ABSTRACT
During the eleventh century, the kingdom of Ghana, the most ancient of the Sudanese states, fell to the conquering drive of the Almoravides, who were trying to impose Islam on the populations of black Africa. It was at the battle of Kirina, that Sundiata finally defeated Sumaoro, firing the fatal arrow at him. It shows a model on two levels: Sundiata is both a dispenser of justice and a civilizing hero. In the myth recorded by Djibril Tamsir Niane, Sundiata left Mema dressed in the Muslim style, but it was in the dress of the hunter king endowed with magic power capable of defeating that of Sumaoro that he faced his main enemy. Although the Sundiata myth did not share the same literary destiny as that of Shaka, it has been staged several times. The final image of the hero shows him as the man who brought about the peaceful coexistence of Islam and animism.
