Encounters with Islam · Different Arab tribes united in the 7th century CE; their political influence spread to Spain, Central Asia, Afghanistan, West Africa, China, and South and Southeast Asia (Norton)  · Traders set up an extensive network of routes, which facilitated "an extraordinary exchange of goods" (Norton) --> routes stretched from the Atlantic Ocean to East Asia, and from the equator to Northern Europe (Norton) · Commodities were exchanged along these routes, but also ideas and art. The exchange of ideas and art diversified literary forms and styles (Norton) ("Map of the Silk Road Routes" from Ancient History Encyclopedia) · Islam became religion of ruling classes along ^ trade routes, but unlike Christianity, it was NOT imposed on local cultures; instead, Islam existed side-by-side with local religions, thereby facilitating a diverse, multicultural environment (Norton) · Map of Western Africa (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.,1200 CE - 1400 CE Watch： https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvnU0v6hcUo&feature=youtu.be https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOS78ul1_rA&feature=youtu.be “What saved him? His hands. When you are popular you must have an open hand. It is a man’s generosity that will save him. Nothing saved Sunjata but his hands” (lines 1095-99).  Author  Time/Date of Composition Contextual Information  Form Major Themes Preview   Sunjata is the only reading (so far) with a still active oral tradition. The version we’re reading is a written rendering of an oral performance by Tassey Condé in the 1990s  Condé was a jeliw who lived in Fadama in Northeastern Guinea (Norton) However… There is no single author, as Sunjata has been passed down and told by many different bards Author  Time/Date of Composition  Probably composed between late 1200s CE and early 1300s CE  Evidence of Sunjata’s life is corroborated through the writings of Ibn Battuta, a Berber/Moroccan explorer/traveler in the 1350s BCE (Book cover of The Travels of Ibn Battuta)  Mande People. Mande (also called Mandinka) people live in northeastern Guinea, southern Mali, and parts of sub-Saharan West Africa (Norton) Mande people are comprised of a variety of independent groups “dominated by a hereditary nobility”  the Kangaba group has had an uninterrupted dynasty lasting 13 centuries (“Mandinga” from Encyclopedia Brittanica) Contextual Information https://www.britannica.com/topic/Malinke  Mande people founded the Mali Empire, one of the most powerful empires in Western Africa: “The Empire was founded in 1235 CE by the legendary King Sundiata [ii], and lasted until the early 1600s CE [iii]. The Empire’s most famous ruler was named Mansa Musa, and chroniclers of the times wrote that when he travelled to Mecca on a pilgrimage he distributed so much gold that he caused great inflation lasting a decade “ (“The Empire of Mali” from South African History Online) Contextua.

1. Encounters with Islam
· Different Arab tribes united in the 7th century CE; their
political influence spread to Spain, Central Asia, Afghanistan,
West Africa, China, and South and Southeast Asia (Norton)
· Traders set up an extensive network of routes, which
facilitated "an extraordinary exchange of goods" (Norton) -->
routes stretched from the Atlantic Ocean to East Asia, and from
the equator to Northern Europe (Norton)
· Commodities were exchanged along these routes, but also
ideas and art. The exchange of ideas and art diversified literary
forms and styles (Norton)
("Map of the Silk Road Routes" from Ancient History
Encyclopedia)
· Islam became religion of ruling classes along ^ trade routes,
but unlike Christianity, it was NOT imposed on local cultures;
instead, Islam existed side-by-side with local religions, thereby
facilitating a diverse, multicultural environment (Norton)
· Map of Western Africa (Links to an external site.)Links to an
external site.,1200 CE - 1400 CE
Watch：
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvnU0v6hcUo&feature=yout
u.be
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOS78ul1_rA&feature=yout
u.be
“What saved him?
His hands.

