The Kénédougou Kingdom, (
Cebaara Senufo: ''Fǎngi Kenedugu''), (c. 1650–1898) was a pre-colonial
West Africa
West Africa, also known as Western Africa, is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations geoscheme for Africa#Western Africa, United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Gha ...
n state established in the southeastern portion of present-day
Mali
Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...
, as well as parts of northern
Côte d'Ivoire
Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire and officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital city of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre of the country, while its largest city and ...
and western
Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in West Africa, bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Ivory Coast to the southwest. It covers an area of 274,223 km2 (105,87 ...
.
Early History
Kénédougou, meaning 'country of the plain', was first established in the 17th century by the
Dioula Traore clan.
[ The new kingdom, mostly inhabited by the ]Senufo people
The Senufo people, also known as Siena, Senefo, Sene, Senoufo, and Syénambélé, are a West African ethnolinguistic group. They consist of diverse subgroups living in a region spanning the northern Ivory Coast, the southeastern Mali and the west ...
, was conveniently located to dominate the exchange of desert and forest goods. However, the Senoufo traditionalist practices put them at odds with the Muslims to their north. Kenedougou adopted some Mandé practices such as the royal title of faama.
Legendary Origins of the Traoré dynasty
According to legend, the Traoré family originated in Gbotola near Kankan
Kankan ( Mandingo: Kánkàn; N’ko: ߞߊ߲ߞߊ߲߫) is the largest city in Guinea in land area, and the third largest in population, with a population of 198,013 people as of 2020. The city is located in eastern Guinea about east of the ...
in what is now Guinea. A local seer predicted that, were they to sacrifice their aunt and go east, they would establish a powerful dynasty. They refused to kill their relative for ambition, even as other passing seers repeated the same prophecy. One day the aunt in question was told about the prophecy. In order to benefit her family, she prepared herself for sacrifice and committed suicide. When the family heard the news they buried the aunt and traveled east.
Under Kong
Nanka Traoré became Kénédougou's first ruler and began the Traoré dynasty, which would last into the late 19th century. There is little information about the kingdom's formative years, and approximately five to seven famas ruled between the foundation of the dynasty and Fama Douala Ba. Kénédougou's existence was marked by relative peace compared to neighboring states of the period.
In the 18th century, Kénédougou was a far-flung extension of the Kong Empire
The Kong Empire (1710–1898), also known as the Wattara Empire or Ouattara Empire for its founder Seku Watara, was a pre-colonial state centered in what is now northeastern Ivory Coast that also encompassed much of present-day Burkina Faso a ...
. By 1825, Kong power had declined in the region and the kingdom, under the rule of Doaula Ba Traoré, was able to establish independence.
19th Century
During much of the 19th century, Kenedougou was a war with Bobo-Dioulasso
Bobo-Dioulasso ( , ) is a city in Burkina Faso with a population of 1,129,000 (); it is the second-largest city in the country, after Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso's capital. The name means "home of the Bobo- Dioula".
The local Bobo-speaking pop ...
and their former overlords in Kong. ''Faama'' Daoula Traore (r. 1840-1877) expanded his holdings at their expense and consolidated administrative control. He died in 1877, and was succeeded by his son Tieba.
Tieba
During this period, Kenedougou faced a double threat as French colonial forces and Samori Toure began swallowing up commercial partners in the south, west and east. Faama Tieba moved the capital of the kingdom from Bougoula to his mother's home city of Sikasso
Sikasso ( Bambara: ߛߌߞߊߛߏ tr. Sikaso) is a city in the south of Mali and the capital of the Sikasso Cercle and the Sikasso Region. It is Mali's second largest city with 225,753 residents in the 2009 census.
History
Sikasso was a small ...
in 1877. There he built a new palace on a strategic hill called the Mamelon and a massive city wall, the Tata of Sikasso, which remains a tourist attraction today.
Kenedougou's conflict with Toure's Wassoulou Empire
The Samorian state, also referred to as the Wassoulou empire, Ouassalou empire, Mandinka empire or Samory's empire, was a short-lived West African state that existed from roughly 1878 until 1898, although dates vary from source to source. It span ...
began in 1884 when Tieba sent his brother Siaka to reinforce the frontier between the two kingdoms at the Bagoe River. The region soon became a depopulated battleground. Tieba also conquered the Minianka
Minyanka (also known as Mamara, Miniyanka, Minya, Mianka, Minianka, or Tupiire) is a northern Senufo languages, Senufo language spoken by about 750,000 people in southeastern Mali. It is closely related to Supyire language, Supyire. Minyanka is o ...
region.[
Samori attacked Sikasso with an army of 12,000 men in April 1887, and laid siege to the city for 15 months, but failed to take it before a French column rescued the city.][ In the aftermath, Tieba signed a treaty of alliance with the French.][ He continued to campaign to the east, but was poisoned and died near Bama in January 1893.][
]
Babemba
Following Tieba's death, his brother Babemba Traoré assumed the throne, later expanding Kenedougou territory into modern-day Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast. He maintained the relationship with France, but in 1898 stopped sending the annual tribute and expelled and attacked the French ambassador.[
The French launched an artillery assault against Sikasso's tata on April 15th 1898, and the city fell on May 1. Rather than see the French take control of his city, Faama Babemba ordered his guards to kill him.
]
Legacy
Kénédougou was one of the last major hold-outs against French ambitions in West Africa. The territory of the kingdom was assimilated into the colony
A colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule, which rules the territory and its indigenous peoples separated from the foreign rulers, the colonizer, and their ''metropole'' (or "mother country"). This separated rule was often orga ...
of French Sudan
French Sudan (; ') was a French colonial territory in the Federation of French West Africa from around 1880 until 1959, when it joined the Mali Federation, and then in 1960, when it became the independent state of Mali. The colony was formall ...
, and later into the country of Mali
Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...
.
The memory of Tieba and Babemba are still revered to this day in Mali as symbols of African resistance to the French.
References
Sources
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Kenedougou Kingdom
Countries in precolonial Africa
Political history of Mali
French West Africa