Mansa Mahmud II, also known as Muhammad or Mamadou, was

mansa ''MANSA'' is a scale used to assess quality of life. Its name is short for ''Manchester, Short Assessment of Quality of Life''. It was developed by Priebe et al. References Notes References Further reading * * External links * {{Latin ...

("king of kings") of the

Mali Empire The Mali Empire (Manding languages, Manding: ''Mandé''Ki-Zerbo, Joseph: ''UNESCO General History of Africa, Vol. IV, Abridged Edition: Africa from the Twelfth to the Sixteenth Century'', p. 57. University of California Press, 1997. or ''Manden ...

from 1481 to 1496. He was the son, but not necessarily the immediate successor, of Mansa

Uli II Mansa Uli II (French: "Oualy II"), also known as Gbèré, was a mansa ("king of kings") of the Mali Empire. He ruled during the second half of the 15th century. According to the oral traditions preserved in Dioma, Gbèré was the younger of two ...

. Mansa Mahmud II's rule was characterized by crisis. The rise of

Tenguella Tenguella (also known as Temelá or Tenguella Ba) was a Fula people, Fula ''silatigi'' or chief who founded a short-lived state called Futa Kingui in the upper Senegal river valley, a precursor of the Empire of Great Fulo. He was referred to as ...

in the 1480s and 90s put pressure on Mali's western provinces, particularly

Futa Jallon Fouta Djallon (, , ; ) is a highland region in the center of Guinea, roughly corresponding with Middle Guinea, in West Africa. Etymology The Fulani people call the region Fuuta-Jaloo ( ) in the Pular language. 'Futa' is a Fula word for any re ...

that was occupied by

Koli Tenguella Koli Tenguella (also referred to as Koli Tenguella Bâ/Bah, Koli Tengella Jaaje Baa and Koli Pullo) (r. 1512–1537) was a Fulani warrior and leader who was pivotal in establishing the Empire of Great Fulo. Family Koli was the son of Tenguella ...

. The growing trade in Mali's western provinces with

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

witnessed the exchange of envoys between the two nations. Mansa Mahmud II received the Portuguese envoy

Pedro da Évora Pedro is a masculine given name. Pedro is the Spanish, Portuguese, and Galician name for ''Peter''. Its French equivalent is Pierre while its English and Germanic form is Peter. The counterpart patronymic surname of the name Pedro, meaning ...

in 1484.Niane, D.T.: "Recherches sur l'Empire du Mali au Moyen âge". Presence Africaine. Paris, 1975 In the letter he sent back to King

John II of Portugal John II (; ; 3 May 1455 – 25 October 1495), called the Perfect Prince (), was King of Portugal from 1481 until his death in 1495, and also for a brief time in 1477. He is known for reestablishing the power of the Portuguese monarchy, reinvigo ...

, Mahmud claimed to be exceeded in power by only the sultans of

Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

and

Takrur Takrur, Tekrur or Tekrour ( 500 – c. 1456) was a state based in the Senegal River in modern day Senegal which was at its height in the 11th and 12th centuries, roughly parallel to the Ghana Empire. It lasted in some form into the 18th ...

.M. Ly-Tall
"The Decline of the Mali Empire"
in D. T. Niane (ed.), ''General History of Africa, IV: Africa from theTwelfth to the Sixteenth Century'' (UNESCO, 1984), pp. 182–83. Meanwhile, the Songhai seized the salt mines of Taghazza in 1493. That same year, Mahmud II sent another envoy to the Portuguese proposing alliance against the

Fulas The Fula, Fulani, or Fulɓe people are an ethnic group in Sahara, Sahel and West Africa, widely dispersed across the region. Inhabiting many countries, they live mainly in West Africa and northern parts of Central Africa, South Sudan, Darfur, ...

. The Portuguese decided to stay out of the conflict and the talks concluded by 1495 without an alliance.

References

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* Year of birth missing Year of death missing Mansas of the Mali Empire 15th-century monarchs in Africa {{Africa-royal-stub

See also

References

Sources