The Griot Who Remembered Mansa Musa: Jeli Mamoudou Kouyaté

In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the legacy of the griots — the jeliw — of the Mali Empire, focusing on the most famous of them all: Jeli Mamoudou Kouyaté, who recited the Epic of Sundiata in the 1950s. They discuss how oral tradition preserved the history of the Keita dynasty, including Mansa Musa, long before written sources like those of Al-Umari and Ibn Battuta. Lucas explains the training and social role of the jeliw, the musical instruments they used (the kora, the balafon), and how the epic was transcribed by D.T. Niane. They also touch on the controversy of oral vs. written history, and how griots continue to shape West African identity today. The conversation moves from the Kouroukan Fouga charter to the modern challenges of preserving oral traditions in a digital age, ending with a reflection on what we lose when history is only written. #MansaMusa #Griot #Jeli #MaliEmpire #SundiataKeita #OralTradition #WestAfrica #JeliMamoudouKouyaté #DTNiane #Kora #Balafon #KouroukanFouga #KeitaDynasty #History #FexingoHistory #EpicOfSundiata #Mande #GriotHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo