The institution of slavery in the Mali Empire heavily rewarded loyalty, and jonow could rise to civil or military positions of prominence.
Initially forbidden from engaging in direct warfare, sofa eventually made up the majority of Mali's infantry army.
In the forest and swampy areas of the Mali Empire, cavalry was minimized or altogether abandoned making sofas the exclusive instrument of war.
This resulted in the establishment of a loose federation of Mané states all paying homage to a single leader in a type of empire called Kquoja by visiting Europeans.
[1] The institution of the sofa survived into the late 19th century among Dyula in the Wassoulou region between the modern states of Mali, Guinea and Ivory Coast.
Under the leadership of Samori Ture, the Dyula formed the Wassoulou Empire and successfully challenged French ambitions in West Africa until 1898.
However, instead of bows and arrows, Wassoulou sofas went to war armed with modern rifles, which they put to good use against African and European enemies.