Barrow Kunda is a town in

the Gambia The Gambia,, ff, Gammbi, ar, غامبيا officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. It is the smallest country within mainland AfricaHoare, Ben. (2002) ''The Kingfisher A-Z Encyclopedia'', Kingfisher Publicatio ...

. It is located in

Wuli District Wuli District was one of the four districts of the former Upper River Division of the Gambia The Gambia,, ff, Gammbi, ar, غامبيا officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. It is the smallest country with ...

in the

Upper River Division Upper River was one of the five Divisions of the Gambia. Its capital was Basse Santa Su. It was subsequently reorganised as the Basse Local Government Area, without any change in the area covered. Per 2013 census, the region had a population ...

. According to tradition the village was founded in the 16th century by Alai Bah, a

marabout A marabout ( ar, مُرابِط, murābiṭ, lit=one who is attached/garrisoned) is a Muslim religious leader and teacher who historically had the function of a chaplain serving as a part of an Islamic army, notably in North Africa and the Saha ...

from Futa Toro. The king of Wuli at the time, Mansa Jalali Wali convinced him to settle there by promising him autonomy to practice

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

and protection from search and seizure. The Alkalo (village chief) is generally the head of the Barrow family. Barrow Kunda had as of 2009 an estimated population of 1 730. There is another Barrow Kunda located in Foni Kansala district.

References

{{coord, 13, 29, 19, N, 14, 07, 01, W, region:GM-U_type:city(1752)_source:kolossus-dewiki, display=title Populated places in the Gambia Upper River Division