Mali’s rulers adopted the title of ‘Mansa. Mali’s founder, Sundiata, firmly established himself as a strong leader in both the religious and secular sense, claiming that he had a direct link to spirits of the land, thus making him the guardian of the ancestors. His empire extended from the fringes of the forest in the southwest through the grassland country of the Malinké to the Sahel and Southern Sahara ports of the Walatta and Tandmekka, and Arabic scholars estimate that Sundiata ruled for about 25 years and died in 1255.
Despite the great extent of the Empire of Mali it was often plagued by insufficient leadership. Yet Sundiata’s son Mansa Wali, who became the next King, is considered to have been one of the most powerful rulers of Mali. Mansa Wali would, in turn, be succeeded by his brother Wati, who was succeeded by his brother called Kahlifa. Kahlifa was seen as a particularly bad ruler, and some chroniclers describe how he would use bows and arrows to kill people for entertainment. Because of his misrule, Kahlifa was deposed and replaced by a grandchild of Sundiata named Abu Bakr. Abu Bakr had been adopted by Sundiata as a son, although he was a grandchild and the son of Sundiata's daughter, which would have greatly strengthened his claim to the throne.
The leadership trouble in the Malian Empire would continue after the ascension of Abu Bakr. Abu Bakr was deposed in a coup by a man named Sakura, who was either a slave or a military commander. The low stature of Sakura perhaps implies that the royal family had lost much of its popularity amongst the common people. Sakura’s reign, however, would also be a troubled one; after he had converted to Islam, Sakura undertook a pilgrimage to Mecca but was killed by the Danakil people during his return journey while in the city of Tadjoura. It is disputed why Sakura was in Tadjoura, as it was not a natural route to take when returning from Mecca to Mali, and also for what reasons he was killed. Some suggest that he was killed because the Danakil wanted to steal his gold.
Sakura’s rise to power also shows us that the ruling family, and the Mansa, had limited power in the Empire of Mali and that the officers of the court wielded significant power in comparison. The Empire of Mali was organised into provinces with a strict hierarchical structure [xxxviii] in which each province had a Governor, and each town had a mayor or mochrif. Large armies were deployed to stop any rebellions in the smaller kingdoms and to safeguard the many trade routes. The decentralisation of power to lower levels of government bureaucracy through court officers, together with a strict hierarchical structure, was part of why the Malian Empire was so stable despite a series of bad rulers. Despite squabbles within the ruling family, the devolution of state administrative power through lower structures meant that the Empire could function quite well. In times of good rulers, the Empire would expand its territory, rendering it one of the largest Empires in West African history.
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