How Did Sundiata Build The Environment Of Ancient Mali

Environmental of Ancient Mali and its Role in Building the Mali Empire

In the “Sundiata: an epic of old Mali”, environmental history plays a vital role in recounting geography, agriculture, and climate and how it shaped the daily lives and experiences of people in Ancient Mali. Furthermore, it highlights their resilience and ability to adapt to changes in the natural world and how each element aided Sundiata to gain power. Knowledge of geography in ancient Mali played a crucial role in Sundiata’s return to Niani. His implementation of military strategy combined with using natural landforms and terrain to his advantage allowed him to defeat his enemies. The Niger River runs through Mali, and provides a water source for people and animals, transportation,

The climate of Mali differs from dry to wet and each season sees a difference in crop growth. Ancient Mali consisted of many different regions, all with their own climate and different crops. The natural world of ancient Mali in the “Sundiata” provides a sense of what people interacted with and provides an insight into what life was like. Furthermore, it allows us to truly understand and appreciate the ways in which the people of ancient Mali relied on and interacted with the natural world to build an empire.

The geography of ancient Mali plays a critical part identifying a cities strengths and weaknesses when it comes to military combat. Armies must be able to understand the different landforms and terrain if they hoped to be victorious. Within the Sundiata, the kings take advantage of ancient Mali’s mountains, plateaus, plains, and valleys in order to enhance their attack. To obstruct Sundiata and his men from reaching Tabon, “(...) Sosso Balla had

The different climates in each region greatly impact the type of crops that can be grown, causing a difference in the diversity of food across certain areas . The princess, Kolonkan “(...) was at the market (and) she noticed a woman who was selling for sale nafiola and gnougou, condiments unknown to people of Mema (...)” Without Kolonkan identifying that the merchants and their food was from Mali, Sundiata may have not found out of the news of Niani until later if not at all, which may have been too late. The “Sundiata” emphasizes the ability of people in ancient Mali to adapt to their climate and any changes that may occur to their environment. This remains a prevalent issue in modern Mali as “the sandy dunes fail to store moisture for extended periods, which is the reason why most of the trees died off during the drought periods (...). Prior to the droughts, the trees performed soil stability functions through their deep rooting systems.” Events, such as droughts, can have devastating effects on agriculture in Mali and can cause the death of trees due to lack of moisture and lead to soil instability. Droughts that occurred in ancient Mali had similar effects, leading to famine and food shortages due to the difficulty of being able to grow consumable crops. Agriculture and climate provides an insight to how minor details such as what crops can grow in certain areas allowed