year(s) | See More | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Loading...
|
|||||||||||
Loading...
|
|||||||||||
Loading...
|
|||||||||||
Variable | Coded Value | Tags | Year(s) | See More | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Loading...
|
|||||||||||
Loading...
|
|||||||||||
Loading...
|
|||||||||||
Loading...
|
|||||||||||
Variable | Coded Value | Tags | Year(s) | See More | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Loading...
|
|||||||||||
Loading...
|
|||||||||||
Loading...
|
|||||||||||
Loading...
|
|||||||||||
Loading...
|
|||||||||||
Variable | Coded Value | Tags | Year(s) | See More | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Loading...
|
|||||||||||
Variable | Coded Value | Tags | Year(s) | See More | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Loading...
|
|||||||||||
Loading...
|
|||||||||||
Loading...
|
|||||||||||
Loading...
|
|||||||||||
Loading...
|
|||||||||||
Loading...
|
|||||||||||
Variable | Coded Value | Tags | Year(s) | See More | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Loading...
|
|||||||||||
Loading...
|
|||||||||||
Loading...
|
|||||||||||
Loading...
|
|||||||||||
Loading...
|
|||||||||||
Loading...
|
|||||||||||
Loading...
|
|||||||||||
Loading...
|
|||||||||||
Loading...
|
|||||||||||
Variable | Coded Value | Tags | Year(s) | See More | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Loading...
|
|||||||||||
Loading...
|
|||||||||||
Loading...
|
|||||||||||
Loading...
|
|||||||||||
Loading...
|
|||||||||||
Loading...
|
|||||||||||
Variable | Coded Value | Tags | Year(s) | See More | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Loading...
|
|||||||||||
Loading...
|
|||||||||||
Loading...
|
|||||||||||
Variable | Coded Value | Tags | Year(s) | See More |
---|
Variable | Coded Value | Tags | Year(s) | See More | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Loading...
|
|||||||||||
Loading...
|
|||||||||||
Loading...
|
|||||||||||
Loading...
|
|||||||||||
Loading...
|
|||||||||||
Loading...
|
|||||||||||
Loading...
|
|||||||||||
Loading...
|
|||||||||||
Loading...
|
|||||||||||
Loading...
|
|||||||||||
Variable | Coded Value | Tags | Year(s) | See More | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Loading...
|
|||||||||||
Loading...
|
|||||||||||
Loading...
|
|||||||||||
Loading...
|
|||||||||||
Loading...
|
|||||||||||
Loading...
|
|||||||||||
Loading...
|
|||||||||||
Loading...
|
|||||||||||
Loading...
|
|||||||||||
Loading...
|
|||||||||||
Variable | Coded Value | Tags | Year(s) | See More | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Loading...
|
|||||||||||
Loading...
|
|||||||||||
Loading...
|
|||||||||||
Loading...
|
|||||||||||
Loading...
|
|||||||||||
Loading...
|
|||||||||||
Variable | Coded Value | Tags | Year(s) | See More | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Loading...
|
|||||||||||
Loading...
|
|||||||||||
Loading...
|
|||||||||||
Loading...
|
|||||||||||
Loading...
|
|||||||||||
Loading...
|
|||||||||||
Loading...
|
|||||||||||
Loading...
|
|||||||||||
Loading...
|
|||||||||||
Loading...
|
|||||||||||
Variable | Coded Value | Tags | Year(s) | See More | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Loading...
|
|||||||||||
Loading...
|
|||||||||||
Loading...
|
|||||||||||
Loading...
|
|||||||||||
Loading...
|
|||||||||||
Loading...
|
|||||||||||
Loading...
|
|||||||||||
Loading...
|
|||||||||||
Loading...
|
|||||||||||
Variable | Coded Value | Tags | Year(s) | See More |
---|