In his Tarikh al-Fattash (The Chronicle of the Seeker After Knowledge, begun in 1519), the first history of West Africa by a native of the region, Mahmoud al- Kati included a version of the oral Epic of Sundiata that explains the origins of Sundiata's close relationship to ironworkers:

Sogolon . . . gave birth to the crippled son Sundjata and she and her son were treated with contempt by the rival-wife who gave birth to Nare Maghan's eldest son and heir, Dankaran-Tuma, who succeeded his father when he died. With the help of a town blacksmith, who made iron supports for his legs, Sundjata was able to stand up on his feeble legs and walk like other young men. He studied the warrior and hunter traditions of his mother's clan and gathered many young men around him. The mother of Dankaran-Tuma is...