Abu Bakr,[a] known as Bata Mande Bori[b] in oral tradition, was the fifth mansa of the Mali Empire, reigning during the late 13th century.
De Slane interpreted the second Abu Bakr as being a son of Sunjata's sister and believed he reigned as mansa between Muhammad and Musa.
[2] The first Abu Bakr, who reigned between Khalifa and Sakura, was a son of Sunjata's daughter and can be identified with Bata Mande Bori.
The second Abu Bakr, who did not reign as mansa and is only mentioned by Ibn Khaldun as the progenitor of Musa's lineage, was Sunjata's brother and should be identified with Mande Bori.
[6] Historian Francois-Xavier Fauvelle has proposed that Abu Bakr I was in fact the father or grandfather of Mansa Musa, and that his reign created a dynastic split, with Musa's successors eventually claiming that their ancestor Abu Bakr (Mande Bori) was the brother of Sundiata rather than a grandson by the female line.