Mansa (title)

File:Catalan Atlas BNF Sheet 6 Mansa Musa (cropped).jpg

Depiction of Mansa Musa, ruler of the Mali Empire in the 14th century, from a 1375 Catalan Atlas of the known world (mappa mundi), created by Abraham Cresques

Mansa (Template:Langx;Template:Sfn Template:Plural form mansaw) is a ManinkaTemplate:Sfn and MandinkaTemplate:Sfn word for a hereditaryTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn ruler, commonly translated as "king".Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn It is particularly known as the title of the rulers of the Mali Empire, such as Mansa Musa, and in this context is sometimes translated as "emperor".Template:Sfn It is also a title held by traditional village rulers, and in this context is translated as "chief".Template:Sfn

Mansa contrasts with another Manding word for ruler, faama. Faama emphasizes the military, coercive authority of a ruler,Template:Sfn and can be translated as "tyrant",Template:Sfn whereas mansa refers to a hereditary ruler whose authority is derived from traditionTemplate:Sfn and mystical power.Template:Sfn A ruler can be both a faama and a mansa, but a mansa was not necessarily a faama.Template:Sfn

The word mansa (Template:Langx) was recorded in Arabic during the 14th century by North African writers such as Ibn Battuta and Ibn Khaldun, who explained it as meaning "sultan".Template:Sfn Cognates of mansa exist in other Mandé languages, such as Soninke manga, Susu menge, and Bambara masa.Template:Sfn Vydrin also compared it to mensey, the Guanche word for their rulers.Template:Sfn According to Misiugin and Vydrin, the original meaning of the root word was probably "chief of hunters" or "chief of warriors".Template:Sfn

An alternate translation of mansa, which Jansen attributes to the followers of Marcel Griaule, is that mansa means "god", "the divine principle", or "priest-king". Jansen notes that they have not provided their reasoning for choosing this translation.Template:Sfn