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Soumaoro Kanté (also known asSumaworo Kanté orSumanguru Kanté) was a 13th-century king of theSosso people. SeizingKoumbi Saleh, the capital of the recently defunctGhana Empire, Soumaoro Kanté proceeded to conquer several neighboring states, including theMandinka people in what is nowMali. However, the Mandinka princeSundiata Keita built a coalition of smaller kingdoms to oppose him at theBattle of Kirina (c. 1235.[1]), defeating the Sosso and leaving Sundiata's newMali Empire dominant in the region.[2]
Whether or not any of the deeds attributed to him actually happened as such, or even whether Kante existed at all, is debated by historians. Traditional oral histories provide a wide variety of information, some of which is contradictory and much that is obviously mythical.[3][4]
Soumaoro Kanté is portrayed as a villainous sorcerer-king in the national epic of Mali, theEpic of Sundiata. After his defeat at Kirina, he flees into the mountains ofKoulikoro, where he "disappears" after being shot with the only weapon to which he is vulnerable - an arrow with a white rooster spur arrowhead. In theEpic of Sundiata, Soumaoro Kanté is described as owning abalafon with magical powers, which is stolen by Sundiata Keita'sdjeli,Balafasseke Kouyate, and brought toManden.[5] This is the origin of the Manden djeli tradition ofbalafon playing. The balafon of Soumaoro Kanté is said to be kept by theKouyate family to this day in the village ofNiagassola inGuinea.
Soumaoro is viewed as one of the true champions ofTraditional African religion due to his reputation in the epic as someone possessing extraordinary magical powers. According to Fyle, Soumaoro was the inventor of the balafon and thedan (a four-string guitar used by the hunters and griots).[6]
As evidence of his supernatural powers, thegriot Lansine Diabate notes, "At that time, owing to his magical powers, every fly which rested on the balafon of Soso [the royal musician], Sumaworo was able to find it out from a cloud of flies to kill it."[7] Diabate goes on to say that it was when the balafon player first refused to play for the king that Soumaoro Kanté's demise was anticipated.[7]
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