Almost nothing is known about the Segu (or Segou) Kingdom, the name we have chosen to use for the polity occupying the Niger Inland Delta from the mid-17th century CE to the foundation of the more well-known Bamana Kingdom in 1712. Neither oral traditions nor regional histories compiled in Timbuktu suggest the existence of a Bamana ’king’ prior to the 17th century. However, in around 1650, a hunter and warrior called Kaladian Kulibali (or Coulibaly) drew on the indigenous male age-grade associations known as tòn to become the ruler of the first Bamana state,
[1]
which briefly included Timbuktu.
[2]
Population and Political Organization
The Bamana before the mid-17th century were probably a ’stateless society’ — specifically, they may have been divided into independent villages who only banded together in response to a threat.
[3]
After a brief period of integration under Kaladian Kulibali, centralized power weakened after his death and an oligarchy of regional rulership by his sons and their successors held sway for some time.
[3]
By the time Biton Kulibali rose against the status quo and founded his own Bamana Kingdom in 1712, it seems that the Bamana region was divided into small communities, each ruled by a gerontocracy.
[4]
However, details are hazy, and mostly derived from oral traditions, so the relationship between Kaladian’s successors’ loose oligarchy and the gerontocracies of the early eighteenth century is not very clear. We are not certain, for example, whether the former gave way to the latter, or whether the latter existed within the context of the former. No population estimates for the Segu Kingdom could be found in the literature.
[1]: (Bortolot 2003) Alexander Ives Bortolot. 2003. ’The Bamana Ségou State’. Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History, http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/bama_1/hd_bama_1.htm. Accessed 23 February 2017.
[2]: (MacDonald 2014, 129) Kevin C. MacDonald. 2014. ’"A chacun son Bambara", encore une fois: History, Archaeology and Bambara Origins’. In Ethnic Ambiguity and the African Past: Materiality, History, and the Shaping of Cultural Identities, edited by Francois G. Richard and Kevin C. MacDonald, 119-44. Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast Press.
[3]: (MacDonald 2014, 129) Kevin C. MacDonald. 2014. ’"A Chacoun son Bambara, encore une fois": History, Archaeology and Bambara Origins’ in "Ethnic Ambiguity and the African Past: Materiality, History, and the Shaping of Cultural Identities", edited by Francois G. Richard and Kevin C. MacDonald. Walnut Creek, California: Left Coast Press.
[4]: (Izard and Ki-Zerbo 1992, 332-33) Michel Izard and Joseph Ki-Zerbo. 1992. ’From the Niger to the Volta’, in General History of Africa, vol. 5: Africa from the Sixteenth to the Eighteenth Centuries edited by Bethwell Allan Ogot, 327-67. London: Heinemann.
| Bamana Empire |
| suspected unknown |
| UNCLEAR: [unknown] | |
| Succeeding: Bamana kingdom (ml_bamana_k) [continuity] |
| unitary state | |
| loose |
| inferred Absent |
| inferred Absent |
| inferred Absent |
| inferred Absent |
| inferred Absent |
| inferred Absent |
| inferred Present |
| inferred Absent |
| inferred Absent |
| inferred Present |
| Unknown |
| Unknown |
| inferred Present |
| inferred Absent |
| Unknown |
| inferred Present |
| inferred Present |
| inferred Present |
| Present |
| inferred Absent |
| Unknown |
| inferred Present |
| Present |
| Present |
| inferred Present |
| Absent |
| Unknown |
| Unknown |
| Absent |
| Present |
| inferred Present |
| inferred Absent |
| Unknown |
| Unknown |
| inferred Present |
| inferred Absent |
| Unknown |
| inferred Present |
| Unknown |
| Year Range | Segou Kingdom (ml_segou_k) was in: |
|---|---|
| (1640 CE 1711 CE) | Niger Inland Delta |
"The Bambara established two major military kingdoms at Segou and Kaarta".
[1]
"For Segou’s century-and-a-half existence, we have been able to identify - via oral tradition, colonial documentation, and archaeological remains - six capitals. Each marks a rupture in either ideology or dynasty."
[2]
e.g. Ton Mansa briefly in the 1760s/1770s.
Torone in oral traditions is the Bambara people’s "point of origin" in the Segu region.
[3]
.
[1]: (Keil 2012, 108) Sarah Keil. Bambara. Andrea L Stanton. ed. 2012. Cultural Sociology of the Middle East, Asia, and Africa: An Encyclopedia. Sage. Los Angeles.
[2]: (Monroe and Ogundiran 2012, 177) J Cameron Monroe. Akinwumi Ogundiran. Power and Landscape in Atlantic West Africa. J Cameron Monroe. Akinwumi Ogundiran. eds. 2012. Power and Landscape in Atlantic West Africa: Archaeological Perspectives.Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
[3]: K.C. MacDonald, A Chacoun son Bambara, encore une fois: History, Archaeology and Bambara Origins, in F.G. Richard and K.C. MacDonald, Ethnic Ambiguity and the African Past: Materiality, History, and the Shaping of Cultural Identities (2014), pp. 119-144
Central power decreased after the death of Kaladian Coulibaly [1] .
