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Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781771614054 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Mosaic Press |
| Publication date: | 08/30/2019 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 260 |
| File size: | 678 KB |
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CHAPTER 1
A Magnificent Spectacle
Never, since the accession of the King to the throne has such a gathering of the peoples of the Empire been seen. The outskirts of the city are virtually doubled by a belt of multi-coloured camps, of spontaneous villages rendered unreal by the permanent fog born of a thousand campfires. From the heights of Niani Kura, the spectacle is magnificent. The deep plain is covered right to the soft hills surrounding the royal city, enclosing and protecting it.
Thousands of travellers have covered great distances to converge on Niani.
They came from the lands of the Atlantic coast or from Gao, the magnificent, on the other extremity of the Empire; from Oualata on the edge of the Sahara and from the Southern provinces protected by the deep forests. They came from Kounbi- Ghana, Timbuktu, Djéné, Bitou, Tekrour, Kano, and every large city of the territory.
The road of the Mandingo from the North and that of the Sarakollé from the North-East are choked with caravans. The great river Jankarani is clogged by hundreds of pirogues.
In all of history, as told by the oldest griots, the peoples of the Empire have never shown their allegiance to the King with such unanimity, nor borne such riches in tribute.
The people's chieftains, organized into delegations, are received with great pomp at the palace. Minutely planned, the ceremonies roll out according to an ancient protocol, simple and majestic. A troupe of three hundred Malinke horsemen form an honour guard in the main courtyard which can accommodate five thousand people.
As a delegation approaches, the royal orchestra situated to the right of the Main Gate animates the court with its brief and powerful music. It consists of fifteen flutes, forty balafons, twenty-five talking drums, and twenty tom-toms.
The members of the court are installed to the left of the main gate, their number varying according to the importance of the delegation.
Members of the royal family, the palace master, the cavalry commander, the royal slave master, the head blacksmith, the treasurer, griots, marabous, and at their head, a son of the high nobility which consists of the great families of the Empire: the Condé, the Traoré, the Camara, the Cissé, the Doumbia, and the Keita.
Behind the honour guard, astride their palfreys, a little group enters in dance and in trance, emitting strident cries.
Before the gate, the palace guard forms a tight barrier between the crowd and the King, the Empire and its centre overseeing the famous triangle of sea, forest and desert.
The arrival of a delegation in the main courtyard is greeted in a variety of ways. The cavalry raises its weapons to the sky. The horses balance on their hind hooves, their red draping trimmed in gold trace a luminous line on the white of the high walls. The drumming of the visitors answers that of the royal musicians. The rhythmic sound of the former succeeded by the rumbling of the latter. This musical dialogue joins the visitors and their hosts, and loud prayers attest to the pleasure of their meeting.
The great chamberlain approaches the leader of the delegation and salutes him in the name of the King in the words of the Prophet:
For you He has made of the earth a bed, And of the sky a canopy, And sent down rain from the sky And brought forth therewith fruits As a provision for you. Then do not set up rivals unto Allah Now that you know.
The interpreter faithfully translates the royal greeting and the invocation to Allah.
The court of the King of Niani includes a group of interpreters capable of working in more than two hundred languages spoken throughout the Empire. Capable too of assuring communication with the outside world, the world beyond the desert, that of Fes, of Marrakech, of Cairo of Bagdad, and of Mecca, wherever the language of the message, the language of the Prophet holds sway.
The drummers and balafon players take up the chorus: the dancers join in. The delegation now knows it is welcome.
A griot approaches the head of the delegation. His speech lasts an hour or longer.
He retraces the beginnings, invokes the ancestors of the King, his illustrious predecessors, the recital of the ties uniting the royal family and the nations whose representatives have come all the way to Niani as a sign of their allegiance.
He mentions the wars won or lost, the strategic alliances, the famous marriages, the exchanges of law and customs. Genealogies, natural disasters, migrations of the herds, important voyages: all these are treated with clarity and precision.
The scope of the speech extends through many centuries.
It treats in turn the movement of borders, the trading of slaves, the reserves of gold, copper, iron, salt licks, fine fabrics, the evolution of kingdoms and the strength of treaties.
All details are explained, even the inexplicable; those sacred forests that migrate to follow their people; those rivers uncoiling like a serpent's skin to form springs and pools; the miraculous catch netted in ponds no larger than the shadow of a Cora; the animals come to combat the enemy and many other remarkable tales preciously guarded in the collective memory.
The interpreter recreates each pause, each intonation, and each silence. Every nuance, the exact terms, the specific titles, the identification of names, the precision of loci; recounts the extensive mastery, powerful and delicate, of the relationships between the centre and the peoples of the Empire, between domination and humiliation, war and peace.
