Sundiata Keita

Sundiata Keita was born a prince of the small Mandinka kingdom of Kangaba, but according to tradition suffered a childhood disability that left him unable to walk, and was mocked and exiled along with his mother following his father's death and a succession dispute.

Overcoming his disability, Sundiata returned from exile to find his homeland conquered by the powerful sorcerer-king Soumaoro Kanté of the Sosso Empire. He assembled a coalition of Mandinka clans and, around 1235, decisively defeated Soumaoro at the Battle of Kirina, a victory still celebrated in West African oral tradition as one of the great epics of the region, recounted for centuries by griots.

Following his victory, Sundiata founded the Mali Empire and, according to tradition, presided over an assembly of clan leaders that established the Kouroukan Fouga, a charter organising Mali's government, social structure, and legal principles, including provisions addressing the treatment of prisoners of war — regarded by many historians as one of the earliest known constitutions in world history. Under Sundiata and his successors, Mali grew into one of the wealthiest and most powerful empires in medieval world history, controlling the trans-Saharan gold trade.