Mali Empire Timeline

Following the death of Sundiata Keita around 1255, the kings or emperors of Mali were referred to by the title mansa, establishing the nomenclature for Mali's rulers for generations to come.

As a result of steady tax revenue and stable government beginning in the last quarter of the 13th century, the Mali Empire was able to project its power throughout its own extensive domain and beyond.

In 1285, Sakura, a former slave of the imperial family who had risen to the rank of general, carried out a military coup and seized control of the empire.

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 that sustained Mali's expansion.

Due to Muhammad's failure to return, Musa was recognized as mansa in approximately 1312. His reign would become the most celebrated in Malian history, renowned for wealth and piety.

A devout and well-educated Muslim, Mansa Musa took an interest in the scholarly city of Timbuktu, which he peaceably annexed in 1324, transforming Sankore from an informal madrasah into an Islamic university.

Image source: University of Timbuktu

Mansa Musa Keita's crowning achievement was his famous pilgrimage to Mecca from 1324 to 1326, where his generous gifts and expenditure of gold caused significant inflation in Egypt and made Mali famous across the Islamic world.

Image source: Mansa Musa

By 1350, the Mali Empire covered approximately 478,819 square miles (1,240,140 km²), making it one of the largest states in the history of West Africa.

Imperial Mali is known through the account of Shihab al-'Umari, written in about 1340 by a geographer-administrator in Mamluk Egypt, providing valuable detail on the empire at its height.

Image source: Mansa Musa

The traveller Ibn Battuta visited the capital city from 1352 to 1353 during Sulayman's reign, leaving the first account of a West African kingdom made directly by an eyewitness; he called the capital Mali.

Image source: Ibn Battuta

The 1375 Catalan Atlas portrayed a 'city of Melly' (ciutat de Melly) in West Africa, depicting Mansa Musa holding a gold nugget and spreading knowledge of Mali's wealth in Europe.

Image source: Catalan Atlas

After Ibn Khaldun's death in 1406, there are no further Arab primary sources except for Leo Africanus, who wrote more than a century later, creating a gap in the written record of Mali.

Image source: Ibn Khaldun

Upon Leo Africanus's visit at the beginning of the 16th century, his descriptions of the territorial domains of Mali showed that it was still a kingdom of considerable size, though decline was underway.

Image source: Leo Africanus

Upon Sulayman's death in 1360, the empire was ruled by a string of short-lived, cruel, or incompetent rulers, marking the beginning of Mali's long decline.

By the time of Mansa Musa Keita II's death in 1387, Mali was financially solvent and in control of all of its previous conquests except Gao and Dyolof, despite growing internal instability.

The late 14th century again saw a series of short reigns, often ending in palace coups, further weakening central authority in the empire.

In 1433–1434, the Empire lost control of Timbuktu to the Tuareg, led by Akil Ag-Amalwal, a major blow to Mali's prestige and commercial power.

The rising Songhai Empire conquered Mema, one of Mali's oldest possessions, in 1465, continuing the erosion of Mali's territory.

Image source: Songhai Empire

Songhai seized Timbuktu from the Tuareg in 1468 under Sunni Ali Ber, cementing Songhai's rise as the dominant power in the region at Mali's expense.

In 1477, the Mossi emperor Naba Nasséré made yet another raid into Macina, this time conquering it and the old province of BaGhana (Wagadou), stripping Mali of more territory.

Image source: Mossi Kingdoms

In an attempt to stem the tide of losses, Mansa Mahmud Keita II opened diplomatic relations with Portugal, receiving the envoys Pêro d'Évora and Gonçalo Enes in 1487.

In 1493 Mahmud Keita II sent another envoy proposing an alliance against the threat of Tenguella, but this came to nothing.

Songhai forces under the command of Askia Muhammad I defeated the Mali general Fati Quali Keita in 1502 and seized the province of Diafunu, further shrinking the empire.

Image source: Askia Muhammad I

From 1507 onwards neighboring states such as Diarra, Great Fulo, Yatenga, and the Songhai Empire chipped away at Mali's borders, accelerating the empire's contraction.

In 1514, the Denianke dynasty was established in Tekrour, and it was not long before the new kingdom of Great Fulo was warring against Mali's remaining provinces.

In 1544 or 1545, a Songhai force led by kanfari Dawud, who later succeeded his brother Askia Ishaq as ruler of the Songhai Empire, sacked the capital of Mali and purportedly used the royal palace as a latrine.

Around 1550, Mali attacked Bighu in an effort to regain access to its gold, reflecting the empire's struggle to maintain its economic foundations.

Image source: Begho

Songhai authority over Bendugu and Kala declined by 1571, and Mali may have been able to reassert some authority over them as its fortunes improved somewhat.

The breakup of the Wolof Empire allowed Mali to reassert authority over some of its former subjects on the north bank of the Gambia, such as Wuli, by 1576.

Image source: Jolof Empire

Mali made a brief comeback in the late 16th century and was poised to take advantage of Songhai's collapse after the 1593 Moroccan invasion, but a disastrous defeat outside Djenne in 1599 ended those hopes. The end of the Mali Empire came in 1599 under Mansa Mahmud IV.

Around 1610, Mahmud Keita IV died, marking the end of the last significant mansa of a unified Mali Empire.

The Gbara or Great Assembly served as the Mandinka deliberative body and council of state until the collapse of the empire in 1645, closing the final chapter of imperial Mali.