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Djibril Tamsir Niane (D.T. Niane), Transl. G. D. PickettSundiata: An Epic of Old Mali (Sunjata)
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1200A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 15-18Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 15 Summary: “The Empire”
Sundiata follows his conquest of Sosso with the efficient conquest of several allied cities, subsuming their forces into his army. At Kita, his propitiations to a mountain jinn that presides over the city make him favored by this deity. On his return journey Sundiata stops at Do, the home of Sogolon, and is well received there.
Chapter 16 Summary: “Kouroukan Fougan or the Division of the World”
Sundiata goes to the small town of Kaba, through which the road to Niani passes. There is a great reception of many tribes, organized by Kamandjan, the king of Sibi. Balla Fasséké delivers a message of peace from Sundiata to all these kingdoms. He presents Sundiata as the savior of these peoples, delivering them from hardship to peace through his rejection of Soumaoro, a feat no one else dared attempt.
All 12 kings of the region swear their fealty to Sundiata by placing their spears in the ground before him, making him the highest king in the land. The warriors hold war dances, followed by a procession of captives and booty, which ends in the procession and ridicule of the bound Sosso Balla. Sundiata rises and rededicates the spears of the kings back to their owners, an official gesture indicating they may control their own lands as vassals of Sundiata. Each kingdom receives a special privilege and title according to its traditional role in the region. Since this time, Sundiata’s proclamations of these roles have been law in the empire.
Chapter 17 Summary: “Niani”
Sundiata stays a few more days at Kaba, opening Soumaoro’s storehouses to the people. Then Sundiata and a delegation from his army cross the Niger River, finally reentering Mali’s inner region. Sundiata is celebrated in every village he passes. The procession arrives at Niani to find it a city ruined by fire. Balla tells him to rejoice at the joy of rebuilding the city, which Sundiata does lovingly. Sundiata restores his father’s palace and expands the city walls to offer space to the new army ranks and kin groups Sundiata has incorporated.
Over the years, Sundiata proves himself a just and capable king. Under him, all are prosperous. The village of Niani becomes a center of culture and commerce, “the navel of the earth” (82). The narrator lists other great historical cities of the region, many of which Sundiata passed through on his journey, which are now only “heaped up ruins” of which “the silk-cotton trees and baobabs that you see in Mali are the only traces” (85).
Chapter 18 Summary: “Mali Forever”
Today, Mali is “piled up ruins” and “buried splendour” (83). Though many kings succeeded Sundiata, and some even extended Mali’s frontiers, Sundiata was unique and still serves as a guide to all kings. Mali remains eternal, and the poem’s griot speaker encourages listeners to discover this themselves by going there and observing its many relics of Sundiata’s time. All across Mali and the surrounding regions, the voyager will find marks of Sundiata, such as Soumaoro’s balafon, the black bird of Krina, and the clearing at Kouroukan where the great assembly took place. But never, the griot warns, try to pierce the mystery that Mali hides: “Do not ever go into the dead cities to question the past, for the spirits never forgive” (84).
Chapters 15-18 Analysis
In these closing chapters Sundiata enters a new season of his life, progressing from powerful warrior prince to champion and emperor. This process represents the closure of the prophecy foretold before Sundiata’s birth. Sundiata’s crossing of the Niger River back into Mali is the consummation of this “return” moment in the hero’s journey. The fire that he encounters at Niani represents the destruction and regeneration that his story evokes, and this is particularly emphasized in Sundiata’s rebuilding of his father’s palace and expansion of the city walls—honoring but improving his regal history. By making a point to pass through Do, Sundiata also honors his maternal history.
Chapter 16 has strong allegorical undertones. We are told Sundiata is dressed as a Muslim king at this reception, uniting Sundiata with the Judeo-Christian tradition. We are also told that through his victory over Soumaoro, he has ended the suffering of the people of Mali and neighboring kingdoms, and is thanked equally to God for this act of deliverance: “We are at peace. May God be praised. But we owe this peace to one man who, by his courage and his valiance, was able to lead our troops to victory” (74). Balla furthermore compares Soumaoro to a “devil” and Sundiata to “a father” coming to a child’s aid (74). Even the chapter’s title, “The Division of the World,” has cosmological undertones, reminiscent of passages from the Book of Genesis. In this, Sundiata is represented as a messiah-like figure, leading the people to a new promised land. One could also say that this is an example of Sundiata transforming from an individual to a myth. Sundiata’s proclamations of the allegiances and relationships between the vassal states under his control represents the authorization of cultural mores and traditions through this semi-mythologized figure.
In the final chapter the narrator regretfully discusses the decline of the kingdom of Mali. By the final paragraphs he has adopted a spiteful and cryptic tone, calling the listener a “wretch” who must not disturb Mali’s eternal memory. This chapter mourns the empire’s decline by remarking on the passing of the time of heroes: “men of today, how small you are beside your ancestors” (84). As the griot is a mouthpiece of communal history, we must understand this not as a true attack on the listener but as a communal expression of grief and regret that a once rich empire has fallen to ruin.