[1]: K.C. MacDonald, A Chacoun son Bambara, encore une fois: History, Archaeology and Bambara Origins, in F.G. Richard and K.C. MacDonald, Ethnic Ambiguity and the African Past: Materiality, History, and the Shaping of Cultural Identities (2014), pp. 119-144
According to oral traditions, Kaladian Coulibaly ruled over the region from about 1650 [1] . In 1712, his alleged great-grandson, Mamari Coulibaly, rose to power after the dynasty had dwindled into poverty, and initiated the second and better known phase of the Segu kingdom’s history, known on this database as the "Bamana Empire" [2] .
[1]: K.C. MacDonald, A Chacoun son Bambara, encore une fois: History, Archaeology and Bambara Origins, in F.G. Richard and K.C. MacDonald, Ethnic Ambiguity and the African Past: Materiality, History, and the Shaping of Cultural Identities (2014), pp. 119-144
[2]: M. Izard and J. Ki-Zerbo, From the Niger to the Volta, in B.A. Ogot (ed), General History of Africa, vol. 5: Africa from the Sixteenth to the Eighteenth Centuries (1992), pp. 327-367
Not Timbuktu as it remained autonomous as is not the core area of Segou.
1650-1680: unitary state; 1680-1712: loose [1]
[1]: K.C. MacDonald, A Chacoun son Bambara, encore une fois: History, Archaeology and Bambara Origins, in F.G. Richard and K.C. MacDonald, Ethnic Ambiguity and the African Past: Materiality, History, and the Shaping of Cultural Identities (2014), pp. 119-144
1650-1680: unitary state; 1680-1712: loose [1]
[1]: K.C. MacDonald, A Chacoun son Bambara, encore une fois: History, Archaeology and Bambara Origins, in F.G. Richard and K.C. MacDonald, Ethnic Ambiguity and the African Past: Materiality, History, and the Shaping of Cultural Identities (2014), pp. 119-144
Inferred from the fact that the Coulibaly belonged to the Bambara ethnic group [1] .
[1]: K.C. MacDonald, A Chacoun son Bambara, encore une fois: History, Archaeology and Bambara Origins, in F.G. Richard and K.C. MacDonald, Ethnic Ambiguity and the African Past: Materiality, History, and the Shaping of Cultural Identities (2014), pp. 119-144
in squared kilometers
1750 CE
Sausage-shaped, covers Niger river from beyond Timbuktu (but stops before the bend to Gao) through the inland delta and beyond to the two tributaries in the uplands, but not getting very far into Guinea and Senegal (if at all - modern borders not marked on map). Directly bordered to the north by "Kaaria", to the south by "Kong" and to the west by "Fouta Toro".
[1]
[1]: (Konemann 2010, 314) Konemann, Ludwig ed. 2010. Atlas Historica. Editions Place des Victoires. Paris.
People.
According to Google Mali’s population was 5 million in 1960. What was the population in 1700? An estimate of 2 million would be order of magnitude correct.
levels.
1. Capital.
2. Towns.3. Villages.4. Hamlets.
"The Bambara relied heavily on the extended family for order and structure. Society was organized by patrilineal lineages, with families residing togetther in large compounds. Several lineages composed a village, which was then ruled by a chief. Marriages were an ’investment,’ intended to unite households, lineages, and villages for the common good."
[1]
"In contrast to the ’eternal landscape.’ the state-generated landscape included three settlement types. The most important of these are the Fadugu, towns of the king or Fama, being either capitals or locations of secondary royal courts. ... Next, there are Dendugu - literally ’son’s villages - towns created by the king either to house his sons or to hold military garrisons commanded by the nobility. Finally, there are the Cikebugu: agricultural hamlets, normally founded by the state. The inhabitants of such hamlets were, notionally, resettled captives taken either in battle or in raids. Although termed slaves by outsiders, theirs was not a chattel status; rather they were more like serfs who were tied to a village and obliged to provide the Fama (ruler) with a disproportionate quantity of their produce."
[2]
[1]: (Keil 2012, 108) Sarah Keil. Bambara. Andrea L Stanton. ed. 2012. Cultural Sociology of the Middle East, Asia, and Africa: An Encyclopedia. Sage. Los Angeles.
[2]: (Monroe and Ogundiran 2012, 177) J Cameron Monroe. Akinwumi Ogundiran. Power and Landscape in Atlantic West Africa. J Cameron Monroe. Akinwumi Ogundiran. eds. 2012. Power and Landscape in Atlantic West Africa: Archaeological Perspectives.Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
levels.
Bambara means ’rejection of a master’ - they took the name in the 13th century from their rejection of Islam. The chief of the village was the religious authority.
[1]
No mention of religious buildings or institutions. Prayers were given within household and in ceremonies.
[1]
Marka towns were semi-autonmous towns that "enjoyed some autonomy from direct state intervention."
