Soumaoro Kanté
Soumaoro Kanté (sometimes Sumanguru) was a
thirteenth century king of the
Sosso people of the
Takrur region. Seizing
Koumbi Saleh, the capital of the recently-defunct
Ghana Empire, Soumaoro Kanté proceeded to conquer several neighboring states, including the
Mandinka people in what is now
Mali. However, the Mandinka prince
Sundiata Keita built a coalition of smaller kingdoms to oppose him at the
Battle of Kirina (c.
1240), defeating the Sosso and leaving Sundiata's new
Mali Empire dominant in the region.
Soumaoro Kanté is portrayed as a villainous sorcerer-king in the national epic of Mali, the
Epic of Sundiata. After his defeat at Kirina, he flees into the mountains of
Koulikoro, where he disappears after being shot with his total weakness, an arrow with a white rooster crest on it.
* Davidson, Basil.
Africa in History. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1995.
*
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
