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Kabu Empire
The Kaabu Empire (1537–1867), also written Gabu, Ngabou, and N'Gabu, was an empire in the Senegambia region centered within modern northeastern Guinea-Bissau, larger parts of today's Gambia; extending into Koussanar, Koumpentoum, regions of Southeastern Senegal, and Casamance in Senegal. The Kaabu Empire consisted of several languages, namely: Balanta, Jola-Fonyi, Mandinka, Mandjak, Mankanya, Noon (Serer-Noon), Pulaar, Serer, Soninke, and Wolof. It rose to prominence in the region thanks to its origins as a former imperial military province of the Mali Empire. After the decline of the Mali Empire, Kaabu became an independent Empire. Kansala, the imperial capital of Kaabu Empire, was annexed by Futa Jallon during the 19th century Fula jihads. However, Kaabu's successor states across Senegambia continued to thrive even after the fall of Kansala; this lasted until total incorporation of the remaining Kingdoms into the British Gambia, Portuguese and French spheres o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gabu (town)
Gabu is the largest town in eastern Guinea-Bissau and capital of the Gabu Region. History From 1537, the town was the centre of the eponymous kingdom of Kaabu, also written Ngabou or N’Gabu. Its population was originally a Mandé people from what is currently Mali, and the kingdom was initially vassal to the Mali Empire. As the latter waned, Sama Koli, Gabu's governor, proclaimed himself king, but maintained many of the trappings of Malian cultural heritage. The kingdom built earthen ramparts around the settlement (now vanished) and established trade relations with the Portuguese on the coast. In the early nineteenth century, the Fula ethnic group converted to Islam and began the Kansala War to end Mandé dominance. It ended with a big fire which caused extensive damage and casualties on both sides. Gabu there after became linked with the Imamate of Futa Jallon and was finally assimilated into the Portuguese Empire. The Portuguese named the town "Nova Lamego" ie "New Lameg ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Noon Language
Noon (''Non, None, Serer-Noon, Serer-Non'') is a Cangin language of Senegal spoken in the Thiès region (14°47'0"N / 16°55'0"W). There is an estimated population of 10,000''-'' 50,000 speakers worldwide, rendering this language to be vulnerable.'' Ethnologue'' reports that it is 84% cognate (and 52% intelligible) with Lehar, essentially a divergent dialect, and 68% cognate with the other Cangin languages. The Noon people identify themselves ethnically as Serer. However, their language, often called Serer-Noon on the assumption that it is a Serer dialect, is not closely related to the principal language of the Serer population, Serer-Sine. Status Like many of the local languages in Senegal, the Noon language is officially recognized as one of the national languages of country. Orthography The Noon language is written using the Latin alphabet. In 2005, a decree was passed by the Senegalese Government in order to regulate the spelling to ''Noon''. It has been proposed that ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sundiata Keita
Sundiata Keita ( Mandinka, Malinke: ; 1217 – c. 1255) (also known as Manding Diara, Lion of Mali, Sogolon Djata, son of Sogolon, Nare Maghan and Sogo Sogo Simbon Salaba) was a prince and founder of the Mali Empire. He is also the great-uncle of the Malian ruler Mansa Musa, known for being the wealthiest person of all time.Cox, George O. ''African Empires and Civilizations: ancient and medieval'', African Heritage Studies Publishers, 1974, p. 160. Written sources augment the Mande oral histories, with the Moroccan traveller Muhammad ibn Battúta (1304–1368) and the Tunisian historian ibn Khaldun (1332–1406) both having travelled to Mali in the century after Sundiata's death, and providing independent verification of his existence. The semi-historical but legendary ''Epic of Sundiata'' by the Malinké/Maninka people centers on his life. The epic poem is primarily known through oral tradition, transmitted by generations of Maninka griots (''djeli'' or ''jeliw'').Conrad, Da ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mandinka People
