Mansa (title)
Mansa is a Mandinka word meaning "sultan" or "emperor". It is particularly associated with the Keita Dynasty of the Mali Empire, which dominated West Africa from the thirteenth to the fifteenth century. Powers of the mansa included the right to dispense justice and to monopolize trade, particularly in gold.
Sundiata Keita was the first to assume the title of mansa, which was passed down through the Keita line with few interruptions well into the 15th century. Other notable mansas include his son Wali Keita and the powerful Mansa Musa, whose hajj helped define a new direction for the Empire. The succession of the Mali Empire is primarily known through Tunisian historian ibn Khaldun's History of the Berbers.
