This tale tells of Sundiata, the great thirteenth-century ruler of Mali. The story comes to us through the centuries from a long line of oral historians, or griots, that are in charge with keeping the memories of the past alive. Once only available to those who could understand the native language of the griot, which in the case of Sundiata is Malinke (or Mandingo), this epic tale intrigued Malian historian Djibril Tamsir Niane. He transcribed the words of the griot, Djeli Mamoudou Kouyate. After giving his lineage and justifying his right to tell the tale, the narrator, Djeli Mamoudou Kouyate, begins the story of Sundiata by telling how Sundiata's mother and father came to be married. .
Sundiata's father, Maghan Kon Fatta was the King of Mali. One day while he was resting under a silk-cotton tree, a hunter came to the King's territory to tell him his future. The hunter told Maghan Kon Fatta that he would marry an ugly, hunchback woman named Sogolon Kedjou. He went on to explain that she would give him a son who would one day be a mighty king. Maghan Kon Fatta remembered the prophecy and married this lady. She soon gave birth to a son named Sundiata Keita. Sundiata Keita was unable to walk throughout his early childhood. When Sundiata's father died, Dankaran Touman, Sundiata's half brother became king of the Mali Empire. Sassouma Berete, Maghan Kon Fatta's first wife drove Sundiata, his mother, his brother and his two sisters into exile. Meanwhile, Soumaoro Kanté, the cruel sorcerer king of Sosso attacked the Mandinka kingdom. As a result Dankaran Toumani took flight in fear. The oppressed Mandinka people then sent for the exiled Sundiata. Forging a coalition of neighboring small kingdoms, Sundiata waged a war against the Sosso. In the end Sundiata was crowned with the title "Mansa," or "king of kings", as the first ruler of the Mali Empire. .
The story of Sundiata can be viewed and used in many different ways.
