Megalithic monuments, Iron Age tumuli, and abandoned town remnants all attest to the long history of human habitation in the West African parts of the Sudan region (known in Arabic as بلاد السودان), whre the Mali Empire would later develop. Parts of this arid grassland and savannah were frequently flooded by the Niger River, providing good ground for cultivation at least 3,500 years ago, an endeavor made possible in large part by the region’s sufficient yearly rainfall.
Mali, a trading empire that flourished in western Africa till the 17th century. The Mali empire developed from the state of Kangaba, on the upper Niger River east of the Fouta Djallon. Local records and historical research indicate that the empire was founded before 1000 CE, although many researchers also believe that its flourishing period started under Sundiata Keita, a Malinke prince (whose name “Sundiata” means ‘lion prince’). Sundiata lived from c. 1214 to c. 1255, and reigned from 1230 to 1255. The empire became renowned for the wealth of its rulers, especially Mansa Musa (Musa Keita).
Also, the Malinke inhabitants of Kangaba acted as middlemen in the gold trade during the later period of ancient Ghana. Tired of Sumanguru’s oppressive rule, Sundiata, the brother of Kangaba’s fugitive ruler, organized a formidable alliance with other unhappy chiefs and conquered the Susu in a decisive battle at Krina (called Kirina) in 1235. The ancient Ghanaian capital was taken by Sundiata in 1240. An assembly, known as the gbara, was established with a centralized government composed of tribal chiefs and some powerful Arab traders. They proclaimed Sundiata the ultimate ruler and bestowed upon him titles such as Mari Diata (Lord Lion).
The name Sundiata gave to his empire, Africa’s largest up to that point, was Mali, meaning ‘the place where the king lives’. It was also decreed that all future kings would be selected from the Keita clan, although the title was not necessarily given to the eldest son of a ruler, which sometimes led to fierce disputes among candidates.
The Mali empire flourished in western Africa from the 13th to the 16th century. In extending Mali’s rule beyond Kangaba’s narrow confines, Sundiata set a precedent for successive emperors. Imperial armies secured the gold-bearing lands of Bondu and Bambuk to the south, subdued the Diara in the northwest, and pushed along the Niger as far north as Lac Débo.
Throughout the Mali Empire’s history, audiences were conducted at the royal palace or beneath a huge tree, with the Mansa, or monarch, receiving assistance from an assembly of elders and local chiefs. Although the king used legal counsel, he remained the ultimate source of justice. The captain of the army, the master of the granaries (later the treasury), and other officials like the master of ceremonies and conductor of the royal orchestra were among the important ministers who supported the king.
Under Mansa Mūsā (1307–32?), Mali rose to the apogee of its power. He controlled the lands of the middle Niger, absorbed into his empire the trading cities of Timbuktu and Gao, and imposed his rule on such south Saharan cities as Walata and on the Taghaza region of salt deposits to the north. He extended the eastern boundaries of his empire as far as the Hausa people, and to the west he invaded Takrur and the lands of the Fulani and Tukulor peoples. In Morocco, Egypt, and elsewhere he sent ambassadors and imperial agents and on his return from a pilgrimage to Mecca (1324) established Egyptian scholars in both Timbuktu and Gao.
By the 14th century the Dyula, or Wangara, as the Muslim traders of Mali came to be called, were active throughout western Africa. However, by the 15th century, the Mali Empire had begun to fall. The lack of clear guidelines for royal succession sometimes resulted in civil conflicts between brothers and uncles vying for the throne. Then, as trade routes spread to other regions, a number of competing kingdoms, most notably the Songhai, grew to the west. Since European ships, particularly Portuguese ones, were now often traveling down Africa’s west coast, the Saharan caravans faced fierce rivalry as the most effective way to get cargo from West Africa to the Mediterranean.
The tide that had carried Mali to success, however, impelled it ineluctably to decline. The empire outgrew its political and military strength: Gao rebelled (c. 1400); the Tuareg seized Walata and Timbuktu (1431); the peoples of Takrur and their neighbours (notably the Wolof) threw off their subjection; and the Mossi (in what is now Burkina Faso) began to harass their Mali overlord. By about 1550 Mali had ceased to be important as a political entity.
Among the most identifiable features of the Mali Empire are its structures, some of which, like the Sankore mosque in Timbuktu, still stand till date. These structures have come to represent the rich pre-colonial past of Africa on a global scale. The lack of stone in the area put Mali architects at a major challenge; as a result, most structures were made of beaten earth (banco), reinforced with wood that frequently protruded from the outside surfaces in the form of beams.
In particular, the mosques are still massive, multi-story buildings with towers, enormous wooden doors, and tiered minarets in spite of the restricted supplies of materials in the region during the Mali Empire. Other sizable structures were warehouses (fondacs), which housed up to 40 apartments for merchants to reside in and were used to store products before they were shipped elsewhere. Large mosques at Mopti and Djenne are two other examples of Mali’s impressive baked-mud structures, even if many of them are modern reconstructions from the early 20th century.
On a lesser scale, the remnants of dwellings and their stone foundations have been unearthed during excavations at Niani, supporting accounts from the past that the wealthier memebers of society constructed stone homes. Another kind of dwelling building was made of pounded earth bricks and had a conical roof fashioned by wooden beams and reeds. Sand and soil were used to make flooring.
