Guinea - Early History
The ecology of the Upper Guinea coast or Rice Coast is characterised by low-lying, flat littoral terrain, dissected by many rivers and creeks, with abundant alluvial deposits and mangrove-lined shores – contrasting with dense woodland and savannah in the interior. High precipitation rates in coastal areas during the rainy season (from May to October), provided excellent conditions for the development of sedentary agriculture. The wealth of material and spiritual culture in the region testifies to the ethnic diversity of littoral areas.
Guinean prehistory is little known, although attested, since the age of the cut stone. It is from the 9th century that the Mandingo arrive in Guinea, the Malinké in Upper Guinea and the Soussou in Lower Guinea.
"According to a legend, on the island of Tombo, not far from the present port, there was a giant cheese maker under which a Baga peasant named Cona had built his hut. His palm plantation produced the best wine of the island, the people of Kaporo came to drink under the cheese of Cona. They said then, "I go to Cona, on the other bank (nakiri)", thus by contraction this place devin Conakry.
The Nalous and the Bagas populated the region as early as the eighth century, and were joined in the eleventh century by the Jalonkes of mandated origin. They were followed by the Peuls and the Mandingoes, who arrived between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries, bringing Islam. In the 12th century, the region was part of the empire of Ghana and that of Mali. The latter reached its apogee in the 14th century; It stretched from northern and eastern Guinea to Timbuktu (Mali), before collapsing in the following century.
The site of Conakry depended on the kingdom of Dubreka. The region was first inhabited by the Baga, but the latter received Soussou from the north of Mandingo after the destruction of their capital on the Niger in 1236 by Soundjata Keita. From the 16th century, several Soussou kingdoms developed, the Kingdom of Rio Pongo and that of Dubréka, the most important.
The kingdom of Dubreka was founded around 1600 by an emigrant Soussou, elephant hunter, named Soumba Toumamy, who delivered the Baga of the plunderers, in thanks they proclaimed king. His descendants reigned until the colonial conquest in 1890. The last king, Bale Demba, granted a concession to the French in 1885 on the island of Tombo.
Mandingo Empire with Soundjata Kéďta (1230-1255) and Mansa Moussa (1307-1332) with the capital at Niani (now a small Guinean village). The fall of the empire intervened with the fall of Niani by the sahalian empire of Songhai in 1450.
In the XVI-XVIIIth centuries Islamic migrations saw the Peul from Fouta Torro (North Senegal) and Macina (Mali). The Fulani, isolating themselves in the Fouta Djallon (while repelling Soussou and Baga), developed a theocratic feudal regime. The two great founders are Karamoko Alpha from 1725 to 1750, then his cousin and successor Ibrahima Sori of 1751 and 1784, who bears the prestigious name of Amamay. An alternating bicéphalisme between the descendants every two years ran until 1896, when the rivalries between the two families facilitated the French conquest (dissensions between Alpha Yaga and Bocar Biro).
Islam played a leading role in this period of instability. This is the era of marabout founders of villages or marabouts warriors like Karamoko Alpha of Timbo, Abdel Kader of Fouta-Toro, Ahmadou of Marina, El hadj Oumar Tall of Dinguiraye. Theocratic kingdoms were born, the Jallonkadougou later became the Fouta Djallon.
The eighteenth century saw the birth and rapid development of the Muslim kingdom of Fouta Djallon. Jihad triggered against animists and indigenous people under the direction of Karamoko Alpha Sambégou, a great exegete of the Qur'an, scholar aided by his cousin Ibrahima Sory, a frank warrior. The Muslim Pehls won the victory at Talansan in 1730. The natives emigrated to the coast.
The victors organized a new power based on Koranic law. The nine religious leaders who had directed the uprising became the heads of the provinces. Alpha Sambégou Barry or Karamoko Alpha was elected Almamy and Timbo, his city became the capital of the kingdom. Fouta Djallon will be an important center for spreading Islam in the region, Kansala, the capital of Gabon, the last animist bastion of Senegambia was besieged and destroyed.
A decade later, the Fouta Djallon saw the first clashes with the French. The kingdom will retain its cohesion until the conquest. After beating the Almamy Bocar Biro in Poredeka in 1896, they eliminated Alpha Yaya Diallo, the king of Labe. A brief overview of the social and political organization of this period shows that Guinean pre-colonial societies experienced remarkable economic and cultural growth.
The Rio and the islands offered excellent shelters for boats. Trade centers were built and the slave trade gradually took precedence over other forms of trade. Trafficking weighed on the lives of people and kingdoms, the slave becoming the main bargaining chip for obtaining firearms. The wars between kingdoms multiplied, the movements of populations intensified. The geopolitical map changes with the wars. New dynasties were born from clans and tribes move in search of security and peace.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
