The Kangaba Cercle is an administrative subdivision of the

Koulikoro Region Koulikoro Region ( Bambara: ߞߎߟߌߞߏߙߏ ߘߌߣߋߖߊ tr. Kulikoro Dineja) is a region in western Mali. It is the second administrative area of Mali and covers an area of 90,120 km2. Its capital is the city of Koulikoro. Geography The ...

Mali Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mal ...

. Its seat is the town and commune of Benkadi Habaladougou (Kenieba), also known as

Kangaba Kangaba is a town, commune, and seat of the Kangaba Cercle in the Koulikoro Region of south-western Mali. Kangaba is believed to have been founded in 1050 by Mandingo tribesmen and was a vassal state of the Ghana Empire. Once known as Kaba, the ...

. It lies at the southwest corner of the region, along the

Guinean Guinea ( ),, fuf, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫, italic=no, Gine, wo, Gine, nqo, ߖߌ߬ߣߍ߫, bm, Gine officially the Republic of Guinea (french: République de Guinée), is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the we ...

border, with the

Niger River The Niger River ( ; ) is the main river of West Africa, extending about . Its drainage basin is in area. Its source is in the Guinea Highlands in south-eastern Guinea near the Sierra Leone border. It runs in a crescent shape through ...

forming its southern edge. The Kangaba Cercle is the smallest cercle in the Koulikoro Region, both in surface area and population. It is divided into nine

communes An intentional community is a voluntary residential community which is designed to have a high degree of social cohesion and teamwork from the start. The members of an intentional community typically hold a common social, political, relig ...

. * Balan Bakama * Benkadi * Kaniogo *

Karan Karan may refer to: People * Karan (given name), an Indian given name * Karan (caste), an Indian caste * Karan Kayastha, a community of Kayastha in Bihar, India * Karan (surname) Places * Karan, Iran (disambiguation), a name for various vi ...

* Maramandougou * Minidian * Naréna * Nouga * Séléfougou

History

The Kangaba Cercle is home to primarily

Malinké 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 g ...

farmers, and formed part of the precolonial Mali Empire as well as (first) the

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

and Mali Empires back to the 8th century. It was the center of Kangaba Province of the Mali Empire, and for a period after 1559, was the capital of the empire. In 1599 it became the last center for

Mansa Mahmud IV Mansa Mahmud Keita IV (also known as Mansa Mamadou III, Mali Mansa Mamadou and Niani Mansa Mamadou) was the last emperor of the Mali Empire according to the Tarikh al-Sudan. Prior to his rule there was a vacancy of some sort, indicated by the long p ...

after his defeat at Djenné, and a Kangaba city state survived after the empire's fall in 1610. Prior to the Mali Empire, the Manden city-state of Ka-ba (present-day Kangaba) served as the capital and name of this province. From at least the beginning of the 11th century, Mandinka kings known as

faama Faama is a Mandinka word meaning "father," "leader," or "king". It was commonly used within the area of pre-imperial Mali. The title spread into areas conquered by Mali and was later used by the Bamana Empire and the Wassoulou Empire of Samori ...

s ruled Manden from Ka-ba in the name of the Ghanas.. Link requires subscription to Jstor. Sundiata Keita began his revolt against the remnants of the Ghana Empire there, and it remained the heartland of the Mali state. The town of Habaladougou Kenieba remains an important Malinké cultural center and home to their sacred Kamablo house, traditionally rebuilt every seven years.

Economy

The Cercle falls in the more fertile Sudan climate region, and forms some of the best farmland in the nation, much devoted to

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

farming for export.

References

{{coord, 11, 55, N, 8, 35, W, dim:110000_region:ML-2_type:adm2nd_source:dewiki, display=title Cercles of Mali Koulikoro Region