No Mali medieval nascem OS PRIMEIROS conceitos de direitos humanos (1)
LOS PRIMEROS conceptos de derechos humanos surgen en el Mali medieval
ANTONIO C. R. TUPINAMBÁ (2)
UNIVERSIDADE FEDERAL DO CEARÁ
- Originally published in: Adelaide Literary Award Anthology. Selected and Edited by Stevan V. Nikolic. Adelaide Literary Magazine. 9th Annual 2025 ADELAIDE LITERARY MAGAZINE AWARD CONTEST. New York and Lisbon, 2025.
Abstract:
The Manden Charter was the constitution of the Mali Empire created after the Battle of Krina (1235) by an assembly of nobles to organize a government for the newly established empire. This document can be considered as important for that region of Africa as the Magna Carta was for Western Europe and, at about the same time, however, it was formally enshrined in oral tradition and later codified around 1236, at the same time as the Magna Carta (1215). Most people recognized the Magna Carta as having a great impact on the final idea that Man is a free being with the right to formal representation in the governing council, an idea that would take centuries to materialize. The current study provides a description and critical analysis of the Mandinka Charter or Manden Charter, which exemplifies and enunciates a vibrant Africa, not only inserted in History, but also active and as an agent of profound change, constituting itself as a subject, unlike that ahistorical Africa as seen from outside the continent. Africa as a cultural, political, historical and epistemic locus from which great empires and kingdoms of the past emerged, such as the Mali Empire itself, with advanced forms of organization, cultural spectra, its own philosophy, preservation of the past and original system of law such as its bill of rights, or Manden charter.
Resumo:
A carta de Manden foi a constituição do Império do Mali criada após a Batalha de Krina (1235) por uma assembleia de nobres para organizar um governo para o império recém-estabelecido. Esse documento pode ser considerado tão importante para aquela região da África quanto o foi a Magna Carta para a Europa Ocidental e, mais ou menos na mesma época, no entanto, estava formalmente cravado somente na tradição oral sendo posteriormente codificado por volta de 1236 na mesma época da Magna Carta (1215). A maioria das pessoas reconheceu a Magna Carta como tendo um grande impacto na ideia final de que o Homem é um ser livre com direito a representação formal no conselho governamental, ideia que levaria séculos para se concretizar. O estudo atual traz uma descrição e análise crítica da Carta Mandinga ou Carta de Manden, que exemplifica e enuncia uma África pulsante, não apenas inserida na História, mas também ativa e como agente de mudança profunda, constituindo-se como um sujeito, diferentemente daquela África a-histórica como vista de fora do continente. Uma África como um lócus cultural, político, histórico e epistêmico a partir do qual surgiram grandes impérios e reinos do passado, como o próprio Império do Mali, com formas de organização avançadas, espectros culturais, filosofia própria, preservação do passado e sistema de lei original como a sua carta de direitos, ou carta de Manden.
Resumen:
La Carta Mandinka fue la constitución del Imperio Malí, creada tras la Batalla de Krina (1235) por una asamblea de nobles para organizar el gobierno del recién establecido imperio. Este documento puede considerarse tan importante para esa región de África como lo fue la Carta Magna para Europa Occidental. Sin embargo, casi al mismo tiempo, se consagró formalmente en la tradición oral y posteriormente se codificó alrededor de 1236, al mismo tiempo que la Carta Magna (1215). La mayoría reconoció la gran influencia de la Carta Magna en la idea final de que el hombre es un ser libre con derecho a representación formal en el consejo gobernante, una idea que tardaría siglos en materializarse. El presente estudio ofrece una descripción y un análisis crítico de la Carta Mandinka o Carta Mandinka, que ejemplifica y enuncia una África vibrante, no solo inserta en la historia, sino también activa y agente de profundo cambio, constituyéndose como sujeto, a diferencia de esa África ahistórica vista desde fuera del continente. África como lugar cultural, político, histórico y epistémico del que surgieron grandes imperios y reinos del pasado, como el propio Imperio de Mali, con formas avanzadas de organización, espectros culturales, filosofía propia, preservación del pasado y sistema jurídico original como su carta de derechos o carta de Manden.
