Timeline Sundiata Keita: Founder of the Mali Empire

Sundiata Keita: Founder of the Mali Empire 21

• 1217 Sundiata Keita is born in the Mande kingdom of Kangaba Approximate date; son of King Naré Maghan and Sogolon According to oral tradition, Sundiata was born to Naré Maghan Keita and his second wife Sogolon Kédjou. The year c. 1217 is a scholarly estimate, not a recorded date.
• 1224 Sundiata Keita is said to stand and walk for the first time Epic tradition, around age seven The epic says that Sundiata, long unable to walk, rose with the help of an iron rod and tore up a baobab tree for his mother. This is legend, and the year is approximate.
• 1230 Sumanguru Kanté of Sosso dominates the Mande lands before Sundiata Keita's rise Approximate date; Sosso rule over Kangaba Tradition names Sumanguru Kanté, king of the Sosso, as the ruler who subjugated the Mande chiefdoms and became the main enemy of the Keita line. The timing of his conquest of Kangaba is uncertain.
• 1230 Sundiata Keita goes into exile with his mother Sogolon Approximate date; driven out by court rivalry The epic says Sundiata, his mother and his siblings left Niani after hostility from Sassouma Bérété's faction. They travelled between several kingdoms.
• 1230 Sundiata Keita's father Naré Maghan dies Approximate date; half-brother Dankaran Touman succeeds By tradition the death of King Naré Maghan left the throne to Dankaran Touman, Sundiata's half-brother, under the influence of the queen mother Sassouma Bérété. The year is an estimate.
• 1231 Sundiata Keita finds refuge at the court of Ghana Epic tradition; approximate date According to the epic, the exiles first stayed in the kingdom of Wagadou, or Ghana, where they were given shelter by its ruler.
• 1232 Sundiata Keita is welcomed at Mema by King Moussa Tounkara Epic tradition; approximate date Tradition says Sundiata gained military experience and standing at the court of Mema. The king there reportedly named him his heir, which Sundiata declined in order to return home.
• 1234 Mande envoys call Sundiata Keita back from exile Epic tradition; approximate date By tradition, Mande leaders suffering under Sosso rule sent messengers asking Sundiata to return and lead resistance. He left Mema with an army raised there.
• 1234 Sundiata Keita gathers a coalition of Mande clans against Sosso Approximate date; allies include Tiramakhan Traoré and Fakoli Koroma Oral tradition says Sundiata united Mande chiefs and commanders, among them Fakoli Koroma, a nephew of Sumanguru who changed sides. The sequence of these alliances is uncertain.
• 1235 Sundiata Keita begins the war of liberation against Sumanguru Approximate date Tradition describes the allied Mande forces moving against Sosso, with campaigns that ended in a decisive battle at Kirina.
• 1235 Sundiata Keita defeats Sumanguru Kanté at the Battle of Kirina Traditionally dated c. 1235 The battle ended Sosso dominance and opened the way for the Mali Empire. Oral accounts say Sumanguru disappeared after the defeat.
• 1235 Sundiata Keita is acclaimed mansa and founds the Mali Empire Traditional founding date, c. 1235 After Kirina, Mande chiefs recognised Sundiata as their paramount ruler. He took the title mansa and built a federation that became the Mali Empire.
• 1236 Sundiata Keita is attended by the griot Balla Fasséké Epic tradition The epic presents Balla Fasséké as Sundiata's griot and counsellor, the ancestor of the Kouyaté line of bards who preserve the story.
• 1236 Sundiata Keita is credited with the Kurukan Fuga charter Traditional date c. 1236; Manden Charter Oral tradition holds that an assembly at Kurukan Fuga proclaimed a charter on social order, clan relations and rights. UNESCO inscribed the Manden Charter on its intangible heritage list in 2009.
• 1236 Sundiata Keita makes Niani the capital of the Mali Empire Approximate date; on the upper Niger region near the Sankarani Tradition places the imperial capital at Niani, in what is now the Guinea–Mali borderland. The exact site and founding date are debated.
• 1236 Sundiata Keita takes Sosso territory and ends its rule Approximate date Following the victory at Kirina, tradition says Sundiata took over the Sosso heartland and its allies. Many of the conquered chiefs were absorbed into his new state.
• 1240 Sundiata Keita's empire absorbs the old Ghana territories Traditionally c. 1240 Mali's forces are said to have taken the former Ghana capital, Koumbi Saleh, around 1240. The date is traditional and scholars treat it with caution.
• 1245 Sundiata Keita brings the gold-producing regions under Mali Approximate period Mali's expansion gave it control of the gold fields of Bambuk and Bure, the basis of its later wealth and trade.
• 1248 Sundiata Keita is remembered for promoting agriculture and cotton Oral tradition; approximate period Tradition credits Sundiata with spreading farming and cotton cultivation across the empire, and with settling people on the land.
• 1250 Sundiata Keita's empire stretches from the Atlantic hinterland to the Niger bend Approximate extent by the early 1250s By the end of his reign the Mali Empire controlled a large part of the western Sahel, linking the upper Senegal and upper Niger basins.
• 1255 Sundiata Keita dies Approximate date; traditionally by drowning in the Sankarani River Sundiata is traditionally said to have died around 1255, possibly by drowning in the Sankarani, though accounts differ. His sons, including Mansa Wali, later ruled Mali.