1.
Sunni Islam
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Sunni Islam is the largest group of Islam. Its name comes from the word Sunnah, referring to the behavior of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. According to Sunni tradition, Muhammad did not clearly designate a successor and this contrasts with the Shia view, which holds that Muhammad intended his son-in-law and cousin Ali ibn Abi Talib to succeed him. Political tensions between Sunnis and Shias continued with varying intensity throughout Islamic history and they have been exacerbated in recent times by ethnic conflicts, as of 2009, Sunni Muslims constituted between 87–90% of the worlds Muslim population. Sunni Islam is the worlds largest religious denomination, followed by Catholicism and its adherents are referred to in Arabic as ahl as-sunnah wa l-jamāʻah or ahl as-sunnah for short. In English, its doctrines and practices are sometimes called Sunnism, while adherents are known as Sunni Muslims, Sunnis, Sunnites, Sunni Islam is sometimes referred to as orthodox Islam. The Quran, together with hadith and binding juristic consensus form the basis of all traditional jurisprudence within Sunni Islam, sunnī, also commonly referred to as Sunnīism, is a term derived from sunnah meaning habit, usual practice, custom, tradition. The Muslim use of this term refers to the sayings and living habits of the prophet Muhammad, in Arabic, this branch of Islam is referred to as ahl as-sunnah wa l-jamāʻah, the people of the sunnah and the community, which is commonly shortened to ahl as-sunnah. One common mistake is to assume that Sunni Islam represents a normative Islam that emerged during the period after Muhammads death, and that Sufism and Shiism developed out of Sunni Islam. This perception is due to the reliance on highly ideological sources that have been accepted as reliable historical works. Both Sunnism and Shiaism are the end products of centuries of competition between ideologies. Both sects used each other to further cement their own identities and doctrines, the first four caliphs are known among Sunnis as the Rashidun or Rightly-Guided Ones. Sunni recognition includes the aforementioned Abu Bakr as the first, Umar who established the Islamic calendar as the second, Uthman as the third, Sunnis believe that the companions of Muhammad were the best of Muslims. Support for this view is found in the Quran, according to Sunnis. Sunnis also believe that the companions were true believers since it was the companions who were given the task of compiling the Quran, furthermore, narrations that were narrated by the companions are considered by Sunnis to be a second source of knowledge of the Muslim faith. A study conducted by the Pew Research Center in 2010 and released January 2011 found that there are 1.62 billion Muslims around the world, Islam does not have a formal hierarchy or clergy. Leaders are informal, and gain influence through study to become a scholar of Islamic law, according to the Islamic Center of Columbia, South Carolina, anyone with the intelligence and the will can become an Islamic scholar. During Midday Mosque services on Fridays, the congregation will choose a person to lead the service
2.
Monarchy
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The actual power of the monarch may vary from purely symbolic, to partial and restricted, to completely autocratic. Traditionally and in most cases, the monarchs post is inherited and lasts until death or abdication, occasionally this might create a situation of rival claimants whose legitimacy is subject to effective election. Finally, there have been cases where the term of a reign is either fixed in years or continues until certain goals are achieved. Thus there are widely divergent structures and traditions defining monarchy, Monarchy was the most common form of government until the 19th century, but it is no longer prevalent. Currently,47 sovereign nations in the world have monarchs acting as heads of state,19 of which are Commonwealth realms that recognise Queen Elizabeth II as their head of state. The monarchs of Cambodia, Japan, and Malaysia reign, the word monarch comes from the Greek language word μονάρχης, monárkhēs which referred to a single, at least nominally absolute ruler. In current usage the word usually refers to a traditional system of hereditary rule. Depending on the held by the monarch, a monarchy may be known as a kingdom, principality, duchy, grand duchy, empire, tsardom, emirate, sultanate, khaganate. The form of societal hierarchy known as chiefdom or tribal kingship is prehistoric, the Greek term monarchia is classical, used by Herodotus. The monarch in classical antiquity is often identified as king, the Chinese, Japanese and Nepalese monarchs continued to be considered living Gods into the modern period. Since antiquity, monarchy has contrasted with forms of democracy, where power is wielded by assemblies of free citizens. In antiquity, monarchies were abolished in favour of such assemblies in Rome, much of 19th century politics was characterised by the division between anti-monarchist Radicalism and monarchist Conservativism. Many countries abolished the monarchy in the 20th century and became republics, advocacy of republics is called republicanism, while advocacy of monarchies is called monarchism. In the modern era, monarchies are more prevalent in small states than in large ones, most monarchs, both historically and in the modern day, have been born and brought up within a royal family, the centre of the royal household and court. Growing up in a family, future monarchs are often trained for the responsibilities of expected future rule. Different systems of succession have been used, such as proximity of blood, primogeniture, and agnatic seniority. While most monarchs have been male, many female monarchs also have reigned in history, rule may be hereditary in practice without being considered a monarchy, such as that of family dictatorships or political families in many democracies. The principal advantage of hereditary monarchy is the continuity of leadership
3.