A Catalan Atlas showing the Western Sahara. Mansa Musa is seen seated holding a gold coin.
Attributed to Abraham Cresques, Wikimedia Commons
At the founding of the Mali Empire, the Maiden Charter was born. Sometime in the 1200s, a great warrior named Sundiata Keita pronounced it. At the site of Kurukan Fuga, meaning “clearing on a hard rock,” situated between what is now Guinea and Mali, the resplendent Keita assembled a group of wise men, the chiefs of the various clans. These included Sumanworo Kanté, Emperor of Sosso, whom he had just defeated at the battle of Krina. After the charter’s declaration, it was passed down through griots or bards, the famed storytellers of the region, and keepers of the culture. (PERRY, January 22, 2017)
From a dominant Eurocentrism, it is almost unimaginable that there was ever any concern with drafting a constitution grounded in human rights principles outside of Europe. It is unthinkable that such a constitutional charter could have been organized and implemented in a society outside the Northern Hemisphere, in a remote region, far from the "center of the world," and even in times before the French Revolution. Yes, it was! The reports that a constituent charter was proclaimed in the 13th century to ensure the consideration and respect of the human rights of different groups and populations are not mere speculation. It is undeniable that the French Revolution was considered one of the most important of all revolutionary movements. Inspired primarily by Enlightenment ideals, its thinkers influenced not only revolutionary movements but also the "Declaration of the Human and Citizen Rights," which, in turn, influenced the creation of a doctrine of fundamental rights and guarantees that was valid in different regions of the planet. From this victorious popular revolution, the basis of human rights was consolidated, guaranteed to man and citizen, and enjoyed by different peoples to this day. (GONÇALVES, 2008).
A 13th-century constitution conceived on the African continent embodies, in the eyes of today's society, concepts and principles that differ from what is now known as the "promotion of fundamental human rights." However, what is contained in the Manden Charter represented, considering the remote period of its creation, a significant advance in what is understood as concerns for equal rights and corresponding duties; a fact that contradicts what is imagined for African societies in the medieval period and for African history. The period of great empires and kingdoms and the strong penetration of Islam redefined much of inter-kingdom relations on the African continent and witnessed the emergence of the Manden Charter.
Between the 13th and 17th centuries AD, the Mali Empire was culturally rich, with abundant material resources, and encompassed a large area of West Africa. This empire consisted of smaller kingdoms and communities along the Upper Niger River region, united and established by the epic Sundiata Keita. Although there is some overlap in geographic regions and similar histories, the Mali Empire should not be confused with present-day Mali, as they are two distinct places. The Mali Empire is best known for its prolific trade networks, educational development, wealth in gold and salt, and the establishment and spread of Islam in West Africa. (Compare: Ferguson e Whittemore, 2023).
The aforementioned constitution is the “Manden Charter”, also known as the “Mandinka Charter”, “Kurukan Fuga” (or Kouroukan Fouga, the place where the structure of the Mali Empire was established). It is an oral declaration of rights and laws developed in the 13th century, which emerged in the region between modern Guinea and Mali (Manden), in the basin north of the Niger River, then part of the Mandinka Empire, made up of several Malinke clans and people. The basic social organization of these Mande groups was the kafu, a community living near a city with mud-walled houses and ruled by a hereditary dynasty called the “Fama.” The supreme ruler, although surrounded by all the splendid ceremonial of African royalty, bore the military title of “Mansa” (conqueror). This makes it clear that his domain could expand or shrink according to the reach of his armed forces. It is difficult to pinpoint the date of the Manden Charter because it is a surviving product of oral history on the African continent. The Manden Charter, or the Kurukan Fuga Charter, appears as both a medieval document and partly as a creation of modernity. Some publications claim the two are the same, but the Manden Charter was compiled from Mandinka oral history and published in 1991. Its compilers claimed that the oral tradition for the Manden Charter dated back to 1222, though other scholars believe this date is merely conjectured and unproven, as it was presented as a set of laws or a constitution for the medieval Mali Empire. The Kurukan Fuga Charter was compiled from oral histories from Mali, Senegal, and Guinea during a meeting in the late 1990s and reformatted to resemble a constitution in 1998. Dated 1236, it was attributed to a Malian emperor. Some scholars propose that these documents contain defenses of human rights, as well as other modern notions of freedom; others suggest that the documents attest to contemporary attitudes toward human freedom held by 13th-century africans. Concerns about human freedom make “medieval Mali one of the inventors of current concepts of human rights and the benign slave owners of the Malian people.” It is worth noting the longevity of their validity:
