To the inhabitants of the Manding region, the term 'Kaniaga' referred to all the Soninke-inhabited lands, including Wagadou, Bakhounou, Kingui, Guidioume, Diafounou, Guidimakha and Gajaaga, stretching from the upper Senegal river to Mema.

It was, however, constructed by haphazardly mixing different oral traditions and inventing information to fill in gaps, and there is in fact no evidence that Diarra had any connection to Soumaoro Kante.

[11][12] The Sosso originated as a clan of slaves of the Kaya Magha of the Ghana Empire, part of the group of Kusa lineages, who gradually accumulated power, populating the royal bureaucracy and army, and serving as governors of provinces.

Repeated conflict, including the intervention of a mercenary named Diarra, so weakened the state that it became easy prey for Soumaoro Kante, an event that Heinrich Barth dated to approximately 1203.

Many Soninke people left the region to escape his rule, and religious persecution drove Muslim traders to abandon Koumbi Saleh for Djenne and Oualata.

[7] At the Battle of Kirina (c. 1235) the Mandinka prince Sundiata Keita led a coalition of smaller states to soundly defeat the Sosso and kill Soumaoro.

The resulting upheaval led to massive population movements, with the remains of the Sosso either moving west into Senegambia or south into the Futa Jallon, where they became the ancestors of the Susu and Yalunka peoples.