Kouroukan Fouga - Historic and Cultural Importance

Historic and Cultural Importance

The Kurukan Fuga is regarded as a landmark achievement in the history of Africa and the world for several reasons. As far as global significance, the document is one of the earliest declarations of human rights. Its importance to Africa is demonstrated in three main achievements. First, it established uniform laws and regulations over a significant portion of West Africa (equal to the size of Western Europe) for the first time in recorded history. Second, it afforded uniform rights for all citizens including women and slaves, unheard of in many parts of the world. Third, it is uniquely African in that it does not directly borrow from any existing law documents as opposed to the Ethiopian Fetha Negest. The prominence of the Mandinka in West Africa allowed the ideas and values within the Kouroukan Fouga to spread far beyond the borders of the Mali Empire. Many peoples related to the Mande still abide by its traditions.

Although the Kurukan Fuga is purported to be a relatively faithful reproduction of a charter created in the fourteenth century, some modern-day agents have sought to cast doubt on this achievement, opining instead that the Kouroukan Fouga must be strictly a modern oral tradition. Niane, Cissé, and others from the generation of scholars in the 1960s firmly believed that the Mandinka jelis were capable of recalling ancient texts and facts for great lengths of time without alteration.