Home Region:  West Africa (Africa)

Mane

G SC New WA  si_mane_emp

Preceding:
1400 CE 1550 CE Sape (si_sape)    [elite migration]

Succeeding:
No Polity found. Add one here.

No General Descriptions provided.

General Variables
Identity and Location
Utm Zone:
28 N  
Original Name:
Mane  
Capital:
Cape Mount  
Alternative Name:
Mani  
Mende  
Temporal Bounds
Duration:
[1,550 CE ➜ 1,650 CE]  
Political and Cultural Relations
Succeeding Entity:
Sape-Mane  
Relationship to Preceding Entity:
elite migration  
Preceding Entity:
Preceding:   Sape (si_sape)    [elite migration]  
Degree of Centralization:
confederated state  
Language
Religion
Social Complexity Variables
Social Scale
Hierarchical Complexity
Administrative Level:
[3 to 4]  
Professions
Professional Military Officer:
inferred absent  
Bureaucracy Characteristics
Law
Specialized Buildings: polity owned
Transport Infrastructure
Special-purpose Sites
Information / Writing System
Written Record:
inferred absent  
Script:
inferred absent  
Phonetic Alphabetic Writing:
inferred absent  
Non Phonetic Writing:
inferred absent  
Information / Kinds of Written Documents
Scientific Literature:
inferred absent  
Sacred Text:
inferred absent  
Religious Literature:
inferred absent  
Practical Literature:
inferred absent  
Philosophy:
inferred absent  
Lists Tables and Classification:
inferred absent  
History:
inferred absent  
Fiction:
inferred absent  
Calendar:
inferred absent  
Information / Money
Token:
absent  
Information / Postal System
Information / Measurement System
Warfare Variables (Military Technologies)
Fortifications
Military use of Metals
Projectiles
Handheld weapons
Animals used in warfare
Armor
Naval technology
Religion Tolerance Nothing coded yet.
Human Sacrifice Nothing coded yet.
Crisis Consequences Nothing coded yet.
Power Transitions Nothing coded yet.

NGA Settlements:

Year Range Mane (si_mane_emp) was in:
Home NGA: None

General Variables
Identity and Location


Capital:
Cape Mount

"The Mani kings and their followers representing the vanguard of greater forces remaining behind in what is now Liberia, paid tribute to an overlord at Cape Mount." [1]

[1]: (Kup 1975: 35) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/36IUGEZV/collection.


Alternative Name:
Mani

"Magbaily Fyle identifies the Mane with the Mende and credits the emergence of the Mende to the Mane thrust into southern and eastern interior Sierra Leone. [...] Rodney and Abraham concur with Fyfe on the connections between the Mane incursions into Sierra Leone and the emergence of the Mende." [1]

[1]: (Cole 2021) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/WBFJ8QU5/collection.

Alternative Name:
Mende

"Magbaily Fyle identifies the Mane with the Mende and credits the emergence of the Mende to the Mane thrust into southern and eastern interior Sierra Leone. [...] Rodney and Abraham concur with Fyfe on the connections between the Mane incursions into Sierra Leone and the emergence of the Mende." [1]

[1]: (Cole 2021) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/WBFJ8QU5/collection.


Temporal Bounds
Duration:
[1,550 CE ➜ 1,650 CE]

"The dating of the military conquest can be ascertained with exactitude. Barreira, writing in 1607, said that the Manes had arrived about sixty years previously, and De Almada says that the invasion began around 1550. On the latter’s evidence, Yves Person was able to date the arrival of the Manes between 1540 and 1550. This is confirmed by Dornelas, who stated categorically that the subjugation of the Sapes was effected in the fifteen years between 1545 and 1560." [1] "Sierra Leone’s recorded history reveals a quite well-documented Mande invasion between 1540 and 1550." [2]

[1]: (Rodney 1967: 226) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/G8G96NVQ/collection.

[2]: (Kup 1975: 28) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/36IUGEZV/collection.


Political and Cultural Relations
Succeeding Entity:
Sape-Mane

"The newcomers overlaid their coastal culture with the attributes of their own civilisation; in particular, perhaps, a more centralised type of state organisation--but in the process they became partly assimilated into coastal society themselves." [1]

[1]: (Kup 1975: 32) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/36IUGEZV/collection.


Relationship to Preceding Entity:
elite migration

"Sierra Leone’s recorded history reveals a quite well-documented Mande invasion between 1540 and 1550." [1]

[1]: (Kup 1975: 28) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/36IUGEZV/collection.


Preceding Entity:
Sape [si_sape] ---> Mane [si_mane_emp]

"Sierra Leone’s recorded history reveals a quite well-documented Mande invasion between 1540 and 1550." [1]

[1]: (Kup 1975: 28) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/36IUGEZV/collection.


