See also: Mandingue (language)

The Mandingues are people of West Africa originating in the occupied territory by current the Mali.

Mandingues or Mandinka lives primarily with the Senegal, with the Mali, in Gambia, Guinea and Guinea-Bissau.

History

Between and the 12th century, the clan of the Keita unifies the tribes mandingues while resting on the Islam. Then, at the beginning of the 13th century, they build the Empire of Mali under the direction of Sundjata Keïta which releases them from the domination of the Sossos and proclaims the Charte of Manden. The mandingue group gathers a cultural unit which counts 27 dialectal alternatives classified in two groups:

• Mandingues Western: Sarakhollés or Soninké; Mandingue of Eastern Senegal, Badibunke of Kombo (Gambia), Pakawunke of the countries of Sédhiou (Senegal), Woyinké of Kaabu (Guinea-Bissau)…,
• Mandingues Eastern: Bambara and Khassonké of Mali, Malinké of Guinea and malinké of Ivory Coast,

The languages mandingues are spoken by more than ten million people divided in fifteen States of West Africa.

In addition to the language, the mandingues division a common cultural corpus including/understanding:

• a religion where crowned
• is omnipresent a company of Oral tradition

Traditionally it is about a company:

• of Caste including/understanding; the noble ones, men of caste (the Griot S, the Blacksmith S, the Shoe-maker S) and the slaves

• of clan being defined by a patronym, an ancestor, a currency and an interdict

The current patronyms mandingues are: Keïta, Traoré, Cissé, Camara, Touré, Kanté, Coulibaly, Sakho, Sissoko or Cissoko, Soumaré, Diawara, Doucouré, Drama, Diarra, Bathily. One retouve these patronyms at all the communities formed by Mandingues.

See too

Related articles

• List of the ethnicities of Africa
• Ethnicities of Senegal
• Malinké
• Bambara

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