Sundiata Keita or Sundjata Keyita or Mari Djata I (c. 1217 - c. 1255) was the founder of the Mali Empire and celebrated as a hero of the Mandinka people people of West Africa in the semi-historical Epic of Sundiata. It is said that he was a strong Oware player. The story of Sundiata is primarily known through oral tradition, transmitted by generations of traditional Mandinka griots.