Khalifa was a 13th-century Mansa of the Mali Empire mentioned by the medieval Arab scholar Ibn Khaldun.
[2] While Ibn Khaldun's genealogy implies Sunjata had at least three sons, oral tradition varies on the number of sons Sunjata had, but many traditions claim he had only one, Yerelinkon, who corresponds to the Mansa Wali mentioned by Ibn Khaldun.
The historian Michael Gomez has observed that khalīfa translates as "successor", and as such proposed it was not his actual name.
[5] Gomez argued that the brief reign of Khalifa was part of an ongoing power struggle between the great council and the hunter guilds.
In this interpretation, Khalifa's fondness for archery would refer to his ties to the hunter guilds, and his overthrow indicates that the great council was able to take back power and put their preferred candidate on the throne, Sunjata's grandson Abu Bakr.