The Lion King of Mali Empire, Sumdiyatiketa One of Africa's greatest ancient rulers, Sumdiyatiketa is best known for founding the Mali Empire in West Africa. Under his reign, from 1235 AD to 1255 AD, the Mali Empire became a regional power as it had control of all the major trade routes and gold mines. According to Mandi's oral histories, the emperor accomplished many feats, including liberating his people from the very cruel Sorcerer King.
Sumaro of Soso. In this video, we'll be exploring a brief biography, major facts, and accomplishments of Sundiata Kida, birth, and early life. Sundiata was born to a local ruler called Nare Mekankanade and his wife Sagalankande.
His father was a reasonably famous ruler of the Mendinka people. According to the oral story, his father received a prophecy from a hunter that said that he was going to marry a hideous-looking woman, and he would give birth to a powerful king. whose reign would be filled with so many heroic feats.
King Narae, who already had a wife, then went ahead to marry Sogolon, a woman severely hunchbacked and widely considered very ugly. Nine months later Sogolon gave birth to a feeble child called Sundiata. It was even said that Sundiata could not walk until he reached the age of seven. Being the son of a king, Sundiata had numerous half-siblings, including his older half-brother Dankaran to Minkita.
After the death of King Narae, the throne was inherited by Narae's first son Dankaran to Maniketa. This came in spite of Narae's order that Sunbiata be the one to inherit the throne. Considering how sickly he was as a child, Sunbiata was abused and despised by his brother and the royal court.
His mother, as a result of her physical deformity, was also on the receiving end of disparaging words. In spite of all that harsh treatment meted out to him, Sundiata remained very determined to overcome his physical disability. After years of persistence, he was finally able to walk properly. His courage and character made him very endearing to many people, allowing him to become a leader among his friends.
Unfortunately, not everyone was pleased by this. Dankaran and his mother Sasuma Beretta conspired to eliminate Sundiata, as they feared that the prophecy was coming to pass. Exile Fearing that her son's newfound strength and appeal could cause King Dankaran to kill him, Sogallon went into exile, along with all of her children, including Sundiata.
Sundiata and his family settled in Memma, a region west of Lake Debo, known today as Mala. Upon their arrival, the ruler of the city granted them a safe haven. Once again, Sundiata lived an admirable life and was beloved by the ruler of Memma, who appointed him senior counsel in the court.
Sundiata Kida drives out the Sosa rulers from his hometown. While still in exile in Mema, his hometown was overrun by an army of Sosa warriors under the leadership of King Sumoro Kante. The Mandinka people were enslaved and their lands were occupied.
Remembering what the prophecy had said, the Mandinka people reached out to Sundiata, appealing to him to return and lift them out of the bondage they were in. Sundiata marched into his hometown with an army that was gifted to him by the ruler of Memma. His army came face to face with the Soso army at the Battle of Carina around 1235. In the end, he defeated the Soso army and drove out the Soso ruler from the Mandinka lands.
Rain Following his famous win at Carina, Sundiata was crowned emperor of the Mandinka people, that is the Mali empire. He selected the title Mansa, which means Emperor of the Mandinka. or King in Mandingo, the language of the Mandinka people.
Here are some major accomplishments of Sundiata Keita. 1. Created a powerful army that was undefeatable, King Sundiata made Nayani, which is known today as Mali, his capital city. From then onward, he and his generals frequently went on military campaigns, conquering large parts of areas, including states in the old Ghana Empire.
Many of those rulers, including King Kikakor of Beinuk, of conquered states became vassal states of the Mali Empire. At the peak of Mansa Sundiata's reign, his empire included places in present-day The Gambia, Mali, Gidibissa, and Senegal. His Military Successes were partly due to the fact that he had many astute military generals.
As a result of his noble activities and fair governance, he was able to earn the trust and loyalty of his courtiers and generals, which in turn boded well for cohesion and prosperity in the kingdom. In less than a decade of his reign, he had positioned the empire in such a way that it controlled key trade routes in the region. His empire also thrived economically from the rich gold fields in the region.
Agriculture, arts, and music also did reasonably well during Sundiata's reign. 2. Promoted religious freedoms and cultural diversity. There are some claims that he converted to Islam at some point in his life.
