Sunjata Keita

Sunjata Keita, honoured as Sogolon Jata, 'the lion of Sogolon', is the founder-hero of the medieval Mali empire and the central figure of the great epic that the jeliw, or griots, have sung for some seven centuries. Born to King Naré Maghann Konaté and the hunchbacked Sogolon, he spends his childhood unable to walk, mocked at court by the rival queen Sassouma; then, in the epic's decisive miracle, he grasps an iron rod, bends it, and rises to his feet. Driven into long exile with his mother after his father's death, he grows into a mighty hunter and warrior, and at last returns to lead a coalition of Manding clans against the sorcerer-king Soumaoro Kanté of Sosso. His victory at Kirina, won by an arrow charged against Soumaoro's magic, makes him mansa of a united Manden. Around Sunjata the tradition organises its charters of clan, caste, and kingship, and though a historical ruler of the thirteenth century stands behind the tale, the epic renders him a hero of prophecy, occult power, and destiny.

Parentage

• Naré Maghann Konaté
• Sogolon Condé

Domains

• kingship
• warfare
• hunting

Powers

• rises from lifelong paralysis to walk and rule
• unites the chieftaincies of the Manden into an empire

Epithets

• Sogolon Jata
• Nare Maghan Jata

Relations

• enemy: Soumaoro Kanté
• companion: Balla Fasséké
• ally: Fakoli
• ally: Tiramakhan Traoré

Sources

• Niane, D. T. (1965). Sundiata: An Epic of Old Mali, trans. G. D. Pickett. London: Longman.
• Johnson, John William (2003). The Epic of Son-Jara: A West African Tradition. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
• Austen, Ralph A., ed. (1999). In Search of Sunjata: The Mande Oral Epic as History, Literature, and Performance. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.