Epic Of Sundiata Analysis

Summary

The epic of Sundiata is told by Djeli Mamadou Kouyaté a griot. He tells the story of how Sundiata’s mother made her way to the land of Manden, the story starts at Manden. Manden was ruled by a great king his name was Maghan Konfara, he had power, wealth, dalilu and he as popular, but he had no sons which frustrated him and frustrated all of Manden. One day two Moroccan hunters from Al Ashraf family, Abdu Karimi and Abdu Kassimu, arrive to Manden. The two hunters tell the people of Manden that they came to help the people of Condé to deliver them from the horrors of the buffalo that is killing their men, women, children and cattle. On their way out Maghan calls them and predict that they will kill the buffalo and the Condé people will offer them three sets of girls to pick whoever they want from them as their prize, when they do they should bring one of them as a wife for Maghan.

The two Arabian hunters travel towards Dò ni Kiri, they come across Dò Khamissa (the buffalo lady) where they greet her and call her “mother” as it’s a sign of respect in Arab cultures, she doesn’t like that they called her “mother” and she curses them and their ancestors and uses every bad word, they both look at each other and the younger borther , abdu Kassimu, tells his older brother of how he thinks that this old lady resembles their mother

Then the story goes back to the hunter brothers when they reached Dò ni Kiri, and how they were greeted with generosity and kindness and how Donsamogo Diarra the king of Dò ni Kiri met them asking them why they traveled to his town, when they tell him of their intentions he refused to let them go into the bush to hunt the buffalo for he didn’t want them to die and his land to be cursed, instead he offers them a place to stay and people to serve