The colour of the story is everything.
Back in their far countries, the visitors will reconstitute all for their people, faithfully and precisely, noting each event, each action, each fact in the exact order set out by the griot, giving its due to the least development, to the slightest digression. Like a plea memorized for the future, the discourse is fixed forever in the memory, that recipient of all pardons and all retorts.
The head of the delegation takes the stage in his turn.
He celebrates the grandeur of the King, lists the countries crossed en route to Niani, the rivers and mountains, the chiefs encountered, the size of the caravans and herds seen, and the prosperity of the peoples of the Empire. He embellishes his narrative with the spiritual truths that have marked the stages of his voyage, those moments of grace, fear and joy.
His speech is meticulous, sober, and serious. He asks for the approval of the delegation, who demonstrate their agreement in a straightforward manner, rhythmic though not unnecessarily noisy, except at the very end which is marked by a loud and emphatic crescendo of drums.
The grand ceremony is repeated twice daily for a period of two months.
A round of offerings precedes the audience with the King. These offerings include a steaming plate of couscous.
Because of the importance and meaning of the events, veritable treasures accumulate under the great arches of the palace: eight hundred gold ingots and an equal amount of gold dust, five hundred amphorae of palm oil, a thousand measures of rice, a room full of cotton, three hundred measures of honey, a large collection of fine ceramics, eighteen hundred sacks of cowries, two thousand rings of copper. Also, two hundred pirogues and more than fifteen hundred animals including nearly four hundred dromedaries. A large number of young ladies are added to these treasures to enliven the nights of strangers, young ladies offered as a gift of hospitality.
For several months under the Grand Chamberlain, a disciplined team has prepared this exceptional event.
From the accommodations for the heads of delegation to the laying in of provisions, from the progress of the royal audiences to the organization of the processions, from the security services to the work schedule of the interpreters and griots, everything had been foreseen with the utmost care and attention.
CHAPTER 2The Royal Audience
Prior to each audience, the King reviews the titles and rank of the visitors, as well as the status of their native lands. This information is precise and stresses the essentials: economic situation, questions of security, and the position of the local authority vis-a-vis the Empire.
Once inside the Palace, the chief of protocol welcomes those privileged to attend the royal audience. The opportunity being exceptional, the invitations are extended with great care, and the make-up of the inner circle is an expression of the royal power.
In the great reception hall, the King's representative in the visitors' country takes his place beside the sons of the tribal kings present in Niani where they received their training, the Palace Master and the principal Marabous, the principal judge, the eldest griot and members of the high nobility and the inner guard of the King.
In the great court of honour, a limited delegation forms. It invariably includes the eldest and youngest envoys in order to symbolize the past, the future, and the duration of allegiance to the Empire. Weapons are deposited along with the travel kit, the order of precedence is established and the rules explained at length.
No one is permitted to speak in the presence of the King unless explicitly requested by Him.
No one is permitted to quit the royal audience.
No one is permitted to leave the group during the visit within the Palace walls.
The limited delegation enters into the vast perimeter and discovers the grandeur of the royal city.
Consisting of more than thirty residences with conical roofs encircling a mosque of imposing presence, the ensemble is marked by great harmony, great cleanliness, and great calm.
The contrast is remarkable, between the effervescence of the city, the clamor of the crowds, the bellowing of the beasts in the great marketplace, the vitality of the port, the whistling of the forges and the noise of the anvils struck by the scale makers, and the air of serenity and sweet assurance that reigns in the confines of the royal city.
The distance covered is longer than it seems. The throne room is adjacent to the royal residence, which is protected by a double circular wall.
The delegation is admitted to the great residence. Corridors, staircases, and rooms extend into the distance. No stranger here could ever find his way in this white and shadowy labyrinth.
One enters the throne room by a narrow passage that permits only one visitor to pass at a time. This passage leads directly to the great room already filled with the courtiers and the guests of the sovereign.
Large openings permit a generous light to enter.
In contrast to other rooms in the palace, the floor here is not made from natural earth but covered with woven mats, spread out right up to the throne. Beneath the latter, a large red carpet separates the royal space from the rest of the hall. The ceiling, in the form of a dome, is supported by large sculpted beams which also hold some small arches perfectly and identically formed. The same woods, worked in the same manner, reach from the floor to the ceiling and form a double colonnade which joins together behind the throne. On the audience side, two levels of windows extend, the lower ones are decorated with silver, while the upper windows are gilded with vermeil or gold leaf. On days when court is held, the wool curtains are opened, and the royal banner is raised.
