Mansa Uli,[a] also known as Yérélinkon,[b] was the second
mansa of the
Mali Empire. He was the son and successor of
Sunjata.
Uli was one of the greatest rulers of Mali.[1] The 20th-century historian Nehemia Levtzion suggested that Uli may have been the first mansa of Mali to extend his rule to
Walata,
Timbuktu, and
Gao, though Timbuktu and Gao are usually regarded as later additions to the empire.[c]
Uli went on the
hajj at some point between 1260 and 1277.[d]
Uli was apparently succeeded by his brother
Wati,[1] who is not attested by oral tradition.[3] Some oral traditions assert that Uli was Sunjata's only biological son, though Sunjata may have adopted others.[3]
Uli had a son,
Qu, who would gain the throne during the early 14th century.
Footnotes
^The Arabic spelling is ولي, which can be read as Walī or Ūlī. Ibn Khaldun reports that the name is equivalent to
Ali.[1] Levtzion has interpreted the name as Walī, which resembles the name Ali more closely, but Conrad has noted that Ūlī is closer to the name Yérélin Kon recorded in oral tradition.[2] Niane has rendered the name as Oulin.[3]
^The name Yerelinkon is recorded from oral tradition. Recorded variants include Yérélin Kon, Dourounin Kon, Jurunin Kon, and Yerélinkong.[2][4]
^The primary sources attribute the conquest of Gao to
Mansa Sakura or
Mansa Musa, and the conquest of Timbuktu to Mansa Musa. They do not record Uli as having done so. Levtzion suggests that control of Timbuktu, and perhaps Gao, would have been necessary for Uli to go on the hajj, and that Mali struggled to keep control of Gao, resulting in the conflicting accounts of which mansa conquered it.[5] The
Timbuktu Chronicles claim that the founder of the Sonni dynasty, Ali Kolon, liberated Gao from Mali and that the fifth member of the Sonni dynasty was ruling during Musa's hajj, suggesting a long period of time elapsed between the initial conquest of Gao and Musa's reign.[6]
^His hajj was during the reign of
Baibars, which was from 1260 to 1277.[7]
Levtzion, Nehemia (1980) [1973]. Ancient Ghana and Mali. New York, N.Y: Africana Publishing Company.
ISBN0-8419-0431-6.
Levtzion, Nehemia; Hopkins, John F. P., eds. (2000) [1981], Corpus of Early Arabic Sources for West Africa, New York, NY: Marcus Weiner Press,
ISBN1-55876-241-8.