Naré Maghann Konaté (died c. 1218 [citation needed]) was a 12th-century faama (king) of the Mandinka people, in what is today Mali.[1] He was the father of Sundiata Keita, founder of the Mali Empire, and a character in the oral tradition of the Epic of Sundiata.[1][2][3]
The Epic of Sundiata
editIn the Epic of Sundiata, Naré Maghann Konaté (also called Farako Manko Farakonken,[3] Maghan Kon Fatta[3] or Maghan the Handsome) was a Mandinka king who one day received a divine hunter at his court. The hunter predicted that if Konaté married an ugly woman, she would give him a son who would one day be a mighty king. Naré Maghann Konaté was already married to Sassouma Bereté and had a son by her, Dankaran Touman Keïta. However, when two Traoré hunters from the Dô kingdom presented him an ugly, hunchbacked woman named Sogolon Condé, he remembered the prophecy and married her. She soon gave birth to a son, Sundiata, who was unable to walk throughout most of his childhood until 7 years old (other sources say 10 years old[1]).[1][3]
After Naré Maghann Konaté's death (c. 1218 [citation needed]), his first son, Dankaran Toumani Keita, assumed the throne despite Konaté's wishes that the prophecy be respected. Sundiata nonetheless overcame both his handicap and his brother's scorn to eventually defeat the Sosso invader Soumaoro Kanté, thus ensuring the Mandinka's dominance over the region in the form of the Mali Empire.[1][2][4]
See also
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Notes and references
edit- ^ a b c d e Takacs, Sarolta Anna; Cline Eric H.,"The Ancient World." Volumes 1-5. Routledge (2015), p. 68, ISBN 9781317458395 [1] (retrieved 29 April 2024)
- ^ a b Fauvelle, François-Xavier, "Les masques et la mosquée - L empire du Mâli XIIIe XIVe siècle." (Contributor: François-Xavier Fauvelle), CNRS editions (2022), p. 19, ISBN 9782271143716 [2] (retrieved 29 April 2024)
- ^ a b c d Editors: Conrad, David C.; Condé, Djanka Tassey, "Sunjata: A West African Epic of the Mande Peoples." Hackett Publishing (2004), pp. xxxv, xxii, 202, ISBN 9780872206977
- ^ Sisòkò, Fa-Digi, "The Epic of Son-Jara: A West African Tradition." African Epic. African epic series /Thomas A. Hale and John W. Johnson éd. African studies folklore. Translator, editor, & contributor: John William Johnson). Indiana University Press (1992), pp. 100-102, ISBN 9780253207135
Further reading
edit- Sisòkò, Fa-Digi, "The Epic of Son-Jara: A West African Tradition." African Epic. African epic series /Thomas A. Hale and John W. Johnson éd. African studies folklore. Translator, editor, & contributor: John William Johnson). Indiana University Press (1992), pp. 100-102, ISBN 9780253207135 [3]
- Niane, Djibril Tamsir, "Sundiata: An Epic of Old Mali." Longmans (1965), ISBN 9780582640245
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