Sumanguru

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A legendary sorcerer-king of the Sosso people in West African epic tradition, defeated by the hero Sundiata Keita
2. The sorcerer king of Sosso in the Mandinka epic, a tyrant who was overthrown by Sundiata Keita in battle
3. A mythic West African ruler and magician of the Sosso kingdom, whose defeat by Sundiata is central to the Mali epic

Etymology: Sumanguru (also spelled Sumanguru Kanté) is the name of a sorcerer-king from the Sundiata epic, the oral tradition of the Mandinka people of West Africa, which tells of the founding of the Mali Empire. He ruled the Sosso kingdom and is remembered as a fearsome blacksmith-sorcerer who had conquered much of the region and killed many of the rival Mande princes. His enmity with the young Sundiata Keita, who eventually defeated him, forms the climax of the epic. The name is generally understood to come from the Mandinka language, with the element "sumaguru" or "sumanguru" tied to the idea of a sorcerer or one who possesses occult power, though the exact etymology is debated among scholars and the name's precise meaning is not firmly established. Because the epic was transmitted orally by griots, its versions vary considerably from one performer to another, and the figure of Sumanguru appears differently in each.