Sundiata and Modern Mali: Why Does it Matter?

While I was reading the Sundiata Epic, several questions regarding the grand tale popped into my mind. However, after I completed reading it, there was one particular question that stood out to me: why is Sundiata’s story so important to the modern Malian people? On the surface, this may seem obvious; this is the story of the greatest Malian king who ever lived and founded their great empire. However, I wanted to dig deeper. To me, this felt like more than just a story, it felt almost like a rulebook, something to define how the ideal Malian individual should live and act. After doing some digging, I have found that this story carries much more cultural and societal influence than you might think. As I said above, this is not just a story; it is, at its core, a guidebook on how to be a great Malian citizen. However, I am still unsure about just how much this story means to the Malian people in its totality. 

One of the key parts of the story that is still prevalent today is the connection to Islam. In the version of the epic we read, “the Keitas are said to descend from Bilāl (Bilali Bunama), elsewhere called “Sena Bilal” and obviously referring to Bilāl b. Rabāḥ (d.ca. 19/640), Companion of the Prophet and first mu'adhdhin (summoner to prayer) in Islam” (Gomez ). If this story is to serve as a guidebook, this is certainly a good start. Today, Mali is almost entirely an Islamic country. If we take the epic at face value, then we can conclude that the origin of this modern-day standard started with Sundiata and his family. Gomez does throw the kibosh on this a little, saying “The royal lineage may begin in myth, but progresses toward verifiability with the approximation of Sunjata's birth” (Gomez) So, even if we take into account that Sundiata probably was not a direct descendant of a close confidant of Muhammad’s, the broad view still presents us with a clear picture: somewhere along the line, storytellers thought it was important to add this piece of information right at the start of the epic. Essentially, one of the first rules the epic presents to its readers/listeners is that the greatest Malian king was a Muslim, so you should be Muslim as well.

We get more key evidence for this theory as the story progresses. One such example is Sundiata’s mother, Sogolon. As Gomez says, “If there is unanimity within the oral corpus on any one point, it is that Sogolon Kedju—Sogolon Kèjugu, Soukoulou-Koutouma, Sukulung Konte, Sira Nyading—is “monstrously ugly” (Gomez). In a typical story, an ugly woman would be considered a side character. However, in the epic, Sogolon marries the king and eventually gives birth to Sundiata. Although she ends up cruelly mistreated by the king’s other wife, she eventually manages to flee with Sundiata and survive for many years due to her obvious cunning and intelligence. Thus, this story also presents us with perhaps one of the earliest examples of one of the most famous life lessons in the world: do not judge a book by its cover. Here, we can infer the epic is telling Malians to not simply judge people by what they look like, and instead take the time to consider what is going on on the inside. 

Another piece of evidence we see is in the way Sundiata handles his land after he conquers Mali. As Gomez says, “...the “twelve kings of the bright savanna country ... proclaimed Sundiata ‘Mansa’ in their turn. Twelve royal spears were stuck in the ground. Sundiata had become emperor.” Independent polities are now provinces under the suzerainty of Mali, with Ghana and Mema given elevated rank and greater autonomy, a claim of continuity between their former glory and Mali as their successor” (Gomez). This is strange: A king who not only allowed minor kings to exist under him but who even gave autonomy to regions of former glory such as Ghana? This, to me, is quite strange. It is not so uncommon to see a new king delegate territory to others; after all, ruling a large territory by yourself is nearly impossible. However, allowing many of these territories to essentially exist as independent provinces is relatively uncommon. The reason for this is that if you give someone a large piece of large far away from the capital, tell them they are autonomous and are allowed to have an army of their own, that mix usually results in a revolt; humans are greedy creatures, after all. Despite this, Sundiata managed to have multiple of these autonomous territories exist under his rule without any sign of revolution or a territory trying to break away. Once again, then, the Epic of Sundiata provides yet more life lessons for the Malian people: if you are fair and treat others with respect they will continue to respect you; it is a two-way street. 

Finally, it’s time to ask another question: why does any of this matter to a modern Malian? I mean, sure, it’s easy for me to sit here and say that the Epic of Sundiata provides, if you are willing to examine it under the surface, a good number of life lessons that every Malian should follow. However, many of these lessons and traditions simply are not as relevant to the general Malian population anymore. As far as I’m aware, most modern Malians were not born as sons of a king who were kicked out of the country they were eventually supposed to rule, then came back years later and conquered it, remaking it in their image. However, I think looking at it like that misses the point entirely. Why should it matter if many of the traditions mentioned are seemingly old and outdated? Many of the traditions in the Bible, Quran, and Torah are old and outdated, yet those still serve as bastions of large communities that look to those texts for guidance. Those texts have been interpreted for the modern age, and I think the same principle can be applied to the epic. For the modern Malians, this text, with a small amount of interpretation, can serve as a guide for what an outstanding Malian citizen looks like.

Works Cited

1. "The Meanings of Sunjata and the Dawn of Imperial Mali." In African Dominion: A New History of Empire in Early and Medieval West Africa, by Michael A. Gomez. Princeton University Press, 2018.