The empire of Ghana collapsed in the middle of the 12th century, and a century later the empire of Mali was born. This period is remembered by historians as the "obscure" century. What happened during this century, Youba Bathily, a Malian historian, goes into the secrets of oral traditions. After his publication on the period before the empire of Ghana and his second publication on the empire of Ghana, the researcher reveals the situation of the Sahel-Sudan on the eve of the empire of Mali.