Degree of Centralization:
confederated state

"The Mane generals and captains, on the basis of apportioned Sierra Leone among themselves, and ’kings’. There were four principal kingdoms: the Bulloms, which extended from Tagrin Point northwards, the Idolos islands; secondly, the kingdom of Logos about Port Loko; thirdly, the kingdom of Sierra stretched south from the Sierra Leone channel until fourth kingdom, that of Sherbro. Within each of these kingdoms there were subdivisions, whose rulers sometimes wielded great power, as in the case of Tora, who commanded only the islands of the Sierra Leone channel but who by 1605 was the eldest survivor of the Manes. This gave him the status and authority of a king, though he was subject to Fatima, king of the northern Bulloms.//"Strictly speaking, a number of the petty rulers called ’kings’ by the Europeans should really be regarded as ’chiefs’. It was a pyramidal structure of government: the chiefs owed allegiance to the local kings, who themselves supposedly paid deference to the kings of the ’metropolis’ at Cape Mount, who in turn paid tribute to an overlord who remained behind." [1]

[1]: (Rodney 1967: 227) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/G8G96NVQ/collection.


Language
Religion

Social Complexity Variables
Social Scale
Hierarchical Complexity
Administrative Level:
[3 to 4]

levels. 1. Cape Mount overlords :"The Mani kings and their followers representing the vanguard of greater forces remaining behind in what is now Liberia, paid tribute to an overlord at Cape Mount." [1] :2. Mane kings :: "The Mane generals and captains, on the basis of apportioned Sierra Leone among themselves, and ’kings’. There were four principal kingdoms: the Bulloms, which extended from Tagrin Point northwards, the Idolos islands; secondly, the kingdom of Logos about Port Loko; thirdly, the kingdom of Sierra stretched south from the Sierra Leone channel until fourth kingdom, that of Sherbro." [2] ::3. Chiefs ::: "Within each of these kingdoms there were subdivisions, whose rulers sometimes wielded great power, as in the case of Tora, who commanded only the islands of the Sierra Leone channel but who by 1605 was the eldest survivor of the Manes. This gave him the status and authority of a king, though he was subject to Fatima, king of the northern Bulloms." [2] :::4. Lesser chiefs (inferred from great power of some chiefs)

[1]: (Kup 1975: 35) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/36IUGEZV/collection.

[2]: (Rodney 1967: 227) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/G8G96NVQ/collection.


Professions
Professional Military Officer:
absent

The following quote seems to suggest that military leaders also had secular functions. "Traditionally the role of the Mende chief seens to have been that of a military leader, with absolute powers in secular matters, which were sometimes delegated to lieutenants in other parts of the chiefdoms." [1]

[1]: (Kup 1975: 37) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/36IUGEZV/collection.


Bureaucracy Characteristics
Law
Specialized Buildings: polity owned
Transport Infrastructure
Special-purpose Sites
Information / Writing System
Written Record:
absent

The following quote implies that indigenous writing emerged in the region in the 19th century. "The first documented autochthonous, Mande script to appear in West Africa was the one created by Duala Bukere from Grand Cape Mount County in Liberia who created a Vai syllabary in 1833, which has been standardized to 212 characters (Dalby, 1967: 14-18). [...] Appearing first in the region, the Vai syllabary became the prototype for other writing systems that were created in the inter-wars among indigenous peoples in Sierra Leone and Liberia. Speakers of southern Mande languages such as the Mende (1921) and the Kpelle (1935), and speakers of the Kru languages such as the Bassa (1920-25) have based their writing systems on the syllabary (Dalby, 1967: 2-4)." [1]

[1]: (Oyler 2001: 75) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/X7HQWWH9/collection.


Script:
absent

The following quote implies that indigenous writing emerged in the region in the 19th century. "The first documented autochthonous, Mande script to appear in West Africa was the one created by Duala Bukere from Grand Cape Mount County in Liberia who created a Vai syllabary in 1833, which has been standardized to 212 characters (Dalby, 1967: 14-18). [...] Appearing first in the region, the Vai syllabary became the prototype for other writing systems that were created in the inter-wars among indigenous peoples in Sierra Leone and Liberia. Speakers of southern Mande languages such as the Mende (1921) and the Kpelle (1935), and speakers of the Kru languages such as the Bassa (1920-25) have based their writing systems on the syllabary (Dalby, 1967: 2-4)." [1]

[1]: (Oyler 2001: 75) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/X7HQWWH9/collection.


Phonetic Alphabetic Writing:
absent

The following quote implies that indigenous writing emerged in the region in the 19th century. "The first documented autochthonous, Mande script to appear in West Africa was the one created by Duala Bukere from Grand Cape Mount County in Liberia who created a Vai syllabary in 1833, which has been standardized to 212 characters (Dalby, 1967: 14-18). [...] Appearing first in the region, the Vai syllabary became the prototype for other writing systems that were created in the inter-wars among indigenous peoples in Sierra Leone and Liberia. Speakers of southern Mande languages such as the Mende (1921) and the Kpelle (1935), and speakers of the Kru languages such as the Bassa (1920-25) have based their writing systems on the syllabary (Dalby, 1967: 2-4)." [1]

[1]: (Oyler 2001: 75) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/X7HQWWH9/collection.


Non Phonetic Writing:
absent

The following quote implies that indigenous writing emerged in the region in the 19th century. "The first documented autochthonous, Mande script to appear in West Africa was the one created by Duala Bukere from Grand Cape Mount County in Liberia who created a Vai syllabary in 1833, which has been standardized to 212 characters (Dalby, 1967: 14-18). [...] Appearing first in the region, the Vai syllabary became the prototype for other writing systems that were created in the inter-wars among indigenous peoples in Sierra Leone and Liberia. Speakers of southern Mande languages such as the Mende (1921) and the Kpelle (1935), and speakers of the Kru languages such as the Bassa (1920-25) have based their writing systems on the syllabary (Dalby, 1967: 2-4)." [1]

[1]: (Oyler 2001: 75) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/X7HQWWH9/collection.


Information / Kinds of Written Documents
Scientific Literature:
absent

The following quote implies that indigenous writing emerged in the region in the 19th century. "The first documented autochthonous, Mande script to appear in West Africa was the one created by Duala Bukere from Grand Cape Mount County in Liberia who created a Vai syllabary in 1833, which has been standardized to 212 characters (Dalby, 1967: 14-18). [...] Appearing first in the region, the Vai syllabary became the prototype for other writing systems that were created in the inter-wars among indigenous peoples in Sierra Leone and Liberia. Speakers of southern Mande languages such as the Mende (1921) and the Kpelle (1935), and speakers of the Kru languages such as the Bassa (1920-25) have based their writing systems on the syllabary (Dalby, 1967: 2-4)." [1]

[1]: (Oyler 2001: 75) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/X7HQWWH9/collection.


Sacred Text:
absent

The following quote implies that indigenous writing emerged in the region in the 19th century. "The first documented autochthonous, Mande script to appear in West Africa was the one created by Duala Bukere from Grand Cape Mount County in Liberia who created a Vai syllabary in 1833, which has been standardized to 212 characters (Dalby, 1967: 14-18). [...] Appearing first in the region, the Vai syllabary became the prototype for other writing systems that were created in the inter-wars among indigenous peoples in Sierra Leone and Liberia. Speakers of southern Mande languages such as the Mende (1921) and the Kpelle (1935), and speakers of the Kru languages such as the Bassa (1920-25) have based their writing systems on the syllabary (Dalby, 1967: 2-4)." [1]

[1]: (Oyler 2001: 75) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/X7HQWWH9/collection.


Religious Literature:
absent

The following quote implies that indigenous writing emerged in the region in the 19th century. "The first documented autochthonous, Mande script to appear in West Africa was the one created by Duala Bukere from Grand Cape Mount County in Liberia who created a Vai syllabary in 1833, which has been standardized to 212 characters (Dalby, 1967: 14-18). [...] Appearing first in the region, the Vai syllabary became the prototype for other writing systems that were created in the inter-wars among indigenous peoples in Sierra Leone and Liberia. Speakers of southern Mande languages such as the Mende (1921) and the Kpelle (1935), and speakers of the Kru languages such as the Bassa (1920-25) have based their writing systems on the syllabary (Dalby, 1967: 2-4)." [1]

[1]: (Oyler 2001: 75) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/X7HQWWH9/collection.


Practical Literature:
absent

The following quote implies that indigenous writing emerged in the region in the 19th century. "The first documented autochthonous, Mande script to appear in West Africa was the one created by Duala Bukere from Grand Cape Mount County in Liberia who created a Vai syllabary in 1833, which has been standardized to 212 characters (Dalby, 1967: 14-18). [...] Appearing first in the region, the Vai syllabary became the prototype for other writing systems that were created in the inter-wars among indigenous peoples in Sierra Leone and Liberia. Speakers of southern Mande languages such as the Mende (1921) and the Kpelle (1935), and speakers of the Kru languages such as the Bassa (1920-25) have based their writing systems on the syllabary (Dalby, 1967: 2-4)." [1]

[1]: (Oyler 2001: 75) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/X7HQWWH9/collection.


