Overview

The story told by this fictional African griot is based on oral traditions concerning the life of Sundiata, the great Mali king and founder of the Mali Empire. Under Sundiata, the Mali Empire became the most powerful state in western Africa in the 1200's. The empire included parts of what are now Gambia, Guinea, Senegal, Mali, and Mauritania. The cities of the Mali Empire became centers for the caravan trade from beyond the Sahara. During the 1300's, one of Mali's cities, Timbuktu, became a famous center of learning, especially in law and the study of Islam, the Muslim religion. At that time, members of the governing classes were Muslims, while most of Mali's people continued to worship traditional local African gods. Today, many Malians still practice traditional African religions.