Sundiata Keita: the Lion of Mali who founded an empire
Remembered in the epic of the griots, the 13th-century prince built the Mali Empire. A charter from his reign is on UNESCO's heritage list.
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Bamako — Sundiata Keita, who lived from about 1217 to about 1255, was the prince who founded the Mali Empire, one of the great states of African history. He is known by many names, among them the Lion of Mali and Sogolon Djata, "son of Sogolon".
A life told in song
Much of what we know about Sundiata comes from the Epic of Sundiata, a long poem passed down for generations by Maninka griots, the hereditary historians and storytellers of the Mande world. It tells of a prince, son of Naré Maghan Konaté and Sogolon Condé, who overcomes hardship to unite his people and found an empire.
The epic is part legend, part history. But written sources back up the oral tradition. The Moroccan traveller Ibn Battuta and the Tunisian historian Ibn Khaldun, who both visited Mali in the century after Sundiata's death, confirmed that he existed.
A charter for living together
The Manden Charter, proclaimed during his reign, is listed by UNESCO as part of humanity's intangible cultural heritage.
Sundiata was also the great-uncle of Mansa Musa, the Mali ruler remembered for his extraordinary wealth and his famous pilgrimage to Mecca in 1324. The empire Sundiata founded would grow to stretch across much of West Africa.
Background: Wikipedia.
