Mansa (title)

{{Short description|Royal title in the Mali Empire}} {{about|the Mandinka word||Mansa (disambiguation)}} {{Use shortened footnotes|date=June 2022}}

[[File:Catalan_Atlas_BNF_Sheet_6_Mansa_Musa_(cropped).jpg|thumb|right|240px|Depiction of Mansa Musa, ruler of the Mali Empire in the 14th century, from a 1375 Catalan Atlas of the known world (mappa mundi), created by Abraham Cresques]]

'''''Mansa''''' ({{langx|nqo|ߡߊ߲߬ߛߊ}};{{sfn|Vydrin|2015|p=260}} {{plural form}} '''''mansaw''''') is a Maninka{{sfn|Misiugin|Vydrin|1993|p=105}} and Mandinka{{sfn|Schaffer|2005|p=333}} word for a hereditary{{sfn|Vydrin|2015|p=260}}{{sfn|Jansen|1996|p=99}} ruler, commonly translated as "king".{{sfn|Macbrair|1839|p=40}}{{sfn|Jansen|1998|p=256}}{{sfn|Conrad|Condé|2004|pp=xv,198–199}} It is particularly known as the title of the rulers of the Mali Empire, such as Mansa Musa, and in this context is sometimes translated as "emperor".{{sfn|Sutton|1997|p=221}} It is also a title held by traditional village rulers, and in this context is translated as "chief".{{sfn|Vydrin|2015|p=260}}

''Mansa'' contrasts with another Manding word for ruler, ''faama''. ''Faama'' emphasizes the military, coercive authority of a ruler,{{sfn|Chappatte|2022|p=22}} and can be translated as "tyrant",{{sfn|Vydrin|2015|p=218}} whereas ''mansa'' refers to a hereditary ruler whose authority is derived from tradition{{sfn|Vydrin|2015|p=260}} and mystical power.{{sfn|Chappatte|2022|p=22}} A ruler can be both a ''faama'' and a ''mansa'', but a ''mansa'' was not necessarily a ''faama''.{{sfn|Chappatte|2022|p=22}}

The word ''mansa'' ({{langx|ar|منسا|mansā}}) was recorded in Arabic during the 14th century by North African writers such as Ibn Battuta and Ibn Khaldun, who explained it as meaning "sultan".{{sfn|Levtzion|Hopkins|2000|pp=289,333}} Cognates of ''mansa'' exist in other Mandé languages, such as Soninke ''manga'', Susu ''menge'', and Bambara ''masa''.{{sfn|Misiugin|Vydrin|1993|p=105}} Vydrin also compared it to ''mensey'', the Guanche word for their rulers.{{sfn|Vydrin|2015|p=260}} According to Misiugin and Vydrin, the original meaning of the root word was probably "chief of hunters" or "chief of warriors".{{sfn|Misiugin|Vydrin|1993|p=105}}

An alternate translation of ''mansa'', which Jansen attributes to the followers of Marcel Griaule, is that ''mansa'' means "god", "the divine principle", or "priest-king". Jansen notes that they have not provided their reasoning for choosing this translation.{{sfn|Jansen|1998|p=256}}

==References== {{Reflist}}

===Works cited=== {{refbegin|indent=yes}} * {{Cite book |last=Chappatte |first=André |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=geuSEAAAQBAJ |title=In Search of Tunga: Prosperity, Almighty God, and Lives in Motion in a Malian Provincial Town |date=2022-11-01 |publisher=University of Michigan Press |isbn=978-0-472-22074-8 |language=en}} * {{Cite book| publisher = Hackett| isbn = 0-87220-697-1| last1 = Conrad| first1 = David C.| last2 = Condé| first2 = Djanka Tassey| title = Sunjata: a West African epic of the Mande peoples| location = Indianapolis| date = 2004}} * {{Cite journal| doi = 10.2307/3171935| issn = 0361-5413 | volume = 23| pages = 87–109| last = Jansen| first = Jan| title = The representation of status in Mande: did the Mali Empire still exist in the Nineteenth Century?| journal = History in Africa| date = 1996| jstor = 3171935 | hdl = 1887/2775 | s2cid = 53133772 | url = https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0361541300001716/type/journal_article| hdl-access = free| url-access = subscription}} * {{Cite journal| doi = 10.2307/221083| issn = 0361-7882| volume = 31| issue = 2| pages = 253–278| last = Jansen| first = Jan| title = Hot Issues: The 1997 Kamabolon Ceremony in Kangaba (Mali)| journal = The International Journal of African Historical Studies| date = 1998| jstor = 221083| hdl = 1887/2774| hdl-access = free}} * {{cite book | editor1-last=Levtzion | editor1-first=Nehemia | editor-first2=John F. P. | editor-last2 =Hopkins |title=Corpus of Early Arabic Sources for West Africa | publisher=Marcus Weiner Press | place=New York, NY | date=2000 | isbn=1-55876-241-8 | orig-date = 1981 }} * {{Cite book| last = Macbrair| first = R. Maxwell| title = A grammar of the Mandingo language: with vocabularies| location = London| date = 1839}} * {{Cite journal| issn = 1025-4544| volume = 2| pages = 98–111| last1 = Misiugin| first1 = Viacheslav M.| last2 = Vydrin| first2 = Valentin F.| title = Some archaic elements in the Manden epic tradition: the "Sunjata Epic" case| journal = St. Petersburg Journal of African Studies| date = 1993}} * {{Cite journal| doi = 10.1353/hia.2005.0021| issn = 0361-5413 | eissn = 1558-2744| volume = 32| pages = 321–369| last = Schaffer| first = Matt| title = Bound to Africa: the Mandinka Legacy in the New World| journal = History in Africa| accessdate = 2022-04-13| date = 2005| s2cid = 52045769 | url = https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0361541300003831/type/journal_article| url-access = subscription}} * {{Cite journal| doi = 10.1017/S000358150007520X| issn = 0003-5815 | eissn = 1758-5309| volume = 77| pages = 221–242| last = Sutton| first = J. E. G.| title = The African Lords of the Intercontinental Gold Trade Before the Black Death: al-Hasan bin Sulaiman of Kilwa and Mansa Musa of Mali| journal = The Antiquaries Journal| date = 1997 | s2cid = 129875132 | url = https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S000358150007520X/type/journal_article| url-access = subscription}} * {{Cite book| publisher = MeaBooks Inc| isbn = 978-0-9939969-3-1| last = Vydrin| first = V. F.| title = Manding-English Dictionary: (Maninka, Bamana). Volume 1, A, B, D-DAD| location = Lac-Beauport| date = 2015}} {{refend}}

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Category:Mali Empire Category:Mansas of the Mali Empire Category:Royal titles Category:Imperial titles