Sundiata's Exile: The Boy Who Became a Lion
The Mali Empire: The Richest Civilization in History — Fexingo HistoryPlay episode
Show notes
Before Mansa Musa's gold, before the Sankore madrasa, there was Sundiata Keita — a prince who was exiled as a child and returned as a warrior to defeat the Sosso king Soumaoro Kanté at the Battle of Kirina in 1235. This episode traces Sundiata's extraordinary journey: his birth into the Keita dynasty, his years of exile in Wagadu and Mema, his rise as a cavalry leader, and the fateful confrontation with Soumaoro's sorcery. We also look at how the griots, or jeliw, preserved his story for centuries, blending memory and legend. If you've ever wondered how the Mali Empire actually began — not as a golden legend, but as a family's struggle — this is the story. We also touch on the role of the Gbara council and the Kouroukan Fouga charter that followed the victory, and what they tell us about Mande political thought. The specifics are drawn from the Epic of Sundiata as well as later Arabic accounts from Ibn Khaldun and the Tarikh al-Sudan, with a careful eye on what we can and cannot know. #SundiataKeita #BattleOfKirina #SoumaoroKante #MaliEmpire #EpicOfSundiata #Mande #KeitaDynasty #KouroukanFouga #Gbara #Jeliw #MansaMusa #Timbuktu #WestAfrica #AfricanHistory #MedievalAfrica #History #FexingoHistory #Podcast Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo
