Sundiata Keita

Sundiata Keita, also known as Manding Diara, Lion of Mali, and Sogolon Djata, was a prince and founder of the Mali Empire. He was the great-uncle of the Malian ruler Mansa Musa, who is regarded as the wealthiest person of all time, although there are no reliable ways to accurately calculate his wealth. Written sources augment the Mande oral histories, with the Moroccan traveller Muhammad ibn Battuta and the Tunisian historian Ibn Khaldun both having travelled to Mali in the century after Sundiata's death and providing independent verification of his existence; the semi-historical but legendary Epic of Sundiata by the Malinke people centers on his life.