[2]
Populated by Islamic Soninke and other Mande-speakers: "most Marka towns have assumed two roles as (1) ’eternal cities’ ancestral to all Mande civilization, and (2) as ’holy cities,’ which to differing degrees mix Islamic scholarship (large Koranic schools and ancient mosques) and traditional sorcery. Their supernatural status has served as protection from attack because most Marka towns never had defences or standing armies."
[3]
[1]: (Keil 2012, 108) Sarah Keil. Bambara. Andrea L Stanton. ed. 2012. Cultural Sociology of the Middle East, Asia, and Africa: An Encyclopedia. Sage. Los Angeles.
[2]: (Monroe and Ogundiran 2012, 25) J Cameron Monroe. Akinwumi Ogundiran. Power and Landscape in Atlantic West Africa. J Cameron Monroe. Akinwumi Ogundiran. eds. 2012. Power and Landscape in Atlantic West Africa: Archaeological Perspectives.Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
[3]: (MacDonald and Camara 2012, 174) Kevin C MacDonald. Seydou Camara. Segou, Slavery, and Sifinso. J Cameron Monroe. Akinwumi Ogundiran. eds. 2012. Power and Landscape in Atlantic West Africa: Archaeological Perspectives.Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
levels.
1. King
2. Leader of royal guard3. Member of royal guard
"Several members of the ton djon, a royal guard created by Biton Coulibaly, ruled from 1755 until 1766."
[1]
[1]: (Keil 2012, 108) Sarah Keil. Bambara. Andrea L Stanton. ed. 2012. Cultural Sociology of the Middle East, Asia, and Africa: An Encyclopedia. Sage. Los Angeles.
levels.
1. King
2. Village chiefs
2. Commercial towns
"The Bambara relied heavily on the extended family for order and structure. Society was organized by patrilineal lineages, with families residing together in large compounds. Several lineages composed a village, which was then ruled by a chief. Marriages were an ’investment,’ intended to unite households, lineages, and villages for the common good."
[1]
"preexisting commercial towns (marka) ... were incorporated into the kingdom and ... enjoyed some autonomy from direct state intervention."
[2]
[1]: (Keil 2012, 108) Sarah Keil. Bambara. Andrea L Stanton. ed. 2012. Cultural Sociology of the Middle East, Asia, and Africa: An Encyclopedia. Sage. Los Angeles.
[2]: (Monroe and Ogundiran 2012, 25) J Cameron Monroe. Akinwumi Ogundiran. Power and Landscape in Atlantic West Africa. J Cameron Monroe. Akinwumi Ogundiran. eds. 2012. Power and Landscape in Atlantic West Africa: Archaeological Perspectives.Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
"there are Dendugu - literally ’son’s villages - towns created by the king either to house his sons or to hold military garrisons commanded by the nobility." [1]
[1]: (Monroe and Ogundiran 2012, 177) J Cameron Monroe. Akinwumi Ogundiran. Power and Landscape in Atlantic West Africa. J Cameron Monroe. Akinwumi Ogundiran. eds. 2012. Power and Landscape in Atlantic West Africa: Archaeological Perspectives.Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
No bureaucracy. The chief of the village "worked to maintain peace and was the authority in regard to all matters legal or moral, including land ownership, religion, and ceremonies." [1]
[1]: (Keil 2012, 108) Sarah Keil. Bambara. Andrea L Stanton. ed. 2012. Cultural Sociology of the Middle East, Asia, and Africa: An Encyclopedia. Sage. Los Angeles.
No bureaucracy. The chief of the village "worked to maintain peace and was the authority in regard to all matters legal or moral, including land ownership, religion, and ceremonies." [1]
[1]: (Keil 2012, 108) Sarah Keil. Bambara. Andrea L Stanton. ed. 2012. Cultural Sociology of the Middle East, Asia, and Africa: An Encyclopedia. Sage. Los Angeles.
The chief of the village "worked to maintain peace and was the authority in regard to all matters legal or moral, including land ownership, religion, and ceremonies." [1]
[1]: (Keil 2012, 108) Sarah Keil. Bambara. Andrea L Stanton. ed. 2012. Cultural Sociology of the Middle East, Asia, and Africa: An Encyclopedia. Sage. Los Angeles.
No bureaucracy. The chief of the village "worked to maintain peace and was the authority in regard to all matters legal or moral, including land ownership, religion, and ceremonies." [1]
[1]: (Keil 2012, 108) Sarah Keil. Bambara. Andrea L Stanton. ed. 2012. Cultural Sociology of the Middle East, Asia, and Africa: An Encyclopedia. Sage. Los Angeles.
Not polity owned. "preexisting commercial towns (marka) ... were incorporated into the kingdom and ... enjoyed some autonomy from direct state intervention." [1]
[1]: (Monroe and Ogundiran 2012, 25) J Cameron Monroe. Akinwumi Ogundiran. Power and Landscape in Atlantic West Africa. J Cameron Monroe. Akinwumi Ogundiran. eds. 2012. Power and Landscape in Atlantic West Africa: Archaeological Perspectives.Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
Scholars use oral tradition to help reconstruct life in the Segou kingdom. [1] The polity may not have used written documents but there were written documents in the semi-autonomous, Islamic ’marka’ towns, populated by Soninke and other Mande-speakers.
[1]: (Monroe and Ogundiran 2012) J Cameron Monroe. Akinwumi Ogundiran. Power and Landscape in Atlantic West Africa. J Cameron Monroe. Akinwumi Ogundiran. eds. 2012. Power and Landscape in Atlantic West Africa: Archaeological Perspectives.Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
Scholars use oral tradition to help reconstruct life in the Segou kingdom. [1] The polity may not have used written documents but there were written documents in the semi-autonomous, Islamic ’marka’ towns, populated by Soninke and other Mande-speakers.
[1]: (Monroe and Ogundiran 2012) J Cameron Monroe. Akinwumi Ogundiran. Power and Landscape in Atlantic West Africa. J Cameron Monroe. Akinwumi Ogundiran. eds. 2012. Power and Landscape in Atlantic West Africa: Archaeological Perspectives.Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
Scholars use oral tradition to help reconstruct life in the Segou kingdom. [1] The polity may not have used written documents but there were written documents in the semi-autonomous, Islamic ’marka’ towns, populated by Soninke and other Mande-speakers.
[1]: (Monroe and Ogundiran 2012) J Cameron Monroe. Akinwumi Ogundiran. Power and Landscape in Atlantic West Africa. J Cameron Monroe. Akinwumi Ogundiran. eds. 2012. Power and Landscape in Atlantic West Africa: Archaeological Perspectives.Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
Scholars use oral tradition to help reconstruct life in the Segou kingdom. [1] The polity may not have used written documents but there were written documents in the semi-autonomous, Islamic ’marka’ towns, populated by Soninke and other Mande-speakers. The Bambara were not Muslims.
[1]: (Monroe and Ogundiran 2012) J Cameron Monroe. Akinwumi Ogundiran. Power and Landscape in Atlantic West Africa. J Cameron Monroe. Akinwumi Ogundiran. eds. 2012. Power and Landscape in Atlantic West Africa: Archaeological Perspectives.Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
Scholars use oral tradition to help reconstruct life in the Segou kingdom. [1] The polity may not have used written documents but there were written documents in the semi-autonomous, Islamic ’marka’ towns, populated by Soninke and other Mande-speakers. The Bambara were not Muslims.
[1]: (Monroe and Ogundiran 2012) J Cameron Monroe. Akinwumi Ogundiran. Power and Landscape in Atlantic West Africa. J Cameron Monroe. Akinwumi Ogundiran. eds. 2012. Power and Landscape in Atlantic West Africa: Archaeological Perspectives.Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
Scholars use oral tradition to help reconstruct life in the Segou kingdom. [1] The polity may not have used written documents but there were written documents in the semi-autonomous, Islamic ’marka’ towns, populated by Soninke and other Mande-speakers.
[1]: (Monroe and Ogundiran 2012) J Cameron Monroe. Akinwumi Ogundiran. Power and Landscape in Atlantic West Africa. J Cameron Monroe. Akinwumi Ogundiran. eds. 2012. Power and Landscape in Atlantic West Africa: Archaeological Perspectives.Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
Scholars use oral tradition to help reconstruct life in the Segou kingdom. [1] The polity may not have used written documents but there were written documents in the semi-autonomous, Islamic ’marka’ towns, populated by Soninke and other Mande-speakers.
[1]: (Monroe and Ogundiran 2012) J Cameron Monroe. Akinwumi Ogundiran. Power and Landscape in Atlantic West Africa. J Cameron Monroe. Akinwumi Ogundiran. eds. 2012. Power and Landscape in Atlantic West Africa: Archaeological Perspectives.Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
Scholars use oral tradition to help reconstruct life in the Segou kingdom. [1] The polity may not have used written documents but there were written documents in the semi-autonomous, Islamic ’marka’ towns, populated by Soninke and other Mande-speakers.
[1]: (Monroe and Ogundiran 2012) J Cameron Monroe. Akinwumi Ogundiran. Power and Landscape in Atlantic West Africa. J Cameron Monroe. Akinwumi Ogundiran. eds. 2012. Power and Landscape in Atlantic West Africa: Archaeological Perspectives.Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
Scholars use oral tradition to help reconstruct life in the Segou kingdom. [1] The polity may not have used written documents but there were written documents in the semi-autonomous, Islamic ’marka’ towns, populated by Soninke and other Mande-speakers. "A tradition recorded in the Tarikh as-Sudan, an important history book that was written in Timbuktu in about AD 1650..." [2]
[1]: (Monroe and Ogundiran 2012) J Cameron Monroe. Akinwumi Ogundiran. Power and Landscape in Atlantic West Africa. J Cameron Monroe. Akinwumi Ogundiran. eds. 2012. Power and Landscape in Atlantic West Africa: Archaeological Perspectives.Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
[2]: (Davidson 1998, 26) Davidson, Basil. 1998. West Africa Before the Colonial Era. Routledge. London.
Scholars use oral tradition to help reconstruct life in the Segou kingdom. [1] The polity may not have used written documents but there were written documents in the semi-autonomous, Islamic ’marka’ towns, populated by Soninke and other Mande-speakers.
[1]: (Monroe and Ogundiran 2012) J Cameron Monroe. Akinwumi Ogundiran. Power and Landscape in Atlantic West Africa. J Cameron Monroe. Akinwumi Ogundiran. eds. 2012. Power and Landscape in Atlantic West Africa: Archaeological Perspectives.Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
Scholars use oral tradition to help reconstruct life in the Segou kingdom. [1] The polity may not have used written documents but there were written documents in the semi-autonomous, Islamic ’marka’ towns, populated by Soninke and other Mande-speakers.
[1]: (Monroe and Ogundiran 2012) J Cameron Monroe. Akinwumi Ogundiran. Power and Landscape in Atlantic West Africa. J Cameron Monroe. Akinwumi Ogundiran. eds. 2012. Power and Landscape in Atlantic West Africa: Archaeological Perspectives.Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
Reference for pre-colonial African warfare: in the 16th century the Kano people used stockades. There are other/later examples of palisades. [1] Reference for pre-colonial African warfare: "stockades (or palisades) were perhaps nearly as common, sometimes combined with walls, sometimes as the main defence." [1]
[1]: (Smith 1989, 100) Robert Sydney Smith. 1989. Warfare & Diplomacy in Pre-colonial West Africa. Second Edition. The University of Wisconsin Press. Madison.
Reference for pre-colonial African warfare: "The formation of a fortified camp, distinct from the parent town or towns, was usually the first step taken by a West African army when it advanced into the field. ... the leaders were sheltered by tents or by walls of matting while the soldiers slept under such shelter as they could find... But on arrival at the point chosen by the commander as the base of operations, the practice was to throw up an earthern wall surrounded by a ditch (the excavation from which the wall had been built)." [1]
[1]: (Smith 1989, 100) Robert Sydney Smith. 1989. Warfare & Diplomacy in Pre-colonial West Africa. Second Edition. The University of Wisconsin Press. Madison.
Reference for pre-colonial African warfare: mud walls often surrounded towns. [1] Reference for pre-colonial African warfare: "The formation of a fortified camp, distinct from the parent town or towns, was usually the first step taken by a West African army when it advanced into the field. ... the leaders were sheltered by tents or by walls of matting while the soldiers slept under such shelter as they could find... But on arrival at the point chosen by the commander as the base of operations, the practice was to throw up an earthern wall surrounded by a ditch (the excavation from which the wall had been built)." [2]
[1]: (Smith 1989, 99) Robert Sydney Smith. 1989. Warfare & Diplomacy in Pre-colonial West Africa. Second Edition. The University of Wisconsin Press. Madison.
[2]: (Smith 1989, 100) Robert Sydney Smith. 1989. Warfare & Diplomacy in Pre-colonial West Africa. Second Edition. The University of Wisconsin Press. Madison.
Reference for pre-colonial African warfare: "The formation of a fortified camp, distinct from the parent town or towns, was usually the first step taken by a West African army when it advanced into the field. ... the leaders were sheltered by tents or by walls of matting while the soldiers slept under such shelter as they could find... But on arrival at the point chosen by the commander as the base of operations, the practice was to throw up an earthern wall surrounded by a ditch (the excavation from which the wall had been built)." [1]
[1]: (Smith 1989, 100) Robert Sydney Smith. 1989. Warfare & Diplomacy in Pre-colonial West Africa. Second Edition. The University of Wisconsin Press. Madison.
Closest relevant data: in the 19th century the Yoruba capital Ketu had double walls and a moat. [1] The "short-lived capital of Ton Mansa" probably occupied in the 1760s/1770s "features a central, double-walled concession of limited access, which is tempting to identify as a palace area. Another walled area in the northwest quadrant of the town has direct access to the exterior and controlled access to the interior. This is said to have been the place of the Sifinso." [2]
[1]: (Smith 1989, 111) Robert Sydney Smith. 1989. Warfare & Diplomacy in Pre-colonial West Africa. Second Edition. The University of Wisconsin Press. Madison.
[2]: (Monroe and Ogundiran 2012, 183) J Cameron Monroe. Akinwumi Ogundiran. Power and Landscape in Atlantic West Africa. J Cameron Monroe. Akinwumi Ogundiran. eds. 2012. Power and Landscape in Atlantic West Africa: Archaeological Perspectives.Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
Inferred from the absence of tension sieges in previous and future polities in Niger Inland Delta.
Arrows. [1] Reference for pre-colonial West Africa: "conventional weapons (as opposed to firearms) continued to play an effective role in West African warfare until as late as the middle of the last century." (i.e. 19th century). [2] Reference for pre-colonial West Africa: self bows. [3] "The self or simple bow consists essentially of a bent stave of pliant wood and a bowstring of a sufficient elasticity. Most West African types may be characterized as shortbows, being from about two and a half to five feet in height ... however, Wilhelm Muller describes the war-bows which he saw in the Fetu country (near Elmina) in the mid-seventeenth century as being ... nearly six feet." [4] "Their effective range was some 50 to 75 yards, compared with some 250 yards for the longbow". [4]
[1]: (Smith 1989, 79) Robert Sydney Smith. 1989. Warfare & Diplomacy in Pre-colonial West Africa. Second Edition. The University of Wisconsin Press. Madison.
[2]: (Smith 1989, 80) Robert Sydney Smith. 1989. Warfare & Diplomacy in Pre-colonial West Africa. Second Edition. The University of Wisconsin Press. Madison.
[3]: (Smith 1989, 74) Robert Sydney Smith. 1989. Warfare & Diplomacy in Pre-colonial West Africa. Second Edition. The University of Wisconsin Press. Madison.
[4]: (Smith 1989, 72) Robert Sydney Smith. 1989. Warfare & Diplomacy in Pre-colonial West Africa. Second Edition. The University of Wisconsin Press. Madison.
Reference for pre-colonial West Africa: "conventional weapons (as opposed to firearms) continued to play an effective role in West African warfare until as late as the middle of the last century." (i.e. 19th century). [1] Reference for pre-colonial West Africa: throwing spears or javelin. [2]
[1]: (Smith 1989, 80) Robert Sydney Smith. 1989. Warfare & Diplomacy in Pre-colonial West Africa. Second Edition. The University of Wisconsin Press. Madison.
[2]: (Smith 1989, 64) Robert Sydney Smith. 1989. Warfare & Diplomacy in Pre-colonial West Africa. Second Edition. The University of Wisconsin Press. Madison.
On a very small scale in this period: "By the end of the eighteenth century, Mande blacksmiths were repairing imported firearms ... and in the nineteenth century Samory’s smiths were able to copy the main types of weapons ... Modern breech-loading rifles reached West African markets during the 1870s". [1] However: "After the Moroccans defeated Songhay, others, for example, the Bambara, began to adopt Moroccan fighting methods (Abitbol 1992, 312)." [1] A contemporary Spanish writer in 1591 CE reported the invasion force consisted of 2500 musketeers (500 of them mounted) and 1500 lancers "from among the local people". [2] It’s difficult not to conclude the ’Moroccan fighting methods’ must have included musketeers but the same source contradicts this suggesting handguns reached Western Africa only at a later time: "By the end of the eighteenth century, Mande blacksmiths were repairing imported firearms". [1] According to the Kano Chronicle muskets introduced in the early eighteenth century. [3] Firearms first introduced into West Africa "on a very small scale" in the 15th century. [4] By the end of the 17th century firearms "had been widely adopted on the Gold and Slave Coasts, were beginning to penetrate the forest states, and had reached Borno, Hausaland and elsewhere in the Sudan." [4]
[1]: (Koenig, Diarra and Sow 1998, 42) Dolores Koenig. Tieman Diarra. Moussa Sow. et al. 1998. Innovation and Individuality in African Development: Changing Production Strategies in Rural Mali. University of Michigan Press. Ann Arbor.
[2]: (El Hamel 2013, 147) Chouki El Hamel. 2013. Black Morocco: A History of Slavery, Race, and Islam. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
[3]: (Smith 1989, 79) Robert Sydney Smith. 1989. Warfare & Diplomacy in Pre-colonial West Africa. Second Edition. The University of Wisconsin Press. Madison.
[4]: (Smith 1989, 80) Robert Sydney Smith. 1989. Warfare & Diplomacy in Pre-colonial West Africa. Second Edition. The University of Wisconsin Press. Madison.
Not in this period: "By the end of the eighteenth century, Mande blacksmiths were repairing imported firearms ... and in the nineteenth century Samory’s smiths were able to copy the main types of weapons ... Modern breech-loading rifles reached West African markets during the 1870s". [1]
[1]: (Koenig, Diarra and Sow 1998, 42) Dolores Koenig. Tieman Diarra. Moussa Sow. et al. 1998. Innovation and Individuality in African Development: Changing Production Strategies in Rural Mali. University of Michigan Press. Ann Arbor.
Present but rarely used? Crossbow "was apparently in use among only a few of the forest peoples and seems to have been unknown in the savannah. No descriptions of this weapon have been found in the accounts of West African armament given by the early European and North African travellers, but a missionary report of a military review at Ijaye in 1861 refers to the carrying of ’great crossbows’ by some of the troops". [1]
[1]: (Smith 1989, 74) Robert Sydney Smith. 1989. Warfare & Diplomacy in Pre-colonial West Africa. Second Edition. The University of Wisconsin Press. Madison.
