HIST103: World History (1600–Present)

Rebuilt Mosque of Djenné

There were 21 known Mansas of the Mali Empire after Mari Djata I, and probably about two or three more yet to be revealed. The names of these rulers come down through history via the djelis and modern descendants of the Keita dynasty residing in Kangaba.

What separates these rulers from the founder, other than the latter's historic role in establishing the state is their transformation of the Manden Kurufa into a Manden Empire. Not content to rule fellow Manding subjects unified by the victory of Mari Djata I, these Mansas would conquer and annex Peuhl, Wolof, Serer, Bamana, Songhai, Tuareg, and countless other peoples into an immense empire.

The Djata Lineage 1250-1275

The first three successors of Mari Djata all claimed it by blood right or something close to it. This 25-year period saw amazing gains for the Mansa and the beginning of fierce internal rivalries that nearly ended the burgeoning empire.

Ouali I

After Mari Djata's death in 1255, custom dictated that his son ascend the throne, assuming he was of age. However, Yérélinkon was a minor following his father's death. Manding Bory, Mari Djata's half-brother, and kankoro-sigui (vizier), should have been crowned according to the Kouroukan Fouga. Instead, Mari Djata's son seized the throne and was crowned Mansa Ouali (also spelled Wali).

Mansa Ouali proved to be a good emperor adding more lands to the empire, including the Gambian provinces of Bati and Casa. He also conquered the gold-producing provinces of Bambuk and Bondou. The central province of Konkodougou was established. The Songhai kingdom of Gao also seems to have been subjugated for the first of many times around this period.

Aside from military conquest, Ouali is also credited with agricultural reforms throughout the empire, putting many soldiers to work as farmers in the newly acquired Gambian provinces. Just prior to his death in 1270, Ouali went on the hajj to Mecca, strengthening ties with North Africa and Muslim merchants.

The Generals' Sons

As a policy of controlling and rewarding his generals, Mari Djata adopted their sons. These children were raised at the Mansa's court and became Keitas upon reaching maturity. Seeing the throne as their right, two adopted sons of Mari Djata waged a devastating war against one another that threatened to destroy what the first two Mansas had built.

The first son to gain the throne was Mansa Ouati (also spelled "Wati) in 1270. He reigned for four years, spending lavishly and ruling cruelly according to the djelis. Upon his death in 1274, the other adopted son seized the throne. Mansa Khalifa is remembered as even worse than Ouati. He governed just as badly and reportedly fired arrows from the roof of his palace at passersby. He was assassinated, possibly on orders of the Gbara, and replaced with Manding Bory in 1275.

The Court Mansas 1275-1300

After the chaos of Ouali and Khalifa's reigns, a number of court officials with close ties to Mari Djata ruled. They began the Empire's return to grace, setting it up for a golden age of rulers.

Abubakari I

Manding Bory was crowned under the throne name Mansa Abubakari (a Manding corruption of the Muslim name Abu Bakr). Mansa Abubakari's mother was Namandjé, the third wife of Maghan Kon Fatta. Prior to becoming Mansa, Abubakari had been one of his brother's generals and later his kankoro-sigui. Little else is known about the reign of Abubakari I, but it seems he was successful in stopping the hemorrhaging of wealth in the empire.

Mansa Sakoura

In 1285, a court slave freed by Mari Djata, who had also served as a general, usurped the throne of Mali. The reign of Mansa Sakoura (also spelled Sakura) appears to have been beneficial despite the political shake-up. He added the first conquests to Mali since the reign of Ouali, including the former Wagadou provinces of Tekrour and Diara. 

His conquests did not stop at the boundaries of Wagadou, however. He campaigned into Senegal and conquered the Wolof province of Dyolof, then took the army east to subjugate the copper-producing area of Takedda. He also conquered Macina and raided Gao to suppress its first rebellion against Mali.^[4] More than just a mere warrior, Mansa Sakoura went on the hajj and opened direct trade negotiations with Tripoli and Morocco.

Mansa Sakoura was murdered on his return trip from Mecca in or near present-day Djibouti by a Danakil warrior attempting to rob him. The emperor's attendants rushed his body home through the Ouaddai region and into Kanem where one of that empire's messengers was sent to Mali with news of Sakoura's death. When the body arrived in Niani, it was given a regal burial despite the usurper's slave roots.

