Sundiata Keita - Definition and Overview

Sundiata Keita or Sunjata Keita (1210? - 1260?) is a semi-historical hero of the Mandinka people of West Africa and is celebrated in the Epic of Sundiata as founder of the Mali Empire. He is said to be a ruler of Mali Empire between 1235? and 1260?. He was the granduncle of Mansa Musa.

Possibly identical with Marijata, also celebrated as founder of Mali empire in one or more pieces of oral history recorded by the Arab historian Ibn Khaldun in the late fourteenth century.

External links

• PDF: Guide to Sundiata: An Epic of Old Mali (http://www.bu.edu/africa/outreach/materials/handouts/SUNDIATA.pdf) from the Boston University's African Studies Center
• Sundiata and Mansa Musa on the Web (http://www.isidore-of-seville.com/mansa/) web directory
• Outline of the Sundiata epic (http://lilt.ilstu.edu/drjclassics/syllabi/IH/sundiata.shtm) by Janice Siegel