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The city of Kangaba in Mali was the capital of the Kingdom and Empire of Mali. 

 

There was built in 1653 the sacred house of Kama-Bolon.

Every seven years a ceremony is held there : Re-roofing of the ceiling and the presentation of sacred objects. Griots reminisce, among other performances, the Epic of Sundiata founder of the Kingdom and Empire of Mali.

This ceremony can be understood in the spirit of African saying "If you do not know where you go, you go back and look from where you come."

This is also a moment for initiation and secret transmission reserved for specially chosen people.
Under these conditions, all observers, even scientific and authorised can only express hypotheses, having only partial access.

Near Kangaba is the plain of Kukuran Fuka where was created a Mandingo Charter in 1236, whose very existence is challenged by some "scientifics". The charter defines the code of moral and social functioning of the Kingdom and the Empire of Mali.

On 16 March 2011 the Government of Mali had this ceremony classified "Cultural and Immaterial" heritage.

Charter of Kukuran Fuka governs, among other things, social relations between the components of society. As for the slaves, 

-They should be treated well.
-Raids to procure slaves are prohibited. 

-The owners do not have the power of life and death over their slaves, merely because they are slaves.
-Finally, these slaves were entitled to one day off a week.

The Empire of Mali had many Universities introduced by Muslims and where teaching that was not limited to the teaching of the Koran but also sciences.

These universities have produced hundreds of thousands of manuscripts. First written in Arabic and then to local African languages. Many of them in Timbuctu owned by private persons in secrecy.

They came out in the public in the recent advance of Islamist on Timbuctu. Hundreds of thousands of these manuscripts were evacuated to Bamako. 

It is only now that efforts are made to scan and translate them. There is a reservoir of information of great value to humanity.

Many slaves taken from this region where educated and could read and write while most of the plantation owner who used them were illiterate. These literate slaves certainly made reference

to the Charter of Kukuran Fuka without beeing understood. 

In Brazil, these Muslim scholars, and their descendants have strongly influenced the resistance and revolts of the slaves, culminating with that of 1888, so powerful that it forced the Brazilian government to abolish slavery in order to not loose face and keep control. 

It should be noted that these scholars passed from written culture to oral culture, more suitable for the preservation and transmission of secret knowledge.