The Kolonkan Lineage 1300-1312

The Gbara selected Ko Mamadi as the next Mansa in 1300. He was the first of a new line of rulers directly descending from Mari Djata's sister, Kolonkan. However, since these rulers all shared the blood of Maghan Kon Fatta, they are considered legitimate Keitas. Even Sakoura, with his history of being a slave in the Djata family, was considered a Keita, so the line of Bilal had yet to be broken.

It is during the Kolonkan lineage that the defining characteristics of the golden age of Mali begin to appear. By maintaining the developments of Sakoura and Abubakari I, the Kolonkan Mansas steer Mali safely into its apex.

Economy

The Mali Empire flourished because of trade above all else. It contained three immense gold mines within its borders, unlike the Ghana Empire, which was only a transit point for gold. The empire taxed every ounce of gold or salt that entered its borders. By the beginning of the 14th century, Mali was the source of almost half the Old World's gold exported from mines in Bambuk, Boure, and Galam. There was no standard currency throughout the realm, but several forms were prominent by region.

Gold

Mansa Musa is depicted holding a gold nugget from a 1395 map of Africa and Europe

Gold nuggets were the exclusive property of the Mansa, and were illegal to trade within his borders. All gold was immediately handed over to the imperial treasury in return for an equal value of gold dust. Gold dust had been weighed and bagged for use at least since the reign of the Ghana Empire.

Mali borrowed the practice to stem inflation of the substance since it was so prominent in the region. The most common measure for gold within the realm was the ambiguous mithqal (4.5 grams of gold). This term was used interchangeably with dinar, though it is unclear if coined currency was used in the empire. Gold dust was used all over the Empire but was not valued equally in all regions.

Salt

Tuaregs were and still are an integral part of the salt trade across the Sahara

The next great unit of exchange in the Mali Empire was salt. Salt was as valuable, if not more valuable, than gold in Sub-Saharan Africa. It was cut into pieces and spent on goods with close to equal buying power throughout the empire. While it was as good as gold in the north, it was even better in the south.

The people of the South needed salt for their diet, but it was extremely rare. The northern region, on the other hand, had no shortage of salt. Every year merchants entered Mali via Oualata with camel loads of salt to sell in Niani. According to historians of the period, a camel load of salt could fetch ten dinars worth of gold in the north and 20 to 40 in the south.

Copper

Copper was also a valued commodity in imperial Mali. Copper, traded in bars, was mined from Takedda in the north and traded in the south for gold. Contemporary sources claim 60 copper bars traded for 100 dinars of gold.

Military

The number and frequency of conquests in the late 13th century and throughout the 14th century indicate the Kolonkan Mansas inherited and/or developed a capable military. While no particular Mansa has ever been credited with the organization of the Manding war machine, it could not have developed to the legendary proportions proclaimed by its subjects without steady revenue and stable government. Conveniently, the Mali Empire had just that from 1275 until the first Kolonkan Mansa in 1300.

Strength

The Mali Empire maintained a professional, full-time army in order to defend its borders. The entire nation was mobilized, with each tribe obligated to provide a quota of fighting-age men. Contemporary historians present during the height and decline of the Mali Empire consistently record its army at 100,000, with 10,000 of that number being made up of cavalry. With the help of the river tribes, this army could be deployed throughout the realm on short notice.

Divisions

The forces were divided into northern and southern armies. The northern army, under the command of a farin (northern commander), was stationed in the border city of Soura. The southern army, under the command of a Sankar (a term for the ruler near the Sankarani River), was commanded from the city of Zouma. The Farin-Soura and Sankar-Zouma were both appointed by the Mansa and answerable only to him.

Infantry

An infantryman, regardless of weapon (bow, spear, etc.), was called a sofa. Sofas were organized into tribal units under the authority of an officer called the kelé-kun-tigui or war tribe master.

The kelé-kun-tigui could be the same or a separate post from that of the kun-tigui (tribe-master). Kun-Tiguis held complete authority over the entire tribe and was responsible for filling the quota of men his tribe had to submit for Mali's defense. Along with this responsibility was the duty of appointing or acting as kelé-kun-tigui for the tribe. Despite their power over infantry forces of their own tribe, kelé-kun-tiguis were more likely to fight on horseback.