2. When you are popular you must have an open hand.
It is a man’s generosity that will save him.
Nothing saved Sunjata but his hands” (lines 1095-99).
Preview
oral tradition. The version we’re reading is a written
rendering of an oral performance by Tassey Condé
in the 1990s
Northeastern Guinea (Norton)
been passed down and told by many different bards

3. Author
Time/Date of Composition
between late 1200s CE
and early 1300s CE
life is corroborated
through the writings of
Ibn Battuta, a
Berber/Moroccan
explorer/traveler in the
1350s BCE
(Book cover of The Travels of
Ibn Battuta)
Mande People.
northeastern Guinea, southern Mali, and parts of
sub-Saharan West Africa (Norton)
independent groups “dominated by a hereditary

4. uninterrupted dynasty lasting 13 centuries
(“Mandinga” from Encyclopedia Brittanica)
Contextual Information
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Malinke
most powerful empires in Western Africa:
“The Empire was founded in 1235 CE by the legendary
King Sundiata [ii], and lasted until the early 1600s CE
[iii]. The Empire’s most famous ruler was named
Mansa Musa, and chroniclers of the times wrote that
when he travelled to Mecca on a pilgrimage he
distributed so much gold that he caused great inflation
lasting a decade “ (“The Empire of Mali” from South
African History Online)
Contextual Information
https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/empire-mali-1230-1600
Contextual Information
(“Detail Showing Mansa Musa Sitting on a Throne” from
Wikipedia)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musa_I_of_Mali#/media/File:Cata
lan_Atlas_BNF_Sheet_6_Mansa_Musa.jpg

5. nited various clans and defeated the Soso
peoples--ruled by King Sumaworo--at the Battle of
Kirina (1235)
Sunjata is thus known as “the Lion King of Mali”;
scholar Mary Ellen Snodgrass observes that Sunjata
may be the historical basis for Disney’s The Lion King
(“epic, African” from Encyclopedia of the Literature of
Empire)
Contextual Information
https://books.google.com/books?id=LXyyYs2cRDcC&lpg=PT88
&ots=gkIHLN19x5&dq=ellen%20snodgrass%20sundiata&pg=P
T88#v=onepage&q=ellen%20snodgrass%20sundiata&f=false
Family/genealogy and Islam.
“Political alliances are often determined by ancestral
ties between royal families, and intermarriage between
kingdoms serves to bind separate communities into a
larger familial group. The genealogy of the ruling king
is preserved in detail through the jali, and he is often
called upon to recite the entire history of the royal
family on important ceremonial occasions and
especially before great battles…
Contextual Information

6. genealogy is based in West Africa, the origins of the
family are traced back to Bilali Bounama, the first
muezzin and companion of the prophet Muhammad.
Like most medieval Muslim dynasties, the Mali
emperors linked themselves to the prophet's family
or with someone near them. Thus Sundiata is tied
both to his ancestral land in Mali and to the newer
religion which had spread through northern Africa”
(“Sundiata” from Berkeley ORIAS)
Contextual Information
https://orias.berkeley.edu/sundiata
Contextual Information
(“Sunjata’s Family Tree” from Berkeley ORIAS)
https://orias.berkeley.edu/sundiata
Britannica:
An epic may deal with such various subjects as myths, heroic

7. legends, histories, edifying religious tales, animal stories, or
philosophical or moral theories. Epic poetry has been and
continues to be used by peoples all over the world to
transmit their traditions from one generation to another,
without the aid of writing. These traditions frequently
consist of legendary narratives about the glorious deeds of
their national heroes. (“Epic”)
Form
https://www.britannica.com/art/epic
Some epic elements in Sunjata.
story
birth and lifetime of Sunjata: “Like many epics, Sunjata is
a relation of the hero’s many trials, which he surmounts
through his courage, tenacity, and piety” (from Norton)
a kind of spirit), nine sorceresses of Manden, Sunjata’s
sisters are sorceresses, prophecies and oracles throughout
the narrative, Sumaworo is a sorcerer king
Form

8. poet/performer,” from the French griot (“Griot”)
musicianhood”
praise-singers, spokespersons and diplomats”
because they maintain the oral traditions of the
Mande people
Form
https://www.etymonline.com/word/griot#etymonline_v_33947
Form
musical instruments, such
as an nkoni (lute), a kora
(harp), or a bala
(xylophone)
response” system in
which the jeliw speaks and
the audience responds
with naamu (meaning,
“yes” or “we hear you”)
(Norton)
(“Balafon” from Wikipedia)

9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balafon#/media/File:Balafoon.jpg
his/her culture
Major Themes