Pre-imperial Mali refers to the period of history before the establishment of the Mali Empire, an African empire located mostly in present-day Mali, in c. 1235.
The Mandinka kingdoms of Mali or Manden existed several centuries before Sundiata’s unification as small states to the south of the Soninké empire of Wagadou, better known as the Ghana Empire.[1]
In the first millennium BC, early cities and towns were founded along the middle Niger River, including at Dia which reached its peak around 600 BC,[2] and Djenne-Djenno, which lasted from around 250 BC to 900 AD. By the 6th century AD, the lucrative trans-Saharan trade in gold, salt and slaves had begun, facilitating the rise of West Africa's great empires.
According to modern traditions, during the height of Ghana's power, the land of Manden became one of its provinces, though the contemporary evidence of al-Bakri does not support such a large extent for Ghana's rule.[3] The Manden city-state of Ka-ba (present-day Kangaba) served as the capital of this province where Mandinka kings probably known as faamas ruled at least as early as the 11th century.[4] Archaeological work at the site of Niani, a later capital of Mali, has revealed the remains of a substantial town dating back as far as the 6th century.[5][6]
After the fall of Ghana, the Kangaba province splintered into twelve kingdoms with their own faamas or farin.[7] The leader of the confederacy, the mansa, was elected from among the clan leaders but had little real power. Gradually centralized control grew in tandem with increased trade and the use of slave labor to enrich the monarchs.[8]
There are a few references to Mali in early Islamic literature. Among these are references to "Pene" and "Malal" in the work of al-Bakri in 1068,[9][10] the story of the conversion of an early ruler, known to Ibn Khaldun (by 1397) as Barmandana,[11] and a few geographical details in the work of al-Idrisi.[12]
The Keita dynasty that ruled Mali traces its lineage back to Bilal,[13] the faithful muezzin of Islam’s prophet Muhammad. Legend says that three of Bilal's sons founded the country of Manden, and the eldest became the first ruler[14] It was common practice during the Middle Ages for both Christian and Muslim rulers to tie their bloodline back to a pivotal figure in their faith’s history, so the lineage of the Keita dynasty is dubious.[15]
In an attempt to justify the importance of the Keita and their civilisation in early Arabic literatures, the London-based Nigerian-British cleric Sheikh Abu-Abdullah Adelabu, the head of Awqaf Africa in London, coined the Arabic derivatives ك – و – ي K(a)-W(e)-Y(a) of the word Keita which in (in what he called) Arabicised Mandingo language Allah(u) Ka(w)eia meaning "Allah Creates All" as a favourable motto of reflection for Bilal Ibn Rabah, one of the most trusted and loyal Sahabah (companions) of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, whom he described (quoting William Muir's book The Life of Muhammad) as "a tall, dark, and with African feature and bushy hair"[16] pious man who overcame slavery, racism and socio-political obstacles in Arabia to achieve a lofty status in this world and in the Hereafter.[17]
According to traditions current in the fourteenth century and reported to the historian ibn Khaldun by the faqih of Ghana, shaykh Uthman in 1394, the Almoravid movement weakened Ghana, to the extent that "the authority of the rulers of Ghana dwindled away, and they were overcome by the Susu, a neighboring people of the Sudan, who subjugated and absorbed them."[18] Traditions in Mali related that the Soso attacked and took over Mali as well, and the ruler of the Soso, Sumaouro Kanté took over the land.[19]
The tradition of the final emergence of Mali as an imperial power was also first revealed by shaykh Uthman, when he told ibn Khaldun that Mali emerged following its defeat of the Soso. "Their greatest king, he who overcame the Susu, conquered their country and seized their power from their hands, was named Mari Jata."[20] The story of the rise of Sundiata (or Sunjata), as he is known modern tradition is still the most widely recited tradition among Mandinka speaking people, a group of stories concerning his reign known as the Epic of Sundiata. While there are many versions of the story, most agree that he was the son of Niani’s faama, Nare Fa (also known as Maghan Kon Fatta meaning the handsome prince). Sundiata’s mother was Maghan Kon Fatta’s second wife, Sogolon Kédjou.[13] She was a hunchback from the land of Do, south of Mali. The child of this marriage received the first name of his mother (Sogolon) and the surname of his father (Djata). Combined in the rapidly spoken language of the Mandinka, the names formed Sondjata or Sundjata.[13] The anglicized version of this name, Sundiata, is also popular. According to shaykh Uthman in 1394 as reported by ibn Khaldun, the name was "Mari, which in their language means 'prince of the royal line' and Jata, which means 'lion.'"[21]
Sundiata was prophesied to become a great conqueror. To his parents' dread, the prince did not have a promising start. Sundiata, according to the oral traditions, did not walk until he was seven years old.[7] However, once Sundiata did gain use of his legs he grew strong and very respected. Sadly for Sundiata, this did not occur before his father died. Despite the faama of Niani’s wishes to respect the prophecy and put Sundiata on the throne, the son from his first wife Sassouma Bérété was crowned instead. As soon as Sassouma’s son Dankaran Touman took the throne, he and his mother forced the increasingly popular Sundiata into exile along with his mother and two sisters. Before Dankaran Touman and his mother could enjoy their unimpeded power, King Soumaoro set his sights on Niani forcing Dankaran to flee to Kissidougou.[13][22]
After many years in exile, first at the court of Wagadou and then at Mema, Sundiata was sought out by a Niani delegation and begged to combat the Sosso and free the kingdoms of Manden forever.
