Person

Bitòn Coulibaly

r. c. 1712–1755 · 18th century · Also known as Mamari Kulibali, Biton Coulibaly, Mamari Coulibaly

Bitòn Coulibaly, also called Mamari Kulibali, was the founder of the Bambara Empire of Ségou in present-day Mali, ruling from about 1712 until his death in 1755. He turned a youth association, the ton, into a standing army bound to him and used captives as soldiers to conquer neighbouring lands along the Niger. He made Ségou his capital and is remembered in Bambara epic tradition.

Bitòn Coulibaly
Image: KaTeznik · CC BY-SA 2.0 fr · Wikimedia Commons

Mentioned in 1 profile

Bamana EmpireFoundation

Mentioned in 1 state history

Bamana Empire

See also

Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Bitòn Coulibaly. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/biton-coulibaly
MLA
“Bitòn Coulibaly.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/biton-coulibaly. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Bitòn Coulibaly.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/biton-coulibaly.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Bitòn Coulibaly’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/biton-coulibaly (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