Asia, Africa and the Americas in the 13th centuryWars and battles

Battle of Kirina

The Mandinka under Sundiata Keita defeated the army of the Sosso king Sumanguru Kante and founded the Mali Empire, whose gold was carried by caravans across the Sahara to the Maghreb, Egypt and on into the Mediterranean.

Date: c. 1235year known, approximate
Place: Kirinaapproximate locationtoday: Koulikoro Region, Mali · Africa
Participants: Mali Empire, Sundiata Keita, Sosso, Sumanguru Kante
Threads: Asia, Africa and the Americas in the 13th century
Also known as: Битва при Крине

The battle is known mainly from the oral Epic of Sundiata, so its date is approximate (c. 1235), and its site is associated with the village of Kirina in today’s Koulikoro Region.

Mali, which controlled the gold-bearing districts of the upper Senegal and Niger and the trading towns on the Niger, became the main supplier of gold for the trans-Saharan trade that linked West Africa with North Africa and, through its ports, with Europe.

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