Below the kelé-kun-tigui were two officers. The most junior of these was the kelé-kulu-kun-tigui, who commanded the smallest unit of infantry called a kelé-kulu meaning "war heap," consisting of ten to 20 men. A unit of ten kelé-kulus (100 to 200 infantry" was called a kelé-bolo meaning "war arm". The officer in charge of this unit was called a kelé-bolo-kun-tigui.

Cavalry

Cavalry units called Mandekalu served as an equal, if not more important, element of the army. Then as today, horses were expensive, and only the nobles took them into battle. A Mandinka cavalry unit was composed of 50 horsemen called a seré commanded by a kelé-kun-tigui. Kélé-Kun-Tiguis, as the name suggests, were professional soldiers and the highest rank on the field short of the Farin or Sankar.

Equipment

The common sofa was armed with a large shield constructed out of wood or animal hide and a stabbing spear called a tamba. Bowmen formed a large portion of the sofas. Three bowmen supporting one spearman was the ratio in Kaabu and the Gambia by the mid-16th century.

Equipped with two quivers and a shield, Mandinka bowmen used iron-headed arrows with barbed tips that were usually poisoned. They also used flaming arrows for siege warfare. While spears and bows were the mainstays of the sofas, swords, and lances of local or foreign manufacturers were the choice weapons of the Mandekalu. Another common weapon of Mandekalu warriors was the poison javelin used in skirmishes. Imperial Mali's horsemen also used chain mail armor for defense and shields similar to those of the sofas.

The Gao Mansas

Ko Mamadi was crowned Mansa Gao and ruled over a successful empire without any recorded crisis. His son, Mansa Mohammed ibn Gao, ascended the throne five years later and continued the stability of the Kolonkan line.

Abubakari II

The last Kolonkan ruler, Bata Manding Bory, was crowned Mansa Abubakari II in 1310. He continued the non-militant style of rule that characterized Gao and Mohammed ibn Gao, but was interested in the empire's western sea. According to an account given by Mansa Musa I, who, during the reign of Abubakari II, served as the mansa's kankoro-sigui, Mali sent two expeditions into the Atlantic.

Mansa Abubakari II left Musa as regent of the empire, demonstrating the amazing stability of this period in Mali, and departed with the second expedition commanding some 4000 pirogues equipped with both oars and sails in 1311. Neither the emperor nor any of the ships returned to Mali. There is debate about whether these voyages were successful, but the account of these happenings is preserved in both written North African records and the oral records of Mali's djelis. Several scholars have argued in favor of established contact and trade between the Americas and the Mali Empire.^[5][6][7]

The Laye Lineage 1312-1389

Abubakari II's 1312 abdication, the only recorded one in the empire's history, marked the beginning of a new lineage descended from Faga Laye. Faga Laye was the son of Abubakari I. Unlike his father, Faga Laye never took the throne of Mali. However, his line would produce seven Mansa who reigned during the height of Mali's power and toward the beginning of its decline.

Administration

The Mali Empire covered a larger area for a longer period of time than any other West African state before or since. What made this possible was the decentralized nature of administration throughout the state. According to Joseph Ki-Zerbo, the farther a person traveled from Niani, the more decentralized the Mansa's power became. Nevertheless, the Mansa managed to keep tax money and nominal control over the area without agitating his subjects into revolt. At the local level (village, town, city), kun-tiguis elected a dougou-tigui (village master) from a bloodline descended from that locality's semi-mythical founder.^[8]

The county-level administrators, called kafo-tigui (county-master), were appointed by the governor of the province from within his own circle.^[4] Only at the state or province level is there any palpable interference from the central authority in Niani. Provinces picked their own governors via their own custom (election, inheritance, etc). Regardless of their title in the province, they were recognized as dyamani-tigui (province master) by the Mansa.^[4]

Dyamani-tiguis had to be approved by the mansa and were subject to his oversight. If the Mansa did not believe the dyamani-tigui was capable or trustworthy, a farba might be installed to oversee the province or administer it outright.

Farins and Farbas

Territories in Mali came into the empire via conquest or annexation. In the event of conquest, farins took control of the area until a suitable native ruler could be found. After the loyalty or at least the capitulation of an area was assured, it was allowed to select its own dyamani-tigui. This process was essential to keep non-Manding subjects loyal to the Manding elites that ruled them.

