page_title: Mali Empire
section_title: Territory
hierarchical_section_title: Mali Empire / Territory
caption_attribution_description: English: The Medieval Mali Empire at the end of Mansa Musa's reign (1337 CE) Map Sources: Physical elevation representation comes from public-domain SRTM data. Coastlines follow the Barrington Atlas of the Ancient World (Princeton University Press, 2000)--while Mali hardly falls within the time period covered by this atlas, these coastlines omit major harbor construction in the modern period, and are accurate at the scale of the map. Rivers adapted from ESRI user contributions, or traced from satellite imagery. Ecological zones based on "A New Map of Standardized Terrestrial Ecosystems of Africa" (Association of American Geographers, 2013). Historical data drawn from Robert Collins and James Burns, "A History of Sub-Saharan Africa" (Cambridge University Press, 2007) (see esp. p. 86). Adapted and expanded based on lecture materials from Dr. Lisa Lindsay at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, and from this map by wikimedia user Aa77zz: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Trans-Saharan_routes_early.svg
context_page_description: The Mali Empire was an empire in West Africa from c. 1235 to 1670. The empire was founded by Sundiata Keita and became renowned for the wealth of its rulers, especially Musa Keita. The Manding languages were spoken in the empire. The Mali Empire was the largest empire in West Africa and profoundly influenced the culture of West Africa through the spread of its language, laws and customs. Much of the recorded information about the Mali Empire comes from 14th-century North African Arab historian Ibn Khaldun, 14th-century Moroccan traveller Ibn Battuta and 16th-century Moroccan traveller Leo Africanus. The other major source of information is Mandinka oral tradition, through storytellers known as griots.
  The empire began as a small Mandinka kingdom at the upper reaches of the Niger River, centered around the town of Niani. During the 11th and 12th centuries, it began to develop as an empire following the decline of the Ghana Empire to the north. During this period, trade routes shifted southward to the savanna, stimulating the growth of states such as Bonoman.
context_section_description: The Mali Empire reached its largest area under the Laye Keita mansas. Al-Umari, who wrote down a description of Mali based on information given to him by Abu Sa’id 'Otman ed Dukkali (who had lived 35 years in Niani), reported the realm as being square and an eight-month journey from its coast at Tura (at the mouth of the Senegal River) to Muli (also known as Tuhfat). Umari also describes the empire as being south of Marrakesh and almost entirely inhabited except for few places. Mali's domain also extended into the desert. He describes it as being north of Mali but under its domination implying some sort of vassalage for the Antasar, Yantar'ras, Medussa and Lemtuna Berber tribes. The empire's total area included nearly all the land between the Sahara Desert and coastal forests. It spanned the modern-day countries of Senegal, southern Mauritania, Mali, northern Burkina Faso, western Niger, the Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, the Ivory Coast and northern Ghana. By 1350, the empire covered approximately 478,819 square miles (1,240,140 km²). The empire also reached its highest population during the Laye period ruling over 400 cities, towns and villages of various religions and elasticities. During this period only the Mongol Empire was larger.
  The dramatic increase in the empire's growth demanded a shift from the Manden Kurufaba's organisation of three states with twelve dependencies. This model was scrapped by the time of Mansa Musa's hajj to Egypt. According to al'Umari, who interviewed a Berber that had lived in Niani for 35 years, there were fourteen provinces (or, more accurately, tributary kingdoms). In al-'Umari's record, he only records the following thirteen provinces and five states.
  Gana (this refers to the remnants of the Ghana Empire)
  Zagun or Zafun (this is another name for Diafunu)
  Tirakka or Turanka (Between Gana and Tadmekka)
  Takrur (On 3rd cataract of the Senegal River, north of Jolof)
  Sanagana (named for a tribe living in an area north of the Senegal river)
  Bambuck or Bambughu (A territory in eastern Senegal and western Mali which was very rich in gold sources)
  Zargatabana
  Darmura or Babitra Darmura
  Zaga (on the Niger, downriver of Kabora)
  Kabora or Kabura (also on the Niger)
  Baraquri or Baraghuri
  Gao or Kawkaw (province inhabited by Gao Empire, which predated the Songhai)
  Mali or Manden (capital province for which the realm gets its name)
caption: The Mali Empire in 1337, including the location of the Bambuk, Bure, Lobi and Akan Goldfields[43][44]
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