The Women Who Held Power in Mansa Musa's Mali

When we talk about the Mali Empire, we talk about Mansa Musa—the gold, the Hajj, the libraries. But what about the women who shaped that world? In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the roles of women in 14th-century Mali: from noblewomen managing estates and trade while men were on pilgrimage, to the powerful queen mothers who influenced succession, to the everyday lives of women in Mande society. Drawing on the accounts of Ibn Battuta and Al-Umari, as well as the Sunjata epic and the Kouroukan Fouga charter, we uncover a society where women could own property, inherit, and even hold significant political sway—though within a patriarchal framework. We look at specific figures like the queen mother Sogolon Kedjou, the griottes (female griots), and the women of the dyula trading networks. This episode challenges the one-dimensional view of medieval West Africa and highlights the complexity of gender dynamics in the Mali Empire. #MansaMusa #MaliEmpire #WomenInHistory #MedievalAfrica #IbnBattuta #AlUmari #KouroukanFouga #SundiataKeita #SogolonKedjou #Griottes #Dyula #Mande #Niani #Timbuktu #WestAfricanHistory #QueenMothers #GenderHistory #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo