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-The Empire of Mali was one of the largest empires in West African History, and at its height, it spanned from the Atlantic Coast to central parts of the Sahara desert.
-The Empire was founded in 1235 CE by the legendary King Sundiata and lasted until the early 1600s CE.
-The Empire’s most famous ruler was named Mansa Musa, and chroniclers of the times wrote that when he traveled to Mecca on a pilgrimage he distributed so much gold that he caused great inflation lasting a decade.
-The Mali Empire arose with the consolidation of several small Malinké Kingdoms in Ghana around the areas of the upper Niger River.
-Most of what is known about the Empire of Mali’s early history was collected by Arabic scholars in the 1300s and 1400s.
-A King named Sumanguru Kanté ruled the Susu Kingdom, which had conquered the Malinké people in the early 13th century.
-The King known as Sundiata (also spelled Sunjata) organized the Malinké resistance against the Susu Kingdom, and Sundiata is believed by many historians, such as Conrad David and Innes Gordon, to have founded Mali when he defeated Sumanguru Kanté in 1235.
-The development of the empire began in its capital city of Niani, which was also coincidentally the birthplace of the empire’s founder and King Sundiata.
-Sundiata built a vast empire that stretched from the Atlantic Coast south of the Senegal River to Goa on the east of the Middle Niger bend.
-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.
-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.
-Cowrie shells from the Indian Ocean were later used as currency in the internal trade of Western Sahara.
-Mali, and especially the city of Timbuktu, was famous as a center of learning and spectacular architecture such as the Sankara Madrassa.
-The University of Sankore continued to educate a great many astronomers, scholars, and engineers until long after the end of the Empire of Mali.
-French colonial occupation is considered to have contributed to the University’s decline with regards to its quality of education.
-The Empire of Mali was also a multi-ethnic and multi-linguistic empire, and Islam was the dominant religion.
-The period of 1360 – 1390 was a time of trouble for the Empire of Mali.
-The Empire suffered under several poor rulers with short reigns.
-The throne changed hands between several members of the ruling family and was at one point seized by a man named Mahmud, who was not from Mali nor part of the ruling family.
-Eventually, Mansa Mari Djata II managed to regain the throne for the ruling dynasty, but his despotic rule ruined the state.
-As in previous years, it was a court official who brought the Empire back on track after a series of bad rulers.
-While Mali was a monarchy, ruled by the Mansa or Master, much of the state power was in the hands of court officials.
-This meant that the Empire could survive several periods of instability and a series of ineffective rulers.
-Mari Djarta, a ‘wazir’ (minister), took power and ruled, essentially acting as regent, through King Mansa Musa II.
-During the reign of Mari Djarta (also known as Mari Djarta III) the Empire of Mali would regain some of the power it had lost during the preceding 30 years of misrule and civil war.
-Mansa Musa II died in 1387 and was succeeded by his brother Mansa Magha II, who would also be the puppet of powerful court officials.
-After a year, Mansa Musa II was killed, thus ending the line of kings which descended from Mansa Musa I.
-This confirmed the decline of the Empire of Mali and in 1433 the city was conquered by Tuareg nomads.
-For the next 100 years, the Empire would slowly give way to the Songhay conquerors from the east, and by the 1500s it would be reduced to only its Malinké core lands.
-During the 17th century Mali had broken into a number of minor independent chiefdoms and thus the Mali Empire was no longer the superpower it had been in its prime.
-The Empire was founded in 1235 CE by the legendary King Sundiata and lasted until the early 1600s CE.
-The Empire’s most famous ruler was named Mansa Musa, and chroniclers of the times wrote that when he traveled to Mecca on a pilgrimage he distributed so much gold that he caused great inflation lasting a decade.
-The Mali Empire arose with the consolidation of several small Malinké Kingdoms in Ghana around the areas of the upper Niger River.
-Most of what is known about the Empire of Mali’s early history was collected by Arabic scholars in the 1300s and 1400s.
-A King named Sumanguru Kanté ruled the Susu Kingdom, which had conquered the Malinké people in the early 13th century.
-The King known as Sundiata (also spelled Sunjata) organized the Malinké resistance against the Susu Kingdom, and Sundiata is believed by many historians, such as Conrad David and Innes Gordon, to have founded Mali when he defeated Sumanguru Kanté in 1235.
-The development of the empire began in its capital city of Niani, which was also coincidentally the birthplace of the empire’s founder and King Sundiata.
-Sundiata built a vast empire that stretched from the Atlantic Coast south of the Senegal River to Goa on the east of the Middle Niger bend.
-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.
-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.
-Cowrie shells from the Indian Ocean were later used as currency in the internal trade of Western Sahara.
-Mali, and especially the city of Timbuktu, was famous as a center of learning and spectacular architecture such as the Sankara Madrassa.
-The University of Sankore continued to educate a great many astronomers, scholars, and engineers until long after the end of the Empire of Mali.
-French colonial occupation is considered to have contributed to the University’s decline with regards to its quality of education.
-The Empire of Mali was also a multi-ethnic and multi-linguistic empire, and Islam was the dominant religion.
-The period of 1360 – 1390 was a time of trouble for the Empire of Mali.
-The Empire suffered under several poor rulers with short reigns.
-The throne changed hands between several members of the ruling family and was at one point seized by a man named Mahmud, who was not from Mali nor part of the ruling family.
-Eventually, Mansa Mari Djata II managed to regain the throne for the ruling dynasty, but his despotic rule ruined the state.
-As in previous years, it was a court official who brought the Empire back on track after a series of bad rulers.
-While Mali was a monarchy, ruled by the Mansa or Master, much of the state power was in the hands of court officials.
-This meant that the Empire could survive several periods of instability and a series of ineffective rulers.
-Mari Djarta, a ‘wazir’ (minister), took power and ruled, essentially acting as regent, through King Mansa Musa II.
-During the reign of Mari Djarta (also known as Mari Djarta III) the Empire of Mali would regain some of the power it had lost during the preceding 30 years of misrule and civil war.
-Mansa Musa II died in 1387 and was succeeded by his brother Mansa Magha II, who would also be the puppet of powerful court officials.
-After a year, Mansa Musa II was killed, thus ending the line of kings which descended from Mansa Musa I.
-This confirmed the decline of the Empire of Mali and in 1433 the city was conquered by Tuareg nomads.
-For the next 100 years, the Empire would slowly give way to the Songhay conquerors from the east, and by the 1500s it would be reduced to only its Malinké core lands.
-During the 17th century Mali had broken into a number of minor independent chiefdoms and thus the Mali Empire was no longer the superpower it had been in its prime.
cleanthehorn.blogspot.com
Works CITED
Beck, Roger B. World History: Patterns of Interaction. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Pub. Co., 2012.
Kennedy, Joe. “10 Things You Didn't Know About The Ancient Mali Empire.” AFKTravel, 14 Nov. 2017, afktravel.com/100058/10-things-you-didnt-know-about-the-ancient-empire-of-mali/.
Makina, Adan. “Beautiful Horn of Africa.” The Impact of Globalization on Somali Culture, 1 Jan. 1970, cleanthehorn.blogspot.com/2010/06/mansa-musa.html.
Kennedy, Joe. “10 Things You Didn't Know About The Ancient Mali Empire.” AFKTravel, 14 Nov. 2017, afktravel.com/100058/10-things-you-didnt-know-about-the-ancient-empire-of-mali/.
Makina, Adan. “Beautiful Horn of Africa.” The Impact of Globalization on Somali Culture, 1 Jan. 1970, cleanthehorn.blogspot.com/2010/06/mansa-musa.html.