Nare Fa Maghan -- the son of a long lineage of
distinguished hunters known for their skill, bravery and ability to communicate with
spirits -- ruled over Mali beginning in 1200. Although he had adapted the Islam religion,
he still believed in the world of spirits. A hunter from the north came with a prophecy
that two hunters would come to the king with a very ugly woman whom he must marry, for she
would bear him Mali's greatest king ever. Maghan's totem animal was the Lion.
When two hunters appeared with a hunchback woman,
they explained to the king that this woman, Sogolon Kedju, was the human double for a
buffalo that had ravaged the land of Do. The hunters felled the buffalo and brought the
woman to Mali for she had extraordinary powers. Honoring the prophecy, Maghan married
Sogolon and the soon conceived a child.
King Maghan's first wife, Sassouma, was jealous;
she wanted her son, Dankaran Touman to claim the crown of Mali. Sassouma plotted to kill
Sogolon, but the buffalo woman's powers were too great, and the boy was born. He was named
Mari Diata, but people called him Sogolon Diata, and eventually, Sundiata.
Sassouma was relieved when the new child turned out
to be lazy, gluttonous and ugly. Sundiata could not walk and rarely spoke. Still, honoring
the prophecy, the dying king gave the boy the gift of a griot named Balla
Fasseke, the son
of his own griot, believing one day he would be king. However, when the king died, his
first wife saw to it that her son, Dankaran claimed the throne. Sundiata, still on all
fours was helpless.
One day, when Sogolon cried in anger from the
insults she and her son had receive, Sundiata said, "Cheer up, Mother. I am going to
walk today." Sundiata had a blacksmith make him a heavy iron rod. With trembling
legs, he lifted himself, much to the amazement of onlookers, bending the rod into a bow in
the process. His griot composed and sung, "The Hymn to the Bow," on the spot-- a
hymn still a part of the musical epic of Sundiata sung by griots over eight hundred years
later.
Now that Sundiata was capable of taking the throne
he became a threat to the false king Dankaran and his plotting mother,
Sassouma.
Sundiata's mother decided to take her son into exile for safety until the time came for
him to claim his crown. Before they could leave, Dankaran sent Balla
Fasseke, Sundiata's griot, and Sundiata's half sister to the sorcerer king, Suomaoro
Kante, of the Sosso who
had been threatening all of the kingdoms with his growing army.
Sundiata came to manhood while traveling through
kingdoms hundreds of miles away, learning to hunt, fight and wield proverbs of wisdom of
his ancestors. One day in a far off kingdom of Mema, Sundiata discovered people selling
baobob leaves in the market. He knew they had to be from Mali. The seller told him that
the evil king, Suomaoro of Sosso, had conquered Mali and sent Dankaran into exile. On the
eve Sundiata was to depart from Mema, his mother died.
All this time, Sundiata's griot and half-sister
remained captives in Soumaoro's court. The brave griot entered the sorcerer king's secret
chamber one day and found poisonous snakes writhing in urns, and owls standing over the
seven heads of the nine kings Soumaoro had beaten. In the midst of this, Balla Fasseke saw
the biggest balafon (a balafon is a wooden xylophone and probably the original
griot instrument) which produced a magnificent sound that charmed the snakes and owls.
When Soumaoro returned he was livid to find the griot in his chamber. Realizing his
danger, Balla Fasseke improvised a praise song to Soumaoro so clever that he made Balla
his griot, making war between Soumaoro and Sundiata inevitable.
On his way home, Sundiata gathered fighters,
archers and horsemen. At Tabon, near the Malian city of Kita, Sundiata's army attacked
Soumaoro's forces, sending Soumaoro's army into retreat. In the next confrontation,
Sundiata and Soumaoro came face to face. Sundiata dominated, but Soumaoro was able to
escape using his own magic. Sundiata felt despair.
As Sundiata's army grew, he summoned soothsayers to
counsel him on harnessing supernatural powers. At their advice, he ordered the sacrifice
of 100 white oxen, 100 white rams, and 100 white cocks. When the slaughter began,
Sundiata's griot and half sister returned -- having escaped the city of the evil king. She
told Sundiata, that she had been forced to marry Soumaoro, but in doing so, she had found
out the secret of is magic. His sacred animal was the cock--this animal had the power to
destroy Soumaoro. Armed with this knowledge, Sundiata made a wooden arrow attaching a
white cock's spur to the tip.
Soumaoro and Sundiata came to battle again in
Kirina. The two men observed the ritual of declaring war by sending an owl into each
other's encampment, delivering messages of bravado. Having declared their intentions, the
war began. During the battle, Sundiata aimed his special arrow and fired, the cock's spur
grazing the shoulder of Soumaoro, and all was lost for the Sosso king. When Sundiata
reached Soumaoro's city and opened his secret chamber, the snakes and owls were nearly
dead.
Victorious Sundiata invited all the leaders from
the twelve kingdoms of the savanna who helped him to come to Kaba, a city in old Mali.
There, he told them they could keep their kingdoms, but would join in a great empire.
("Mali: Africa's..." 1996-97)
FIND OUT
ABOUT THE SONGHAI EMPIRE
FIND
OUT MORE ABOUT SUNDIATA THE LION KING
Students will want to
read:
Sundiata: Lion King of Mali by David Wisniewski - Beautiful cut paper
illustrations - an amazing book.
