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Below is a summary of the story told by Djeli
Mamadou Kouyate (ArtsEdge 1997), from the
village of Djeliba Koro, Guinea, not far from
the former capital of the Malian Empire (djele
if the Manding word for griot). West
African historian, D. T. Niane, published Djele
Mamadou's version in 1995. Oral traditions are a
form of history that cannot be judged by the
same rules as our Western sense of history.
Oral histories may unconsciously change over
time, because memory is selective and fallible,
or they may be consciously reinterpreted for
political or other reasons. Even so, the story
bears telling, as the griots of today are some
of Mali's living art treasures -- and very much
a part of their culture.
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
The history of the Mandinka Tribe is closely
tied up with the oral epic tale of Sundiata
Keita (aka Sundjata Keyita or Mari Djata or Jata,
or Makhara Makhang Konate) who was the founder
of the Mali Empire & king of the Malinké
people. Sundjata built up a large empire that
eventually extended from the Atlantic coast
south of the Senegal River to Gao on the east of
the middle Niger bend. It extended from the
edges of the forest in the south west through
the savannah (grassland) country of the Malinke
to the Sahel and southern Saharan "ports" of
Wallata and Tadmekka. It included the gold mines
of Bumbuk and Bure and the legendary citiy of
Timbuktu as well as Djenne, and Gao on the River
Niger and continued to the salt mines of Taghaza.
Many different peoples were thus brought in to
what became a federation of states, dominated by
Sundjata and the Malinke people. Under
Sundjata's leadership, Mali became a relatively
rich farming area.
Biography - Early Life:
According to legend Sundiata was the youngest of
eleven males. Yet another says he was the second
son of a Mandingo king named Nare Fa Maghan.
Sundiata was born to Nare and his second wife
Sogolon Conde as a crippled and weak child. For
this, she was mocked by the other wives, but
when Sundiata began to walk he became leader of
his age-group. Eventually, jealousies of the
deep love Nare had shown to Sogolon and Sundiata
some even claim he was designated successor in
conjunction with Nare Fa Maghan's death forced
Sundiata and his mother and her other son to
flee. Since no Malinke chief would offer them
refuge, all being afraid of the wrath of
Dankaran Tuman, the then king of Ki, Sundiata
was forced to Mema. It was there that Mansa
Tunkara, king of Mema, offered them refuge. He
even saw and appreciated young Sundiata's
courage and gave him some important
responsibilities.
The Sosso king Sumanguru of the Kante dynasty,
was the last king of ancient
Ghana, had taken over the empire (Or more
specifically, what was left of it) and was
trying to reestablish the Ghana kingdom.
Sumanguru Kante controlled all of the Ghana
lands except for Manding. According to one
legend, Sumanguru systematically killed off all
of the sons but Sundiata, who was frail and
weak. Sumanguru made the error of leaving
Sundiata alone because of this, and would later
live long enough to regret it. Another, more
likely story, says that Sumanguru had taken over
Manding and the rulers there fled or were
killed, for Mandingo messengers found him in
Mema and reported what had occurred. It was time
for Sundiata to reclaim his throne and lands,
and the king of Mema gave him a force of troops
to return with.
Return of Sundiata:
In the oft-cited legend, Sundiata grew stronger
and began to rule the Mali kingdom while
steadily gaining power and troop strength. It
came to pass that in 1235, at the battle of
Kirina, Sundiata and Sumanguru met in battle.
According to legend, both were sorcerers, and
their magic would determine the outcome.
Sundiata roared at the troops of King Sumanguru,
who were terrified and ran for cover. Sumanguru
retaliated, and the heads of eight spirits
magically appeared above his own. Unfortunately
for Sumanguru, Sundiata had the stronger magic,
and the spirits were defeated. Sundiata then
aimed an arrow at Sumaguru, and although it only
grazed Sumanguru's shoulder, it drained him of
all magic, and Sumanguru was defeated. A griot
retells what followed:
The vanquished Sumanguru looked up towards the
sun A great black bird flew over above the
fray... "The bird of Kirina," [the king]
muttered. Sumanguru let out a great cry and,
turning his horse's head, he took to flight.
Whether or not the magical parts of the story
are true, it is known that Sundiata was able to
bring great enthusiasm to the Malinke. Every
Malinke clan raised an army and principal
generals. and these added to Sundiata's forces.
In the meantime, Mansa Kara Noro led a revolt
against Sumanguru, accompanied by the towns of
Moamo. Selegugu, and Tigan. Though their
resistance was fierce, betrayal by Kara Noro's
queen enabled Sumanguru to win. At the
celebration, Sumanguru stole the wife of his
nephew and general-in-chief Fakoli. As a way of
getting back at Sumanguru, Fakoli fled over to
Sundiata's forces. Sumanguru continued to fight
and launch attacks, but after some indecisive
battles, Sundiata's armies gained more courage.
