Sunita the King

Sunita the King

The Sunjata epic refers to the Sundiata, and the epic is a poem concerning Malinke people. The epic is told of a hero who died in 1255, and he was the founder of the Mali Empire.  The epic is an oral tradition that took place in the 13^th century, and the epic was narrated by griot poets who were also called jeliw. The oral tradition evidence as well as historical events which took place in the period when the events took place. The oral tradition necessities have changed with the change of centuries. Still, the epic writers have tried to correct the available events which reflect the historical events that took within the period the empire was in the reign.

The epic has oral historical events that convey, which passes information about Mail Empire traditions as well as the culture about the ethnic group of Mande community. The two main elements of families in the group which were Constructive (badenya ) and Father-child-ness (fadenya) (Bengaly  & Bulman 2017). Fadenya used to a war between half-siblings, and this was represented in the epic by hatred that was there between Sundiata and Dankaran.

The destructive powers which fadenya used made Sundiata together with her mother to be chased out of Mail since it was feared that Sassouma would cause harm to Sogolon’s family. Badenya is the attraction between the children belonging to the same woman. This is represented in the epic when Kolonkan, who was the Sundiata’s sister, stood at the watch when Sassouma tries to use witchcraft as his siblings were supporting him in his battle as he was trying to claim back Mail. The narrator underscores the importance of the mother when he says, “the child is worth no more than the mother is worth”. It is essential since Sundiata needs to require the two opposing forces from Fadenya together with badenya so that he could fulfill the destiny he had to; these elements were both necessary for Mande culture.

Maghann was a king of Mail empire, so one day and hunter with a sooth voice came to his court and told him if he could see an ugly woman who would be able to bear a son who would one day become a mighty king. The king was already married, and he had a son called Dankaran, but the hunter presented a woman to him called Sogolon, and when he remembered the prophecy, he just accepted to marry her. After the marriage, the lady got a son who they called Sundiata Keita, and he had a weakness that made him unable to walk when in his childhood (MacDonald et al., 2018). Sassouma, who was the first wife, was jealous of  Sundiata’s mother, and she would laugh at her since her son was unable to walk and also the ugliness he got from her mother.

The king did not discriminate him; he gave him a griot as young as he was, which enabled him and other members of the family to grow together, he used to consort a lot because of his condition since it was their custom. The boy got strong when his father died, Nare, who was the firstborn of the king had died. They had to move to Meme kingdom where Sundiata grew very strong, he fought for the Meme people until he became a warrior and people made him the heir of the country, every day Sogolon used to encourage him to keep up to “fulfill his destiny ” and go back to Mail to become the king.

Soumaoro, who was a sorcerer, caused Dankaran to run away because of fear. Before he arrived in Mail, Soumaoro had already conquered Ghana’s empires. Since Kante was a cruel leader, Mandinka people sent for Sundiata, who was in exile. Sundiata fought against Sosso, and later, he was crowned as the “king of King ” So, the prophecy came to pass since his exploits are usually compared to “Alexander the Great ” when some griots are considered.

The griot is a historian, and they are culturally oral historians, history lacks ” warmth of the human voice.” Still, he tries to defend himself to maintain his vocation as crucial since it preserves his memory for Mail ancestors and also helps when making decisions as well as alliances forged  (Tamari, 2019). The griot helped to maintain peace since it reminded the current rulers of the associations which were used during their ancestors ruling. The griot was used to recover Sundiata when he was exiled and brought him back to become the “king of Kings’’. The power that was used to rescue him from the weakness he had until he became a real person was so specific. The reader can tell that the griot was reliant on some more akin elements, according to the storyteller. The storyteller uses music as well as dramatic rhythm, which he wishes to present his history to his audience, and he tries to exaggerate some elements.

In the history of Mail, there was the use of supernatural power where the hunters can prophesy about the birth of Sundiata, and he would become a king, and this comes to pass when he struggled in his life because of the deformities that he had, he went to exile. At last, he became a hero who later became a king. Because the people of Niani knew they prophesy of Sundiata becoming a king, they never joined his step-mother to scorn him the time he was disabled. Soumaoro uses magic for evil purposes and some other like Sundiata and Sogolon uses the same for good since they use it for influencing peoples understanding of significant forces.

The griot reminds his audience of the little understanding of human beings, and it applies to the use of magic forces since the way it operates one cannot perceive. Humanity should take it that way since they have to agree that they cannot understand (Wilson, 2016). Supernatural powers were used to define the destiny of Sundiata that was he was to be great. With this prediction, it’s like the destiny of Mail was known with the use of supernatural powers, but the ordinary people could not understand the knowledge behind the projections.

The central part of Mandingo was the use of magic, and people who have not encountered it cannot understand the secret behind it. Sundiata is one of the few people who understand the purpose of supernatural powers, and by so doing, he respects and sacrifices for Jinn. If an ordinary person would understand how magic operated, then he would misuse the chance, and griot keeps it a secret since if people knew he could lose his job.  Griot stresses people on the need for people to keep the tradition as their centrality as well as perpetuation.

References

Bengaly, A., & Bulman, S. (2017). Bamana Text and English Translation of the Epic of Sumanguru by Abdoulaye Sako. The Epic of Sumanguru Kante, 72.

MacDonald, K. C., Gestrich, N., Camara, S., & Keita, D. (2018). The ‘Pays Dô’and the Origins of the Empire of Mali. In Landscapes, Sources and Intellectual Projects of the West African Past (pp. 63-88). Brill.

Tamari, T. (2019). ‘Salimu’: from Memory to Literary Narrative in Twentieth-Century manding Culture. Afrika Focus, 32(1).

Wilson, J. (2016). In search of Askia Mohammed: The Epic of Askia Mohammed as cultural history and Songhay foundational myth.