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 Sumangurus weaponshis 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 Sumangurus 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.
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