Naaba Kango or Naba Kango (died 1787) is known as the greatest of the rulers of

Yatenga Yatenga is one of the provinces of Burkina Faso, located in the Nord Region of the country. In modern Yatenga, the most prominent city is Ouahigouya (also known as Waiguya). This city served as the capital of the kingdom of Yatenga, a powerful kin ...

, an early modern kingdom in present-day

Burkina Faso Burkina Faso (, ; , ff, 𞤄𞤵𞤪𞤳𞤭𞤲𞤢 𞤊𞤢𞤧𞤮, italic=no) is a landlocked country in West Africa with an area of , bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the ...

. In the first half of the 18th century, Yatenga had experienced a rapid succession of about a dozen rules in half a century as a result of weakening of the central authority of the kings (the title ''naba'' or ''naaba'' means "king") by the regional territorial chiefs (especially the ''nakomse'', descendants of former rulers). After the death of his brother

Naaba Piiyo Naapa (Naaba), or Nawa Sherpa, is a Tibetic language of Nepal (and one village in China) closely related to Dzongkha Dzongkha (; ) is a Sino-Tibetan language that is the official and national language of Bhutan. It is written using the Tibet ...

in 1754, Kango became the ''naaba''. This succession was disputed, however, and he was soon forced into exile to

Ségou Ségou (; bm, ߛߋߓߎ, italic=no, ) is a town and an urban commune in south-central Mali that lies northeast of Bamako on the right bank of the River Niger. The town is the capital of the Ségou Cercle and the Ségou Region. With 130,690 i ...

(Segu) by his cousin Naaba Wobgo. In 1757, he returned with

Barbara Barbara may refer to: People * Barbara (given name) * Barbara (painter) (1915–2002), pseudonym of Olga Biglieri, Italian futurist painter * Barbara (singer) (1930–1997), French singer * Barbara Popović (born 2000), also known mononymously as ...

troops wielding

flintlock Flintlock is a general term for any firearm that uses a flint-striking lock (firearm), ignition mechanism, the first of which appeared in Western Europe in the early 16th century. The term may also apply to a particular form of the mechanism its ...

s, the first

firearms A firearm is any type of gun designed to be readily carried and used by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see Legal definitions). The first firearms originated in 10th-century China, when bamboo tubes c ...

ever recorded in

. This technological edge gave Kango the advantage, and he won the war. He founded the new capital at

Ouahigouya Ouahigouya is a town in northern Burkina Faso. It is the capital of the Yatenga Province and one of its subdivisions the Ouahigouya Department. It is also the biggest town in the Nord Region (Burkina Faso), Nord Region. It is the fourth largest c ...

(Wahiguya) in 1780, and passed reforms to strengthen central royal authority at the expense of the ''nakomse''. The ''nakomse'' exploited the series of succession disputes after Kango's death to weaken central authority again.

References

1787 deaths African rulers {{Africa-bio-stub