The Keita dynasty ruled pre-imperial and imperial Mali from the 11th century into the early 17th century. It was a Muslim dynasty, and its rulers claimed descent from Bilal ibn Rabah. The early history is entirely unknown, outside of legends and myths. The first Keita mansa was Sundiata Keita. This is when Mari Jata is crowned and Keita becomes a clan name. A couple of generations after him, his great-nephew, Mansa Musa Keita I of Mali, made a celebrated pilgrimage to Mecca. The dynasty remained a major power in West Africa from the early 13th century until the breakup of the Mali Empire around 1610. Rivals from within the clan founded smaller kingdoms within contemporary Mali and Guinea. Of the members of these modern "daughter dynasties", the late politician Modibo Keita and the musician Salif Keita are arguably the most famous.

Legendary Ancestors

According to the Quran, Bilal ibn Rabah was a freed slave, possibly of Abyssinian descent, who accepted Islam and became one of the Sahabahs of Muhammad. Bilal Keita bears the distinction of being the first muezzin in Islam. According to Mandinka/Bambara legends dating to the period after the conversion to Islam and passed down by djelis, Bilal had seven sons, one of whom settled in the Manding region. This son, Lawalo Keita, had a son named Latal Kalabi Keita, who later sired Damul Kalabi Keita. Damul Kalabi Keita's son was Lahilatoul Keita and the first faama of the city of Niani. It is through Lahilatoul that the Keita clan becomes a ruling dynasty, though only over the small area around Niani. It was common practice for griots in West Africa to invent Islamic ancestors for their royal clients, to enhance their prestige and legitimacy, and this is certainly the case for the Keita. The earliest ancestors have Islamic names, while later ones have clearly non-Islamic names, but it's impossible now to determine which of these are inventions and which may have a basis in historical reality.

List of imperial mansas of Mali

The name 'Keita', meaning 'heritage taker', post-dates the rise of the empire. Sundiata was likely a Konate, and is praised as such in oral histories. It is unclear when the name shifted. Most of the names of the imperial mansas of Mali are known through the works of Ibn Khaldun. Historian Francois-Xavier Fauvelle has postulated a long-running dynastic competition between two branches of the dynasty, which he terms the Maridjatids and the Abubakrids after their founders. The Maridjatids (descendants of Sundiata by the male line) are best remembered in oral tradition, while written accounts by Arab sources focus on the Abubakrids.

List of post-imperial mansas of Mali

Sources