The eldest son of
Niani Mansa Mamadou, Nyamaghan was appointed ruler of the city of
Kita under his father in order to defend the western part of the crumbling Mali Empire. After his father's death in the early 1600s, the empire split between Nyamaghan and his brothers
Mansa Kuru and
Mansa Kanda. He marched south to restore imperial control over the
Niger River valley, in chaos since Niani Mansa Mamadou's
defeat outside Djenne in 1599. There he founded the
kafu of
Juma. He and his immediate descendants pushed the Fula and Bambara back from the river to
Wassoulou, where they formed the
Wassoulounke people. ==Historiography==