Manding

Part of speech: noun, adjective

Definitions

1. Describing something relating to a West African ethnic group known for their shared language family and cultural heritage ; pertaining to the group’s languages, traditions, or historical presence in regions such as Mali and Guinea ; connected to the social and cultural framework of this community
2. Referring to the people and languages native to parts of West Africa characterized by common customs and linguistic roots ; involving aspects of the ethnic group’s art, music, or societal structures ; indicative of the geographical areas traditionally inhabited by them
3. Identifying elements associated with a specific cultural and linguistic group in West Africa, including their languages and customs ; relating to the historical and contemporary presence of this community ; addressing their collective identity and practices within their native regions

Etymology: The name comes from Manden, the historical heartland of the Mande peoples in the upper Niger region, in what is now Mali and Guinea. "Mandinka" is the name the people use for themselves, while "Manding" and the older English "Mandingo" are outside forms built on the same root. The Mali Empire, founded in the 13th century by the Mande leader Sundiata Keita, drew much of its identity from this homeland. European traders and writers encountered these peoples along the Gambia and Senegal rivers from the 1600s onward, and they recorded the name in many spellings. "Mandingo" became the common English form. Through the Atlantic slave trade and American slavery, it was applied to enslaved people from the region, a usage now recognised as racist and avoided in scholarship.