The Great Coup: How Mansa Musa's Wives Seized Power
The Mali Empire: The Richest Civilization in History — Fexingo HistoryPlay episode
Show notes
When Mansa Musa died in 1337, his son Maghan I took the throne—and almost immediately lost it. Within months, a palace coup orchestrated by two of Musa's queens, Kassi and the Queen of the Wangara, installed Musa's brother Sulayman as mansa. But their alliance fractured, and the empire nearly tore apart. This episode pieces together the shadowy events from the Tarikh al-Sudan, the Rihla of Ibn Battuta, and oral traditions of the jeliw. We explore the political role of the kankoro-sigui, the power of the Wangara merchant network, and how a brief civil war reshaped the Keita dynasty. Why did the queens turn on each other? And what does their struggle tell us about women at the heart of Mali's imperial court? A story of ambition, betrayal, and the high cost of power in the richest empire of its age. #MaliEmpire #MansaMusa #Kassi #QueenOfTheWangara #MansaSulayman #TarikhAlSudan #jeliw #kankoro-sigui #palacecoup #Mande #KeitaDynasty #IbnBattuta #civilwar #WestAfrica #Niani #Wangara #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo
