Bamana Empire

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Bamana Empire
Mamary Coulibaly
• 1766-1790
Ngolo Diarra
Historical eraEarly modern period
• Kaladian establishes dynasty
c.1640
• Mamari (Biton) Coulibaly takes power
1712
• Ngolo Diarra takes power
1766
• Conquest by the Toucouleur Empire
1861
Currency
cowries, mithqal
Preceded by		 Succeeded by
Saadi dynasty
Toucouleur Empire
Today part ofMali
Biton Mamary Coulibaly
at Segou koro, near Ségou.

The Bamana Empire (also Bambara Empire or Ségou Empire,

Umar Tall
.

History

Bitonsi

Around 1640, Kaladian Coulibaly, also known as Fa Sine, became the leader of a small Bambara kingdom in the city of Ségou in Mali. Though he made many successful conquests of neighboring tribes and kingdoms, he failed to set up a significant administrative framework, and the new empire disintegrated following his death (c. 1660).

In 1712

Mamari Kulubali, as known as Biton Coulibaly, Kaladian's great-grandson, was elected the leader of a youth organization known as a tòn. Mamari soon reorganized the tòn as a personal army supplemented with runaway slaves, assumed the title of bitòn, and set about overthrowing the traditional political order.[1]: 412  He became the first Faama
of Ségou, making it the capital of a new Bamana Empire.

Fortifying the capital with

Tomboctou, though he held the latter city only briefly. In 1751 he also conquered Niani, making the Mansa of the rump-state Mali Empire a vassal.[3]: 333  During this time he founded the city of Bla
as an outpost and armory.

Mamari's death in 1755 inaugurated an era of instability and civil war.[4] Dinkoro Coulibaly reigned for a few years before being overthrown by his brother Ali. A devout muslim, he attempted to convert the empire and was soon deposed himself.[1]: 412 

Ngolosi

In 1766, a former

Macina region.[2]
The Ngolosi, his descendants, would continue to rule the Empire until its fall.

Ngolo's son

Niger river.[1]: 324, 410  After Mansong's death in 1808, the empire's power progressively declined.[2]

Jihad and fall

At the

Cheikou Amadu (or Seku Amadu) of Massina. The Bamana Empire survived but was irreversibly weakened. Seku Amadu's forces decisively defeated the Bambara, taking Djenné and much of the territory around Mopti and forming into a Massina Empire
. Timbuktu would fall as well in 1845.

After 1839 the faamaw succeeded each other in rapid fashion as the tonjon leaders grew increasingly powerful, independent, and prone to intervene in succession disputes.

Umar Tall, a Toucouleur religious leader, declared a jihad against the empire in 1859, this balkanization prevented 'faama' Ali from mounting an effective defense. Tall took Nyamina without a fight on May 25th 1860, then defeated the Bamana army at Witala in September.[6]: 413  Ségou itself fell on March 10, 1861, marking the end of the Bamana Empire.[2]

List of Faamas of Segou

Coulibaly dynasty, the Bitonsi

  • Kaladian : 1652–1672. A mercenary warlord originally from Kong; overthrew the Koita dynasty of Segou.
  • Danfassari : 1672–1697, established the capital at Segou-Koro
  • Souma: 1697–1712
  • Mamari (Biton) Coulibaly
    : 1712–1755
  • Dinkoro Coulibaly: 1755–1757, assassinated by the ton djon
  • Ali Coulibaly : 1757–1757. Muslim, deposed by the ton djon

Tondjon interregnum

  • Ton-Mansa Dembelé : 1757–1760
  • Kaniouba Niouma Barry: 1760–1763
  • Kafa Dyougou: 1763–1766 ruled from Gassin.

Ngolossi

  • Ngolo Diarra: 1766–1787
  • Mansong Diarra : 1788–1808. Defeated his brother Nianankoro to take the throne. His sons would rule the empire until its end.
  • Da Diarra : 1808–1827. Son of Mansong, lost control of
    Macina
  • Tiéfolo Diarra : 1827–1839
  • Nianemba Diarra: 1839–1841
  • Kirango-Ba Diarra : 1841–1849
  • Nalouma Kouma Diarra : 1849–1851
  • Massala Demba Diarra : 1851–1854
  • Torokoro Mari Diarra: 1854–1859. A Muslim friendly with El Hadj
    Umar Tall
    , he was deposed and executed.
  • Ali Diarra : 1859–1861. Defeated and driven out of Segou by Umar Tall.[5][7]

Government

The Bamana Empire was structured around traditional Bambara institutions. The most important of these was the ton, or age-group. They were in theory completely egalitarian and elected their own leaders. Through charisma and ruthless power politics, however, Biton converted this into essentially an army made up of forobadjon (nominally, slaves of the community) led by tondjons, or slaves of the ton but who were in practice a military aristocracy. Any faama strong enough to control the tondjons was in effect an absolute monarch, doling out state property as rewards for bravery. A 40-man council of state swore allegiance and obedience to him and served as a rubber stamp. Relatives were given key posts, and the faama was the head priest of powerful and important religious cults.[3]: 334–6  The army was a place where ethnic and class distinctions mattered little, and capable people could rise and make their fortunes.[3]: 337  Another traditional institution was the kòmò, a body to resolve theological concerns. The kòmò often consulted religious sculptures in their decisions, particularly the four state boliw, large altars designed to aid the acquisition of political power.[citation needed]

Administratively, the core of the state was in the too-daga, the area closest to Segou. The ruler's designated successor held lots of power there. Most other provinces were governed by local elites who pledged loyalty to the faama or appointed governors.[3]: 337  The royal symbols were a bow and arrows, and a golden axe.[3]: 333 

Economy

The economy of the Bamana Empire flourished through trade, especially that of the

Gambia river trading posts.[1]
: 414 

Trade was conducted largely by Muslim maraka merchants who traded across the Sahara or towards the coast. They exchanged guns, shell money, horses, salt, gold, cloth, and slaves.[1]: 415 

Mungo Park, passing through the Bambara capital of Ségou in 1797 recorded a testament to the Empire's prosperity:

The view of this extensive city, the numerous canoes on the river, the crowded population, and the cultivated state of the surrounding countryside, formed altogether a prospect of civilization and magnificence that I little expected to find in the bosom of Africa.[8][9]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Green, Toby (2020). A Fistful of Shells. UK: Penguin Books.
  2. ^ a b c d e Page, Willie F. (2005). Davis, R. Hunt (ed.). Encyclopedia of African History and Culture. Vol. III (Illustrated, revised ed.). Facts On File. p. 238-9.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Izard, M.; Ki-Zerbo, Joseph (1992). "From the Niger to the Volta". In Ogot, B. A. (ed.). General History of Africa vol. V: Africa from the Sixteenth to the Eighteenth Century. UNESCO. Retrieved 16 September 2023.
  4. ^ YATTARA, Elmouloud; DIALLO, Boubacar Séga. "Une histoire du Mali: Le Mali précolonial". Histoire de l'Afrique de l'Ouest. Archived from the original on 26 March 2005. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  5. ^ a b Tauxier, Louis (1930). "Chronologie des rois bambaras". Outre-Mer: 9.
  6. ^ a b Roberts, Richard (1980). "Production and Reproduction of Warrior States: Segu Bambara and Segu Tokolor, c. 1712-1890". Journal of African History. 13 (3): 389–414. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
  7. ^ Dumestre, Gerard (1979). La geste de Segou racontee par des griots bambara. Paris: Armand Colin. p. 404.
  8. ^ Park, Mungo (1799). Travels in the Interior Districts of Africa: Performed Under the Direction and Patronage of the African Association, in the Years 1795, 1796, and 1797. London: W. Bulmer and Company. p. 196.
  9. ISBN 0-684-82667-4
    .

Further reading

External links

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