Kirina:
It was at Kirina (Karina) that Sundiata and
Sumanguru would fight the decisive battle.
Sumanguru had numbers and a great magician on
his side, but Sundiata regained the services of
the griot of the Keita royal family, Balla
Fasseke, and also gained the key to Sumanguru's
strenght by way of his wife Nana Triban, who was
a sister of Sundiata's who was forced to marry
Sumanguru. Sumanguru was supposedly invulnerable
to iron, but his totem was a white cockspur.
This having been delivered to Sundiata,
Sumanguru knew his secret was revealed and was
not as confident after. According to legend,
Sundiata used an arrow tipped with the white
cockspur and struck Sumanguru with it, taking
his strength away. Sumanguru fled and the Soso
were completely routed. Pursuing Sumanguru,
Sundiata went to Kulikoro, but failed to capture
the fleeing Sosso king. He marched to Sosso and
burned it to the ground.
Sundiata Becomes Mansa (King):
Kirina was important militarily and it sealed
the alliance which made Sundiata reign supreme
in West Africa. Sundiata continued espansion
until all of the territory of Ghana had been
absorbed. Each of the chiefs were confirmed in
their provinces, but only the chiefs of Mema and
Wagadu bore the title of king. Sundiata became
the Mansa *king of kings or emperor* of Mali,
which at one time was part of Ghana, and
established his capital at Niani, on the upper
Niger. He set to work on improving agriculture,
with soldiers clearing land for farming and
planting rice, beans, yams, onions, grain and
cotton. This led to Mali becoming a productive
farm region, but Sundiata also recognized that
the nation's wealth depended on trade, and the
wars had disrupted it. With control of the gold
mines, Sundiata set to restoring the salt and
gold exchange with Niani as the kindgom's trade
centre. The Mali Empire grew and prospered by
monopolizing the gold trade and developing the
agricultural resources along the Niger River.
Like Ghana, Mali prospered from the taxes it
collected on trade in the empire. All goods
passing in, out of, and through the empire were
heavily taxed. All gold nuggets belonged to the
king, but gold dust could be traded. Gold was
even used at times as a form of currency, as
also were salt and cotton cloth. Later, cowrie
shells from the Indian Ocean were introduced and
used widely as currency in the internal trade of
the western Sudan. Sundiata divided the empire
into provinces, each with its own governor, and
towns that were administered by a mochrif or
mayor. A huge army kept the peace, putting down
rebellions in the smaller kingdoms bordering the
central part of the empire, and policing the
many trade routes. Timbuktu became a center of
learning, luxury, and trade, where river people
met with the desert nomads, and where scholars
and merchants from other parts of Africa, the
Middle East, and even Europe came to its
universities and bustling markets.
Through the efforts of Sundiata and his
successors, Mali became Africa's most powerful
kingdom. In addition to gold and salt, Malian
control of the copper mines at Takedda and the
discovery of new gold sources at Bure made Mali
one of the world's economic powerhouses. They
were able to move gold easily on the Niger to
interested traders, and by the late 1300s, Mali
was three times as large as Ghana had been, with
its borders reaching the Atlantic in the west,
and the middle Niger in the east.
Mali gold was bought by traders and merchants as
far away as England and France, as it was the
West's primary gold region for centuries to
come. Mali prospered only as long as there was
strong leadership. Sundjata established himself
as a great religious and secular leader,
claiming the greatest and most direct link with
the spirits of the land and thus the guardian of
the ancestors. After Sundjata, most of the
rulers of Mali were Muslim, some of whom made
the hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca). The most famous
haji (pilgrim to Mecca) was Mansa Musa, king of
Mali and grandson of one of Sundjata's sisters.
In 1324, accompanied by some 60,000 people and
carrying large quantities of gold, Mansa Musa
traveled from Niani along the Niger to Timbuktu
and then across the Sahara via the salt mines of
Taghaza from oasis to oasis, to reach Cairo.
From there he went on to Mecca and Medina.
The empire of Mali reached in zenith in the
fourteenth century but its power and fame
depended greatly on the personal power of the
ruler. Sundjata died in 1255 in what some say
was under mysterious circumstance. Some say that
he was drowned in the river Sankarani near Niani,
in Gambia, while others say he was assassinated
during a public demonstration.
Leaving aside questions as to their origin,
accounts of the first practicing griots are more
clearly established, and are located in the era
of the founding of the Empire of Mali. These
tales centre upon the life of Soundiata Keita
(circa 1218 – circa 1255). The narrative of
Soundiata is widely known throughout West
Africa, and it forms one of the core pieces in
the epic narrative tradition. The following
version was told to me in 1997 by Sidi Suso, a
Gambian griot.