The African Charter also records an important historical fact: it allowed the free movement of people and goods within Mandinga territory, not only during the Sundjata Era (1235-1255), but also during the reign of Mansa Souleymane (1341-1360), demonstrating the long-lasting validity of the Mandinga Charter. In this sense, Diana Taylor's critique is pertinent, noting that the knowledge of traditional peoples was excluded through a denial of performance and theatricality as a common practice among these peoples for the preservation and transmission of knowledge. Thus, when the archive is chosen as the legitimate place for preserving information for future generations, a reverse process occurs, invalidating sources that fall outside the archive's power, such as oral tradition and performances, in which knowledge and philosophies are conveyed and preserved through repertoires... just as it occurred with the Mandinga Charter. In a way, this explains the silence of Western scientific society on topics of this nature, such as on the African Mandingo Charter of 1235, which was silenced inspite of its effects for more than a century, while the Magna Carta, which was in force only for 10 weeks, was considered a historical landmark of so-called fundamental rights. (SOUZA, SOUZA, 2018, p. 176 ).
Gregory Mann (2022) argues “that the Hunters' Oath [both the Hunters' Oath and the better-known Kurukan Fuga have been referred to as the Mande Charter] should be detached not only from the Kurukan Fuga, but also from the Mali Empire and the historical accounts of its founding. Whether the Oath's origins date back some seven centuries may be an unanswered question, but its history as a text is only a few decades.” (MANN, 2022, p. 131).
In modern times, the Charter is maintained through its retelling by griots, or official storytellers/historians who were tasked with maintaining oral traditions, “a field of study and a method of collecting, preserving, and interpreting the voices and memories of individuals, communities, and participants in past events.” Griots were central to the Mande culture, which became the dominant culture of West Africa during the later medieval period.
Postcoloniality and Cultural Reparation
A thorough analysis of the [Mandinga] Letter demonstrates that, beyond an objectified Africa, studied through concepts that are borrowed from European historiography, there exists a profound Africa that is, in fact, a rarely discussed Africa. This is so true that the number of events in the scientific community reflecting on new historiographical paradigms and studies related to African history has grown. Perhaps, from a new perspective, it will be possible to bring a more thoughtful interpretation of African culture, free from stereotypes and clichés that sometimes hamper understanding of the continent's dynamics. (The Manden Charter, 2025).
According to Aníbal Quijano (2005, apud Hama and Pasquarelli, 2023), coloniality emerges from modern colonialism under the logic of the capitalist-colonial-modern matrix, which promotes the extension of the notion of European superiority over the subordinate position of the African people, corroborating colonial domination over African cultural heritage [tangible and intangible].
Thus, the traces of colonialism in Africa were not extinguished by the independence and decolonization processes of the 1960s, as they were perpetuated by the Western European domination still present in the intra- and interstate spheres. This argument is confirmed by analyzing the data on African acquisitions at the Branly-Jacques Chirac Museum: in the period prior to the 1885 colonization, the collection contained fewer than one hundred African objects, while between 1885 and 1960 (the period of conquest and colonial occupation), the collection grew to over 45,000 pieces, followed by additions of another 20,000 pieces in the years of decolonization after the 1960s, reaching the current collection of nearly 70,000 pieces. (SARR; SAVOY, 2018. Apud HAMA e PASQUARELLI, 2023).
The recovery of tangible heritage can be one of the ways to recover intangible heritage and, consequently, to reframe the culture that was plundered by invaders and colonizers. The moral damage caused by colonization and the establishment of necessary measures by governing bodies and international institutions to promote the restitution of stolen properties have corroborated the postcolonial thinking about how to overcome different forms of colonialism. Repatriation determines its social function and its links to the cultural values of heritage, which are essential for driving progress and development in the affected nations. (Compare: HAMA and PASQUARELLI, 2023). Through the recovery of tangible heritage, one can therefore reach the corresponding intangible heritage.
