A prominent, if perhaps composite, character in oral traditions, he was responsible for bringing the empire back from its nadir in the 1540s and 50s, but ultimately the defeat outside of the city of Djenne in 1599 brought an end to Mali's imperial period.
The Empire of Great Fulo quickly took advantage, seizing control of the Sahelian regions from the Senegal river nearly to Massina.
[4] Moroccan fusiliers, deployed from Timbuktu, met them in battle, exposing Mali to the same technology (firearms) that had destroyed Songhai.
The capital of Niani was soon destroyed by marauding Bambara and Fula raiders, and Mahmud retreated to a fortress on the Sorokuru mountain north of Narena.
[5] He divided the responsibility of governing the remaining Mali territory, a triangle stretching approximately from Kita to Bamako to Siguiri, between his sons.