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The Manden Empire


A long time ago, in West Africa, existed a great empire the size of Western Europe : the Manden Empire.
The Epic of Sundiata, one of the most well-known West-African national epics, depicts the story of Sundiata Keita down from his childhood, his successful campaign to free the Manden province from the malevolent Sosso armies, and his subsequent struggle to unify the Manden and make it one the greatest empires in Africa.
The Manden Empire was founded right after the the pillaging Sosso armies were defeated by Sundiata, in c.1235, and was built on values not so different than those pertaining to the Declaration of the Rights of Man: prohibition of slavery, freedom and equality in rights for every man, etc.
Today it is mostly remember as the Empire of Mali, although at the time it was known as the Manden Kurufaba (Great Assembly of the Manden).


From Soundjata ou L'Épopée Mandingue, éditions Présence Africaine (1960)


SUNDIATA'S CAMPAIGN FOR THE LIBERATION OF THE MANDEN

1) As explained in Soundjata ou l’Épopée mandingue



1.a) Soumaoro Kanté invades the Manden

After having taking over most of Wagadou, and having defeated Diaghan (a country to the North-West of Manden if I remember correctly, which became a powerful ally of the Sosso), Soumaoro Kanté, king of the Sosso Empire, invades the Manden.
The then king of Niani (Sundiata own city, at least according to the Épopée), Dankaran Touman, sends a delegation to the Sosso capital, as well as Balla Fasséké, Sundiata’s most loved griot. Soumaoro steals Balla Fasséké for himself.
It should be noted that Balla Fasséké, once into Soumaoro’s tower, sees the “skulls of the nine kings killed by Soumaoro.” (“Il regarda attentivement les têtes de mort et reconnu les neuf rois tués par Soumaoro”). This possibly refers to a statement present in my only other book about the subject (La grande Geste du Mali, tome 2), according to which Soumaoro invaded and pillaged the Manden nine times, in contrast of invading it one time and then permanently occupying it, as it is stated in L’Épopée mandingue. We’ll get to that later.
Fakoli, a nephew of Soumaoro, decides to rebel against his uncle, because Soumaoro has stolen his wife, said to be an extraordinary woman.

1.b) A delegation leaves the Manden to go and find Sundiata

It is stated in L’Épopée mandingue that the population of the Manden did not recognize Soumaoro as their new king and that a resistance was quickly organized.
A delegation leaves the Manden in hope of finding Sundiata and asking him for help in getting rid of Soumaoro and his troops. In this delegation, were present: Kountoun Manian, an old griot of Nare Maghan (Sundiata’s father IIRC); Mandjan Bérété, one of Sassouma’s brother; Singbin Mara Cissé and Siriman Touré, both marabouts from Niani’s court; and Magnouma, a woman (no more info given).
The delegation finds Sundiata in the kingdom of Mema.

1.c) Sundiata’s departure

The delegation explains to Sundiata that the Manden is currently suffering from Soumaoro’s invasion, and Sundiata immediately accepts to leave Mema and return to the Manden. However it is explicitly stated that the king of Mema, which raised and loved Sundiata like his own son, is furious about Sundiata’s decision to leave. Although harsh words are said, he still understand the situation, and gives Sundiata half of his army (!). According to this, Sundiata is now in command of a “small but redoutable army”, consisting of brave footsoldiers and, most importantly, the Mema Cavalry, which formed Soundiata’s “escadron de fer” (iron squadron).
Sundiata and his troops first head for Wagadou, because Sundiata doesn’t have enough men to defeat Soumaoro at this point. Actually, the king of Wagadou himself, contacted by way of messenger, came to Sundiata to give him half his men and half of its cavalry; this is important because we know Sundiata relied heavily on Wagadou cavalry during his struggle against Soumaoro.

1.d) The battle of Tabon

Then Sundiata and his army headed South, “going around Soumaoro’s kingdom; the first goal to reach was Tabon, the city with an iron gate in the middle of the mountains.” Fran Kamara, an old good childhood friend of Sundiata, is said to be the king of Tabon, so Sundiata wants to ask him to rally and fight for the cause. Fran Kamara, now indeed king of Tabon, is nicknamed Tabon Wana (“le terrible du Tabon”), so Tabon Wana refers to the man, not to the country.
Soumaoro knows of Sundiata’s plans and send a detachment to meet his army near the mountains, to block Sundiata’s advance towards Tabon. The detachment is lead by Sosso-Balla, Soumaoro’s son.
As depicted in L’Épopée, the battle was really quick and resulted in a decisive victory for Sundiata.

