Established by King Sundiata Keita, known as the “Lion King,” the Mali Empire brought wealth, culture, and Islamic faith to West Africa.
From the 13th to 17th century, West Africa was home to the great Mali Empire. Established by King Sundiata Keita, the kingdom united several smaller, Malinké Kingdoms near the Upper Niger River. Protected by a well-trained, imperial army and benefiting from being in the middle of trade routes, Mali expanded its territory, influence, and culture over the course of four centuries. An abundance of gold dust and salt deposits helped to expand the empire’s commercial assets. Mali included the city of Timbuktu, which became known as an important center of knowledge. Mali also developed into a hub for the Islamic faith before poor leadership led to the empire’s ultimate decline in power and influence.
University of Sankore (founded about 1100 AD)
Mali, trading empire that flourished in western Africa from the 13th to the 16th century. The Mali empire developed from the state of Kangaba, on the upper Niger River east of the Fouta Djallon, and is said to have been founded before 1000 CE. The Malinke inhabitants of Kangaba acted as middlemen in the gold trade during the later period of ancient Ghana. Their dislike of the Susu chief Sumanguru’s harsh but ineffective rule provoked the Malinke to revolt, and in 1230 Sundiata, the brother of Kangaba’s fugitive ruler, won a decisive victory against the Susu chief. (The name Mali absorbed the name Kangaba at about this time.)
Mansa Musa
The fame of Mansa Musa and his phenomenal wealth spread as he travelled on his hajj to Mecca. Afterward, he put himself and his kingdom, West Africa's Mali, on the map, literally.
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]
"Richest person who ever lived"
MALI'S ANCIENT DOCUMENTS CAPTURED ONLINE
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