Barring any other difficulties, the dyamani-tigui would run the province by himself, collecting taxes and procuring armies from the tribes under his command. However, territories that were crucial to trade or subject to revolt would receive a farba. Farbas were picked by the Mansa from the conquering farin, family members, or even slaves. The only real requirement was that the Mansa knew he could trust this individual to safeguard imperial interests.

Duties of the farba included reporting on the activities of the territory, collecting taxes, and ensuring the native administration didn't contradict orders from Niani. The farba could also take power away from the native administration if required and raise an army in the area for defense or putting down rebellions.

The post of a farba was very prestigious, and his descendants could inherit it with the Mansa's approval. The Mansa could also replace a farba if he got out of control, as in the case of Diafunu.

Territory

The Mali Empire reached its largest size under the Laye mansas. During this period, Mali covered nearly all the area between the Sahara Desert and coastal forests. It stretched from the shores of the Atlantic Ocean to Niamey in modern-day Niger. By 1350, the empire covered approximately 439,400 square miles. The empire also reached its highest population during the Laye period ruling over 400 cities, towns, and villages of various religions and ethnicities. Scholars of the era claim it took no less than a year to traverse the empire from east to west. During this period, only the Mongol Empire was larger.

The dramatic increase in the empire's size demanded a shift from the Manden Kurufa's organization of three states with 12 dependencies. This model was scrapped by the time of Mansa Musa's hajj to Egypt. According to al'Umari, who interviewed a Berber who had lived in Niani for 35 years, there were 14 provinces (really tributary kingdoms). In al-'Umari's record, he only records the following 13 provinces.^[9]

• Gana (this refers to the remnants of the Ghana Empire)
• Zagun or Zafun (this is another name for Diafunu)^[10]
• Tirakka or Turanka (Between Gana and Tadmekka)^[9]
• Tekrur (On 3rd cataract of the Senegal River, north of Dyolof)
• Sanagana (named for a tribe living in an area north of the Senegal river)
• Bambuck or Bambughu (gold mining region)
• Zargatabana
• Darmura or Babitra Darmura
• Zaga (on the Niger river, downriver of Kabora)
• Kabora or Kabura (also on the Niger)
• Baraquri or Baraghuri
• Gao or Kawkaw (province inhabited by the Songhai)
• Mali or Manden (the capital province from which the realm gets its name)

Musa I

Sankore Mosque in Timbuktu is built of mud by traditional construction methods.

The first ruler from the Laye lineage was Kankan Musa, also known as Kango Musa. After an entire year without word from Abubakari II, he was crowned Mansa Musa. Mansa Musa was one of the first truly devout Muslims to lead the Mali Empire. He attempted to make Islam the faith of the nobility but kept to the imperial tradition of not forcing it on the populace. He also made Id celebrations at the end of Ramadan a national ceremony. He could read and write Arabic and took an interest in the scholarly city of Timbuktu, which he peaceably annexed in 1324.

Via one of the royal ladies of his court, Musa transformed Sankore from an informal madrasah into an Islamic university. This established close links with other great centers of Islamic learning, with whom it exchanged teachers and students. The academy did not only teach Islamic Studies but also science. Ibn Battuta (1304 to 1368) visited Timbuktu (1352–1353) and praised its scholarship. In 1324, a Mandinka general known as Sagmandir also put down yet another rebellion in Gao.

Mansa Musa's crowning achievement was his famous pilgrimage to Mecca, which started in 1324 and concluded with his return in 1326. Accounts of how many people and how much gold he spent vary. All of them agree it was a very large group (the Mansa kept a personal guard of some 500 men), and he gave out so many alms and bought so many things that gold's value in Egypt and the Near East depreciated for 12 years. When he passed through Cairo, historian al-Maqurizi noted, "the members of his entourage proceeded to buy Turkish and Ethiopian slave girls, singing girls and garments, so that the rate of the gold dinar fell by six dirhams."

Musa was so generous that he ran out of money and had to take out a loan to be able to afford the journey home. Musa's hajj, and especially his gold, caught the attention of both the Islamic and Christian worlds. Consequently, the names of Mali and Timbuktu appeared on 14th-century world maps.

While on the hajj, he met the Andalusian poet and architect Es-Saheli. Mansa Musa brought the architect back to Mali to beautify some of the cities. Mosques were built in Gao and Timbuktu, along with impressive palaces also built in Timbuktu. By the time of his death in 1337, Mali had control over Taghazza, a salt-producing area in the north, which further strengthened its treasury.