Samori Ture
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Toure resisted French colonial rule in West Africa from 1882 until his capture in 1898. Samori Ture was the great-grandfather of Guineas first president, Sekou Toure, Samori Toure was born c.1830 in Manyambaladugu, the son of Dyula traders. He grew up as West Africa was being transformed through growing contacts and trade with the Europeans in commodities, artisan goods, European trade made some African trading states rich. The trade in firearms changed traditional West African patterns of warfare and heightened the severity of conflicts, early in his life, Ture converted to Islam. In 1848, Samores mother was captured in the course of war by Séré-Burlay, after arranging his mothers freedom, Samore entered into service to the Cissé, and learned to handle firearms. According to tradition, he remained seven years, seven months and he joined the Bérété army, the enemies of the Cissé, for two years before rejoining his people, the Kamara. Named Kélétigui at Dyala in 1861, Ture took an oath to protect his people against both the Bérété and the Cissé and he created a professional army and placed close relations, notably his brothers and his childhood friends, in positions of command. In 1864, El Hadj Umar Tall died, he had founded the aggressive Toucouleur Empire that dominated the Upper Niger River, as the Toucouleur state lost its grip on power, generals and local rulers vied to create states of their own. By 1867, Ture was a full-fledged war commander, with an army based at Sanankoro in the Guinea Highlands, on the Upper Milo, Ture had two major goals, to create an efficient, loyal fighting force equipped with modern firearms, and to build a stable state. By 1876, Samore was importing breech-loading rifles through the British colony of Freetown in Sierra Leone and he conquered the Buré gold mining district to bolster his financial situation. By 1878 he was enough to proclaim himself faama of his Wassoulou Empire. He made Bissandugu his capital and began political and commercial exchanges with the neighboring Toucouleur, in 1881, after numerous struggles, Ture secured control of the key Dyula trading center of Kankan, on the upper Milo River. Kankan was a center for the trade in nuts, and was well sited to dominate the trade routes in all directions. By 1881, the Wassoulou Empire extended through the territory of present-day Guinea and Mali, Ture conquered the numerous small tribal states around him and worked to secure his diplomatic position. He opened regular contacts with the British colonial administration in Sierra Leone and he also built a working relationship with the Fulbe Imamate of Futa Jallon. The French began to expand in West Africa in the late 1870s and they sought to drive southeast to link up with their bases in Côte dIvoire. These actions put them directly into conflict with Ture, in February 1882, a French expedition attacked one of Tures armies that was besieging Keniera. Ture drove off the French, but he was alarmed at the discipline and he approached dealing with the French in several ways
4.
Toucouleur Empire
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The Toucouleur Empire was founded in the mid-nineteenth century by El Hadj Umar Tall of the Toucouleur people, in part of present-day Mali. Umar Tall returned from the Hajj in 1836 with the titles of El Hadj, after a long stay in Fouta-Toro, he moved to Dinguiraye. This became the ground for his 1850 jihad. Following a decisive victory in the Battle of Segou on March 10,1861, a year later he left its management to his son Ahmadu Tall to move against Hamdullahi, the capital of the Fula empire of Massina. Umar Tall failed to conquer Timbuktu, and retreated to Deguembéré, in 1864, he died there in an explosion of his gunpowder reserves. His nephew Tidiani Tall succeeded him and installed the capital of the Toucouleur Empire at Bandiagara, at Segou, the son Ahmadu Tall continued to reign, successfully suppressing the attempts of several neighboring cities to break away. He came into increasing conflict with his brothers, in 1890, the French, allied with the Bambara, entered Ségou. Ahmadu Tall fled first to Massina and after his fall in 1893 to Sokoto in present-day Nigeria, Umar Tall Imamate of Futa Toro List of Sunni Muslim dynasties Davidson, Basil. New York, Simon & Schuster,1995, slavery and Colonial Rule in French West Africa. ISBN 978-0-391-00206-7 Roberts, Richard L. Warriors, Merchants, and Slaves, The State and the Economy in the Middle Niger Valley, 1700-1914, Stanford University Press,1987. ISBN 0-8047-1378-2 African Kingdoms A Map of the Toucouleur Empire
5.
Kong Empire
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It was founded by Dyula immigrants from the declining Mali Empire. It established a decentralized commercial empire based upon linkages by merchant houses protecting trade routes throughout the region. Kong rose to prominence in the 1800s as a key commercial center and center of Islamic studies, in 1898, Samori Ture attacked the city and burnt it down. Although the city was rebuilt, the Kong empire had dissipated, the area around Kong had been settled primarily by Gur-speaking agriculturalists, primarily the Senufo people and Tyefo people. Starting in the 16th century, Dyula speakers, an important branch of the Mandé, migrated from the declining Mali Empire into the area, the immigrants were largely Muslim while the Senufo and Tyefo populations were primarily animist. Bego was destroyed at some point and the Dyula residents moved to the city of Kong, the area became a site for expansion, raiding and warfare of a number of regional powers, mainly Gonja and Dagomba. In this context, a set of populations and a set of different war houses developed in the city of Kong. The documented history shows that in the early 1700s, Seku Wattara deposed and killed an important leader in Kong, Lasiri Gbambele, Seku used this consolidated power to control politics in Kong and create a large sphere of influence throughout the region. But the Senofo People founded Khorhogo, the capital of the Senofo People, oral history traditions provide additional details but vary greatly in their discussion of the founding of the Kong Empire. A common telling claims that Seku came from the town of Tenegala, Lasiri Gbambele was Sekus uncle through his father and a powerful leader in Kong. Although they were related, there was significant discord as a result of a dispute between Lasiri and Sekus father about the woman who would become Sekus mother and this oral tradition claims that in 1710 Lasiri used his power to suppress Islam in Kong and embrace the indigenous Nya cult. The crisis developed when Lasiri expelled a Muslim cleric from Kong, Lasiri was defeated and executed by Seku. The Kong Empire under Seku lasted from around 1710 until 1740, after establishing control over Kong, forces under Seku and allied leaders with their own war houses, took over towns and settlements throughout the region mainly focused on control of trade routes. They took over the region around the Black Volta to the north early during Sekus reign, to establish stable control, Seku appointed each of his twelve sons as chiefs of crucial settlements throughout the region. Seku died in 1735 and the empire fell into disarray. His son, Kere-Mori, asserted authority but Sekus brother Famaga refused to recognize his claim and so took control over parts of the northern settlements. Although there was a significant internal rivalry between the force of Kere-Mori and Famaga they were allied for external purposes and this was most crucial in the 1730 expeditions north of the Black Volta toward the Niger River. In November 1739, the forces took over a number of important cities including the trade post of Sofara
6.
