Editing Mali Empire (section)

===Territorial administration===
[[File:The Mali Empire.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|alt=A map of West Africa showing The Mali Empire in 1337, along with its major trade routes and goldfields.|The Mali Empire in 1337, including the location of the [[Bambouk|Bambuk]], [[Siguiri|Bure]], [[Gaoua|Lobi]] and [[Bono state|Akan]] Goldfields<ref>{{cite book |last1=Meredith |first1=Martin |title=The Fortunes of Africa |date=2014 |publisher=Public Affairs |location=New York |isbn=9781610396356 |page=75}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Shillington |first1=Kevin |title=History of Africa |date=2012 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |location=London |isbn=9780230308473 |pages=101–102}}</ref>]]

The Mali Empire covered a larger area for a longer period of time than any other West African state before or since. What made this possible was the decentralised nature of administration throughout the state. According to [[Burkina Faso|Burkinabé]] writer [[Joseph Ki-Zerbo]], the farther a person travelled from the capital, the more decentralised the ''mansa''<nowiki/>'s power became.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=fr&u=http://www.afrique-gouvernance.net/fiches/dph/fiche-dph-340.html&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=10&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3DKi-Zerbo,%2BMali%2BEmpire%26hl%3Den |title=Google Translate |access-date=2009-09-16}}</ref> Nevertheless, the ''mansa'' managed to keep tax money and nominal control over the area without agitating his subjects into revolt. The Malian state balanced centralization and decentralization by dividing the empire into a series of provinces and vassal states that had been either conquered or annexed, respectively. These were administered in different ways.

The Mali Empire reached its largest area under the Abubakrids, the lineage of Mansa Musa. Al-Umari, who wrote down a description of Mali based on information given to him by Abu Sa’id 'Otman ed Dukkali (who had lived 35 years in the capital), reported the realm as being square and an eight-month journey from its coast at Tura (at the mouth of the Senegal River) to Muli. Umari also describes the empire as being south of [[Marrakesh]] and almost entirely inhabited except for few places. Mali's domain also extended into the desert. He describes it as being north of Mali but under its domination implying some sort of vassalage for the Antasar, Yantar'ras, Medussa and [[Lamtuna|Lemtuna]] Berber tribes, with garrisons kept at [[Oualata]], [[Timbuktu]], [[Koumbi Saleh|Koumbi]], and [[Gao]], and responsibility of governing the Sahara given to the military commander (''sura farin'').<ref>{{harvnb|Blanchard|2001|p=1118}}.</ref><ref name="unesco" />{{rp|pages=154}}

The empire's total area included nearly all the land between the [[Sahara Desert]] and coastal forests. It spanned the modern-day countries of Senegal, southern [[Mauritania]], Mali, northern [[Burkina Faso]], western [[Niger]], [[the Gambia]], [[Guinea-Bissau]], Guinea, the [[Ivory Coast]] and northern Ghana. By 1350, the empire covered approximately {{convert|478819|sqmi|km2}}.<ref name="Conrad2009">{{cite book|author=David C. Conrad|title=Empires of Medieval West Africa: Ghana, Mali, and Songhay|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hgrmT5wT0R4C&pg=PA116 |year=2009 |publisher=Infobase Publishing|isbn=978-1-4381-0319-8|page=116}}</ref>

Al-ʿUmari reported that Mali had fourteen provinces.{{sfn|Levtzion|Hopkins|2000|p=261}} His list does not necessarily accurately reflect the actual organization of the Mali Empire,{{sfn|Levtzion|Hopkins|2000|p=411}} and the identification of the listed provinces is controversial. Several of the names are spelled in a variety of ways in different manuscripts. Al-ʿUmari's list, which is quoted with slight differences by al-Qalqashandi, is as follows:

*Ghana ({{transliteration|ar|Ghāna}}): Corresponds to the former [[Ghana Empire]].
*[[Kingdom of Diarra|Zafun]] ({{transliteration|ar|Zāfūn}}): Diafunu{{sfn|Hunwick|1999b|p=94}}
*Tirafka ({{transliteration|ar|Tirafkā}}):{{efn|Variant: Tiranka ({{transliteration|ar|Tirankā}})}} Probably the same as Tiraqqa, a town on the Niger between Timbuktu and Gao mentioned by several other sources.{{sfn|Levtzion|Hopkins|2000|p=458}} Alternatively, may be Tiringa, between Kayes and Nioro, or the same as {{Smallcaps|trnqh}}, which may be [[Futa Toro]].
*[[Takrur]] ({{transliteration|ar|Takrūr}}): On 3rd cataract of the Senegal River, north of [[Jolof Empire|Jolof]]. By the 14th century, the term Takrur had become commonly misused by Arab writers.
*Sanghana ({{transliteration|ar|Sanghāna}}): A region surrounding the mouth of the Senegal river. The name of the river may be derived from the name Sanghana.{{sfn|Levtzion|Hopkins|2000|p=455}}
*{{Smallcaps|bānbʿw}} ({{langx|ar|بانبعو}}) or {{smallcaps|bānbġw}} ({{langx|ar|بانبغو}}): Possibly the [[Bambuk]] region, between the Senegal and Faleme rivers, which was a major source of gold, but identification is uncertain.{{sfn|Levtzion|Hopkins|2000|p=445}}
*Zarqatabana ({{transliteration|ar|Zarqaṭābanā}})
*{{Smallcaps|bytrā}} ({{langx|ar|بيترا}}):{{efn|Included in al-Qalqashandi's quotation of al-'Umari, but not in any manuscript of al-'Umari's text itself, which only list thirteen provinces despite saying there are fourteen.}} Possibly a typographical error for {{transliteration|ar|Banbarā}}, referring to the [[Bambara people]].{{sfn|Levtzion|Hopkins|2000|p=446}}
*Damura ({{transliteration|ar|Damūrā}})
*Zagha ({{transliteration|ar|Zāghā}}): [[Dia, Mali|Dia]]. Ruled by a sultan who was a vassal of the Mansa of Mali.{{sfn|Levtzion|Hopkins|2000|p=287}}
*Kabura ({{transliteration|ar|Kāburā}}): Along the Niger upstream of Zagha.{{sfn|Levtzion|Hopkins|2000|pp=287,415}} Like Zagha, ruled by a sultan who was a vassal of the Mansa of Mali. Identified with [[Diafarabé]] by Delafosse and Kaara (south of the Niger, opposite [[Kokry]]) by Bazin.{{sfn|Hunwick|1999|p=19}} Also spelled Kabara or Kabira; not to be confused with [[Kabara, Mali|Kabara]], Timbuktu's port on the Niger.
*Bawaghuri ({{transliteration|ar|Bawāghūrī}}):{{efn|Variant spellings include {{Smallcaps|brlġwry}} ({{langx|ar|برلغوري}}) and {{smallcaps|brāġwdy}} ({{langx|ar|براغودي}})}} Possibly Zagra ({{transliteration|ar|Zāgharī}}), ten days' travel south of [[Oualata|Walata]].{{sfn|Blanchard|2001|p=1119}}
*[[Gao|Kawkaw]] ({{transliteration|ar|Kawkaw}}): The city of [[Gao]], which was called Kawkaw by medieval Arabic sources. Formerly [[Gao Empire|an independent kingdom]], it was annexed into the Mali Empire by either [[Mansa Sakura]] or [[Mansa Musa]]. It later became the capital of the [[Songhai Empire]].
*Mali ({{transliteration|ar|Mālī}}): The capital province, for which the empire gets its name. Al-'Umari reports that the capital itself, located in the province of Mali, was called {{Smallcaps|byty}}.{{efn|Al-Qalqashandi quotes al-'Umari as spelling it {{transliteration|ar|banbī}}, but this is actually how al-'Umari spells the name of the royal dais, not the capital.}}

Other regions ruled by Mali included [[Beledougou]], [[Kala (province)|Kala]], [[Bendugu (province)|Bendugu]] and [[Sibiridugu]]. Al-ʿUmari also indicates that four [[Amazigh]] tribes were subjects of Mali:

*Yantaṣar or Kel Antasar: Located in the vicinity of the [[Adrar des Ifoghas]].{{sfn|Blanchard|2001|p=1118}}
*Tīn Gharās or Yantar'ras: Correspond to the modern [[Kel Gres]]. Located in the vicinity of [[Tadmekka]] in medieval times.{{sfn|Blanchard|2001|p=1118}}{{sfn|Levtzion|Hopkins|2000|p=458}}
*Madūsa: Members of the [[Sanhaja]] confederation located on the Niger between Ghana and Tadmekka.{{sfn|Blanchard|2001|p=1118}}
*[[Lamtuna|Lamtūna]]: Members of the Sanhaja confederation in the vicinity of the [[Adrar Plateau]] and [[Tagant Plateau]].{{sfn|Blanchard|2001|p=1118}}

Gomez instead suggests that these tribes would have inhabited territory in the vicinity of Mema, Ghana, and Diafunu.{{sfn|Gomez|2018|p=127}}