In the early 13th century King Naré Magan ruled
a province of Mali in a region controlled by
Sumanguru, a ruthless warlord. Naré Magan was
told in a prophecy that he would father a son
who would become a great king. It was explained
to him that one day two hunters would bring to
his court an ugly hunch-backed woman, whom he
must marry. Months later, when two hunters
arrived and presented him with Sogolon Kedju, a
woman who matched the description, he recalled
the prophecy and married her. The hunters
informed the King that his new wife was the
embodiment of a buffalo who had ravaged whole
communities, and that she possessed
extraordinary powers. The King’s first wife,
Sassouma, was jealous of Sogolon, and feared
that her own sons would not succeed her husband.
She conspired to kill Sogolon, but failed.
Later, Sogolon gave birth to Soundiata. Sassouma,
however, had cursed Sogolon, with the result
that Soundiata was born a cripple and mute.
Though legend had foretold of his greatness,
Soundiata could not walk or speak until he was 7
years old.
Upon the death of King Naré Magan, Sassouma
successfully installed her own son, Dankaran, as
the new ruler. With the prophecy unfulfilled,
Sassouma still feared for her own sons, and
plotted the murder of Soundiata and his mother.
Sogolon and Soundiata thus fled their home. In
exile the young Soundiata grew tired of being
ridiculed, and he willed himself to walk. He
ordered a blacksmith to make the heaviest iron
rod possible, which Soundiata intended to use a
crutch. On a day which he himself had nominated,
Soundiata stood up, and such was the immense
effort that he bent the iron rod into the shape
of a hunter’s bow.
Time passed and many had learned of Soundiata’s
feat and of the legend which surrounded him. He
began to attract the support of influential and
powerful leaders. Sumanguru, however, continued
to expand his territory and had by now conquered
the territory held by Soundiata’s half-brother,
Dankaran. Soundiata began organizing an army to
overthrow the emperor. In 1235 he returned from
exile to his homeland where he met the forces of
Sumanguru in battle. Soundiata was victorious
and was crowned King. His triumph was honored in
song by Balla Fasséké Kouyaté, a court musician
who had served Soundiata’s father.
Balla Fasséké Kouyaté thus became the original
griot, and he is considered to be the founder of
the Kouyaté dynasty of griots. He played an
instrument called a bala, a xylophone of
approximately 19 keys. Soundiata eventually
became very wealthy through the Saharan trade of
gold and salt, and through war and political
expediency he established what became known as
the Empire of Mali. He is sometimes referred to
as “The Lion King”,14 and his legacy lives on
through the praise song first sung by Balla
Fasséké Kouyaté.
Soundiata is thought to have died in 1255.
Written sources augment the Mande oral
histories, with the Moroccan traveler Mohammed
ibn Battúta (1304-1368) and the Tunisian
historian Abu Zayd 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Muhammad
ibn Khaldun al-Hadrami (1332-1406) both
travelling to Mali in the century after
Soundiata’s death and both providing powerful
testimonies of Soundiata’s existence.
Oral methods of retention, such as story-telling
and songs, however, have been the primary
methods by which the history of Mande society
has been passed down through generations. The
griots’ role in this process is crucial, for in
an endogamous society it is they alone who serve
as the keepers of their culture’s history. They
have thus been called “living libraries”, 16 and
their role was recognised and valued by
Soundiata. According to Seni Darbo, in A griot’s
self-portrait: The origins and role of the griot
in Mandinka society,
Mandinkas became aware of themselves with the
coming of Sunjata... We know that there were
griots before Sunjata, but not much is known
about them... Sunjata himself was probably
instrumental in defining and solidifying the
caste system as it became known by Mandinkas.
When the time came for him to divide up his
patrimony, he asked for nothing of gold and
cattle; he asked only for the griots because he
knew what he could do with them in welding a
great nation if he used them properly. (Darbo
1976: 1)
Balla Fasséké Kouyaté’s praise song in honour of
Soundiata Keita is usually referred to simply as
Soundiata. At nearly 800 years it is the oldest
piece in the griot canon. It forms part of a
larger repertoire of narratives. Often epic in
length and scope, these historical tales and
songs are learned by griots from childhood.
While there are areas of specialization within
their craft, a common characteristic of jeliya,
or the artistry of the griot, is the ability to
memorize and recount historical narratives. It
is this function which, above all else,
establishes their role in Mande society. In
recognition of this, griots have been referred
to as “the guardians of the word”, 18 for as
oral historians their knowledge of Mande history
is irrefutable. |