Were any of the bows used composite bows or were they all self-bows? Reference for pre-colonial West Africa: "conventional weapons (as opposed to firearms) continued to play an effective role in West African warfare until as late as the middle of the last century." (i.e. 19th century). [1] "In warfare bows and other missiles were mainly infantry weapons, as in Europe and the Middle East, but some cavalry - for example, that of the Oyo and of the nineteenth-century Adamawa - seem to have used bows, presumably shorter and more compact than those used by the infantry. Barth mentions seeing (to his surprise) a Borno archer on horseback, and both Benin and Yoruba sculpture show mounted archers." [2]
[1]: (Smith 1989, 80) Robert Sydney Smith. 1989. Warfare & Diplomacy in Pre-colonial West Africa. Second Edition. The University of Wisconsin Press. Madison.
[2]: (Smith 1989, 70) Robert Sydney Smith. 1989. Warfare & Diplomacy in Pre-colonial West Africa. Second Edition. The University of Wisconsin Press. Madison.
Reference for pre-colonial West Africa: "conventional weapons (as opposed to firearms) continued to play an effective role in West African warfare until as late as the middle of the last century." (i.e. 19th century). [1] Reference for pre-colonial West African warfare: "Among shock weapons, those decisive instruments in war, were the sword, club, lance, dagger, and fighting bracelet." [2]
[1]: (Smith 1989, 80) Robert Sydney Smith. 1989. Warfare & Diplomacy in Pre-colonial West Africa. Second Edition. The University of Wisconsin Press. Madison.
[2]: (Smith 1989, 64) Robert Sydney Smith. 1989. Warfare & Diplomacy in Pre-colonial West Africa. Second Edition. The University of Wisconsin Press. Madison.
Swords. [1] Reference for pre-colonial West African warfare: "Among shock weapons, those decisive instruments in war, were the sword, club, lance, dagger, and fighting bracelet." [2]
[1]: (Smith 1989, 79) Robert Sydney Smith. 1989. Warfare & Diplomacy in Pre-colonial West Africa. Second Edition. The University of Wisconsin Press. Madison.
[2]: (Smith 1989, 64) Robert Sydney Smith. 1989. Warfare & Diplomacy in Pre-colonial West Africa. Second Edition. The University of Wisconsin Press. Madison.
Reference for pre-colonial West Africa: "conventional weapons (as opposed to firearms) continued to play an effective role in West African warfare until as late as the middle of the last century." (i.e. 19th century). [1] "the lance was an integral and in some cases the major part of the weaponry of West African cavalry." [2]
[1]: (Smith 1989, 80) Robert Sydney Smith. 1989. Warfare & Diplomacy in Pre-colonial West Africa. Second Edition. The University of Wisconsin Press. Madison.
[2]: (Smith 1989, 68) Robert Sydney Smith. 1989. Warfare & Diplomacy in Pre-colonial West Africa. Second Edition. The University of Wisconsin Press. Madison.
Inferred from the absence of polearms in previous and subsequent polities in Niger Inland Delta. Reference for pre-colonial West Africa: "conventional weapons (as opposed to firearms) continued to play an effective role in West African warfare until as late as the middle of the last century." (i.e. 19th century). [1]
[1]: (Smith 1989, 80) Robert Sydney Smith. 1989. Warfare & Diplomacy in Pre-colonial West Africa. Second Edition. The University of Wisconsin Press. Madison.
Reference for pre-colonial West Africa: "conventional weapons (as opposed to firearms) continued to play an effective role in West African warfare until as late as the middle of the last century." (i.e. 19th century). [1] "Apart from swords, the warriors of West Africa carried a variety of similar but shorter weapons for stabbing, including European-style daggers." [2]
[1]: (Smith 1989, 80) Robert Sydney Smith. 1989. Warfare & Diplomacy in Pre-colonial West Africa. Second Edition. The University of Wisconsin Press. Madison.
[2]: (Smith 1989, 68) Robert Sydney Smith. 1989. Warfare & Diplomacy in Pre-colonial West Africa. Second Edition. The University of Wisconsin Press. Madison.
Reference for pre-colonial West Africa: "conventional weapons (as opposed to firearms) continued to play an effective role in West African warfare until as late as the middle of the last century." (i.e. 19th century). [1]
[1]: (Smith 1989, 80) Robert Sydney Smith. 1989. Warfare & Diplomacy in Pre-colonial West Africa. Second Edition. The University of Wisconsin Press. Madison.
Horses. [1] "After the Moroccans defeated Songhay, others, for example, the Bambara, began to adopt Moroccan fighting methods (Abitbol 1992, 312)." This included making greater use of cavalry. [2] "In warfare bows and other missiles were mainly infantry weapons, as in Europe and the Middle East, but some cavalry - for example, that of the Oyo and of the nineteenth-century Adamawa - seem to have used bows, presumably shorter and more compact than those used by the infantry. Barth mentions seeing (to his surprise) a Borno archer on horseback, and both Benin and Yoruba sculpture show mounted archers." [3]
[1]: (Smith 1989, 89) Robert Sydney Smith. 1989. Warfare & Diplomacy in Pre-colonial West Africa. Second Edition. The University of Wisconsin Press. Madison.