According to Bhabha (1998), one resource for facing an identity crisis in a post-colonial context is the memorialization of its history prior to colonization and tragedy of slavery, so that a new identity can be constructed, distinct from the patterns of racial identity conceived by the colonizing culture, but conscious of the past that was taken from it. In this sense, the purpose of cultural repatriation, based on the historical, social, and cultural values that cultural heritage encompasses, operates from the perspective of identity restructuring, so that the cultural heritage assets to be returned promote the reintegration of social functions in their community of origin (SARR; SAVOY, 2018) and represent a gradual process of historical reappropriation and overcoming of the ethnocentric patterns imposed by colonization. Under this line of thought, Hall argues that “independence and post-colonial movements, in which imperial histories continue to be vividly recut, are necessarily, therefore, moments of cultural struggle, revision and reappropriation” (HALL, 2003, p. 34) and, in this sense, cultural restitution acts as an instrument for converting the objectification of African culture, allowing its artifacts considered “exotic” present in European collections to be converted into the heritage of the people who produced them, restoring the “identity of this people as a subject that produces his/her own existence…”(HAMMA and PASQUARELLI, 2023).
In line with this recovery of material heritage, there is a recent experience in Brazil with the return, after a battle for the restitution of indigenous heritage — the Tupinambá cloak — which was stolen by Europeans. In this specific case, we see the possibility of continuing the fight for…
…keeping alive the cosmology and cultural heritage of the people to whom that cloak belonged. The Tupinambás of Olivença have been fighting for decades for the restructuring of their people and the demarcation of their lands. They are among the peoples most vilified by colonization. In addition to genocide, they have suffered losses and processes of urbanization on their lands. This situation sometimes led them to be known and self-styled as “caboclos” and “pardos” (mulattos), one of the many elaborate strategies of negotiation and the search for escape from systems of extermination and violence.… In 2006, filmmaker Glicéria Tupinambá, known as Célia Tupinambá and recently announced to represent Brazil at the Venice Biennale in 2024, set out to make a replica to present to her people’s Encantados (non-human beings, akin to spirits). With the support of her community and by listening attentively to its elder members, she began to reclaim and learn techniques for making the cloak. Célia's actions not only pointed out ways to not depend on restitution, which is hostage to a system coupled with the institutional bureaucracy of colonial heritage, but also gave back, to herself and her people, something much greater and deeper, demonstrating that it is possible to return to a past that is alive in the present. (Fares, 2024).
The study entitled “The Return of the Tupinambá Mantle to the National Museum of Rio de Janeiro: Interconnected Stories” by Bianca Manzon Lupo (2025, p.185-186) “demonstrates the impressive diversity of meanings attributed to the Tupinambá mantle, in relation to its presence and absence; from a material and symbolic perspective. The object presents multiple interests, simultaneously mobilizing meanings for Indigenous cosmology, for the European people in the context of colonial domination, and for the symbolic construction of the Brazilian nation state itself.” The author also highlights the multiplicity of interests of the mantle as having a power to mobilize meanings for Indigenous cosmology and for European peoples, considering its relevance to the context of colonial rule. Furthermore, she also highlights its value in mobilizing meanings for the symbolic construction of the Brazilian nation itself.
