The
Kenedougou Kingdom
, (
Cebaara Senufo
:
F?ngi Kenedugu
), (c. 1650?1898) was a pre-colonial
West African
state established in the southeastern portion of present-day
Mali
, as well as parts of northern
Cote d'Ivoire
and western
Burkina Faso
.
Early History
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Kenedougou, meaning 'country of the plain', was first established in the 17th century by the
Dioula
Traore clan.
[1]
: 62?3
The new kingdom, mostly inhabited by the
Senufo people
, 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 Mande practices such as the royal title of
faama
.
Legendary Origins of the Traore dynasty
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According to legend, the Traore family originated in Gbotola near
Kankan
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.
[2]
Under Kong
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Nanka Traore
became Kenedougou's first ruler and began the Traore 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
. Kenedougou's existence was marked by relative peace compared to neighboring states of the period.
In the 18th century, Kenedougou was a far-flung extension of the
Kong Empire
. By 1825, Kong power had declined in the region and the kingdom, under the rule of Doaula Ba Traore, was able to establish independence.
[3]
19th Century
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During much of the 19th century, Kenedougou was a war with
Bobo-Dioulasso
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
.
[1]
: 63
Tieba
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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
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.
[4]
Kenedougou's conflict with Toure's
Wassoulou Empire
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.
[5]
: 270
Tieba also conquered the
Minianka
region.
[1]
: 63
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.
[1]
: 99
In the aftermath, Tieba signed a treaty of alliance with the French.
[1]
: 63
He continued to campaign to the east, but was poisoned and died near
Bama
in January 1893.
[1]
: 99
Babemba
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Following Tieba's death, his brother
Babemba Traore
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.
[1]
: 63
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
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Kenedougou was one of the last major hold-outs against French ambitions in West Africa. The territory of the kingdom was assimilated into the
colony
of
French Sudan
, and later into the country of
Mali
.
The memory of Tieba and Babemba are still revered to this day in Mali as symbols of African resistance to the French.
References
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Sources
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