History of Mali Timeline

The 11th-century geographer al-Bakri (writing in 1068 CE) mentions the regions of "Pene" and "Malal," which may correspond to areas within early Mali. Additional geographical details are found in the 12th-century works of al-Idrisi.

The Malian city Timbuktu is exemplary of this: situated on the southern fringe of the Sahara and close to the Niger River, it has played an important role in the trans-Saharan trade from the 13th century on, with the establishment of the Mali Empire.

Image source: Timbuktu

Beginning in 1230, the Mali Empire was the largest empire in West Africa and profoundly influenced the culture of the region through the spread of its language, laws, and customs along the Niger River.

Image source: Mali Empire

After Soumaoro Kanté's defeat in the Battle of Kirina in 1235, the Ghana Empire became permanent allies with the Mali Empire, cementing the rise of Sundiata Keïta's realm.

The historian Ibn Khaldun, writing in the late 14th century, recounts the conversion to Islam of an early Malian ruler known as Barmandana.

Until the 19th century, the city of Timbuktu remained important as an outpost at the southwestern fringe of the Muslim world and a hub of the trans-Saharan slave trade.

In the fifteenth century, with the Mali Empire weakening, the Songhai, led by Sunni Ali Ber asserted their independence.

Image source: Songhai Empire

The turning point was the Battle of Tondibi of March 13, 1591, in which Moroccan forces defeated the Songhai Empire. Morocco subsequently controlled Gao, Timbuktu, Djenné, and related trade routes with much difficulty until around the end of the 17th century.

Image source: Battle of Tondibi

The Senufo Kenedugu Kingdom originated in the 17th century in the area around what is now the border of Mali and Burkina Faso.

The Bambara Empire existed as a centralized state from 1712 to 1861, based at Ségou on the Niger River.

Image source: Bamana Empire

A split in the Coulibaly dynasty in Ségou led to the establishment of a second Bambara state, the kingdom of Kaarta, in what is now western Mali, in 1753. It was defeated in 1854 by Umar Tall, leader of Toucouleur Empire, before his war with Ségou.

Image source: Kaarta

An Islamic-inspired uprising in the largely Fula Inner Niger Delta region against rule by Ségou in 1818 led to the establishment of a separate state. It later allied with Bambara Empire against Umar Tall's Toucouleur Empire and was also defeated by it in 1862.

Image source: Caliphate of Hamdullahi

Umar Tall's mujahideen readily defeated the Bambara, seizing Ségou itself on March 10, 1861, and declaring an end to the empire.

Image source: Toucouleur Empire

This empire, founded by El Hadj Umar Tall of the Toucouleur peoples, beginning in 1864, ruled eventually most of what is now Mali until the French conquest of the region in 1890.

In 1876 the capital of the Kenedugu Kingdom was moved to Sikasso. It resisted the effort of Samori Ture, leader of Wassoulou Empire, in 1887, to conquer it, and was one of the last kingdoms in the area to fall to the French in 1898.

Image source: Kénédougou Kingdom

The Wassoulou or Wassulu Empire was a short-lived (1878–1898) empire, led by Samori Ture in the predominantly Malinké area of what is now upper Guinea and southwestern Mali (Wassoulou).

Image source: Samorian State

The borders of Mali are those of French Sudan, drawn in 1891 during the period of French colonial expansion into West Africa.

Mali fell under French colonial rule in 1892. By 1893, the French appointed a civilian governor of the territory they called Soudan Français (French Sudan), but active resistance to French rule continued.

By 1905, most of the area was under firm French control, consolidating colonial administration over the territory of French Sudan.

Image source: French Sudan

In 1958 the renamed Sudanese Republic obtained complete internal autonomy and joined the French Community.

In early 1959, the Sudanese Republic and Senegal formed the Federation of Mali. On March 31, 1960, France agreed to the Federation of Mali becoming fully independent.

Image source: Mali Federation

On June 20, 1960, the Federation of Mali became an independent country and Modibo Keïta became its first President.

Following the withdrawal of Senegal from the federation in August 1960, the former Sudanese Republic became the Republic of Mali on September 22, 1960, with Modibo Keïta as president.

Image source: Mali

From 1962 to 1964, there was the Tuareg insurgency in northern Mali, launched from the Kidal Region against the new government.

A continuously deteriorating economy led to a decision to rejoin the Franc Zone in 1967 and modify some of the economic excesses.