...Tupinambá cloaks were produced between the 16th and 17th centuries, using cotton and tucum fibers soaked in honey and lined with bird feathers (Costa, 2022). In archaic Tupi, the cloaks are called "assojaba" or "guara-abucu" and represent a spiritual connection with ancestors and ancestral wisdom (Buono, 2018). The Tupinambá cloak was considered a symbol of prestige, and its use was restricted to shamans, pajés, majés, and chiefs; it was used only in ritualistic ceremonies, such as assemblies and cultural festivals. The sacred garment was often worn in shamanic rituals, during which a large gathering was held, accompanied by food and drink, and a reenactment of the capture of enemies. The prisoner was led to the appropriately decorated courtyard and awaited his executioner who, according to reports, wore “a red diadem and a cloak of red ibis feathers, approaching his prey, imitating a bird of prey” (Fausto, 1998, p. 392, emphasis added). In this sense, the Tupinambá cloak adorned the executioner's body, dressing the warrior who would avenge the village with a blow to the back of his enemy's neck during the cannibalistic ceremony. After the execution, the village's elder women collected the victim's blood in gourds, and parts of the victim's body were devoured. The work "The Religion of the Tupinambá and its Relations with the Other Tupi-Guarani Tribes" (1950), by anthropologist Alfred Métraux, mentions that "the executioner remained shut up in the hut, adorned with the most beautiful ornaments fashionable among the Tupinambá. On his head he wore a feather sombrero [...]. From his loins hung an enormous circlet of ostrich feathers, and on his shoulders he had a cloak of red ibis feathers" (Métraux, 1950, cf. Costa, 2022, p. 15, emphasis added). Furthermore, as Florestan Fernandes (2006) explains, the practice of Tupinambá cannibalism was seen as a way to capture the energy of their opponents. Featherwork played a central role for the Tupinambá people, who produced a variety of ornaments from bird feathers—such as diadems, necklaces, bracelets, sombreros, chokers, circlets, and cloaks. To make these objects, the Tupinambá people often caught live birds using a stick with a snare at the end (Thévet, 2018). Most often, feather cloaks were made from the feathers of the scarlet ibis (Eudocimus ruber) – a bird with a long, thin, recurved beak, resembling a small flamingo, and whose plumage is intensely red. This bird was endemic to Rio de Janeiro. Furthermore, the Tupinambá developed a feather-dyeing process called tapiragem, in which the feathers were removed (without killing the birds) and the follicles were filled with a mixture of coloring secretions from poisonous plants or frogs, altering the color of the next feathers that grew (Buono, 2018). The Tupinambá also had knowledge of how the birds' diet altered the color of their feathers, which, once collected, were attached to a braided fabric that structured the garment. (Lupo, 2025, p. 159-160)
This may be an attempt to recover cultural heritage and to recover a symbol of culture that was vilified in colonial times and continues to be currently decimated.
Today, ancestral clothing symbolizes the resistance and political struggle of indigenous peoples for their rights; the need to reinvent one of the main institutions whose fire symbolizes the disregard of political authorities for Brazilian cultural heritage, and emanates a certain "aura of benevolence" from European institutions that seek to assert an international stance of solidarity in the face of decolonial demands and heritage in flames. (Lupo, 2025, p. 185).
Devastating modern progress, a kind of "repetition of colonization" in Brazilian territory, a territory that was colonized like in Africa, also stands out for its continuity through what is known as internal colonialism. A concept coined by Mexican sociologist Casanova (2006): “States of colonial and imperialist origin and their ruling classes [and their agents of control] remake and preserve colonial relations with colonized minorities and ethnic groups within their political borders.” Thus, the germination of the project initiated by the invasion guaranteed the continuity of the “geni-epistemocide” model, this time embraced by the colonized themselves. According to Hama and Pasquarelli (2023), cultural heritage and the cultural, spiritual, and religious practices influenced by it have the power to promote benefits to communities, such as “the strengthening of their social structure, cultural identity, ceremonial and community life, education, economic development, and well-being in contemporary society” and, it should be added to this, the development of political entities. In light of what Hall (2022, p. 59) states, “…a national culture seeks to unify them in a cultural identity, to represent them all as belonging to the same great national family”. This premise was corroborated by the Pan African Cultural Manifesto of 1969, which determines culture as an instrument of vital force of the nation and of the African union for development; it is, from this conception, that the cultural identity integrated with the cultural heritage…
…permeates the spectrum of social construction within a national community and is thus configured as essential in the formation of a national social pillar, linked to the conjunction of the tripod of the modern State, which is constituted by population, territory, and the legitimate monopoly on the use of force. Consequently, the restitution and preservation of tangible cultural heritage linked to the sense of national identity is an essential instrument for promoting national development. (HAMA and PASQUARELLI, 2023).
