Sundiata Keita or Sunjata Keita (1190? - 1255?) is a semi-historical hero of the Mandinka people of West Africa and is celebrated in the Epic of Sundiata as founder of the Mali Empire.

He was said to have defeated the great enemy, Sumanguru at the battle of Kirina. He was the son of a hunchback, Sogolon, and Maghan Kon Fatta. At age 7, he still couldn't walk, and Maghan's other wife used this against him, as she (Sassouma Berete) thought Sundiata would try to kill her son, Prince Dankaran Touman, to become the leader of Mali. Sundiata learned to walk with the help of a blacksmith who made braces for his legs. He is said to be a ruler of Mali Empire between 1235? and 1260?. He was the granduncle of Mansa Musa.

Possibly identical with Marijata , also celebrated as founder of Mali empire in one or more pieces of oral history recorded by the Arab historian Ibn Khaldun in the late fourteenth century.

External links

• PDF: Guide to Sundiata: An Epic of Old Mali from the Boston University's African Studies Center
• Sundiata and Mansa Musa on the Web web directory
• Outline of the Sundiata epic by Janice Siegel

References

• "The Royal Kingdoms of Ghana, Mali and Songhay: Life in Midieval Africa" by Patricia and Fredrick McKissack