On November 19, 1968, a group of young officers staged a bloodless coup and set up a 14-member Military Committee for National Liberation (CMLN), ending civilian rule under Modibo Keïta.

Image source: 1968 Malian coup d'état

A new constitution, approved in 1974, created a one-party state and was designed to move Mali toward civilian rule. In September 1976, a new political party was established, the Democratic Union of the Malian People (UDPM), based on the concept of democratic centralism.

Single-party presidential and legislative elections were held in June 1979, and Gen. Moussa Traoré was elected president, consolidating military-led rule.

Efforts at consolidating the single-party government were challenged in 1980 by student-led anti-government demonstrations that led to three coup attempts, which were brutally quashed. The political situation stabilized during 1981 and 1982 and remained generally calm throughout the 1980s.

In late December 1985, however, a border dispute between Mali and Burkina Faso over the mineral-rich Agacher strip erupted into a brief war.

Image source: Agacher Strip War

In National Assembly elections in June 1988, multiple UDPM candidates were permitted to contest each seat, and the regime organized nationwide conferences to consider how to implement democracy within the one-party framework.

By 1990, cohesive opposition movements began to emerge, including the National Democratic Initiative Committee and the Alliance for Democracy in Mali (ADEMA). The increasingly turbulent political situation was complicated by the rise of ethnic violence in the north in mid-1990.

Image source: Alliance for Democracy in Mali

Despite the signing of a peace accord in January 1991, unrest and periodic armed clashes continued in northern Mali.

Konaré stepped down after his constitutionally mandated limit of two terms and did not run in the 2002 elections. Touré had retained great popularity because of his role in the transitional government in 1991–92. The 2002 election marked Mali's first successful transition from one democratically elected president to another. In the legislative elections, no party gained a majority; Touré then appointed a politically inclusive government.

Image source: 2013 Malian presidential election

In January 2012, the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) began an insurgency in northern Mali.

Image source: National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad

Rebel troops from the military appeared on state TV on March 22, 2012, announcing they had seized control of the country, citing unrest over the president's handling of the conflict with the rebels. Due to the insurgency, the military government controlled only the southern third of the country, leaving the north (known as Azawad) to MNLA rebels.

Image source: 2012 Malian coup d'état

On July 17, 2012, the Tuareg rebels were pushed out by their allies, the Islamists, Ansar Dine, and Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (A.Q.I.M.).

Image source: Mali War

On December 10, 2012, Prime Minister Cheick Modibo Diarra was arrested by soldiers and taken to a military base in Kati.

Image source: Cheick Modibo Diarra

On January 10, 2013, Islamist forces captured the strategic town of Konna, located 600 km from the capital, from the Malian army, prompting international military intervention.

Image source: Battle of Konna

A peace deal between the government and Tuareg rebels was signed on June 18, 2013.

Presidential elections were held in Mali on July 28, 2013, with a second round run-off held on August 11, restoring civilian rule.

The peace deal between the Tuareg rebels and the Malian government was broken in late November 2013 because of clashes in the northern city of Kidal.

A new ceasefire was agreed upon on February 20, 2015, between the Malian government and the northern rebels.

In August 2018, President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta was re-elected for a new five-year term after winning the second round of the election against Soumaïla Cissé.

Image source: 2018 Malian presidential election

On June 5, 2020, street protests calling for the resignation of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta began in Bamako.

On August 18, 2020, mutinying soldiers arrested President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta and Prime Minister Boubou Cissé. This was the fourth coup since independence from France in 1960.

Image source: 2020 Malian coup d'état

On September 12, 2020, the National Committee for the Salvation of the People agreed to an 18-month political transition to civilian rule.

Image source: National Committee for the Salvation of the People

On May 25, 2021, Colonel Assimi Goïta dismissed the transitional president Bah N'Daw and the transitional prime minister Moctar Ouane from their positions.

On June 7, 2021, Mali's military commander Assimi Goïta was sworn into office as the new interim president.

Image source: Assimi Goïta

France had withdrawn French troops from Mali in February 2022, ending nearly a decade of French military presence in the country.

Image source: Operation Barkhane

According to Human Rights Watch (HRW) Malian troops and suspected Russian mercenaries from the Wagner Group executed around 300 civilian men in central Mali in March 2022.

In 2023, there was a proposal from Burkina Faso to establish a federation with Mali, reflecting deepening ties between the two Sahel nations.

Image source: Alliance of Sahel States