The Mandinka Charter is considered a pre-modern example of a declaration of human rights, especially because it discusses the rights of enslaved people, children, and women, and also makes it clear that most people of a certain age group should have a stake in the governance of society. On the other hand, for contemporary audiences, terms like “human rights,” strictly speaking, would likely be unfamiliar, since they were a people with strong notions of "social rights," and their laws "tended to emphasize the rights of 'communities of people' rather than individuals: people had rights through their families, marriages, trades, and religions.” (HAMA and PASQUARELLI, 2023, p. 175-179). Studies of the Mandinka Charter could contribute to slowly building a perception that “Africa possesses its own dynamics, deserving more than our silence.” (SOUZA, 2018). An intangible heritage of African culture, the Manden Charter was overlooked, ignored and erased by the colonizers.
The Manden Charter: What does it contain?
The constitution of society, the rights and duties of citizens, and articles that take gender roles into account, recalling concerns that would, in a sense, be current in our society, are all part of the Charter. Aspirations to protect and regulate economic, social, and interpersonal relations, considering principles for conflict resolution, are also inherent concerns of the Charter. Issues such as theft, murder, the treatment of groups formed by women or enslaved people, as well as rules and punishments for their deviations, were all covered in it. Based on the content of the Manden Charter, it is possible to grasp the logic behind the organization of societies in medieval Africa. All these aspects can lead to an understanding of what the Charter represents in terms of evolution when compared to other similar experiences in that medieval world. The challenges, realities, and aspirations of African societies were present in the text of the Charter.
The 44 articles that compose the Charter
The text begins with a preamble: The Manden is based on honesty and love, nobility and cooperation. This means that there must never again be discrimination based on ancestry in Mali. This was the meaning of our struggle. Thus, the sons of Sanènè and Kòntròn [also known as the hunters] proclaim to the fourteen parts of the world and in the name of all the Manden.
Article 1: The Great Mande Society is divided into sixteen clans of quiver carriers, five clans of “marabouts” [A marabout is a Muslim holy man], four groups of “nyamakalas”, which refers to a caste, or social group, of people within Mande society who were thought to have special talents. During the medieval period most griots came from this class of people; and one group of slaves. Each one has a specific activity and role.
Article 2: The “nyamakalas” must devote themselves to tell the truth to the chiefs, to be their counsellors and to defend by the speech the established rulers and the order upon the whole territory.
Article 3: The five clans of marabouts are our teachers and our educators in Islam. Everyone has to hold them in respect and consideration.
Article 4: The society is divided into age groups. Those born during a period of three years in succession belong to the same age-group. The members of the intermediary class between young and old people, should be invited to take part in the making of important decisions concerning the society.
Article 5: Everybody has a right to life and to the preservation of physical integrity. Accordingly, any attempt to deprive one's fellow being of life is punished with death.
Article 6: To win the battle of prosperity, the general system of supervision has been established to fight against laziness and idleness.
Article 7: The sanankunya (joking relationship) and the tanamannyonya (blood pact) have been established among the Mandinka. Consequently any contention that occurs among these groups should not degenerate the respect for one another being the rule. Between brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law, between grandparents and grandchildren, tolerance should be the principle.
Article 8: The Keïta family is nominated reigning family upon the empire.
Article 9: Children's education behooves the entire society. The paternal authority in consequence falls to everyone.
Article 10: We should offer condolences mutually.
Article 11: When your wife or your child runs away, stop running after them in the neighbour's house.
Article 12: The succession being patrilineal (This means that power and inheritance are passed from father to son), never relinquish power to a son when one of his father's brothers is still alive. Never relinquish power to a minor just because he has goods.
Article 13: Never offend the Nyaras (the talented). [This refers to members of the social class of nyamakalas — see Article 1].
Article 14: Never offend women, our mothers.
Article 15: Never beat a married woman before her husband has tried to correct the problem.
Article 16: Women, apart from their everyday occupations, should be associated with all our managements.
Article 17: Lies that have lived for 40 years should be considered like truths.
Article 18: We should respect the law of primogeniture (A widespread practice in the medieval and modern periods, primogeniture refers to inheritance falling to the oldest son of a family).
