Page 104 - Empires of Medieval West Africa

t he m ande p eople of the m ali Empire

Saharan regional markets. When Mande rulers required horses from
neighboring kingdoms, they sent slaves to be exchanged for them.
In the 18th century, when captives arrived in the Bamana kingdom
of Segu, there was a period of transition when their former identity was
taken away. They were given new names. They would have their heads
shaved into special patterns that indicated their slave status.
A person who was already a slave when he was captured would have
a lower status than a formerly free man. A formerly free man could be
bought back in exchange for two slaves if his family could afford it. If,
for some reason, the ransom failed to arrive and the captive had been a
chief or a man of proven ability, he might be placed in some position of
responsibility. On the other hand, if he was considered a threat because
of political influence, a tendency toward violence, or an inclination to
escape, he was quickly sold or put to death.
Skilled craftsmen such as blacksmiths, or jeliw who were highly
prized for their musical and verbal skills, often avoided becoming

CONNECTIONS

People of the Cliffs

the muslim rulers of the mali Empire had no
problem with making slaves of non-muslims.
they would send out small raiding parties
to capture “unbelievers” in their villages and
make them servants, farmers, and soldiers.
or they would send them across the sahara
to be sold in North africa.
sometime in the 15th century, non-muslim
peoples called dogon fled to a region called the
Bandiagara plateau. Here they could defend
themselves from slave raiders by building their Dogon houses are made of mud brick. The
villages among big rocks at the base of high tiny rectangular buildings with thatched
cliffs that extended for 125 miles. roofs are granaries, and the larger buildings
Using mud bricks and stone, the dogon are residences.
build their houses and granaries in a unique
style that makes them look like they grew dogon moved out to their savanna farmlands
naturally out of the cliffs. in 1890, french below, but most of them still occupy their
colonizers put an end to slave raiding. some unique houses in villages beneath the cliffs.

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