Here, in this magnificent room, the great men of the empire have gathered along with the tribal kings, the provincial governors, the ambassadors of distant lands, men of letters destined for fame, as well as common folk deserving of royal recognition or seeking justice for their cause.
The visitors barely settle in, the small door behind the throne opens. The King enters and takes his seat.
He is young and rather tall. He walks slowly. Clothed in a large red tunic, he wears a gold skullcap held by a ribbon, also gold, whose extremities are tapered like a knife, and equal one span. He holds a rod encrusted with silver and mother-of- pearl and wears his quiver on his back. He lets it rest on his left shoulder like an antenna aimed at the ancestors and the heavens. Once seated, the drums beat, a horn sounds, and the trumpets are blown.
The eldest royal councillor presents a simple calabash to the King. The latter spreads a few drops as libation over the floor to thank Mother Earth for her fertility and salutes the visitors by raising the gourd to his impassive face. Then, all those present doff their turban to hear their sovereign. He speaks to them via an interpreter, since tradition forbids he address his subjects directly.
We welcome you.
You are here under my protection and my care.
As you know, we have decided to make the holy pilgrimage to Mecca and to visit the grave of the Prophet in order to thank the divinity for the prosperity which marks our era, in order to place our kingdom under his august protection and to acquire this surfeit of peace which the completion of the pilgrimage gives to all men.
We welcome you.
You are here under my protection and my care.
For a while soon, I will go far from you. But this separation will seal our alliance by distancing adversity, war between men, the sterility of the soil and diseases of our herds.
The pilgrimage cleanses hearts and minds. It is the highest initiation, that which leads to a superior comprehension of the higher will, the vital link between our vision and the inner light.
We welcome you.
You are here under my protection and my care.
I know the lineage of your chiefs. During the reign of my ancestor, Mensa Sandjama, our fathers made the pact that governs us still. I count upon your loyalty and you may count upon my protection.
Since that time we can count many generations. No aggression, no depravation, no oppression have been visited upon our people.
External tyrannies have not crossed the threshold of our lands nor of our spirits. Every effort to subjugate us have been repulsed by our combined forces.
Our paths are safe, our pastures and our corrals, our grazing lands, and our herds as well. Our generous harvests are sent on to the great markets of the North by our waterways and our secure roads.
The sons of your chiefs are here among us with our own sons at the Palace school. We have confided them to scholars come from friendly realms which we will come to know through our travels. We will observe our common practices, taking care to learn from them to the degree they may contribute to our happiness and our mutual prosperity.
In short, our alliance has led to happiness and prosperity.
Together we should strengthen them as our fathers and their fathers did and assure their continuity to the sons of our sons for as long as we can imagine the days.
When you are once again among your families, tell them all that the King is on his way to the land of the Prophet, carrying with him the memory of our meeting which seals anew our sacred pact and the depth of our common esteem.
The King's representative to the country of the visitors thanks the sovereign and introduces the chief of delegation. The latter removes his robe and his turban, advances submissively, strikes the earth with his elbows and, after speaking, flings dust over his head and onto his back as one does with water when performing one's ablutions. He speaks to the sovereign through an initial intermediary who in turn addresses a second intermediary who then addresses the King.
The eldest of the griots establishes the encounter in the chronology, in the memory of time.
Following the speeches the sovereign, ends the dialogue with a short phrase. Then the djontâ, these griots famous for their prodigious memory, masked with birds heads with red beaks of wood, stand before the sovereign. They admonish him by recalling the glorious exploits of his ancestors, the kings, his predecessors. They implore him to do as well, so that all may celebrate his glory after his death.
The delegation retraces its long circuit, climbs the narrow staircase, crosses the hallways and the large empty halls, passes the double wall encircling the residence, crosses the numerous squares that unify the royal city and finds itself again in the court of honour.
The grand chamberlain greets the visitors one last time.
The drummers and balafon players send their rhythms into the night. The horsemen raise their weapons to the heavens, a gesture made even more spectacular by the power of the horses rising up on their hind legs.
It is said that more than a hundred delegations were thus received by the King on the occasion of the celebrations marking his departure for Mecca.
In the memory of the men who came to Niani for this grandiose feast, no other event in their life could equal it. Here, all the lords of an immense kingdom were gathered, nobles rich and powerful, around a singular man, on the eve of his departure for the sacred Land.
(Continues…)
Excerpted from "Mansa Musa I"
by .
Copyright © 2019 Jean-Louis Roy.
Excerpted by permission of Mosaic Press.
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