19th C. Battle Sword From African "Mandingo" people Islamic Arabic Shamshir Sword. Total length 26 1/2". Blade is 20". The Mandinka or Malinke (also known as Maninka, Manding, Mandingo, Mandenka and Mandinko) are a West African ethnic group with an estimated global population of 11 million (the other three largest ethnic groups in Africa being the unrelated Fula, Hausaand Songhai peoples). The Mandinka are one ethnic group within the larger linguistic family of the Mandé peoples, who account for more than 90 million people. (Other Mande peoples include the Soninke, Dyula, Bozo, Bissa and Bambara).The Mandinka are the descendants of the Mali Empire, which rose to power in the 13th century under the rule of king Sundiata Keitawho founded an empire which would go on to span the large part of West Africa. They migrated west from the Niger River in search of better agricultural lands and more opportunities for conquest.The Mandinka people live primarily in West Africa in Mali, The Gambia, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Liberia, Guinea-Bissau, Niger, Mauritania and Ivory Coast. Although widespread, in most countries the Mandinka are not the largest ethnic group, except in The Gambia and Guinea where they constitute the largest ethnic group. Most Mandinka live in family-related compounds in traditional rural villages. Their traditional society has featured socially stratified castes. Mandinka communities have been fairly autonomous and self-ruled, being led by a chief and group of elders. Mandinka has been an oral society where mythologies, history and knowledge is verbally transmitted from one generation to next. More than 99% of Mandinka in contemporary Africa are Muslim.