Kingdom of Mali

Kingdom of Mali

Mali began as a small state called Kangaba and was established by the Mandinka people. The Mandinka were farmers and middle-men in the gold trade and had been conquered by the Kingdom of Ghana.

​Sundiata Keita was born to a noble Mandinka family in the early 1200s. Legends told by oral tradition say his brothers were killed by Ghana's rulers but he was spared because he was crippled. 

It Started When...

Keita later led a revolt against the Empire of Ghana. He united several groups and was victorious at the Battle of Kirina in 1235. 

Keita then founded the Mali Empire and took the title of Mansa (king or emperor in the Mandinka language).

Sundiata Keita commanded a mighty army and expanded the empire by defeating neighboring kingdoms. Eventually he divided the empire into provinces that were ruled by governors.

A series of rulers came after Keita, but it was the 9th mansa who brought Mali into its golden age.

Multiple Choice

Who did the Kingdom of Mali replace?

• Egypt

• Ghana

• Arabia Empire

• Greeks

Multiple Choice

What is a Mansa?

• A religious leader

• A wealthy merchant

• A King/Ruler

• The Major General of the Malian Empire

The Mali Empire consisted of outlying areas and small kingdoms. All these Kingdoms pledged allegiance to Mali by offering annual tributes in the form of rice, millet, lances and arrows. Mali prospered from taxes collected from its citizens, and all goods brought in and out of the Empire were heavily taxed while all gold nuggets belonged to the King. However, gold dust could be traded and at certain times gold dust was used as currency together with salt and cotton cloth. Cowrie shells from the Indian Ocean were later used as currency in the internal trade of Western Sahara.

Structure and Economy

Mali, and especially the city of Timbuktu, was famous a centre of learning and spectacular architecture such as the Sankara Madrassa - a great centre of learning - and the University of Sankore which continued to produce a great many astronomers, scholars and engineers long after the end of the Empire of Mali. French colonial occupation is considered to have contributed to the University’s decline in its quality of education.

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Timbuktu

Multiple Choice

Timbuktu was a center for.....

• Education and Learning

• Religion

• Economic trade mecha

• A fort built to defend against foreign invasion

Mansa Musa took power around 1312. He was one of the first truly devout Muslims to lead the Mali Empire. He attempted to make Islam the faith of the nobility, but kept the tradition of not forcing it on his people.

Musa went on pilgrimage or hajj to Mecca in 1324. He traveled with an enormous entourage and a vast supply of gold. He made a point of showing off his nation's wealth.

The lavish display of riches and generosity drew the attention of the whole Islamic world and Europe.

Mansa Musa

This was especially true in Cairo, where they camped by the Pyramids of Giza in July 1324. Musa gave so much gold to the poor and others that it supposedly impacted Egypt's entire economy.

It is estimated that Mansa Musa was the wealthiest person in history.

Back in Mali, the salt plains in the north and the gold mines in the south continued to bring more wealth. Timbuktu became a center of learning and many important scholars visited the country, like Ibn Battuta, the greatest of all Arab travelers and writers.

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Multiple Choice

What religion did Mansa Musa want to spread?

• Islam

• Christianity

• Buddhism

• Judaism

Open Ended

What did Mansa Musa do to the Egyptian economy, and how?

The people of Mali were also skilled farmers. The natural environment was ideal for planting cotton, peanuts, grains and other crops, which fed the people.

Wealth also came from the slave trade. Mali captured and enslaved people from neighboring groups. However, Mali's constitution, the Kouroukan Fouga prohibited the maltreatment of prisoners and the enslaved.

When Ibn Buttata visited Mali in the 14th century, shortly after Mansa Musa's death, he was surprised and impressed by how strictly order was enforced in the kingdom.

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Farming

Soon after, however, Musa's grandsons fought over his throne. Far-off provinces of the empire broke away while enemies attacked it in its weakened state.

In 1534, the ruler Mansa Suleyman asked Portuguese colonizers at the coast for help, but they refused. Mali shrank to the original size of Kangaba by 1645.

The Empire finally collapsed with the rise of the Kingdom of Songhai, but no empire was able to maintain the power and wealth held by the Kingdom of Mali.

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The Collapse

Multiple Choice

Which European power did the Malian empire ask for help from, one they realized they were in trouble?

• Germany

• The British

• The Italian

• The Portuguese