French West Africa
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French West Africa was a federation of eight French colonial territories in Africa, Mauritania, Senegal, French Sudan, French Guinea, Ivory Coast, Upper Volta, Dahomey and Niger. The capital of the federation was Dakar, the federation existed from 1895 until 1960. Until after the Second World War almost all the Africans living in the colonies of France were not citizens of France, rather, they were French Subjects, lacking rights before the law, property ownership rights, rights to travel, dissent, or vote. Anyone able to prove they were born in these towns was legally French and they could vote in parliamentary elections, which had been previously dominated by white and Métis residents of Senegal. The Four Communes of Senegal were entitled to elect a Deputy to represent them in the French Parliament in the years 1848–1852, 1871–1876, in 1914, the first African, Blaise Diagne, was elected as the Deputy for Senegal in the French Parliament. In 1916, Diagne pushed through the National Assembly a law granting citizenship to all residents of the so-called Four Communes. In return, he had promised to help millions of Africans to fight in World War I. Thereafter, all black Africans of Dakar, Gorée, Saint-Louis and these conquered areas were usually governed by French Army officers, and dubbed Military Territories. The first Governor General of Senegal was named in 1895, and in 1904, Gabon would later become the seat of its own federation French Equatorial Africa, which was to border its western neighbor on the modern boundary between Niger and Chad. While the latter fell to Free France already after the Battle of Gabon in November 1940, following World War II, the French government began a process of extending limited political rights in its colonies. In 1945 the French Provisional Government allocated ten seats to French West Africa in the new Constituent Assembly called to write a new French Constitution, of these five would be elected by citizens and five by African subjects. The elections brought to prominence a new generation of French-educated Africans and they were all re-elected to the 2nd Constituent Assembly on 2 June 1946. In 1946, the Loi Lamine Guèye granted some limited rights to natives of the African colonies. The French Empire was renamed the French Union on 27 October 1946, in late 1946 under this new constitution each territory was for the first time able elect local representatives, albeit on a limited franchise, to newly established General Councils. These elected bodies had only limited powers, although they did approve local budgets. The Loi Cadre of 23 June 1956 brought universal suffrage to elections held after that date in all French African colonies, the first elections under universal suffrage in French West Africa were the municipal elections of late 1956. On 31 March 1957, under universal suffrage, territorial Assembly elections were held in each of the eight colonies, the leaders of the winning parties were appointed to the newly instituted positions of Vice-Presidents of the respective Governing Councils — French Colonial Governors remained as Presidents. The Constitution of the French Fifth Republic of 1958 again changed the structure of the colonies from the French Union to the French Community, each territory was to become a Protectorate, with the consultative assembly named a National Assembly
7.
Sierra Leone Colony and Protectorate
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The history of Sierra Leone began when the land became inhabited by indigenous African peoples at least 2,500 years ago. Sierra Leone was founded by a famous Portuguese sailor named Pedro de Sintra, Sierra Leone has played a significant part in modern African political liberty and nationalism, and became independent from the United Kingdom in 1961. Queen Elizabeth II declared that Sierra Leone would be part of the commonwealth, the Afro-European colony was founded by a British organization for freed American slaves on March 11,1792. There were about 1,192 African Americans who were relocated from Nova Scotia to Sierra Leone following the American Revolutionary War, the residents, including women, voted that year for the first time in elections for their officers. The people named this city Freetown, later other liberated slaves also settled at Freetown. The descendants of the waves of black settlers were collectively referred to as the Creoles or Krios. Archaeological finds show that Sierra Leone has been inhabited continuously for at least 2,500 years, the use of iron was introduced to Sierra Leone by the 9th century, and by AD1000 agriculture was being practiced by coastal tribes. Sierra Leones dense tropical rainforest partly isolated the land from other precolonial African cultures, European contacts with Sierra Leone were among the first in West Africa. In 1462 Portuguese explorer Pedro de Sintra mapped the hills surrounding what is now Freetown Harbor, at this time the country was inhabited by numerous politically independent native groups. Several different languages were spoken, but there was similarity of religion, in the hilly savannah north of all of these lands were the Susu and Fula tribes. The Susu traded regularly with the peoples along river valley routes, bringing salt, clothes woven by the Fula, quality iron work. Portuguese ships began visiting regularly in the late 15th century, the estuary is one of the few good harbors on West Africas surf-battered Windward Shore, and also has access to clean drinking water. It soon became a destination of European mariners. Some of the Portuguese sailors stayed permanently, trading and intermarrying with the local people, when Europeans first arrived at Sierra Leone, slavery among the African peoples of the area was rare. According to historian Walter Rodney, the Portuguese mariners kept detailed reports, if the Africans were not much interested in acquiring slaves, the Portuguese—as well as the Dutch, French, and English who arrived later—certainly were. Initially their method was to cruise the coast, conducting quick kidnapping raids when opportunities presented themselves and this early slaving was essentially an export business. The use of slaves as laborers by the local Africans appears to have developed only later, the existence of an indigenous slave town was recorded by an English traveler in 1823. Known in the Fula language as a rounde, it was connected with the Sulima Susus capital city, weak or sick individuals would not be bought
8.
West Africa
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West Africa, also called Western Africa and the West of Africa, is the westernmost subregion of Africa. Early human settlers from northern Holocene societies arrived in West Africa around 12,000 B. C, sedentary farming began in, or around the fifth millennium B. C, as well as the domestication of cattle. By 1500 B. C, ironworking technology allowed an expansion of productivity. Northern tribes developed walled settlements and non-walled settlements that numbered at 400, in the forest region, Iron Age cultures began to flourish, and an inter-region trade began to appear. The desertification of the Sahara and the change of the coast cause trade with upper Mediterranean peoples to be seen. Local leather, cloth, and gold also contributed to the abundance of prosperity for many of the following empires. Also, based on the archaeology of city of Kumbi Saleh in modern-day Mauritania, three great kingdoms were identified in Bilad al-Sudan by the ninth century. They included Ghana, Gao and Kanem, the Sosso Empire sought to fill the void, but was defeated by the Mandinka forces of Sundiata Keita, founder of the new Mali Empire. In the 15th century, the Songhai would form a new dominant state based on Gao, in the Songhai Empire, under the leadership of Sonni Ali, further east, Oyo arose as the dominant Yoruba state and the Aro Confederacy as a dominant Igbo state in modern-day Nigeria. The Kingdom of Nri was a West African medieval state in the present-day southeastern Nigeria, the Kingdom of Nri was unusual in the history of world government in that its leader exercised no military power over his subjects. The kingdom existed as a sphere of religious and political influence over a third of Igboland, the Eze Nri managed trade and diplomacy on behalf of the Nri people, and possessed divine authority in religious matters. The Oyo Empire was a Yoruba empire of what is today Western, established in the 15th century, the Oyo Empire grew to become one of the largest West African states. It rose through the organizational skills of the Yoruba, wealth gained from trade. The Benin Empire was an empire located in what is now southern Nigeria. Its capital was Edo, now known as Benin City, Edo and it should not be confused with the modern-day country called Benin, formerly called Dahomey. The Benin Empire was one of the oldest and most highly developed states in the hinterland of West Africa. Olfert Dapper, a Dutch writer, describing Benin in his book Description of Africa and its craft was the most adored and treasured bronze casting in the history of Africa. It was annexed by the British Empire in 1897 during the invasion, in the early 19th century, a series of Fulani reformist jihads swept across Western Africa
9.
Mandinka people
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The Mandinka is a West African ethnic group with an estimated global population of eleven million. The Mandinka are the descendants of the Mali Empire, which rose to power under the rule of the Malinké/Maninka king Sundiata Keita, the Mandinka are a one ethnic group within the larger linguistic family of the Mandé peoples, who account for more than twenty million people. Originally from Mali, the Mandinka gained their independence from previous empires in the 13th century and they migrated west from the Niger River in search of better agricultural lands and more opportunities for conquest. Through a series of conflicts, the Fula jihads, particularly the Fula-led Imamate of Futa Jallon, over 99% of Mandinka in contemporary Africa are Muslim. The Mandinka people live primarily in West Africa, particularly in The Gambia, major populations of the Mandinka people also live in Mali, Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Liberia, Guinea-Bissau, Niger and Mauritania. Although widespread, in most countries, the Mandingo are not the largest ethnic group, most Mandingos live in family-related compounds in traditional rural villages, their traditional society has featured socially stratified castes. Mandinka communities have been fairly autonomous and self-ruled, being led by a chief, Mandingo has been an oral society where mythologies, history and knowledge is verbally transmitted from one generation to next. Between the 16th and 19th century, many Muslim and non-Muslim Mandinka people and these intermixed, creating a Creole culture, with the Mandika people significantly influencing the African heritage peoples now found in the Caribbean, Brazil and the southern United States. The Mandés were initially a part of many fragmented kingdoms that formed after the collapse of Ghana empire in the 11th century, during the rule of Sundiata Keita, these kingdoms were consolidated, and the Mandinka expanded west from the Niger River basin under Sundiatas general Tiramakhan Traore. This expansion was a part of creating a region of conquest and this migration began in the later part of the 13th century. Another group of Mandinka people, under Faran Kamara – the son of the king of Tabou – expanded southeast of Mali, with the migration, many gold artisans and metal working Mandinka smiths settled along the coast and in the hilly Fouta Djallon and plateau areas of West Africa. Their presence and products attracted Mandika merchants and brought trading caravans from north Africa and it also brought conflicts with other ethnic groups, such as the Wolof people, particularly the Jolof Empire. The caravan trade to North Africa and Middle East brought Islamic people into Mandinka peoples original, the Muslim traders sought presence in the host Mandinka community, and this likely initiated proselytizing efforts to convert the Mandinka from their traditional religious beliefs into Islam. In Ghana, for example, the Almoravids had divided its capital into two parts by 1077, one part was Muslim and other non-Muslim, the Muslim influence from North Africa had arrived in the Mandinka region before this, via Islamic trading diasporas. In 1324, Sultan Mansa Musa who ruled Mali, went on Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca with caravan carrying gold. Shihab al-Umari, the Arabic historian, described his visit and stated that Musa built mosques in his kingdom, established Islamic prayers and took back Maliki school of Sunni jurists with him. According to Richard Turner – a professor of African American Religious History, Musa was highly influential in attracting North African, the Mandinka people of Mali converted early, but those who migrated to the west did not convert and retained their traditional religious rites. One of the legends among the Mandingo of western Africa is that the general Tiramakhan Traore led the migration, because people in Mali had converted to Islam, another legend gives a contrasting account, and states that Traore himself had converted and married Muhammads grand daughter
10.
France
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France, officially the French Republic, is a country with territory in western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The European, or metropolitan, area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, Overseas France include French Guiana on the South American continent and several island territories in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. France spans 643,801 square kilometres and had a population of almost 67 million people as of January 2017. It is a unitary republic with the capital in Paris. Other major urban centres include Marseille, Lyon, Lille, Nice, Toulouse, during the Iron Age, what is now metropolitan France was inhabited by the Gauls, a Celtic people. The area was annexed in 51 BC by Rome, which held Gaul until 486, France emerged as a major European power in the Late Middle Ages, with its victory in the Hundred Years War strengthening state-building and political centralisation. During the Renaissance, French culture flourished and a colonial empire was established. The 16th century was dominated by civil wars between Catholics and Protestants. France became Europes dominant cultural, political, and military power under Louis XIV, in the 19th century Napoleon took power and established the First French Empire, whose subsequent Napoleonic Wars shaped the course of continental Europe. Following the collapse of the Empire, France endured a succession of governments culminating with the establishment of the French Third Republic in 1870. Following liberation in 1944, a Fourth Republic was established and later dissolved in the course of the Algerian War, the Fifth Republic, led by Charles de Gaulle, was formed in 1958 and remains to this day. Algeria and nearly all the colonies became independent in the 1960s with minimal controversy and typically retained close economic. France has long been a centre of art, science. It hosts Europes fourth-largest number of cultural UNESCO World Heritage Sites and receives around 83 million foreign tourists annually, France is a developed country with the worlds sixth-largest economy by nominal GDP and ninth-largest by purchasing power parity. In terms of household wealth, it ranks fourth in the world. France performs well in international rankings of education, health care, life expectancy, France remains a great power in the world, being one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council with the power to veto and an official nuclear-weapon state. It is a member state of the European Union and the Eurozone. It is also a member of the Group of 7, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Trade Organization, originally applied to the whole Frankish Empire, the name France comes from the Latin Francia, or country of the Franks
11.
