Tag: History

The Malinke connection of Sierra Leone The country called Sierra Leone today has a history with a very strong Malinke connection. ● After the collapse of the Mali Empire which had it’s western borders close to the northeast of Sierra Leone and in Guinea to the north, there was a dispersal of people which saw some moving to the south and the west. ● Also, some northern coastal people who lived on the eastern fringes of the Mali Empire and were between what is today Guinea-Bissau and Guinea Conakry and known as Baga-Susu-Themne, affected by this collapse moved south along the coast. ● The people coming from the eastern hinterlands who were led by a man known as Farama Tami, formed an alliance with the coastal people who had moved south from the north. ● This is how in 1450 a decentralised governance was established and called the KOYA KINGDOM. The Koya Kingdom, which extended from Cape Mount in Bong County in present-day Liberia to far north Kamsar in present-day Guinea, was in existence when the Portuguese, Pedro Da Cintra, who came to the shores of Freetown in 1462. ● The Koya Kingdom existed up to 1898 with Bai Bureh of Kasse as the last king. Governing such a large area from Cape Mount in Liberia to Northern Guinea was not an easy task. So there were several regencies with heads serving as local chiefs. Each of those heads, Known s Gbana, sought protection from the king who was known as Bai. ● Later with the advent of Islam some Islamic regent heads took the title of Alimamy. Others used Malinke linguistic titles like Ba.Some in the Mende speaking culture had Manse for men and Massah for women heads. ● In Freetown was a Malinke head whose title was Ba Demba from whom the present day street name PaDemba road was taken. ● The Koya Kingdom had a strong Malinke background with all ethnic groups living in present-day Sierra Leone being part of the decentralised governance system and having their ethnic heads known as Gbana after the Poro Society a nationwide Fraternity and training ground for the the boy in transition into manhood, naming tradition.So also is the Bondo sorority a school for teaching girls going from adolescence into womanhood. They were taught home economics, child care and other basic medicinal and herbal knowledge to take care of the home. ● As a result of her Malinke background, there are commonplace and person name in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea today. These names and mostly Surnames are found in every area where there is a strong Malinke influence on culture. ● The Malinke influence is also reflected in the dress culture of the people to a very large extent. The country the cloth is woven by the Mendes, the Ronko dress woven by the Limbas, the Gara textile produced largely in West Africa and with which dresses are sown are all products originating from Malinke cultural dress modes. ● In music instruments like the drum called Tamballay/Tabulay, the Xylophone/Balanji instrument and wind instruments; String instruments like the Kora found in varied designs in the different ethnic groups in Sierra Leone as in other parts of West Africa are all similar in all the ethnic groups and have a common origin from the Malinke culture. ● Another common indicator of the strong Malinke connections are the common surnames across ethnic groups. Names like Kamara, Koroma, Conteh, Sesay, Kallon, Kanneh, Konneh, Turay/Troure, Fofanah, Tarawalie, Senesie are found across ethnic groups and are also common in most parts of Manding culture west Africa or Africa west of the Ashanti and other cultures of La Cote D’Ivoire, Ghana and Nigeria. ● Further, there is a place name that is common in every district of Sierra Leone called Sumbuya. Sumbuya is a Malinke word meaning a place that provides a source of livelihood or place of respite. ·        The Confederation we today called Mano River Union is the approximate equivalent of the Koya Kingdom as that governance entity had a similar but mostly coastal areal size. The Mane, the Decline of Mali, and Mandinka Expansion towards the South Windward Coast (link to a downloadable page) (To be continued)