Mande Kaba

Mande Kaba is a name associated with the proposed capital of the medieval Mali Empire. The location and identity of Mande Kaba have been subjects of ongoing historical debate and scholarly inquiry, as no definitive archaeological evidence has confirmed its existence.^[1]^[2]^[3] The name appears frequently in Mandé oral traditions, where it is referred to as the heartland of imperial Mali's power and wealth.^[4]^[5]

Historians have yet to agree on whether Mande Kaba was a real historical city, an amalgamation of multiple locations, or a purely mythical construct used in storytelling.^[6]

The controversy around the identity of Mande Kaba has been heightened by the attempts of colonial and postcolonial powers to define its location to serve political ends. The French, seeking to create cantons in their colonial region of Kabala, initially pushed a largely unsubstantiated narrative of Kaba being the capital of Imperial Mali.^[6] The later French pronouncement of Niani being the lost capital was equally flawed and propped up by the colonial government to serve their means.^[7]

References

^ J.O. Hunwick, "The Mid-Fourteenth Century Capital of Mali," The Journal of African History 14 (1973): 195, 203
^ Francois-Xavier Fauvelle-Aymar, "Niani Redux. A final rejection of the identification of the site of Niani (Republic of Guinea) with the capital of the kingdom of Mali," Palethnology of Africa, Palethnology 4 (2012): 244.
^ David C. Conrad, "A Town Called Dakajalan: The Sunjata Tradition and the Question of Ancient Mali's Capital," The Journal of African History 35 (1994): 368-369.
^ Nehemia Levtzion and Jay Spaulding, "Al-Umari," "Ibn Battuta," and "Ibn Khaldun," in Medieval West Africa: Views From Arab Scholars and Merchants, edited by Nehemia Levtzion and Jay Spaulding, (Markus Wiener Publishers, 2003), 50, 67.
^ David C. Conrad, "A Town Called Dakajalan: The Sunjata Tradition and the Question of Ancient Mali's Capital," The Journal of African History 35 (1994): 356.
^ ^a ^b Kathryn L. Green, ""Mande Kaba." The Capital of Mali: A Recent Invention?," History in Africa 18 (1991): 130-131.
^ Francois-Xavier Fauvelle-Aymar, "Niani Redux. A final rejection of the identification of the site of Niani (Republic of Guinea) with the capital of the kingdom of Mali," Palethnology of Africa, Palethnology 4 (2012): 239.

[1] J.O. Hunwick, "The Mid-Fourteenth Century Capital of Mali," The Journal of African History 14 (1973): 195, 203

[2] Francois-Xavier Fauvelle-Aymar, "Niani Redux. A final rejection of the identification of the site of Niani (Republic of Guinea) with the capital of the kingdom of Mali," Palethnology of Africa, Palethnology 4 (2012): 244.

[3] David C. Conrad, "A Town Called Dakajalan: The Sunjata Tradition and the Question of Ancient Mali's Capital," The Journal of African History 35 (1994): 368-369.

[4] Nehemia Levtzion and Jay Spaulding, "Al-Umari," "Ibn Battuta," and "Ibn Khaldun," in Medieval West Africa: Views From Arab Scholars and Merchants, edited by Nehemia Levtzion and Jay Spaulding, (Markus Wiener Publishers, 2003), 50, 67.

[5] David C. Conrad, "A Town Called Dakajalan: The Sunjata Tradition and the Question of Ancient Mali's Capital," The Journal of African History 35 (1994): 356.

[auto-6] Kathryn L. Green, ""Mande Kaba." The Capital of Mali: A Recent Invention?," History in Africa 18 (1991): 130-131.

[7] Francois-Xavier Fauvelle-Aymar, "Niani Redux. A final rejection of the identification of the site of Niani (Republic of Guinea) with the capital of the kingdom of Mali," Palethnology of Africa, Palethnology 4 (2012): 239.

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