Page 106 - Empires of Medieval West Africa

t h e m ande p eople of the m ali Empire

to meet the invaders. He introduced himself and his men as Traoré,
a family line that he knew had a special relationship with the Diarra.
By thus allowing himself to be ridiculed, he saved his town from being
destroyed and his people from enslavement.
Once settled into the community, ordinary slaves could find part-
ners and have their own families. Slaves born in their master’s house
had a different status than the ones who were captured in war. The
status of one houseborn slave relative to another depended on the
individual’s duties in the household and the owner’s rank in the overall
community. For example, a slave born in a chief’s house would rank
higher than a slave born in the home of a merchant. Any slave born in
the community would rank higher than a newly arrived captive. The
status of second and third generations of slaves born in the community
would gradually become blurred, and still later generations would even-
tually become part of the original owner’s family.
In Mande kingdoms with permanent armies (as opposed to militias
organized only in time of need), soldiers lived in villages that were pop-
ulated by slave families who lived pretty much like everyone else. The
slaves farmed and produced food for the army and for urban markets.
Descriptions of the court of Mali say that the royal bodyguard was
staffed by slaves. Courageous, hard-fighting warriors who were taken
captive in battle were often put in the army that captured them and
could rise to positions of power. Sakura, who became one of Mali’s
greatest rulers, was a former slave.

The hunTerS of Mande
Any man could be a hunter. He accomplished this by becoming an appren-
tice (a person who learns a skill by working for someone who has that skill)
to a master hunter and being accepted into a hunter’s association.
The determining factor in being accepted into a hunter’s associa-
tion was not how many animals the hunter killed, but his moral charac-
ter. For example, a man who was known to be a drunk or to have casual
relationships with many women would be rejected.
In ancient times, a man’s apprenticeship ended when he killed
three of the largest and most dangerous animals, such as the elephant,
lion, buffalo, or hippopotamus. In more recent times large animals are
very scarce, so an apprenticeship can last indefinitely.
In early times, master hunters carried the title simbon. They
received praise names based on their exploits, such as Lion Killing

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