Colonialism
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Colonialism is the establishment of a colony in one territory by a political power from another territory, and the subsequent maintenance, expansion, and exploitation of that colony. The term is used to describe a set of unequal relationships between the colonial power and the colony and often between the colonists and the indigenous peoples. The European colonial period was the era from the 16th century to the century when several European powers established colonies in Asia, Africa. At first the countries followed a policy of mercantilism, designed to strengthen the economy at the expense of rivals. By the mid-19th century, however, the powerful British Empire gave up mercantilism and trade restrictions and introduced the principle of free trade, collins English Dictionary defines colonialism as the policy and practice of a power in extending control over weaker peoples or areas. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary offers four definitions, including something characteristic of a colony, in the book, Osterhammel asks, How can colonialism be defined independently from colony. He settles on a definition, Colonialism is a relationship between an indigenous majority and a minority of foreign invaders. The fundamental decisions affecting the lives of the people are made. Rejecting cultural compromises with the population, the colonizers are convinced of their own superiority. Historians often distinguish between two overlapping forms of colonialism, Settler colonialism involves large-scale immigration, often motivated by religious, political, exploitation colonialism involves fewer colonists and focuses on access to resources for export, typically to the metropole. Surrogate colonialism involves a settlement project supported by a colonial power, internal colonialism is a notion of uneven structural power between areas of a state. The source of exploitation comes from within the state, as colonialism often played out in pre-populated areas, sociocultural evolution included the formation of various ethnically hybrid populations. In fact, everywhere where colonial powers established a consistent and continued presence, notable examples in Asia include the Anglo-Burmese, Anglo-Indian, Burgher, Eurasian Singaporean, Filipino mestizo, Kristang and Macanese peoples. In the Dutch East Indies the vast majority of Dutch settlers were in fact Eurasians known as Indo-Europeans, the Other, or othering is the process of creating a separate entity to persons or groups who are labelled as different or non-normal due to the repetition of characteristics. Othering is the creation from those who discriminate, to distinguish, label, several scholars in recent decades developed the notion of the other as an epistemological concept in social theory. For example, postcolonial scholars, believed that colonizing powers explained an ‘other’ who were there to dominate, civilize, political geographers explain how colonial/ imperial powers othered places they wanted to dominate to legalize their exploitation of the land. During the rise of colonialism and after, post colonialism, the Western powers perspectives of the East as the other, different and this viewpoint and separation of culture had divided the Eastern and Western culture creating a dominant/ subordinate dynamic, both being the other towards themselves. The word metropole comes from the Greek metropolis —mother city, the word colony comes from the Latin colonia—a place for agriculture
12.
Bandiagara
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Bandiagara is a small town and urban commune in the Mopti Region of Mali. The name translates roughly to large eating bowl—referring to the communal meals are served in. Bandiagara is 65 km east-southeast of Mopti, a seasonal river, the Yamé, flows in a northeasterly direction through the town. The population includes a number of different ethnic groups including Dogons, Fulani, Bandiagara is said to have been founded in 1770 by Nangabanu Tembély, a Dogon hunter. In 1864, Tidiani Tall, El Hadj Umar Talls nephew and successor and it is the birthplace of Malian authors Amadou Hampâté Bâ and Yambo Ouologuem. In the music video for the song Reset by Three Trapped Tigers it is shown as the location of an alien rune, Bandiagara Escarpment Ounjougou Union of the Populations of Bandiagara This article was originally based on the corresponding article in the French Wikipedia, accessed April 9,2005. Additional reference was made to this article on Dec.14,2006, SBN391002066 UNESCO site about the Cliff of Bandiagara Dogon Country
13.
Guinea
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Guinea /ˈɡɪni/, officially the Republic of Guinea, is a country on the West coast of Africa. Guinea has a population of 10.5 million and an area of 245,860 square kilometres, the president is directly elected by the people and is head of state and head of government. The unicameral Guinean National Assembly is the body of the country. The judicial branch is led by the Guinea Supreme Court, the highest, the country is named after the Guinea region. Guinea is a name for the region of Africa that lies along the Gulf of Guinea. It stretches north through the tropical regions and ends at the Sahel. Guinea is a predominantly Islamic country, with Muslims representing 85 percent of the population, Guineas people belong to twenty-four ethnic groups. French, the language of Guinea, is the main language of communication in schools, in government administration, and the media. Guineas economy is dependent on agriculture and mineral production. It is the second largest producer of bauxite, and has rich deposits of diamonds. The country was at the core of the 2014 Ebola outbreak, human rights in Guinea remain a controversial issue. In 2011 the United States government claimed that torture by security forces, the land that is now Guinea belonged to a series of African empires until France colonized it in the 1890s, and made it part of French West Africa. Guinea declared its independence from France on 2 October 1958, from independence until the presidential election of 2010, Guinea was governed by a number of autocratic rulers. What is now Guinea was on the fringes of the major West African empires, the Ghana Empire is believed to be the earliest of these which grew on trade but contracted and ultimately fell due to the hostile influence of the Almoravids. It was in period that Islam first arrived in the region. The Mali Empire was ruled by Mansa, the most famous being Kankou Moussa, shortly after his reign the Mali Empire began to decline and was ultimately supplanted by its vassal states in the 15th century. The most successful of these was the Songhai Empire, which expanded its power from about 1460 and it continued to prosper until a civil war over succession followed the death of Askia Daoud in 1582. The weakened empire fell to invaders from Morocco at the Battle of Tondibi just three years later, the Moroccans proved unable to rule the kingdom effectively, however, and it split into many small kingdoms
14.
Wassoulou
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Wassoulou is a cultural area and historical region in the Wassoulou River Valley of West Africa. It is home to about 160,000 people, and is also the land of the Wassoulou genre of music. Wassoulou surrounds the point where the borders of three countries meet, Mali, Côte dIvoire, and Guinea. It includes portions of southwestern Mali, northwestern Côte dIvoire, and it is bordered by the Niger River to the northwest, and by the Sankarani River to the east. The name Wassoulou is alternately spelled Wassulu, Wassalou, and Ouassalou, Wassoulou is best known internationally as the birthplace of Wassoulou music, a style which blends traditional and modern influences with strong female vocalists and a pentatonic hunters harp. Some of the most famous residents of Wassoulou include the singers Oumou Sangare, Ramata Diakite, wassoulous cultural importance is reflected in the development of internet resources, and the creation of Radio Wassoulou broadcasting from Yanfolila. Wassoulou is also a dialect of the Eastern Maninkakan language, and is related to Kankan Mandinka. Speakers of Wassoulou number some 73,500 in Guinea, with 41,200 speakers estimated in Mali, in the far northwest of Côte dIvoire there are some 21,000 Wassoulou speakers, where it is related to Wojenaka Maninka. Inhabitants are known as Wassulu, Wassulunka or Wassulunke, the Wassoulou area is a center for the mingling of several ethnic groups. There are also populations of Malinke peoples native to Wassoulou. Wassoulou is also the name of an Islamic state, the Wassoulou Empire, ruled by Samori Ture and centered on his capital, Bissandugu. In 1870, Samori overthrew an older Wassoulou state within the Kingdom of Kénédougou, whose faama was Dyanabufarina Modi, and expanded his empire from there, taking the Wassoulou name. While the history of the Mandinka Wassoulou states remain unclear, the kingdoms of Kenedugu and Wassulu existed from at least the 1650s CE, benefiting from gold mining. Wassoulou music Wassoulou Empire Sikasso Region Manding languages Mandinka people Fula people Mandinka and Bamanankan in Gordon, ethnologue, Languages of the World, Fifteenth edition. Échange école Joliot Curie, école Wassoulou, Février 2007, Joint French - Malian Education Project, in the villages of Guéna, Djélibany, portrait of the most famous Female Griot from Wassoulou, Oumou Sangaré, Abidjan. net. Geekcorps Mali » First digitally created broadcast from Radio Wassoulou - Yanfolila, launch of the internet connection in Yanfolila USAID,29 January 2005. Le Président de la République du Mali, Visit to Wassoulou,2006 PLAN DE SECURITE ALIMENTAIRE COMMUNE RURALE DE WASSOULOU BALLE, projet de Mobilisation des Initiatives en matière de Sécurité Alimentaire au Mali,2006. Etude diagnostique pour le Marketing Social de l’Hygiène et de l’Assainissement dans les villes de Bougouni et de Yanfolila, Helvetas Mali - ASP-EAU, December 2004
15.
Mali
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Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mali is the eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of just over 1,240,000 square kilometres, the population of Mali is 14.5 million. The countrys economy centers on agriculture and fishing, some of Malis prominent natural resources include gold, being the third largest producer of gold in the African continent, and salt. About half the population lives below the poverty line of $1.25 a day. A majority of the population are Muslims, present-day Mali was once part of three West African empires that controlled trans-Saharan trade, the Ghana Empire, the Mali Empire, and the Songhai Empire. During its golden age, there was a flourishing of mathematics, astronomy, literature, at its peak in 1300, the Mali Empire covered an area about twice the size of modern-day France and stretched to the west coast of Africa. In the late 19th century, during the Scramble for Africa, France seized control of Mali, French Sudan joined with Senegal in 1959, achieving independence in 1960 as the Mali Federation. Shortly thereafter, following Senegals withdrawal from the federation, the Sudanese Republic declared itself the independent Republic of Mali. After a long period of one-party rule, a coup in 1991 led to the writing of a new constitution and the establishment of Mali as a democratic, multi-party state. In January 2012, a conflict broke out in northern Mali, in which Tuareg rebels took control of by April and declared the secession of a new state. The conflict was complicated by a coup that took place in March. In response to Islamist territorial gains, the French military launched Opération Serval in January 2013, a month later, Malian and French forces recaptured most of the north. Presidential elections were held on 28 July 2013, with a second round held on 11 August. The name Mali is taken from the name of the Mali Empire, the name was originally derived from the Mandinka or Bambara word mali, meaning “hippopotamus”, but it eventually came to mean the place where the king lives. The word carries the connotation of strength, D. Niane suggests in Sundiata, An Epic of Old Mali that it is not impossible that Mali was the name given to one of the capitals of the emperors. 14th century Moroccan traveller Ibn Battuta reported that the capital of the Mali Empire was indeed called Mali and this name could have formerly been that of a city. In old Mali there is one village called Malikoma which means “New Mali. ”Another theory suggests that Mali is a Fulani pronunciation of the name of the Mande peoples. It is suggested that a sound shift led to the change, whereby in Fulani the alveolar segment /nd/ shifts to /l/, Mali was once part of three famed West African empires which controlled trans-Saharan trade in gold, salt, slaves, and other precious commodities
16.