Article 19: Any man has two parents-in-law: We have to hold them in respect and consideration.
Article 20: Do not ill treat the slaves. We are the master of the slave but not the bag he carries. (As in many ancient and medieval societies, slavery was a fact of life. The most common ways into temporary states of slavery were through warfare or inability to pay debts).
Article 21: Do not follow up with your constant attentions the wives of the chief, of the neighbour, of the marabout, of the priest, of the friend and of the partner.
Article 22: Vanity is the sign of weakness and humility the sign of greatness.
Article 23: Never betray one another. Respect your word of honour.
Article 24: In Manden, do not maltreat the foreigners.
Article 25: The ambassador does not risk anything in Manden.
Article 26: The bull confided to your care should not lead the cattle-pen.
Article 27: A girl can be given in marriage as soon as she is pubescent without age determination.
Article 28: A young man can marry at age 20.
Article 29: The dowry is fixed at 3 cows: one for the girl, two for the father and mother. (A dowry refers to a marriage gift, often by a bride's family to the groom. In this case, the groom's family is expected to bring the gift of cattle).
Article 30: In Mande, divorce is tolerated for one of the following reasons: the impotence of the husband, the madness of one of the spouses, the husband's incapability of assuming the obligations due to the marriage. The divorce should occur out of the village.
Article 31: We should help those who are in need.
Of Goods
Article 32: There are five ways to acquire property: buying, donation, exchange, work and inheriting. Any other form without convincing testimony is doubtful.
Article 33: Any object found without a known owner becomes common property only after four years.
Article 34: The fourth heifer born is the property of the guardian of the heifer. One egg out of four is the property of the guardian of the laying hen.
Article 35: One bovine should be exchanged for four sheep or four goats.
Article 36: To satisfy one's hunger is not robbery if you don't take away anything in your bag or your pocket.
Preservation of Nature
Article 37: Fakombè is nominated chief of hunters. (While the identity of Fakombè is unknown, hunters in Mande society had special status and were often believed to have magical powers over nature).
Article 38: Before setting fire to the bush, don't look down at the ground, raise your head in the direction of the top of the trees to see whether they bear fruits or flowers.
Article 39: Domestic animals should be tied during cultivation and freed after the harvest. The dog, the cat, the duck and the poultry are not bound by the measure.
Final Disposals
Article 40: Respect kinship, marriage, and the neighbourhood.
Article 41: You can kill the enemy, but not humiliate him.
Article 42: In big assemblies, be satisfied with your lawful representatives.
Article 43: Balla Fassèkè Kouyaté is nominated chief of ceremonies and main mediator in Manden. He is allowed to joke with all groups, in priority with the royal family. (According to the Epic of Sundiata, Balla Fassèkè Kouyaté was Sundiata Keita's griot. As the griot of the founder of what would later become the wealthy and powerful Mali Empire, he must have possessed high status. On this joking relationship, see Article 7 on sanankunya).
Article 44: All those who will transgress these rules will be punished. Everyone is bound to make effective their implementation.
Mann (2022) draws attention to the differences and omissions that can be seen between the various versions and translations of the Charter. For the author, a careful reading of the Mandenkan texts can reveal “that the two versions [the versions published in Mandenkan, 2003 and 2008, respectively] coincide in a significant omission and distortion of what the text actually says. Let us look again at what may be the key passage of the Oath, as published in 2003: it begins with “Donsolu ko,” or “the hunters declare”...
The essence of slavery is extinguished today, “from one wall to the other,”from one frontier to the other of the Manden; Slave-raiding is banned from this day forward in the Manden; The sufferings born of these horrors are finished from this day forward in the Manden. What a trial such torment is! Especially when the oppressed has no recourse. Wha a degradation salve is! Nowhere in the world [sic]…” (MANN, 2022, p. 138-139).
