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Conflict Africa

Mali Empire Conquests

1235 CE – 1340 CE · 105 years

Sundiata Keita defeated the Sosso king Sumanguru at the Battle of Kirina, founding the Mali Empire — the richest state in medieval Africa. Under Mansa Musa, Mali controlled the trans-Saharan gold trade; Musa's 1324 pilgrimage to Mecca was so lavish it crashed gold prices across the Mediterranean.

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Belligerents

The main peoples, kingdoms and states involved.

  • Mali Empire (Sundiata Keita, Mansa Musa)
  • Sosso Kingdom, neighbouring states

Key moments

Defining events in the Mali Empire Conquests.

  1. 1235 Battle of Kirina
  2. c. 1285 Conquest of Timbuktu

Elsewhere in Africa at the time

Records whose own span overlaps this one, found by the same test the canvas draws with. The bar under each card is where it sits inside this one.

See the whole view

Landmark · Africa

Mapungubwe

900 CE – 1300 CE

Polity · Africa

Ethiopia

Attested 1279 CE – 2026 CE

Conflict · Africa

Almohad Conquests

1121 CE – 1269 CE

Trade route · Africa

East African Coastal Trade

900 CE – 1505 CE

Landmark · Africa

Great Mosque of Djenné

1240 CE – still standing

Polity · Africa

Benin

Attested 1279 CE – 2026 CE

Conflict · Africa

Kanem–Bornu Wars

700 CE – 1846 CE

Landmark · Africa

Thulamela

1250 CE – 1700 CE

Dated moments inside this span

Events the timeline places between 1235 CE and 1340 CE.

1235 CE Wars of the Mali Empire 1240 CE Great Mosque of Djenné 1250 CE Thulamela 1235 CE Mongol Conquest of Song China 1238 CE Sukhothai

And in the rest of the world

Records running through the same years, on the other side of the map.

Lighthouse of Alexandria Landmark · Middle East 280 BCE – 1323 CE Ottoman Empire Polity · Europe 1299 CE – 1922 CE Polynesian Eastward Voyaging Trade route · Americas 700 CE – 1300 CE Wars of the Kievan Rus' Conflict · Europe 860 CE – 1240 CE Sundiata Figure · West Africa 1217 CE – 1255 CE Cologne Cathedral Landmark · Europe 1248 CE – still standing
Image credits5 pictures from Wikimedia Commons