Sundiata

The payment before the king's advisers was not gold. The advisers read the arrowheads, dust and ashes, and feathers as warnings: if Sunjata did not receive the land, war would return and the houses would be broken. They advised the king to give it to him. The land was ceded. Sunjata buried Sogolon Conde, then set out with his family and the delegation that had sought him out, heading for the Manden. Their route led to the river crossing served by Somono boatmen.

A sound brought Sunjata's mother's phrase to mind: 'a thing for tomorrow'. The chief did not answer him, but ordered the boats to bring the party across. People from across the Manding rallied to Sunjata. Village chiefs and rulers gathered soldiers, including bowmen, swordsmen and riders. Sumanguru assembled his own soldiers and came to meet him.

The fighting did not turn quickly in Sunjata's favour. The account gives different counts for their meetings: four, nine or twenty. In the encounters described, Sumanguru's forces held the advantage. Sunjata's men fought, but could not defeat him. Even when they thought they had cornered him, Sumanguru escaped and turned defeat into victory. Spirits were low, then rose slightly.

The account next places Sunjata and his generals back in the Manden. Inside Sumanguru's palace, the returning party found Bala Faseke Kuyate; the account says Sumanguru had crippled him. Soon after, Sunjata and the Manden leaders gathered at Kurukan Fugan. At the assembly, the leaders settled how the new state would be governed and how its lands would be divided. In African Myths of Origin, Mali is born from this assembly.