Kaarta, (Also known as Ka'arta[1] or the Massassi State[2]) was a Bambara kingdom that arose after the fall of the Songhai Empire in what is today the western half of Mali and lasted until its destruction by Umar Tall in the 1850s.

His son Massa was famously productive both on the farm and in the bedroom, expanding his power and holdings by marrying his many daughters to men who would come fight for him and raiding his neighbors.

Faama Sira Bo (r. 1761-1781) led a re-emergence of Kaarta as a regional power, establishing a permanent capital at Diangounté and vassalizing Diarra in 1777 and Khasso, as well as raiding Beledougou and Bambuk.

Blocked by the colonial minister in Paris, he argued that they were a threat to the Senegalese Imamate of Futa Toro (then a French client state) with which the British were poised to interfere.

The Ministry gave in and on 7 July 1878, a French force destroyed the Kaarta Toucouleur fort at Sabouciré, killing their leader, Almany Niamody.