The enormous gold-producing country of Ghana had fallen from power by the start of the thirteenth century. Following a devastating Islamic onslaught by nomadic Almoravids from the Sahara, tribes that had previously been ruled by Ghana started to assert their independence. For a few decades, the Soso tribe was influential, but ultimately they were overthrown by Mali's rising dominance.
Adopting the Islam would reduce their vulnerability to attack from militant Muslims like the Almoravids and give them equality with Arabic commerce. As a result, traveling Malian traders preached Islam. Additionally, Sundiata and his succeeding mansas, or emperors, sought to establish military control in an effort to uphold peace on their terms and a peace that would be advantageous to trade. The empire of Mali and the majority of the West African countries that practiced Islam both claimed to be descended from Muslims. Mali claimed Negroid ancestry whereas the majority claimed lineage from white ancestors: Muhammad's first muezzin was Bilali Bunama (Bilal ibn Rabah in Arabic), and it is said that his grandson settled in the region that would become Mali.
The earliest known leader is Sundiata, who established a capital city at Niani on the Niger River and used military might to subjugate local tribes. Being surrounded by productive farmland and iron reserves, Niani was well situated for trade and defense. As the Mali gained control over formerly controlled territory by Ghana, Ghana lost its position as the primary producer and distributor of gold.
A succession of leaders of erratic caliber managed to maintain supremacy in the region, but Mansa Musa, who appeared in 1312, was the most powerful and well-known. His 25-year rule was extensively covered by Muslim writers of the present day, who also lauded it. He rose to fame for making the pilgrimage to Mecca in 1324 and blowing through incredible sums of gold in the process. By bringing Timbuktu under Mali's rule and transforming it into the important commercial and intellectual hub it would remain for years, he also increased the empire's influence. Mansa Sulayman, who kept close ties with authorities as far away as Morocco, succeeded Mansa Musa.
Mali expanded its sphere of influence from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Niger River in the east under the able leadership of Sundiata and Musa. Instead of military control, its authority was derived from the cooperation of subordinate kings and chieftains. A succession of weaker monarchs and internal power struggles caused about a lack of direction at the top, and former vassals started to secede from the empire after Mansa Musa's rule. The higher regions of Mali's empire were subjugated by northern Berbers in the 1400s, and the commercial hubs of Walata and Timbuktu were taken over by nomads. Due to internal strife and the growing influence of Songhay to the west, Malian emperors lost their hold on power.
References: Hiskett, M., and Nehemia Levtzion,
Ancient Ghana and Mali (London: Methuen,
1973); Oliver, Roland, A Short History of Africa
(New York: New York University Press, 1962);
Trimingham, John, A History of Islam in West
Africa (London: Oxford University Press, 1970).
Posted using Proof of Brain