Returning with the combined armies of Mema, Wagadou and all the rebellious Mandinka city-states, Sundiata led a revolt against the Kaniaga Kingdom around 1234. The combined forces of northern and southern Manden defeated the Sosso army at the Battle of Kirina (then known as Krina) in approximately 1235.[7] This victory resulted in the fall of the Kaniaga kingdom and the rise of the Mali Empire. After the victory, King Soumaoro disappeared, and the Mandinka stormed the last of the Sosso cities. Maghan Sundiata was declared “faama of faamas” and received the title “mansa”, which translates roughly to emperor. At the age of 18, he gained authority over all the twelve kingdoms in an alliance known as the Manden Kurufa.[1] He was crowned under the throne name Mari Djata becoming the first Mandinka emperor.[7]
The French colonial administrator and historian Maurice Delafosse was one of the earliest Western historians to attempt a comprehensive history of the region in his book Haut-Sénégal-Niger (1912)[23] produced a fairly detailed and exact chronology of Mali. However, he never explained how he arrived at the dates he presented there, or elsewhere, and indeed, the primary sources on which he relied did not give clear indications of chronology at that level of detail. Scholars since then, while occasionally noting the issue, have accepted this chronology and it is thus widely reported and repeated. There is little question that it is approximately correct, since the Arabic materials are fairly abundant and give a number of clues, but it would be wrong to repeat this chronology as being confirmed by original material.
There are a few sketchy references to pre-Imperial Mali in written sources. The earliest written account of pre-Imperial Mali was in the 9th century by Ahmad al-Yaqubi in his Kitab al-Buldan. In al-Bakri's reference of the Western Sudan written in 1068, he names two countries "Daw" and "Malal" located near the Niger and close to gold-fields, which are likely to be the core of the eventual Empire of Mali. Al-Bakri goes on to describe how the unnamed ruler of the kingdom was converted to Islam by a merchant when he witnessed the miraculous shower of rain that ended a drought. This event occurred at least one generation preceding 1068, since al-Bakri noted that the ruler's descendants and his nobles kept Islam, even though the common people were not converted.[24] Ibn Khaldun, a North African historian living in Egypt interviewed shaykh Uthman, who was the faqih of Ghana and described as wise and learned. Uthman provided information on the past kings, presumably from oral tradition current in his day (1394), and named the first Muslim king Barmandana.[25] In al-Idrisi's account of 1154, he noted that the two towns of Daw and Malal had four days' travel between them, located in a river valley that joins the Nile (by which he meant the Niger). Malal was described as a "small town, like a large village without a surrounding wall, built on an unassailable hill of red earth."[26]
In 1965 and beyond a Polish archaeological team excavated at Niani, reputed to be the ancient capital of Mali. They discovered remains of buildings and other artefacts that showed a fairly intensive occupation of the site since the sixth century CE, though the site could not be classified as urban until much later, perhaps the fourteenth century. At its height, Niani comprised a number of densely occupied clusters scattered over the countryside, including a remarkable number of iron-producing sites, pointing to the town as a major industrial centre. There are also evidences of an Islamic presence, supporting the idea that there was a Muslim or commercial town and a royal town, as well as other sites. These excavations provided the strongest support for the traditional claim that a state of some complexity pre-existed the imperial period in Mali's history.[27]
Some of what historians have written about pre-Imperial Mali is based on oral tradition collected since the late nineteenth century. Much of the tradition focuses on the "Epic of Sunjata" a series of tales about early Mali that griots assemble into longer versions. There are several of these versions in print, the most famous of which is that of D. T. Niane, thanks to its lively narrative style and early translation into other languages. Niane's work, however, is not a literal translation of an original oral discourse, though it is surely largely based on tales told by a certain Mamadou Kouyate of Keyla.[28] Rather, it is a reworking in literary form of Kouyate's tales. More literal versions of the tradition have since been published in French, English and Mandinka versions.[29]