Mansa Musa was succeeded by his son, Maghan I. Mansa Maghan I spent wastefully and was the first lackluster emperor since Khalifa. But the Mali Empire built by his predecessors was too strong for even his misrule and passed intact to Musa's brother, Souleyman, in 1341.

Souleyman

Mansa Souleyman took steep measures to put Mali back into financial shape, developing a reputation for miserliness. However, he proved to be a good and strong ruler despite numerous challenges. It was during his reign that the Fula raids on Takrur began. There was also a palace conspiracy to overthrow him hatched by the Qasa (Manding term meaning Queen) and several army commanders. Mansa Souleyman's generals successfully fought off the military incursions, and the senior wife behind the plot was imprisoned.

The Mansa also made a successful hajj, kept up correspondence with Morocco and Egypt, and built an earthen platform at Kangaba called the Camanbolon, where he held court with provincial governors and deposited the holy books he brought back from Hedjaz.

The only major setback to his reign was the loss of Mali's Dyolof province in Senegal. The Wolof populations of the area united into their own state, known as the Jolof Empire, in the 1350s. Still, when Ibn Battuta arrived at Mali in July of 1352, he found a thriving civilization on par with virtually anything in the Muslim or Christian world. Mansa Souleyman died in 1360 and was succeeded by his son, Camba.

Mari Djata II

After a mere nine months of rule, Mansa Camba was deposed by one of Maghan I's three sons. Konkodougou Kamissa, named for the province he once governed,^[11] was crowned as Mansa Mari Djata II in 1360. He ruled oppressively and nearly bankrupted Mali with his lavish spending. He did, however, maintain contact with Morocco, sending a giraffe to King Abu Hassan of the Maghreb. Mansa Mari Djata II became seriously ill in 1372, and power moved into the hands of his ministers until his death in 1374.

Musa II

The ruinous reign of Mari Djata II left the empire in bad financial shape, but it passed intact to the dead emperor's brother. Mansa Fadima Musa, or Mansa Musa II, began the process of reversing his brother's excesses. He does not, however, hold the power of the previous Mansa because of the influence of his kankoro-sigui.

Kankoro-Sigui Mari Djata, who had no relation to the Keita clan, practically ran the empire in Musa II's stead. He put down a Taureg rebellion in Takedda and campaigned in Gao. While he met success in Tahkedda, he never managed a decisive victory in Gao. The Songhai settlement effectively shook off Mali's authority in 1375. Still, by the time of Mansa Musa II's death in 1387, Mali was financially solvent and in control of all of its previous conquests short of Gao and Dyolof. Forty years after the reign of Mansa Musa I, the Mali Empire still controlled some 1.1 million meters of land throughout Western Africa.

Maghan II

The last son of Maghan I, Tenin Maghan (also known as Kita Tenin Maghan for the province he once governed), was crowned Mansa Maghan II in 1387. Little is known of him except that he only reigned for two years. He was deposed in 1389, marking the end of the Faga Laye mansas.

Obscure Lineages 1389-1545

From 1389 onward, Mali gained a host of mansas of obscure origins. This is the least-known period in Mali's imperial history. What is evident is that there is no steady lineage governing the empire. The other characteristic of this era is the gradual loss of its northern and eastern possessions to the rising Songhai Empire and the movement of Mali's economic focus from the trans-Saharan trade routes to the burgeoning commerce along the coast.

Maghan III

Mansa Sandaki, a descendant of Kankoro-Sigui Mari Djata, deposed Maghan II, becoming the first person without any Keita dynastic relation to officially rule Mali. He would only reign a year before a descendant of Mansa Gao removed him. Mahmud, possibly a grandchild or great-grandchild of Mansa Gao, was crowned Mansa Maghan III in 1390. During his reign, the Mossi emperor Bonga of Yatenga raided Mali and plundered Macina. Emperor Bonga did not appear to hold the area, and it stayed within the Mali Empire after Maghan III's death in 1400.

Musa III

During the early 1400s, Mali was still powerful enough to conquer and settle new areas. One of these is Dioma, an area south of Niani populated by Peuhl Wassoulounké. Two noble brothers from Niani of unknown lineage went to Dioma with an army and drove out the Peuhl Wassoulounké.

The oldest brother, Sérébandjougou, was crowned Mansa Foamed or Mansa Musa III. It is likely that his reign saw the first in a string of many great losses to Mali. In 1430, the Tuareg seized Timbuktu. Three years later, Oualata also fell into their hands.

