The Empire of Mali

The Mali Empire at its estimated greatest extent. Image source

The Empire of Mali was one of the largest empires in West African History, and at its height, it
spanned from the Atlantic Coast to central parts of the Sahara desert [i]. The Empire was
founded in 1235 CE by the legendary King Sundiata [ii] and lasted until the early 1600s CE [iii].
The Empire’s most famous ruler was named Mansa Musa, and chroniclers of the times wrote that
when he travelled to Mecca on a pilgrimage he distributed so much gold that he caused great
inflation lasting a decade [iv].
History
The Mali Empire arose with the consolidation of several small Malinké Kingdoms in Ghana
around the areas of the upper Niger River [v]. Most of what is known about the Empire of Mali’s
early history was collected by Arabic scholars in the 1300s and 1400s [vi]. A King named
Sumanguru Kanté ruled the Susu Kingdom, which had conquered the Malinké people in the
early 13th century [vii]. The King known as Sundiata (also spelt Sunjata) organised the Malinké
resistance against the Susu Kingdom [viii], and Sundiata is believed by many historians, such as
Conrad David and Innes Gordon, to have founded Mali when he defeated Sumanguru Kanté in
1235 [ix] [x].
The development of the empire began in its capital city of Niani, which was also coincidentally
the birthplace of the empire’s founder and King Sundiata [xi]. Sundiata built a vast empire that
stretched from the Atlantic Coast south of the Senegal River to Goa on the east of the Middle
Niger bend.
Economy and Society in the Empire of Mali
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 [xii].
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 [xiii]. Cowrie shells from the Indian Ocean were later used as currency in the internal trade
of Western Sahara [xiv].
Mali, and especially the city of Timbuktu, was famous a centre of learning and spectacular
architecture [xv] 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 [xvi].
While Mali was a monarchy ruled by the Mansa or Master, much of the state power was in the
hands of court officials [xvii]. This meant that the Empire could survive several periods of
instability and a series of bad rulers. The Empire of Mali was also a multi-ethnic and multi-
linguistic empire, and Islam was the dominant religion [xviii].

