Mama Maghan

Mama Maghan, also known as Nyamaghan, was a self-proclaimed Mansa of the Mali Empire in the early 17th century.

Reign

The eldest son of Niani Mansa Mamadou, Nyamaghan was appointed ruler of the city of Kita under his father in order to defend the western part of the crumbling Mali Empire. After his father's death in the early 1600s, the empire split between Nyamaghan and his brothers Mansa Kuru and Mansa Kanda. He marched south to restore imperial control over the Niger River valley, in chaos since Niani Mansa Mamadou's defeat outside Djenne in 1599. There he founded the kafu of Juma.

Historiography

Colonial-era historian Maurice Delafosse incorrectly reported that Mama Maghan besieged Segou in 1670, but this was a confusion on his part with a siege in the 1720s by Famagan Ouattara, ruler of the Kong Empire.