This approach, from an African perspective, to what has become known as human rights or peoples' rights in the Pact of Kurukan Fuga was a kind of bill of rights for the Mali Empire, founded in 1235 by the maghan (emperor) Sundjata Keita and the Assembly (Gbara) of the Manden community. According to Souza (2018), during a time of social and political change, the Manden hunters (simbon) in the 11th century created an oath to ensure the well-being of their community. Two centuries later, this oath, transmitted orally, inspired the Mandinka Charter. It is worth remembering that, given the relevance of this originally oral declaration to the cultural understanding of the African people at the time, this document was inscribed on UNESCO's Representative List of Intangible Heritage of Humanity in 2009. (SOUZA, 2018).
Souza (2018) concludes that the Mandiga Charter constitutes an x-ray of a specific time and space, of how its resolutions were made and what their concepts were, their respective legitimacy, all supported by oral traditions that require ongoing intervention and maintenance of community members for the Charter to be preserved and the law to be enforced. “The intention, at the time, was that this contract should be shared by the entire community, and that the spoken word and the performance should be constituted not only as an exercise in memory, but also as an imperative, in the sense of honoring the pledged word, as noted in the last Article 44: all those who violate these rules will be punished.” The charter, therefore, is relevant for identifying another Africa that, unlike what the western world desires, Africa is a continent that can surprise as a cultural, political, historical, and epistemic locus:
The study of the Mandinka Charter exemplifies and enunciates a pulsating Africa, which not only inserts itself into History, but also profoundly alters it, constituting itself, to use a term from Aimé Césaire, as a “multiple and vertical Africa circumscribed in the tumultuous peripeteia with its bubbles and nodules”… This subject Africa is different from the ahistorical Africa pointed out by Hegel, for it constitutes itself as the cultural, political, historical and epistemic locus from which great empires and kingdoms of the past emerged, such as the Egyptian dynasties, the Nubian kingdoms, the Aksum Empire, the Carthaginian Empire, the Empire of Ghana (Wagadu), the Takrur Kingdom and the Empire of Mali itself, exemplified by their respective forms of organization, their cultural spectra, their peculiar philosophy, their form of preservation of the past and their sui generis system of law, such as their customary law. (SOUZA, 2018, P. 177).
The Manden Charter (Charter of Mandinga, Kurukan Fuga, or Kouroukan Fouga) can be considered an oral declaration of rights and laws, a 13th-century constitution that prevailed in the Sahel region of the African continent. Proclaimed by Sundiata Keita in Kurukan Fuga (in present-day Mali), this “oral constitution” was fundamental in establishing the basis of the social and legal organization of the Mali Empire, encompassing the defense of social peace, the inviolability of human beings, and other issues. A contemporary interpretation can support its role in respectful coexistence in society and the promotion of human dignity. This “Constitution of the Mali Empire,” enacted after Sundiata Keita's victory over the Sossos in 1235, anticipates many other similar experiences and attempts at legislation that followed, if considered the period in which it was established. UNESCO's recognition of the Charter as an intangible cultural heritage of humanity gives us an understanding of its historical and cultural value and scope of the letter.
Mali Empire map – During this period only the Mongol Empire was larger.
Notes
(1) The text is based on informations contained in the following four theoretical studies:
I. The Manden Charter. LibreText Huamanity. Available at: <https://human-libretexts-org.translate.goog/Courses/The_Westminster_Schools/The_Manden_Charter?_x_tr_sl=en&_x_tr_tl=pt&_x_tr_hl=pt&_x_tr_pto=tc>. Access: may 2025.
II. Souza, V. M. de. (2018). A Aljava e o Arco: o que a África tem a dizer sobre Direitos Humanos — um estudo da Carta Mandinga. Tese apresentada à Banca Examinadora da Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo, como exigência parcial para a obtenção do título de Doutor em História Social sob orientação da Prof. Dra. Maria Antonieta Martinez Antonacci, p. 176 e 178.
III. Gonçalves, B. T. R; Bergara, P. N. dos S. (2008). A revolução francesa e seus reflexos nos direitos humanos. S.P.: Revista Intertemas. Revista jurídica da Toledo de Presidente Prudente. Etic-Encontro de Iniciação Científica, v. 4, n. 4
(2) Professor at the Ceará Federal University - Brazil (Universidade Federal do Ceará). Fortaleza, (CE), Brasil. E-mail: c_tupinamba@hotmail.com.
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