1.e) The battle of Negueboria, and Kankigné

At this point, it is said in the Épopée that Sundiata has five “corps d’armée” under his command: Memaka footsoldiers and cavalry, Wagadou footsoldiers and cavalry, and the three tribes of the army of Tabon.
After hearing of his forces’ defeat in or near Tabon, Soumaoro decides to take action and, gathering “the most of his forces”, marches on Tabon. But his and Sundiata’s armies meet in the valley of Negueboria, before Soumaoro can reach Tabon.
L’Épopée gives more details for the battle of Nagueboria than for the battle of Tabon. Soumaoro’s wanted to draw Sundiata’s forces into the plain, but Sundiata didn’t move according to his plan, so Soumaoro placed its men on the slopes of the valley. Sundiata “assumed a very original formation”, with a very tight square formation with all of his cavalry on the first line, and the archers of Wagadou and Tabon in the back.
Sundiata attacked head on the forces of Soumaoro, which stood their ground; when Soumaoro’s center forces were on the break of disbanding, Soumaoro gave the order for his troops on the slopes of the valley to move to the back of the valley, thus encircling Sundiata’s army. But Sundiata had foreseen this, and he stretched its square formation to stop the Sossos in their tracks.
After that Sundiata tried to reach Soumaoro and fight him directly, but to no avail.
At least several thousands of soldiers fought in that battle. Although it is understood that Sundiata’s forces were victorious, no clear result is explicitely given for this battle. It is stated that "The Battle of Kankigné had not been a great victory, but it demoralized the Sossos. [...] Tradition from Dioma says the battle of Kankigné was a half-defeat for Sundiata. [...] Griots sing: The battle of Kankigné was terrible, men had less dignity than slaves."
The night following the battle, Soumaoro’s forces tried to launch a surprise attack on Sundiata’s army, which was resting near the village of Kankigné, but it failed.

1.f) Following the battle of Negueboria, Sundjata and his troops rest

Soumaoro went back to Sosso so he and his troops can rest. The kings of Manden which were openly against Soumaoro regrouped at Sibi for a few days, obeying orders from Kamandjan (King of Sibi, and a childhood friend of Sundiata).
The Malinké kings present at Sibi were, among others: Siara Kouman Konaté, a cousin of Sundiata (spear troops); Faony Kondé, Faony Diarra, king of Do and Kri (bowmen); Mansa Traoré, king of the Traoré tribe ("redoutable bowmen"); Kamandjan, leader of the Kamara (spear troops).
At this point according to L'Épopée, Sundiata had a powerful enough army to defeat Soumaoro in an open field.
During this time, Soumaoro was advancing along the Djoliba and intended to prevent Sundiata to enter the Manden ("lui barrer la route du Manding").

1.g) The Battle of Krina

Sundiata then set camp at Dayala in the Djoliba valley. L'Épopée states that now, it was Sundiata who was blocking access to the South for Soumaoro ("c'était lui maintenant qui barrait la route du sud à Soumaoro Kanté"). At this moment Fakoli and his troops reached Sundiata and joined his army.
Soumaoro walked until he reached Krina, near Dayala on the Djoliba.
Note: L'Épopée often talks about "left" and "right" instead of West and East, but since the Sundiata was positionned South of the Sosso Army, I think that "left" refers to West and "right" to East anyway. Plus, it seems to fit the description of the deployment pattern of both armies, as the Djoliba River was indeed to the right and the Hills (and the Monts Mandingues, as reffered to in La Grande Geste du Mali, tome 2) were to the left.
Sundiata's army was deployed through the field of Krina, from the river. The Sosso army had so many sofas that it was deployed from the river to the hills on the other side of the field. Soumaoro was on the right with its cavalry.
It must have been midday or at least 11am because it is written that the sun had risen above the Djoliba, which is to the East of the field of Krina, and was already spreading light on the whole field. Sundiata did not deploy the whole of his forces: "Wagadou bowmen and the Djallonkés (from what I gather from this Wikipedia article, the Djallonkés were a West-African people that was apparently allied to Soumaoro somehow) were in the rear, ready to flank left towards the hills when the battle would spread."
Right after Sundiata and his cavalry charged, they were stopped by the Diaghan horsemen, and "Tabon Wana and the Wagadou bowmen deployed their troops towards the hills, and the battle spreaded in the whole field, as the sun rose in the sky". Apparently it wasn't long before the horsemen from Diaghan were forced to retreat and "the enemy's center was broken".
Just after that, Sundiata learned from Manding Bory (his brother) that Soumaoro had launched all its reserves against Fakoli and his blacksmiths. So Sundiata lead his cavalry left, to the hills, where Fakoli was. Sundiata and his cavalry "momentarily leveled the fight, however the sofas from Sosso were too many." But at this moment, Sundiata noticed Soumaoro and hit him with an arrow (well, according to L'Épopée, it wasn't just any arrow, but the one with an "ergot de coq", supposedly the only thing able to defeat Soumaoro).
Soumaoro fled, and so did the Sossos when they saw that.
Sundiata and Fakoli then pursued Soumaoro until Koulikoro. It was in the mountains of Koulikoro, in a grotto, that Soumaoro supposedly disappeared.

1.h) Sundiata and his forces destroy Sosso (the city)

After its victory at Krina, the army reached Sosso, the capital of the country, and razed it in one morning. Noumounbeka, a tribe chief, was commanding the city's garrison in Soumaoro's absence. Not much is said.