Travels of Ibn Baṭṭūṭa
Māllī (Mali)
Title
Account of the way griots (dyeli) recite poetry to the Sultan
Short description
Account of the way griots (dyeli) recite poetry to the Sultan: how they dress in birdlike costumes and exhort the rulers by reminding them of their predecessors. The presence of the griots at the court suggests a greater role for them than the one they had in later times and also a stronger connection with the more ancient religious practices.
Text on source
وإذا كان يوم العيد وأتمَّ دوغا لَعِبَه جاء الشعراء ويُسَمّوْنَ الجلا (بضم الجيم) واحدهم جالي، وقد دخل كل واحد منهم في جوف صورة مصنوعة من الريش تشبه الشقشاق، وجُعل لها رأس من الخشب لها منقار أحمر كأنه رأس الشقشاق، ويقفون بين يدي السلطان بتلك الهيئة المضحكة فينشدون أشعارهم، وذُكِرَ لي أن شعرهم نوع من الوعظ يقولون فيه للسلطان: إن هذا البنبي الذي عليه، جَلَسَ فوقه من الملوك فلانٌ، وكان من أحسن أفعاله كذا، وفلانٌ، وكان من أفعاله كذا، فافعل أنت من الخير ما يُذْكَر بعدك، ثم يصعد كبير الشعراء على درج البنبي ويضع رأسه في حجر السلطان، ثم يصعد إلى أعلى البنبي فيضع رأسه على كتف السلطان الأيمن، ثم على كتفه الأيسر وهو يتكلم بلسانهم ثم ينزل، وأخبرت أن هذا الفعل لم يزل قديمًا عندهم قبل الإسلام فاستمروا عليه. [ص. ٤٩٧]
English translation
On the Feast Day when Dugha has finished his playing, the poets come in. They are called julā, each one being a jālī [dyeli]. Each of them is inside a costume made of feathers resembling the shaqshāq on which is a wooden head with a red beak like the head of the shaqshāq. They stand before the Sultan in this laughable get-up and recite their poems. I have been told that their poetry is a sort of admonition. They say to the Sultan: 'This banbī, formerly such and such a king sat on it and performed noble actions, and so and so did such and such; do you do noble acts which will be recounted after you.' Then the chief poet [kabīr al-shuʿarāʾ]climbs the steps of the banbī and puts his head in the Sultan's lap; then he climbs to the top of the banbī and puts his head on the Sultan's right shoulder, then on his left shoulder, talking all the time in their language. Then he comes down. I have been told that this custom has continued among them since ancient times before Islam, and that they have persisted in it.
Folios/Pages
962
Date
1353 circa
Observations on the events description
This is rather ancient evidence of these uses. The hypotheses about the birdlike costumes are several since the Arabic term used, shaqshāq may refer to different species. According to Couq (1975) and Tamari (1998), the "chief poet" should be the Dugha.
The dots on the map indicate the places where sound and music events were described. They don't represent travel stages.
Participants
No other participants in this event description.
How to quote
Pintimalli A., "Account of the way griots (dyeli) recite poetry to the Sultan" (Event description), Echos. Sound Ecosystems in Travelogues. Published 2024 07 02.doi: 10.25430/echos.travels.130
This work is licensed under CC-BY-SA 4.0 
