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[Internet Lesson]
[Reasons for Art] [Images of African Art]
[What is Art?] [Art of Africa]
[Artists of Africa] [Art of Mali]
[Bibliography [Songhai
Empire] [Sundiata the Lion King] [Test Your Knowledge]
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While Mali is a poor country today, it has an extremely
rich heritage. For centuries, it was the crossroads for great caravans during the ancient
kingdoms of Ghana, Mali and Songhai. Slaves, gold and ivory from the south were brought to
be traded with the Middle East and Europe for weapons, jewelry and salt ("About
Mali" 1195-98). The memory of ancient Mali is alive today in the tales of the griots-
the professional historians, praise-singers and musical entertainers- of the Manding
people. Descendants of the Manding Empire or Empire of Mali are spread throughout Mali,
Guinea, Gambia, Senegal, Cote d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso and Guinea-Bissau. While they
may never again know the unity they had before 1468, they still depend on their griots --
or jelis as they are know among the Manding -- to remind them of their place in
history. The most often told history is the story of the first ruler of the Malian Empire,
Sundiata Keita ("Mali: Africa's…" 1196-97).
Sundiata moved the capital south to Niana (also spelled
Nyani) on the Niger River, the city of his birth. He built a central government that
established peace and order throughout the kingdom. The Niger also enabled Timbuktu to emerge as an international city. The territory controlled
by Mali included the Senegal region of people speaking Niger-Congo languages; the center
of Mande states occupied by the Soninke and the Mandinke groups; and the Gao region of the
Songhay groups (Hooker 1996). Sundiata had seized the territories through which gold was
traded giving Mali a firm grip on the monopoly. He also introduced the region to the
cultivation and weaving of cotton (ibid. ). Mali became one of the richest farming
regions in West Africa. Since Sundiata was a devout Muslim, he was able to establish
commercial relations with the Muslims in northern Africa and the Middle East. Sundiata
ruled over this massive, thriving empire until his death in the year 1255. His name lives
on in the songs, poems and dances of the western Sudan regions (Jeffries & Moss 1997).
READ
THE STORY OF SUNDIATA KEITA
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT TIMBUKTU
FIND OUT ABOUT THE SONGHAI EMPIRE
[Internet Lesson]
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