Mandinka people

The Mandinka are a people of West Africa, all descendent physically or culturally from the ancient Mali Empire which controlled the trans-Saharic trade from the Middle East to West Africa. In the early 13th century they were under the leadership of Sundiata. In the same century they spread from the area that is now Mali, carving out a large empire.

Related Topics:
West Africa - Mali Empire - 13th century - Sundiata - Mali

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Mandinka now number over three million and reside in many countries throughout West Africa: Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, the Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Senegal, and Sierra Leone. They are also found in small numbers in almost every country in West Africa.

Related Topics:
Burkina Faso - Côte d'Ivoire - Gambia - Guinea-Bissau - Liberia - Mali - Senegal - Sierra Leone

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Common dialects are Mandinka of The Gambia and Senegal, Malinke of Guinea and Mali, and Soninke of the southern states of West Africa, as well as other West African languages ending in 'ke' or 'ka' (meaing "talk" or "people").

Related Topics:
Mandinka - Malinke - Soninke

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One well-known Mandinka is Kunta Kinte, a main figure in Alex Haley's book Roots and a subsequent TV mini-series. Haley claimed he was descended from Kinte, though this familial link has been criticized by many professional historians and at least one genealogist as highly improbable (see D. Wright's The World and A Very Small Place). Martin R. Delany, a radical 19th century abolitionist in the United States, was of partial Mandinka descent.

Related Topics:
Kunta Kinte - Alex Haley - Roots - The World and A Very Small Place - Martin R. Delany - United States

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Mr. T of American television fame once claimed that his distinctive hairstyle came from the Mandinka tribe.

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