Ouali II

After Musa III's death, his brother Gbèré became emperor in the mid-15th century. Gbèré was crowned Mansa Ouali II and ruled during the period of Mali's contact with Portugal. During the 1450s, Portugal began sending raiding parties along the Gambian coast. The Gambia was still firmly in Mali's control, and these raiding expeditions met with disastrous fates before Portugal's Diego Gomez began formal relations with Mali via its remaining Wolof subjects. Cadomasto, a Venetian explorer, recorded that the Mali Empire was the most powerful entity on the coast in 1454^[12]

Despite their power in the west, Mali was losing the battle for supremacy in the north and northeast. The new Songhai Empire conquered Mema, one of Mali's oldest possessions, in 1465. It then seized Timbuktu from the Tuareg in 1468 under Sunni Ali Ber.

Mansa Mahmud II

It is unknown when exactly Mamadou became Mansa Mahmud II or whom he descended from, but he probably took the throne in the 1470s. Another emperor, Mansa Mahan III, is sometimes cited as Mansa Mahmud I, but throne names did not usually indicate blood relations.

Mansa Mahmud II's rule was characterized by more losses to Mali's old possessions and increased contact between Mali and Portuguese explorers along the coast. In 1477, the Yatenga emperor Nasséré made yet another Mossi raid into Macina, this time conquering it and the old province of BaGhana (Wagadou). In 1481, the Peuhl raids against Mali's Tekrur provinces began.

The growing trade in Mali's western provinces with Portugal witnessed the exchange of envoys between the two nations. Mansa Mahmud II received the Portuguese envoy Pedro d'Evora al Gonzalo in 1484. The Mansa lost control of Jalo during this period. Meanwhile, Songhai seized the salt mines of Taghazza in 1493. That same year, Mahmud II sent another envoy to the Portuguese, proposing an alliance against the Peuhl. The Portuguese decided to stay out of the conflict, and the talks concluded by 1495 without an alliance.

It is unlikely that Mahmud II ruled much longer than the first decade of the 16th century; however, there are no names for the rulers during this time. If Mahmud II was still on the throne between 1495 and the 1530s, he may have held the dubious honor of having lost the most possessions during Mali's imperial period.

Songhai forces, under the command of Askia Muhammad, defeated the Mali general Fati Quali in 1502 and seized the province of Diafunu. In 1514, the Denanke dynasty was established in Tekrour. It was not long before the new kingdom of Great Fulo was warring against Mali's remaining provinces. To add insult to injury, the Songhai Empire seized the copper mines of Takedda.

Mansa Mahmud III

The last mansa to rule from Niani was Mansa Mahmud III, also known as Mansa Mamadou II. Like many rulers of this period, it is unclear when he came to power. The only dates distinguishing his rule are the arrival of a Portuguese envoy in 1534 and the 1545 sack of Niani. These do not rule out his ascension to the throne in the late 1520s or even earlier.

In 1534, Mahmud III received another Portuguese envoy to the Mali court by the name of Peros Fernandes. This envoy from the Portuguese coastal port of Elmina arrives in response to the growing trade along the coast and Mali's now urgent request for military assistance against Songhai. Still, no help is forthcoming, and Mali must watch its possessions fall one by one.

Mansa Mahmud III's reign also saw the military outpost and province of Kaabu become independent in 1537. The Kaabu Empire appeared every bit as ambitious as Mali was in its early years and swallowed up Mali's remaining Gambian provinces of Cassa and Bati.

The most defining moment in Mahmud III's reign was the final conflict between Mali and Songhai in 1545. Songhai forces under Askia Ishaq's brother, Daoud, sacked Niani and occupied the palace. Mansa Mahmud III was forced to flee Niani for the mountains. Within a week, he regrouped with his forces and launched a successful counter-attack forcing the Songhai out of Manden proper for good. The Songhai Empire failed to keep Mali's ambitions in check but never fully conquered their old masters.

After liberating the capital, Mahmud III abandoned it for a new residence further north. Still, there is no end to Mali's troubles. In 1559, the kingdom of Fouta Tooro succeeded in taking Takrur. This defeat reduced Mali to Manden proper, with control extending only as far as Kita in the west, Kangaba in the north, the Niger River bend in the east, and Kouroussa in the south.