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Sundiata Keita (IPA (Mandinka, Malinke, Bambara): (keɪta )) (c. 1217 – c. 1255〔The years of Sundiata Keita's birth and death are estimates based on the epic and the historical events surrounding that period, as well as other scholarly works based on Arab and North African writings. Scholars such as Snodgrass gave a date range of 1217 to 1255. See Snodgrass (2009), p. 77.〕) was a puissant prince and founder of the Mali Empire. The famous Malian ruler Mansa Musa who made a pilgrimage to Mecca was his grandnephew.〔Cox, George O. ''African Empires and Civilizations: ancient and medieval'', African Heritage Studies Publishers, 1974, p. 160.〕〔Noel King (ed.), ''Ibn Battuta in Black Africa'', Princeton 2005, pp. 45-46. Four generations before Mansa Suleiman who died in 1360 CE, his grandfather's grandfather (Saraq Jata) had embraced Islam.〕 The semi-historical ''Epic of Sundiata'' by the Mandinka people centers on his life. The epic poem is primarily known through oral tradition, transmitted by generations of Mandinka griots (''djeli'' or ''jeliw'').〔Conrad, David C., ''Empires of Medieval West Africa'', Infobase Publishing, 2005, p. 12, ISBN 1-4381-0319-0.〕 ==Epic of Sundiata== (詳細はNaré Maghann Konaté (variation: ''Maghan Konfara'') and Sogolon Condé (variations: "Sogolon Kolonkan" or "Sogolon Kédjou", the daughter of the ''"buffalo woman"'', so called because of her ugliness and hunchback).〔Conrad, David C., ''Sunjata: a West African epic of the Mande peoples'' (eds David C. Conrad, Djanka Tassey Condé, trans. David C. Conrad), pp. ix, x, xxvi, Hackett Publishing, 2004, ISBN 0-87220-697-1.〕 Sundiata was crippled from childhood and his mother (Sogolon) was the subject of ridicule among her co-wives. She was constantly teased and ridiculed openly for her son's disability. This significantly affected Sundiata and he was determined to do everything he possibly could in order to walk like his peers. Through this determination, he one day miraculously got up and walked. Among his peers, he became a leader. His paternal half-brother, Dankaran Touman, and Dankaran's mother, Sassouma Bereté, were cruel and resentful of Sundiata and his mother. Their cruelty escalated after the death of Naré Maghann (the king). To escape persecution and threats on her son's life, Sogolon took her children, Sundiata and his sisters, into exile. This exile lasted for many years and took them to different countries within the Ghana Empire and eventually to Mema where the king of Mema granted them asylum. Sundiata was admired by the King of Mema for his courage and tenacity. As such, he was given a senior position within the kingdom. When King Soumaoro Kanté of Sosso conquered the Mandinka people, messengers were sent to go and look for Songolon and her children, as Sundiata was destined to be a great leader according to prophecy. Upon finding him in Mema they persuaded him to come back in order to liberate the Mandinkas and their homeland. On his return, he was accompanied by an army given to him by the King of Mema. The warlords of Mali at the time who were his age group included: Tabon Wana, Kamadia Kamara (or Kamadia Camara), Faony Condé, Siara Kuman Konaté and Tiramakhan Traore (many variations: "Trimaghan" or "Tiramaghan", future conqueror of Kaabu). It was on the plain of Siby (var: Sibi) where they formed a pact brotherhood in order to liberate their country and people from the powerful Sosso king. At The Battle of Kirina, Sundiata and his allies defeated the Sosso king and became the first Emperor of the Mali Empire. He was the first of the Mandinka line of kings to adopt the royal title ''Mansa'' (''King of Kings'' in the Mandinka language).〔Ki-Zerbo, Joseph, ''UNESCO General History of Africa, Vol. IV, Abridged Edition: Africa from the Twelfth to the Sixteenth Century'' (eds Joseph Ki-Zerbo, Djibril Tamsir Niane), University of California Press, 1998, pp. 54-55, ISBN 0-520-06699-5.〕〔(Ronica Roth, "Mali's Boy-King: A Thirteenth-Century African Epic Becomes Digital" ) (in NEH): ''Humanities'', July/August 1998, Vol. 19/Number 4.〕 The Mandinka epic does not give us dates, but Arab and North African historians or chronologists who have visited the area about a century after the event have provided some of the dates including a genealogy. The written sources have also left out some pieces of information which the oral tradition was able to fill-in.〔Ki-Zerbo (1998), ''UNESCO General History of Africa, Vol. IV'', p. 55.〕 *Songolon Djata *Sundjata Keyita *Mari Djata or ''"Mārī-Djāta"'' (according to Ibn Khaldun in the late 14th century) *The Lion King〔(Sammis, Kathy, ''Focus on World History: The Era of Expanding Global Connections --1000-1500'', p. 66 )〕 The proper English spelling of Sundiata's name is Sunjata pronounced: soon-jah-ta, which reflects the actual pronunciation and the Mandinka language. The name ''Sogolon'' derives from his mother and ''Jata'' means ''lion''. It is the traditional way of praising someone in some West African societies (Gambia, Senegal, Mali and Guinea in particular). The name ''Sundiata'' praises him through his mother which means ''"the lion of Songolon"'' or ''"Songolon's lion"''. The name ''Jata'' derives from ''Jara'' (lion). Jara and many of its variations such as jata, jala or jada are merely regional variations for example Gambia, Guinea, Mali etc. Sundiata's name is thus a combination of his mother's name Songolon (''Sun'' or its variation ''Son'') and jata (lion).〔Conrad, David C., ''Sunjata: a West African epic of the Mande peoples'' (eds David C. Conrad, Djanka Tassey Condé, trans. David C. Conrad), p. xxxv, Hackett Publishing, 2004, ISBN 0-87220-697-1.〕〔Conrad, David C., ''Empires of Medieval West Africa'', p. 35.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Sundiata Keita」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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