Kankan
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Kankan is the largest city in Guinea in land area, and the third largest in population, with a population of 193,830 people as of 2014. The city is located on the Milo River in eastern Guinea, the population of the city is largely from the Mande ethnic group. Kankan serves as the capital and largest city of Kankan Prefecture, Kankan was founded by the Mandingo people in the 17th century after which it became an important trading centre, particularly for kola nuts, and the capital of the Baté Empire. The population of the city is predominantly from the Mandinka ethnic group, the French explorer René Caillié spent a month in Kankan in 1827 on his journey from Boké, in present-day Guinea, to Djenné and Timbuktu in Mali. He arrived with a caravan transporting kola nuts and he described the visit in his book Travels through Central Africa to Timbuctoo. The town had a population of 6,000 inhabitants and was an important commercial centre with a market three times a week. Instead of having a surrounding mud wall, the town was defended by a quickset hedge, instead Caillié left the town heading east in the direction of Minignan in the Ivory Coast. The town was conquered by Samory Touré in 1881 and occupied by the French in 1891, the town is known for its university, for its religious scholars and its mango trees. It is home to the Kankan Airport and it is between a fourteen- and eighteen-hour drive from Conakry, due to the poor condition of the road. It also has one of the oldest mosques in West Africa, the Mandingo cultural site Gberedou/Hamana is located about 40 km to the northeast. Kankan is the terminus of the lightduty narrow gauge railway from Conakry, the N1 highway connects the city with Nzerekore in the south. In addition, the town is served by Kankan Airport
17.
Sierra Leone
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Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Guinea to the north-east, Liberia to the south-east, Sierra Leone has a tropical climate, with a diverse environment ranging from savannah to rainforests. Sierra Leone has an area of 71,740 km2. Sierra Leone is divided into four regions, the Northern Province, Eastern Province, Southern Province and the Western Area. Freetown is the capital, largest city and its economic and political centre, Bo is the second largest city. The other major cities are Kenema, Makeni and Koidu Town, Sierra Leone is a constitutional republic with a directly elected president and a unicameral legislature. Sir Milton Margai built his government based on democratic principles. Throughout his time in power, Sir Milton Margai was very popular across Sierra Leone, the main opposition APC, led by its leader Siaka Stevens, narowly defeated the ruling SLPP under the leadership of Albert Margai in the 1964 general elections. Stevens ruled for eighteen years in a government, in which his critics. Soldiers and politicians convicted of plotting a coup to topple Stevens were executed, under president Stevens, the APC was made the only legal political party in Sierra Leone, and all other political parties were banned, including the main opposition. Stevens handpicked successor, retired major general Joseph Saidu Momoh, lacked the political dominance of Stevens, Momoh reestablished the country as a multi party democracy in 1991. The current constitution of Sierra Leone was adopted in 1991 during the presidency of Joseph Saidu Momoh, the rebels started the civil war in 1991 in the eastern part of the country during Momohs presidency. Momoh was very unpopular, and Public anger against the Momoh government increasingly grew due to corruption, poor economy. In 1992 a group of officers in the army led by a 25-year-old captain, Valentine Strasser. In 1996 during the war, another military coup of soldiers within Strassers inner circle, led by a 32 year old Brigadier General Julius Maada Bio, toppled Strasser. Since independent to present, Sierra Leones politics has been dominated by two political parties, the Sierra Leone Peoples Party and the All Peoples congress. From 1991 to 2002, the Sierra Leone civil war was fought and this proxy war left more than 50,000 people dead, much of the countrys infrastructure destroyed, and over two million people displaced as refugees in neighbouring countries. In January 2002, then Sierra Leones president Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, fulfilled his promise by ending the civil war, with help by the British Government, ECOWAS
18.
Ivory Coast
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Ivory Coast or Côte dIvoire, officially the Republic of Côte dIvoire, is a country located in West Africa. Ivory Coasts political capital is Yamoussoukro, and its economic capital and its bordering countries are Guinea and Liberia in the west, Burkina Faso and Mali in the north, and Ghana in the east. The Gulf of Guinea is located south of Ivory Coast, prior to its colonization by Europeans, Ivory Coast was home to several states, including Gyaaman, the Kong Empire, and Baoulé. Two Anyi kingdoms, Indénié and Sanwi, attempted to retain their identity through the French colonial period. Ivory Coast became a protectorate of France in 1843–1844 and was formed into a French colony in 1893 amid the European scramble for Africa. Ivory Coast achieved independence in 1960, led by Félix Houphouët-Boigny, the country maintained close political and economic association with its West African neighbors while at the same time maintaining close ties to the West, especially France. Since the end of Houphouët-Boignys rule in 1993, Ivory Coast has experienced one coup détat, in 1999, the first took place between 2002 and 2007 and the second during 2010-2011. As a result, in 2000, the adopted a new Constitution. Ivory Coast is a republic with an executive power invested in its President. Through the production of coffee and cocoa, the country was a powerhouse in West Africa during the 1960s and 1970s. Ivory Coast went through a crisis in the 1980s, contributing to a period of political and social turmoil. Changing into the 21st-century Ivorian economy is largely market-based and still heavily on agriculture. The official language is French, with indigenous languages also widely used, including Baoulé, Dioula, Dan, Anyin. In total there are around 78 languages spoken in Ivory Coast, popular religions include Islam, Christianity, and various indigenous religions. Originally, Portuguese and French merchant-explorers in the 15th and 16th centuries divided the west coast of Africa, very roughly, there was also a Pepper Coast also known as the Grain Coast, a Gold Coast, and a Slave Coast. Like those, the name Ivory Coast reflected the major trade occurred on that particular stretch of the coast. One can find the name Cote de Dents regularly used in older works and it was used in Ducketts Dictionnaire and by Nicolas Villault de Bellefond, for examples, although Antoine François Prévost used Côte dIvoire. In the 19th century, usage switched to Côte dIvoire and it retained the name through French rule and independence in 1960
19.
