Bandiagara () is a small town and
urban commune in the
Mopti Region of
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 ...
. The name translates roughly to "large eating bowl"—referring to the
communal bowl
A bowl is a typically round dish or container generally used for preparing, serving, or consuming food. The interior of a bowl is characteristically shaped like a spherical cap, with the edges and the bottom forming a seamless curve. This makes ...
meals are served in. Mainly on its
Bandiagara Escarpment
The Bandiagara Escarpment is an escarpment in the Dogon country of Mali. The sandstone cliff rises about above the lower sandy flats to the south. It has a length of approximately .
The area of the escarpment is inhabited today by the Dogon pe ...
it has about 2,000 speakers of the vibrant
Bangime language
Bangime (; , or, in full, ) is a language isolate spoken by 3,500 ethnic Dogon in seven villages in southern Mali, who call themselves the ("hidden people"). Bangande is the name of the ethnicity of this community and their population grows at ...
, an
isolate
Isolate may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''Isolate'' (film), a 2013 Australian film
* ''Isolate'' (Circus Maximus album), 2007
* ''Isolate'' (Gary Numan album), 1992
Language
* Isolating language, with near-unity morpheme/word ...
used mainly as an
anti-language
A cant is the jargon or language of a group, often employed to exclude or mislead people outside the group.McArthur, T. (ed.) ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (1992) Oxford University Press It may also be called a cryptolect, argot ...
; it has the highest point of the country.
Bandiagara is 65 km east-southeast of
Mopti. A seasonal river, the Yamé, flows in a northeasterly direction through the town. The population includes a number of different ethnic groups including
Dogons,
Fulani
The Fula, Fulani, or Fulɓe people ( ff, Fulɓe, ; french: Peul, links=no; ha, Fulani or Hilani; pt, Fula, links=no; wo, Pël; bm, Fulaw) are one of the largest ethnic groups in the Sahel and West Africa, widely dispersed across the region. ...
and
Bambaras.
[*.]
History
Bandiagara is said to have been founded in 1770 by Nangabanu Tembély, a Dogon hunter.
In 1864,
Tidiani Tall Tidiani Tall (c.1840 – 1888) succeeded his uncle, El Hadj Umar Tall, as head of the Toucouleur Empire following Umar's 1864 death near Bandiagara.
Tidiani Tall also had 4 children: Coumba Tall, Madina Tall, Fadima Tall, and Addafini Abdulahi. ...
,
El Hadj Umar Tall
Hadji Oumarûl Foutiyou Tall (Umar ibn Sa'id al-Futi Tal, ar, حاج عمر بن سعيد طعل), ( – 1864 CE), born in Futa Tooro, present day Senegal, was a West African political leader, Islamic scholar, Tijani Sufi and Toucoule ...
's nephew and successor, chose Bandiagara as capital of the
Toucouleur empire
The Tidjaniya Caliphate ( ar, الخلافة التجانية; also known as the Tijaniyya Jihad state or the Segu Tukulor or the Toucouleur Empire) (1861–1890) was founded in the mid-nineteenth century by Elhadj Oumar Foutiyou Tall of the T ...
.
It is the birthplace of Malian authors
Amadou Hampâté Bâ
Amadou Hampâté Bâ ( ff, 𞤀𞤸𞤥𞤢𞤣𞤵 𞤖𞤢𞤥𞤨𞤢𞥄𞤼𞤫 𞤄𞤢𞥄, Ahmadu Hampaate Baa, 1900/1901 – 15 May 1991) was a Malian writer, historian and ethnologist. He was an influential figure in twentieth-cent ...
,
Madina Ly-Tall and
Yambo Ouologuem.
In the music video for the song ''Reset'' by
Three Trapped Tigers
Three Trapped Tigers are a British instrumental experimental rock trio from London, England, composed of keyboardist and vocalist Tom Rogerson, drummer Adam Betts, and guitarist Matt Calvert. Formed in 2007, they have released three EPs and tw ...
it is shown as the location of an alien rune.
As of 2018 the town remained insecure with attacks on hotels used by UN staff being reported. Nine soldiers were killed and nine wounded in an attack on a police station on February 25, 2021.
Bandiagara Escarpment
The Bandiagara Escarpment is an escarpment in the Dogon country of Mali. The sandstone cliff rises about above the lower sandy flats to the south. It has a length of approximately .
The area of the escarpment is inhabited today by the Dogon pe ...
World Heritage Site in Mali
File:Bandiagara2.jpg, Market stalls in town
File:Dogon Men (6458932).jpg, Dogon men
See also
*
Bandiagara Escarpment
The Bandiagara Escarpment is an escarpment in the Dogon country of Mali. The sandstone cliff rises about above the lower sandy flats to the south. It has a length of approximately .
The area of the escarpment is inhabited today by the Dogon pe ...
*
Ounjougou
Ounjougou is the name of a lieu-dit found in the middle of an important complex of archaeological sites in the Upper Yamé Valley on the Bandiagara Plateau, in Dogon Country, Mali. The Ounjougou archaeological complex consists of over a hundred s ...
*
Union of the Populations of Bandiagara
References
*This article was originally based on the
corresponding article in the French Wikipedia, accessed April 9, 2005. Additional reference was made to this article on Dec. 14, 2006.
*B.O. Oloruntimeehin. The Segu Tukulor Empire. Humanities Press, New York (1972). SBN 391002066
UNESCO site about the Cliff of BandiagaraDogon Country
Toucouleur Empire
Communes of Mopti Region
{{Mopti-geo-stub