''Mansa'' (; ''mansaw'') is a Maninka and Mandinka word for a hereditary ruler, commonly translated as "king". It is particularly known as the title of the rulers 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 ...

, such as

Mansa Musa Mansa Musa (reigned ) was the ninth '' Mansa'' of the Mali Empire, which reached its territorial peak during his reign. Musa's reign is often regarded as the zenith of Mali's power and prestige, although he features less in Mandinka oral tradit ...

, and in this context is sometimes translated as "

emperor The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...

". It is also a title held by traditional village rulers, and in this context is translated as "chief". ''Mansa'' contrasts with another Manding word for ruler, '' faama''. ''Faama'' emphasizes the military, coercive authority of a ruler, and can be translated as "

tyrant A tyrant (), in the modern English usage of the word, is an absolute ruler who is unrestrained by law, or one who has usurped a legitimate ruler's sovereignty. Often portrayed as cruel, tyrants may defend their positions by resorting to ...

", whereas ''mansa'' refers to a hereditary ruler whose authority is derived from tradition and mystical power. A ruler can be both a ''faama'' and a ''mansa'', but a ''mansa'' was not necessarily a ''faama''. The word ''mansa'' () was recorded in Arabic during the 14th century by North African writers such as

Ibn Battuta Ibn Battuta (; 24 February 13041368/1369), was a Maghrebi traveller, explorer and scholar. Over a period of 30 years from 1325 to 1354, he visited much of Africa, the Middle East, Asia and the Iberian Peninsula. Near the end of his life, Ibn ...

and

Ibn Khaldun Ibn Khaldun (27 May 1332 – 17 March 1406, 732–808 Hijri year, AH) was an Arabs, Arab Islamic scholar, historian, philosopher and sociologist. He is widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest social scientists of the Middle Ages, and cons ...

, who explained it as meaning "

sultan Sultan (; ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be use ...

". Cognates of ''mansa'' exist in other

Mandé languages The Mande languages are a family of languages spoken in several countries in West Africa by the Mandé peoples. They include Maninka language, Maninka (Malinke), Mandinka language, Mandinka, Soninke language, Soninke, Bambara language, Bambara, K ...

, such as Soninke ''manga'', Susu ''menge'', and Bambara ''masa''. Vydrin also compared it to ''mensey'', the

Guanche Guanche may refer to: *Guanches, the indigenous people of the Canary Islands *Guanche language, an extinct language, spoken by the Guanches until the 16th or 17th century *''Conus guanche ''Conus guanche'' is a species of sea snail, a marine ga ...

word for their rulers. According to Misiugin and Vydrin, the original meaning of the root word was probably "chief of hunters" or "chief of warriors". An alternate translation of ''mansa'', which Jansen attributes to the followers of

Marcel Griaule Marcel Griaule (16 May 1898 – 23 February 1956) was a French author and anthropologist known for his studies of the Dogon people of West Africa, and for pioneering ethnographic field studies in France. He worked together with Germaine ...

, is that ''mansa'' means "god", "the divine principle", or "priest-king". Jansen notes that they have not provided their reasoning for choosing this translation.

List of Mansas

References

Works cited

* * * * * * * * * * {{coord, 23, 25, 48, N, 72, 40, 12, E, region:IN_type:city_source:kolossus-viwiki, display=title Mali Empire Titles of national or ethnic leadership Mansas of the Mali Empire