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Sundiata's great empire

Much changed in Mali after Sundiata left. Sumanguru, the king of the Sosso people, had conquered Mali during Sundiata's absence. Sumanguru was a powerful leader who derived his great strength from sorcery. Indeed, by the time he attacked Mali, he had already conquered nine other kingdoms of the Ghana Empire. Sumanguru proved to be a cruel ruler, and he laid waste to much of the Malian land, and all the people there despaired.

So Sundiata and his mighty cavalry rode home to save his people. Sundiata and Sumanguru thus came to fight each other in a titanic battle, a struggle in which Sumanguru used all his wiles and magic. But Sundiata had something even more powerful than Sumanguru’s weapons–his destiny. So Sundiata overcame the great odds facing him and defeated Sumanguru on the plains of Kirina.

In his victory, Sundiata not only regained Kangaba but also took over Sumanguru’s lands, thus putting an end to the Ghana Empire. These lands were what made the small kingdom of Nare Marghan into the great empire of Sundiata, known to all the world as Mali.