The Mandinka or Malinke are a West African ethnic group primarily found in southern Mali, the Gambia and eastern Guinea. Numbering about 11 million, they are the largest subgroup of the Mandé peoples and one of the largest ethnic-linguistic groups in Africa. They speak the Manding languages in the Mande language family and a ''lingua franca'' in much of West Africa. Over 99% of Mandinka adhere to Islam. They are predominantly subsistence farmers and live in rural villages. Their largest urban center is Bamako, the capital of Mali. The Mandinka are the descendants of the Mali Empire, which rose to power in the 13th century under the rule of king Sundiata Keita, who founded an empire that would go on to span a large part of West Africa. They migrated west from the Niger River in search of better agricultural lands and more opportunities for conquest. Nowadays, the Mandinka inhabit the West Sudanian savanna region extending from The Gambia and the Casamance region in Senegal to Iv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scramble For Africa
The Scramble for Africa, also called the Partition of Africa, or Conquest of Africa, was the invasion, annexation, division, and colonisation of Africa, colonization of most of Africa by seven Western Europe, Western European powers during a short period known as New Imperialism (between 1881 and 1914). The 10 percent of Africa that was under formal European control in 1870 increased to almost 90 percent by 1914, with only Liberia and Ethiopian Empire, Ethiopia remaining independent. The Berlin Conference of 1884, which regulated European colonization and trade in Africa, is usually accepted as the beginning. In the last quarter of the 19th century, there were considerable political rivalries within the empires of the European continent, leading to the African continent being partitioned without wars between European nations. The later years of the 19th century saw a transition from "Informal empire, informal imperialism" – military influence and economic dominance – to di ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
French Senegal
The history of Senegal is commonly divided into a number of periods, encompassing the prehistoric era, the precolonial period, colonialism, and the contemporary era. Paleolithic The earliest evidence of human life is found in the valley of the Falémé in the south-east. The presence of man in the Lower Paleolithic is attested by the discovery of stone tools characteristic of Acheulean such as hand axes reported by Théodore Monod at the tip of Fann in the peninsula of Cap-Vert in 1938, or cleavers found in the south-east. There were also found stones shaped by the Levallois technique, characteristic of the Middle Paleolithic. Mousterian Industry is represented mainly by scrapers found in the peninsula of Cap-Vert, as well in the low and middle valleys of the Senegal and the Falémé. Some pieces are explicitly linked to hunting, like those found in Tiémassass, near M'Bour, a controversial site that some claim belongs to the Upper Paleolithic, while other argue in favor of th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Portuguese Guinea
Portuguese Guinea ( pt, Guiné), called the Overseas Province of Guinea from 1951 until 1972 and then State of Guinea from 1972 until 1974, was a West African colony of Portugal from 1588 until 10 September 1974, when it gained independence as Guinea-Bissau. Slave trade The Portuguese Crown commissioned its navigators to explore the Atlantic coast of West Africa in the 1430s, to find sources of gold. At that time the gold trade was controlled by Morocco. Muslim caravans across the Sahara also carried salt, kola, textiles, fish, grain, and slaves. The navigators first passed the obstruction of Cape Bojador in 1437 and were able to explore the West African coast as far as Sierra Leone by 1460 and colonize the Portuguese Cape Verde, Cape Verde islands beginning in 1456.C.R. Boxer, (1977). The Portuguese seaborne empire, 1415–1825, pp. 26–7, 30 London, Hutchinson & Co. The gold ultimately came from the upper reaches of the Niger and Volta Rivers and the Portuguese crown wanted ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
British Gambia
The Gambia Colony and Protectorate was the British colonial administration of the Gambia from 1821 to 1965, part of the British Empire in the New Imperialism era. The colony was the immediate area surrounding Bathurst (now Banjul), and the protectorate was the inland territory situated around the Gambia River, which was declared in 1894. History The foundation of the colony was Fort James and Bathurst, where British presence was established in 1815 and 1816, respectively. For various periods in its existence it was subordinate to the Sierra Leone Colony. However, by 1888 it was a colony in its own right with a permanently appointed Governor. The boundaries of the territory were an issue of contention between the British and French authorities due to the proximity to French Senegal. Additionally, on numerous occasions the British government had attempted to exchange it with France for other territories, such as on the upper Niger River. France and Britain agreed in 1889 in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fula Jihads