Philosophy:
absent

The following quote implies that indigenous writing emerged in the region in the 19th century. "The first documented autochthonous, Mande script to appear in West Africa was the one created by Duala Bukere from Grand Cape Mount County in Liberia who created a Vai syllabary in 1833, which has been standardized to 212 characters (Dalby, 1967: 14-18). [...] Appearing first in the region, the Vai syllabary became the prototype for other writing systems that were created in the inter-wars among indigenous peoples in Sierra Leone and Liberia. Speakers of southern Mande languages such as the Mende (1921) and the Kpelle (1935), and speakers of the Kru languages such as the Bassa (1920-25) have based their writing systems on the syllabary (Dalby, 1967: 2-4)." [1]

[1]: (Oyler 2001: 75) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/X7HQWWH9/collection.


Lists Tables and Classification:
absent

The following quote implies that indigenous writing emerged in the region in the 19th century. "The first documented autochthonous, Mande script to appear in West Africa was the one created by Duala Bukere from Grand Cape Mount County in Liberia who created a Vai syllabary in 1833, which has been standardized to 212 characters (Dalby, 1967: 14-18). [...] Appearing first in the region, the Vai syllabary became the prototype for other writing systems that were created in the inter-wars among indigenous peoples in Sierra Leone and Liberia. Speakers of southern Mande languages such as the Mende (1921) and the Kpelle (1935), and speakers of the Kru languages such as the Bassa (1920-25) have based their writing systems on the syllabary (Dalby, 1967: 2-4)." [1]

[1]: (Oyler 2001: 75) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/X7HQWWH9/collection.


History:
absent

The following quote implies that indigenous writing emerged in the region in the 19th century. "The first documented autochthonous, Mande script to appear in West Africa was the one created by Duala Bukere from Grand Cape Mount County in Liberia who created a Vai syllabary in 1833, which has been standardized to 212 characters (Dalby, 1967: 14-18). [...] Appearing first in the region, the Vai syllabary became the prototype for other writing systems that were created in the inter-wars among indigenous peoples in Sierra Leone and Liberia. Speakers of southern Mande languages such as the Mende (1921) and the Kpelle (1935), and speakers of the Kru languages such as the Bassa (1920-25) have based their writing systems on the syllabary (Dalby, 1967: 2-4)." [1]

[1]: (Oyler 2001: 75) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/X7HQWWH9/collection.


Fiction:
absent

The following quote implies that indigenous writing emerged in the region in the 19th century. "The first documented autochthonous, Mande script to appear in West Africa was the one created by Duala Bukere from Grand Cape Mount County in Liberia who created a Vai syllabary in 1833, which has been standardized to 212 characters (Dalby, 1967: 14-18). [...] Appearing first in the region, the Vai syllabary became the prototype for other writing systems that were created in the inter-wars among indigenous peoples in Sierra Leone and Liberia. Speakers of southern Mande languages such as the Mende (1921) and the Kpelle (1935), and speakers of the Kru languages such as the Bassa (1920-25) have based their writing systems on the syllabary (Dalby, 1967: 2-4)." [1]

[1]: (Oyler 2001: 75) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/X7HQWWH9/collection.


Calendar:
absent

The following quote implies that indigenous writing emerged in the region in the 19th century. "The first documented autochthonous, Mande script to appear in West Africa was the one created by Duala Bukere from Grand Cape Mount County in Liberia who created a Vai syllabary in 1833, which has been standardized to 212 characters (Dalby, 1967: 14-18). [...] Appearing first in the region, the Vai syllabary became the prototype for other writing systems that were created in the inter-wars among indigenous peoples in Sierra Leone and Liberia. Speakers of southern Mande languages such as the Mende (1921) and the Kpelle (1935), and speakers of the Kru languages such as the Bassa (1920-25) have based their writing systems on the syllabary (Dalby, 1967: 2-4)." [1]

[1]: (Oyler 2001: 75) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/X7HQWWH9/collection.


Information / Money
Token:
absent

"First, prior to the arrival of the first wave of [colonial] settlers [to Freetown in 1787] there existed no centralised currency system that resembled, for example, the gold dust of the Asante Kingdom (where the use of cowries was forbidden). Cowries were not generally much in use in the coastal and hinterland regions of Sierra Leone, and this led to acute problems in introducing coins that were of small enough denominations for local market transactions (in turn leading to problems with cut dollars in 1818)." [1]

[1]: (Mew 2016: 199) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/U3D2FQIH/collection.


Information / Postal System
Information / Measurement System

Warfare Variables (Military Technologies)
Fortifications
Military use of Metals
Projectiles
Handheld weapons
Animals used in warfare
Armor
Naval technology

Human Sacrifice Data
Human Sacrifice is the deliberate and ritualized killing of a person to please or placate supernatural entities (including gods, spirits, and ancestors) or gain other supernatural benefits.
- Nothing coded yet.
- Nothing coded yet.
Power Transitions
- Nothing coded yet.