Leadership
Mali’s rulers adopted the title of ‘Mansa’ [xix]. Mali’s founder, Sundiata, firmly established
himself as a strong leader in both the religious and secular sense [xx], claiming that he had a
direct link to spirits of the land, thus making him the guardian of the ancestors. His empire
extended from the fringes of the forest in the southwest through the grassland country of the
Malinké to the Sahel and Southern Sahara ports of the Walatta and Tandmekka [xxi], and Arabic
scholars estimate that Sundiata ruled for about 25 years and died in 1255 [xxii].
Despite the great extent of the Empire of Mali it was often plagued by insufficient
leadership [xxiii]. Yet Sundiata’s son Mansa Wali [xxiv], who became the next King, is
considered to have been one of the most powerful rulers of Mali [xxv]. Mansa Wali would, in
turn, be succeeded by his brother Wati, who was succeeded by his brother called Kahlifa [xxvi].
Kahlifa was seen as a particularly bad ruler, and some chroniclers describe how he would use
bows and arrows to kill people for entertainment [xxvii]. Because of his misrule, Kahlifa was
deposed and replaced by a grandchild of Sundiata named Abu Bakr [xxviii]. Abu Bakr had been
adopted by Sundiata as a son, although he was a grandchild and the son of Sundiata's daughter,
which would have greatly strengthened his claim to the throne [xxix].
The leadership trouble in the Malian Empire would continue after the ascension of Abu Bakr.
Abu Bakr was deposed in a coup by a man named Sakura, who was either a slave [xxx] or a
military commander [xxxi]. The low stature of Sakura perhaps implies that the royal family had
lost much of its popularity amongst the common people [xxxii]. Sakura’s reign, however, would
also be a troubled one; after he had converted to Islam, Sakura undertook a pilgrimage to Mecca
but was killed by the Danakil people [xxxiii] during his return journey while in the city of
Tadjoura [xxxiv]. It is disputed why Sakura was in Tadjoura, as it was not a natural route to take
when returning from Mecca to Mali, and also for what reasons he was killed [xxxv]. Some
suggest that he was killed because the Danakil wanted to steal his gold [xxxvi].
Sakura’s rise to power also shows us that the ruling family, and the Mansa, had limited power in
the Empire of Mali and that the officers of the court wielded significant power [xxxvii] in
comparison. The Empire of Mali was organised into provinces with a strict hierarchical
structure [xxxviii] in which each province had a Governor, and each town had a mayor or
mochrif [xxxix]. Large armies were deployed to stop any rebellions in the smaller kingdoms and
to safeguard the many trade routes [xl]. The decentralisation of power to lower levels of
government bureaucracy through court officers, together with a strict hierarchical structure, was
part of why the Malian Empire was so stable despite a series of bad rulers [xli]. Despite
squabbles within the ruling family, the devolution of state administrative power through lower
structures meant that the Empire could function quite well. In times of good rulers, the Empire
would expand its territory, rendering it one of the largest Empires in West African history [xlii].
The famous Mansa Musa
It was in this context that the Empire of Mali’s most famous ruler, Mansa Musa, ascended to the
throne. It is debated by historians whether Mansa Musa was the grandson of one of Sundiata’s
brothers, thus making him Sundiata’s grand-nephew, or if he was the grandson of Abu
Bakr [xliii]. What is known is that Mansa Musa converted to Islam and underwent a pilgrimage
to Mecca in 1324, accompanied by 60 000 individuals and large quantities of gold [xliv]. His
generosity was supposedly so great that by the time he left Mecca he had used every piece of
gold he had taken with him, and had to borrow money for the return trip [xlv].
Mansa Musa was known to be a wise and efficient ruler, and one of his greatest
accomplishments was his commission of some of the greatest buildings of Timbuktu. In 1327 the
Great Mosque in Timbuktu was constructed [xlvi] and Timbuktu would later become a centre of
learning [xlvii]. At the end of Mansa Musa’s reign, he had built and funded the Sankara
Madrassa, which subsequently becomes one of the greatest centres of learning in the Islamic
world, and the greatest library in Africa at the time [xlviii]. The Sankara Madrassa is estimated to
have housed between 250 000 and 700 000 manuscripts, making it the largest library in Africa
since the Great Library of Alexandria [xlix]. Some sources claim that during his reign Mansa
Musa conquered 24 cities with its surrounding land, thus expanding the empire greatly [l]. Mansa
Musa is estimated to have died in 1337, and would pass the title of Mansa to his son, Mansa
Maghan [li].

The decline of the Mali Empire

The period of 1360 – 1390 was a time of troubles for the Empire of Mali [lii]. The Empire
suffered under several bad rulers with short reigns [liii]. The throne changed hands between
several members of the ruling family and was at one point seized by a man named Mahmud, who
was not from Mali nor part of the ruling family [liv]. Eventually, Mansa Mari Djata II managed
to regain the throne for the ruling dynasty, but his despotic rule ruined the state [lv]. As in
previous years, it was a court official who brought the Empire back on track after a series of bad
rulers. Mari Djarta, a ‘wazir’ (minister), took power and ruled, essentially acting as regent,
through King Mansa Musa II [lvi]. During the reign of Mari Djarta (also known as Mari Djarta
III) the Empire of Mali would restore some of the power that it had lost during the preceding 30
years of misrule and civil war [lvii].
Mansa Musa II died in 1387 and was succeeded by his brother Mansa Magha II, who would also
be the puppet of powerful court officials [lviii]. After a year Mansa Musa II was killed, thus
ending the line of kings which descended from Mansa Musa I [lix]. This triggered the decline of
the Empire of Mali and in 1433 the city was conquered by Tuareg nomads [lx]. For the next 100
years the Empire would slowly give way to the Songhay conquerors from the east, and by the
1500s it had been reduced to only its Malinké core lands [lxi]. During the 17th century Mali had
broken into a number of minor independent chiefdoms and thus the Mali Empire was no longer
the superpower it had been in its prime [lxii].