Tributary network · approximate1235 – 1670 · 435 years
Mali Empire
A West African gold empire whose 14th-century king was probably the richest individual in human history.
What it was
The Mali Empire (~1230–1670) controlled the goldfields of Bambouk and the trans-Saharan trade routes. Mansa Musa's 1324 hajj to Mecca, distributing so much gold along the way that he depressed the metal's price in Egypt for a decade, made Mali a household name in the medieval Mediterranean.
Why it mattered
Timbuktu under Mali was a major center of Islamic scholarship; its libraries preserved manuscripts that researchers are still cataloguing.
From Wikipedia
The Mali Empire was an empire in West Africa from c. 1235 to 1610. The empire was founded by Sundiata Keita and became renowned for the wealth of its monarchs, especially Mansa Musa. At its peak, Mali was the largest empire in West Africa, widely influencing the culture of the region through the spread of its language, laws, and customs.
Wikipedia: Mali Empire·CC BY-SA 4.0
Borders & accuracy
A paramount-chiefdom-style polity with tributary peripheries; exact extent is contested.
- SOURCEaourednik / historical-basemaps
- DETAILhistorical-basemaps
- SNAPSHOT1325
- MATCHEDMali
- POLITY TYPEtributary
Wars of this empire13
Conflicts whose belligerents name this polity, best-documented first.
- World-changing
- World-changing
- Sonni Ali's Conquests1464–92World-changing
- Mali–Sosso Wars1230–40Major conflict
- Mali Empire Expansion1235–1400Major conflict
- Songhai-Mali Conflicts1400–68Significant · 100K dead
- Mali Conquest of Bamako1240–50Significant
- Significant
- Mossi Raids on Timbuktu1330–1480Significant
- Significant
- Kaabu Empire Wars1537–1867Significant
- Battle of Kirina1235Regional
- Sakura's Reconquest of Songhai1285–1300Regional
Open in the atlas →Seeks the timeline to 1235 and fits the map to these borders.
Cite as: Mali Empire (1235 – 1670). War Atlas. https://waratlas.org/e/africa-mali-empire · Sources & methodology