And just to show how tolerant of a ruler Mansa Sundiata could be sometimes, he did not force any of the subjects to convert to Islam. He was described as a fair and just ruler who at all times respected the differences among the various Mandinka clans. His empire included Mandinka clans like Trora, Koroma, Kande, Kamara, and Keeta. Sundiata was a member of the latter. This explains why he has Keeta in his name.
The 32-member assembly was established by Mansa Sundiata to advise him on so many important issues. Members were selected from the various Mandinka clans of the empire. The leaders of those clans were very pivotal in Sundiata's win against Sasa ruler Sumoro Kante.
Sundiata reasoned that it made so much sense to give those clans a voice in his empire, thereby preventing him from veering off into an autocratic rule. The Gara, which was headed by Abel and Tigay, basically served as a parliament as members could vote on issues. They also had subcommittees divided into religious, economic, political, and military groups.
Out of the Berra came Kuru-Kunfuga, the first unwritten constitution of Malad that was born after the famous Battle of Kirina. Epic of Sandiata The Sandiata Epic, also known as Epic of Sandiata, is an epic poem that narrates the heroic feats accomplished by Sandiata Kida, the first emperor of the Mali Empire. It comes in the form of oral tradition dating all the way back to the 13th century.
The stories were often passed down from one generation to another by historians from the Malinke people or Greyhounds, the latter who were praised for their remarkable knowledge of history, often acting as repositories of oral tradition and advisors to rulers of the era. During French colonial era, the stories were generally collected by scholars at École William Ponti, now known as École de Formation d'Instituturs William Pointy in Sengle. Goodyear historian and playwright Jibrel Tamzer Nyan French Translation, published in 1960. How did Mansa Sundiata die?
1255 AD is the widely accepted year that Emperor Sundiata died. It remains unclear what exactly killed Sundiata, who was at the time in his late 30s. After his death, three of his sons, Mansa Wali Kita, Mansa Owadi Kita, and Mansa Khalifa Kita, went on to become emperors of Mali Empire. Some accounts state that Sundiata Keita drowned as he tried to go across the Sankarani River, one of the tributaries of the Niger River.
In his honor, a shrine, Sundiata Dun, which still exists to this day, was set up near the river. Another account states that he died after an arrow was accidentally shot at him during a ceremony in the capital Nayani. There are also some claims that he was taken out by an assassin at a ceremony.
Other interesting facts about Sundiata Keita Sundiata's father, Nere Magan Kanate, was also known as Magan Khan Fada or Magan the Handsome. Due to the inadequate nature of written accounts about Sundiata Keita, much of what historians know about the ruler came from stories told in Mande oral forms, which were passed down from one generation to another over the years. Sundiata was the first Mandinka ruler to use the title, Mansa. Many a time, some stories about the Malian ruler border on the fringes of outright legend.
However, It is an indisputable fact that the Malian ruler was a real figure in history. It has been sometimes stated that producers and writers of the hit Walt Disney film The Lion King in 1994 took an immense amount of inspiration from the story and legend of Sundiata Keita of the Mali Empire. The title of the film bears a strong resemblance to the nickname of Sundiata, the Lion King of Mali. Disney, however, credits William Shakespeare's Hamlet with being the inspiration for the film.
It is widely held that Sundiata Keita's grand-diffuse was Mansa Musa, the famous and wealthy king of the Mali Empire, whom many consider as perhaps the richest man to ever live. The dates that are so commonly associated with the reign and birth of Sundiata were given by historians from North Africa, who visited the Mali Empire about a century after Sundiata's death. Many of those written sources came from the famous Tangiborn, Moroccan scholar, jurist, and explorer Muhammad ibn Battuta, who visited the Mali Empire about a few decades after the passing of Sundiata Qaeda.
Similarly, some of the parts of the oral traditions were independently verified by Ibn Khaldun, a Tunisian historian and philosopher, about half a century after the emperor's death. Sundiata was a great king and his legacy still leaves on. After thousands of years, do you think we missed out on some of his other key accomplishments?
Share with us in the comment section below. Subscribe for more educative content, and don't forget to like and share with your friends.