The Fula (or Fulani) jihads ( ar, جهاد الفولا) sometimes called the Fulani revolution were a series of jihads that occurred across West Africa during the 18th and 19th centuries, led largely by the Muslim Fula people. The jihads and the jihad states came to an end with European colonization. The first uprising inspired by Islam and which was against of Hausa rulers took place in 1725, when Fula pastoralists, assisted by Muslim traders, rose against the indigenous chiefdoms of Hausa Maguzawa rulers. By 1750, the Fula had established the Imamate of Sokoto and placed the region under sharia law. Their success inspired the Fula and Toucouleurs on the banks of the lower Senegal to establish their own Imamate, Futa Toro, through a series of wars between 1769 and 1776. In the early 19th century, the jihad movement spread eastward to the Hausa states. The result of a series of jihads begun in 1804 by the revolutionary Usman dan Fodio was the Sokoto Caliphate, the large ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Imamate Of Futa Jallon
The Imamate of Futa Jallon or Jalon ( ar, إمامة فوتة جالون; fuf, Fuuta Jaloo or ' ) was a West African theocratic state based in the Fouta Djallon highlands of modern Guinea. The state was founded around 1727 by a Fulani jihad and became part of French West Africa in 1896. Origins The Fouta Djallon region was settled by the semi-nomadic Fulɓe over successive generations between the 13th and 16th centuries. Initially, they followed a traditional African religion. In the 16th century an influx of Muslim ''Fulɓe'' from Macina, Mali changed the fabric of Fula society. As in the Imamate of Futa Toro, the Muslim and traditionalist Fula of Futa Jallon lived side-by-side. Then, according to traditional accounts, a 17th-century holy war erupted. In 1725, the Muslim Fulɓe took complete control of Futa Jallon after the battle of Talansan and set up the first of many Fula theocratic states to come. Karamokho Alfa was appointed Emir al-Mu'minin ("Commander of the F ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mali Empire
The Mali Empire ( Manding: ''Mandé''Ki-Zerbo, Joseph: ''UNESCO General History of Africa, Vol. IV, Abridged Edition: Africa from the Twelfth to the Sixteenth Century'', p. 57. University of California Press, 1997. or Manden; ar, مالي, Mālī) was an empire in West Africa from 1226 to 1670. The empire was founded by Sundiata Keita (c. 1214 – c. 1255) and became renowned for the wealth of its rulers, especially Mansa Musa (Musa Keita). The Manding languages were spoken in the empire. At its peak, Mali was the largest empire in West Africa, widely influencing the culture of the region through the spread of its language, laws and customs. Much of the recorded information about the Mali Empire comes from 14th-century Tunisian historian Ibn Khaldun, 14th-century Moroccan traveller Ibn Battuta and 16th-century Andalusian traveller Leo Africanus. The other major source of information is Mandinka oral tradition, as recorded by storytellers known as griots. The empire began as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wolof Language
Wolof (; Wolofal: ) is a language of Senegal, Mauritania, and the Gambia, and the native language of the Wolof people. Like the neighbouring languages Serer and Fula, it belongs to the Senegambian branch of the Niger–Congo language family. Unlike most other languages of the Niger-Congo family, Wolof is not a tonal language. Wolof is the most widely spoken language in Senegal, spoken natively by the Wolof people (40% of the population) but also by most other Senegalese as a second language. Wolof dialects vary geographically and between rural and urban areas. The principal dialect of Dakar, for instance, is an urban mixture of Wolof, French, and Arabic. ''Wolof'' is the standard spelling and may also refer to the Wolof ethnicity or culture. Variants include the older French , , , Gambian Wolof, etc., which now typically refers either to the Jolof Empire or to jollof rice, a common West African rice dish. Now-archaic forms include ''Volof'' and ''Olof''. English is believed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