[2]: (Koenig, Diarra and Sow 1998, 42) Dolores Koenig. Tieman Diarra. Moussa Sow. et al. 1998. Innovation and Individuality in African Development: Changing Production Strategies in Rural Mali. University of Michigan Press. Ann Arbor.
[3]: (Smith 1989, 70) Robert Sydney Smith. 1989. Warfare & Diplomacy in Pre-colonial West Africa. Second Edition. The University of Wisconsin Press. Madison.
"As well as horses, there was some use of camels by the armies of the West and Central Sudan. ... They supplanted, or more probably supplemented, the droves of oxen, ponies, mules, and donkeys previously used for transport in Borno ..." [1]
[1]: (Smith 1989, 91) Robert Sydney Smith. 1989. Warfare & Diplomacy in Pre-colonial West Africa. Second Edition. The University of Wisconsin Press. Madison.
Inferred from the presence of camels in previous and subsequent polities in Niger Inland Delta. "As well as horses, there was some use of camels by the armies of the West and Central Sudan. ... They supplanted, or more probably supplemented, the droves of oxen, ponies, mules, and donkeys previously used for transport in Borno ... Camels were also well-adapted to scouting and skirmishing in the desert and semi-desert parts of the region as well as to carrying baggage ..." [1] Mercenaries?: "the desert Taureg were sought-after allies in the wars of the Sudan." [1] Seems unlikely, unless used as mercenaries.
[1]: (Smith 1989, 91) Robert Sydney Smith. 1989. Warfare & Diplomacy in Pre-colonial West Africa. Second Edition. The University of Wisconsin Press. Madison.
Reference for pre-colonial West Africa: at least until the introduction of firearms cavalry and infantry used shields which could be made from "hide, wood, and basketwork" and sometimes also covered in copper plate (Gold Coast region). [1]
[1]: (Smith 1989, 79) Robert Sydney Smith. 1989. Warfare & Diplomacy in Pre-colonial West Africa. Second Edition. The University of Wisconsin Press. Madison.
"Armour was apparently little used in the Western Sudan, though the Mossi cavalry for protective purposes assumed as much clothing as possible and provided leather and copper shields for the vulnerable parts of their mounts." [1] Reference for pre-colonial West Africa: at least until the introduction of firearms cavalry and infantry used shields. [2]
[1]: (Smith 1989, 78) Robert Sydney Smith. 1989. Warfare & Diplomacy in Pre-colonial West Africa. Second Edition. The University of Wisconsin Press. Madison.
[2]: (Smith 1989, 79) Robert Sydney Smith. 1989. Warfare & Diplomacy in Pre-colonial West Africa. Second Edition. The University of Wisconsin Press. Madison.
"Armour was apparently little used in the Western Sudan, though the Mossi cavalry for protective purposes assumed as much clothing as possible and provided leather and copper shields for the vulnerable parts of their mounts." [1] "In the late sixteenth century the Wolof cavalry were described as wearing a form of armour made from twisted cotton cloth which was resistant to arrows and spear thrusts." [1] Padded clothing. [2]
[1]: (Smith 1989, 78) Robert Sydney Smith. 1989. Warfare & Diplomacy in Pre-colonial West Africa. Second Edition. The University of Wisconsin Press. Madison.
[2]: (Smith 1989, 64) Robert Sydney Smith. 1989. Warfare & Diplomacy in Pre-colonial West Africa. Second Edition. The University of Wisconsin Press. Madison.
"No reliable tradition of the manufacture or systematic repair of mail seems to be preserved in West Africa, and it can be assumed that the whole supply came from outside the region." [1] Imported by Kanem during the 13th CE (Dunama Dibalemi) and by Mali in the 14th CE (Mansa Musa). According to tradition quilted and mail armour was first introduced by Sarki Kanajeji (c.1390-1410)." [1]
[1]: (Smith 1989, 79) Robert Sydney Smith. 1989. Warfare & Diplomacy in Pre-colonial West Africa. Second Edition. The University of Wisconsin Press. Madison.
Founder of the successor state, the Bambara Empire, Mamary Coulibaly used war canoes to fight and patrol the Niger River. [1] Reference for pre-colonial West African warfare: "Mobility was provided by the horse and other animals and by the canoe". [2] Reference for pre-colonial West Africa: The largest dug-out canoes could carry 100 men as well as their provisions. Others carried a few men, or a couple of dozen. [3]
[1]: (Blauer and Lauré 2008, 29) Ettagale Blauer. Jason Lauré. 2008. Cultures of the World Mali. Marshall Cavendish. New York.
[2]: (Smith 1989, 64) Robert Sydney Smith. 1989. Warfare & Diplomacy in Pre-colonial West Africa. Second Edition. The University of Wisconsin Press. Madison.
[3]: (Smith 1989, 91) Robert Sydney Smith. 1989. Warfare & Diplomacy in Pre-colonial West Africa. Second Edition. The University of Wisconsin Press. Madison.