Mansa (title)

Mansa (PL mansaw), a Maninka[1] and Mandinka[2] word for a ruler, is sometimes translated as "king",[3][4][5] but correctly means "king of kings" or "emperor".[6] It is particularly known as the title of the rulers of the Mali Empire, such as Mansa Musa, and in this context is sometimes translated as "emperor".[7]

This article is about the Mandinka word. For other uses, see Mansa (disambiguation).

Depiction of Mansa Musa, ruler of the Mali Empire in the 14th century, from a 1375 Catalan Atlas of the known world (mappa mundi), created by Abraham Cresques

The word mansa (Arabic: منسا, romanized: mansā) was recorded in Arabic during the 14th century by North African writers such as Ibn Battuta and Ibn Khaldun, who explained it as meaning "sultan".[8] Cognates of mansa exist in other Mandé languages, such as Soninke manga, Susu menge, and Bambara masa.[1] According to Misiugin and Vydrin, the original meaning of the root word was probably "chief of hunters" or "chief of warriors".[1] An alternate translation of mansa, which Jansen attributes to the followers of Marcel Griaule, is that mansa means "god", "the divine principle", or "priest-king". Jansen notes that they have not provided their reasoning for choosing this translation.[4]

Empresses of the Mali Empire, such as Kassi, used the title Qasa instead of mansa.

List of Mansas
Main article: List of Mansas

See also

References
  1. Misiugin & Vydrin 1993, p. 105.
  2. Schaffer 2005, p. 333.
  3. Macbrair 1839, p. 40.
  4. Jansen 1998, p. 256.
  5. Conrad & Condé 2004, pp. xv, 198–199.
  6. Jr, Henry Louis Gates (2017-10-24). 100 Amazing Facts About the Negro. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. p. 182. ISBN 978-0-307-90872-8. Mansa means "king of kings" or "emperor," and Musa's empire extended from the Atlantic Ocean to the Niger River.
  7. Sutton 1997, p. 221.
  8. Levtzion & Hopkins 2000, pp. 289, 333.

Works cited

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