Mande Bori, also known as Mande Bakari[lower-alpha 1] and known in Arabic as Abu Bakr,[1] is a heroic figure in Mande oral tradition who was involved in the founding of the Mali Empire. He was the brother and right-hand man of Sunjata, the founder of the empire,[2] and served as the empire's kankoro-sigui,[3] an office that has been translated as "viceroy"[3] or "lieutenant-general".[4] Though Mande Bori never himself reigned as mansa, his grandsons Musa and Suleyman ruled the Mali Empire at the apex of its power and prestige.[5]

Mande Bori is regarded as the progenitor of the branches of the Keita clan who live in the vicinity of Kouroussa, in Hamana and Kolonkana.[6] His is regarded as having been hot-headed,[7] and oral tradition claims he was cursed by his sister Sogolon Kolonkan for insulting her.[8] The story of this curse, said to prevent his descendants from ever leading an army, is used as an explanation for the relationship between and relative status of Hamana, whose residents trace their lineage to Mande Bori, and Kangaba, whose residents trace their lineage to Sunjata.[9]

In addition to his role in the Sunjata epic, Mande Bori is also a hero of hunters, and a legend claims he was born after his mother made a pact with a hunter spirit.[10]

Lineage

Mande Bori was the brother of Sunjata, the founder of the Mali Empire. Mande Bori and Sunjata shared a father, Maghan Kon Fatta, but whether they were full brothers or half brothers is unclear: some traditions regard Mande Bori as a son of Sunjata's mother Sogolon, whereas others regard him as the son of another of Maghan Kon Fatta's wives, Namandjé.[9][2] It is also unclear whether he was the older or younger brother.[9]

Mande Bori had at least one son, Faga Leye, who was the father of Mansa Musa.[11] Under the Arabic form of his name Abu Bakr, Mande Bori is briefly mentioned by the 14th-century Arab historian Ibn Khaldun as Musa's ancestor.[12]

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Variously spelled: Manding/Manden/Mande, Bory/Bori, Bakari/Bakary/Boukary/Bugari/Bakari.

References

Works cited

  • Conrad, David C. (1992). "Searching for History in The Sunjata Epic: The Case of Fakoli". History in Africa. 19: 147–200. doi:10.2307/3171998. ISSN 0361-5413. JSTOR 3171998. S2CID 161404193.
  • Gomez, Michael A. (2018). African Dominion: A New History of Empire in Early and Medieval West Africa. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-19682-4.
  • Jansen, Jan (2017). Sunjata: roem duurt langer dan een leven: het verhaal over koning Sunjata zoals verteld door die familie Diabate uit Kela (Mali). ISBN 978-90-5448-164-5.
  • Jansen, Jan (1996). "The representation of status in Mande: did the Mali Empire still exist in the Nineteenth Century?". History in Africa. 23: 87–109. doi:10.2307/3171935. hdl:1887/2775. ISSN 0361-5413. JSTOR 3171935. S2CID 53133772.
  • Leach, Melissa (2000). "New shapes to shift: war, parks and the hunting person in modern West Africa". Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute. 6 (4): 577–595. doi:10.1111/1467-9655.00034. ISSN 1359-0987.
  • Levtzion, N. (1963). "The thirteenth- and fourteenth-century kings of Mali". The Journal of African History. 4 (3): 341–353. doi:10.1017/S002185370000428X. JSTOR 180027. S2CID 162413528.
  • Niane, Djibril Tamsir (1959). "Recherches sur l'Empire du Mali au Moyen Age". Recherches Africaines (in French). Archived from the original on 2007-05-19.
  • Niane, D. T. (2006) [1960]. Sundiata: an epic of Old Mali. G. D. Pickett (trans.) (Revised ed.). Harlow, England: Pearson Longman. ISBN 978-1-4058-4942-5.
  • Niane, D. T., ed. (1984). General History of Africa IV: Africa from the Twelfth to the Sixteenth Century. ISBN 92-3-101-710-1.
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