Sundiata Keita

religion in Mali but Islam was slowly catching fire. Islam was introduced to Africa by traders and was largely the religion of the merchant class. In Sundiata: An Epic of Old Mali you can see the influences of both Traditional African Religion and Islam and how they change the readers’ view of Sundiata as a king. Sundiata reveals that king Sundiata, as well as the people of Mali, did not believe in either Islam or his Traditional African Religion solely but intertwined the two religions. Since…

Many empires have risen over history. The Empire of Mali, which was founded by Sundiata Keita, was located in West Africa. A prominent country with its location becoming an important trade location by Muslims. The Aztec Empire was founded by Mexica people who later became known as Aztecs. The Aztec Empire was enormous as they ruled most of Mesoamerica and was one of the largest cities of its time. The Spanish Empire is one of the biggest empires to exist. A very politically, economically, and…

King Mansa Musa was known for being the richest man in history. He took the throne from 1312 to 1337 and was the son of Sundiata. The 25 year reign was known as the “golden age of the Mali Empire. The empire stretched nearly 2,000 miles all way up to Lake Chad (Mohamed Bearrach, Meet Mansa Musa). The Empire was also known as the Mandingo. The kingdom had a large amount of gold from Bumbuk and Bure, salt mines of Taghaza and ivory. Mansa Musa achieved many goals such as expanding the trade routes…

The story, which has been told since the 1200s, conveys the story of the life of a hero by the name of Sundiata. The story was told by griots, which are story-tellers expected to preserve law and tradition through their remembrances and history songs. Griots were used in combination with kings to uphold and create history. The fact that an African society…

Sundiata Keita, the first Mansa, led his people to gather around the goldfields and together they defeated the Soso, who threatened them. They united into a strong empire. “Over time, the Mali Empire became stronger and took over surrounding kingdoms including the Empire of Ghana” (Ducksters). Sundiata also created a new society with hereditary nobility, which was one of his greatest accomplishments…

Introdution About Book The fictional novel, that is, Sundiata: An Epic of Old Mali was first published as Longman Africa Classic 1986 and subsequently as Longman Africa Writers 1994. This version of the story was recorded in 1960 by D.T. Niane, who documented and translated the words of a griot, Mamadou Kouyaté, into French. While it follows the basic structure of the tale as most often presented, it should be remembered that as an oral tradition and a result of a translation. This story is one…

Thanks to the doggedness of Cynthia Schmidt, the musicologist, who decided to try again on the borders between Bo district and Pujehun district in the Senehun N’golahun chiefdom. In that attempt, she encountered a group of women led by a lady called Baindu Jabati who recognized the song and sang along with the tape. A lot of the words and the rhythms had changed, but the message of the song remained the same as Lorenzo Turner had translated it in 1931. It sang: “Everybody come together, the…

  The mighty Congo Empire, at Cote d’lvoire, Aka, the Ivory Coast of West Africa had the Burkina Faso warriors originally from the Bantu migration 600AD. They were skilled in horse riding and the use of the bow. Their earliest history starts with the Dagomba tribe neighboring the Boussansi, the Ninisi, the Gourounsi and the Kabisi their union brought about a great warrior kingdom called the Mossi. The greatest warriors of this Empire were the Wagadogo and the Yatenga. They used weapons such…

Over the years, Disney has made many attempts of telling the stories of the otherwise unknown culture. However, in both The Lion King (1994) and Pocahontas (1995), for example, Disney poorly represented the African and Native American cultures for entertainment and monetary profit. The Lion King is the western interpretation of African culture represented by jungle animals fighting against each other for power, mirroring the apartheid becoming an anarchy. Pocahontas is the story of the British…

The empire on Ghana existed from c. 750-1076. The Ghana empire was located in what is now Southeastern Mauritania, Western Mali, and Eastern Senegal which is on the Northwest coast of Africa. The Ghana empire was one of the first empires on the Northwest coast of Africa to rise in that area. Ghana began in the eighth century when there was a little change in the economy. There was an spectacular shift in the economy of the Sahel area. The south area of the Sahara allowed more condense states to…