The Twelve Doors of MaliDjeli Mamadou Kouyaté [in] Sundiata: An Epic of Old Mali [in] Asante, Molefi Kete, The History of Africa: The Quest for Eternal Harmony, Routledge (2012), p. 130-131. (Retrieved 13 April 2019)Thompson, Robert Farris, Flash of the Spirit: African & Afro-American Art & Philosophy, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group (2010), p. 195, (Retrieved 13 April 2019) were the possessions of the Mansa (emperor) of the medieval Mali Empire which was established in following The Battle of Kirina.Carruth, Gorton, The encyclopedia of world facts and dates, pp 167, 1192 HarperCollins Publishers, 1993, These lands were either allied to or conquered by Sundiata Keita (the first Emperor of Imperial Mali) on his campaign to free the Mandinka heartland from the Sosso kingdom of Kaniaga.
The Twelve Doors Following his victory at Kirina, Sundiata Keita united the twelve towns of Mande known as the "twelve doors of Mali." He pacified these twelve towns and went on to bring prosperity to the land. The twelve doors of Mali are listed below:
Bambougou, conquered by Fakoli Koroma The lands of the Bozo people, allied to Mali ("masters of the water") Djedeba, allied to Mali Do, from which all future Keita queens (such as Sogolon Condé, Sundiata's motherKi-Zerbo, Joseph, UNESCO General History of Africa, Vol. IV, Abridged Edition: Africa from the Twelfth to the Sixteenth Century, (editors : Joseph Ki-Zerbo, Djibril Tamsir Niane), University of California Press, 1998, pp 54 -55, "Mali's Boy-King: A Thirteenth-Century African Epic Becomes Digital", By Ronica Roth (in NEH) : Humanities, July/August 1998, Volume 19/Number 4) would come from, allied to Mali Jalo, conquered by Fran Kamara Kaniaga, conquered by Mari Djata I (commonly known as Sundiata Keita) Kri/Kiri, allied to Mali Oualata, conquered by Mari Djata I Siby, allied to Mali Tabon, allied to Mali Toron, allied to Mali Zaghari, allied to Mali
Historical significance The twelve doors were the base of the Manden Kurufa (Manden Federation). With future conquests and re-organization, they would transform into the provinces of the Mali Empire. They remained important in the political and military circles of imperial power until the end of the Mali Empire in 1645.
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