Artillery
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Artillery is a class of large military weapons built to fire munitions far beyond the range and power of infantrys small arms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach fortifications, and led to heavy, as technology improved, lighter, more mobile field artillery developed for battlefield use. This development continues today, modern self-propelled artillery vehicles are highly mobile weapons of great versatility providing the largest share of an armys total firepower, in its earliest sense, the word artillery referred to any group of soldiers primarily armed with some form of manufactured weapon or armour. In common speech, the artillery is often used to refer to individual devices, along with their accessories and fittings. However, there is no generally recognised generic term for a gun, howitzer, mortar, and so forth, the United States uses artillery piece, the projectiles fired are typically either shot or shell. Shell is a widely used term for a projectile, which is a component of munitions. By association, artillery may also refer to the arm of service that customarily operates such engines, in the 20th Century technology based target acquisition devices, such as radar, and systems, such as sound ranging and flash spotting, emerged to acquire targets, primarily for artillery. These are usually operated by one or more of the artillery arms, Artillery originated for use against ground targets—against infantry, cavalry and other artillery. An early specialist development was coastal artillery for use against enemy ships, the early 20th Century saw the development of a new class of artillery for use against aircraft, anti-aircraft guns. Artillery is arguably the most lethal form of land-based armament currently employed, the majority of combat deaths in the Napoleonic Wars, World War I, and World War II were caused by artillery. In 1944, Joseph Stalin said in a speech that artillery was the God of War, although not called as such, machines performing the role recognizable as artillery have been employed in warfare since antiquity. The first references in the historical tradition begin at Syracuse in 399 BC. From the Middle Ages through most of the era, artillery pieces on land were moved by horse-drawn gun carriages. In the contemporary era, the artillery and crew rely on wheeled or tracked vehicles as transportation, Artillery used by naval forces has changed significantly also, with missiles replacing guns in surface warfare. The engineering designs of the means of delivery have likewise changed significantly over time, in some armies, the weapon of artillery is the projectile, not the equipment that fires it. The process of delivering fire onto the target is called gunnery, the actions involved in operating the piece are collectively called serving the gun by the detachment or gun crew, constituting either direct or indirect artillery fire. The term gunner is used in armed forces for the soldiers and sailors with the primary function of using artillery. The gunners and their guns are usually grouped in teams called either crews or detachments, several such crews and teams with other functions are combined into a unit of artillery, usually called a battery, although sometimes called a company
20.
Sikasso
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Sikasso is a city in the south of Mali and the capital of the Sikasso Cercle and the Sikasso Region. It is Malis second largest city with 225,753 residents in the 2009 census, sikassos ethnic groups include the Senufo Bamana, the Bobo, and the Minianka. Sikassos fruit and vegetable production guarantees the citys self-sufficiency, sparing it from reliance on food aid. Sikasso was founded at the beginning of the century by Mansa Douala. The town was a village until 1876 when Tieba Traoré, whose mother came from Sikasso, became King of the Kénédougou Empire. He established his palace on the sacred Mamelon hill and constructed a tata or fortifying wall to defend against the attacks of both the Malinke conqueror Samori Ture and the French colonial army. Attractions today include the market, Mamelon hill, the remains of Tieba Traorés tata. The festival Triangle du balafon takes place every June, celebrating the traditional Malian instrument, sikassos sister city is Brive-la-Gaillarde, France. Sikasso receives just under 1,200 millimetres of rain each year, august is both the wettest and the coolest month. The highest temperatures are reached at the end of the dry season in March, list of cities in Mali Portions of this article were translated from French language Wikipedias Sikasso. Plan de Sécurité Alimentaire Commune Urbaine de Sikasso 2007-2011, Commissariat à la Sécurité Alimentaire, ecoloc - Gérer léconomie localement en Afrique - Evaluation et prospective, Volume 1, Number 2, Décembre 2002, pp. 1–18
21.
Henri Gouraud (general)
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Henri Joseph Eugène Gouraud was a French general, best known for his leadership of the French Fourth Army at the end of the First World War. Henri Gouraud was born on Rue de Grenelle in Paris on 17 November 1867 to Doctor Xavier Gouraud and Mary Portal, the Gouraud family originally came from Vendée, but had left during the French Revolution for Angers, then Paris. Gouraud was educated at home and at the Collège Stanislas de Paris and his decision for a military career was, like many Frenchmen of his generation, motivated by the French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War. Gouraud entered the Saint Cyr Military Academy in 1888 as part of the “Grand Triomphe” promotion and he graduated in 1890 and joined the Troupes de marine. He expected to be posted overseas as the Troupes de marine served in the French colonial empire, Gouraud respected his fathers wish and was instead posted to the 21st Foot Chasseur Regiment at Montbéliard. Henri Gouraud was assigned in 1894 to French Sudan and he developed a reputation as an effective if lucky commander. In 1898, he was ordered to one of a number of units fighting Samori. Driven into the south of Niger River valley by a series of previous defeats. On 29 September 1898, Gourauds unit stumbled upon Samoris encampment, more importantly, it marked the end of the last large state opposing French colonialism in the West. The capture of Samori made Henri Gouraud a celebrated figure in France, the young captain was feted in the highest political circles of Paris, where he was introduced to powerful businessmen and politicians with interests in the colonial project. Among them were Auguste dArenberg and Eugène Étienne, future founders of what was called the parti colonial, thanks to the patronage of the parti colonial, Henri Gouraud pursued a career across French Africa for the next fifteen years, with postings in Niger, Chad and Mauritania. In 1911, after attending the centre des Hautes études militaires in France, colonel Gouraud was stationed in Morocco and he was placed in command of the Fez military region, and from 1914 to 1915 in command of all French colonial troops in western Morocco. In mid-1915 he served as commander of the French Expeditionary Corps that was committed to the Dardanelles Campaign and he was wounded on 30 June, and subsequently lost his right arm. On 22 November 1918, he entered the city of Strasbourg, after the war, Gouraud served from 1919 to 1923 as representative of the French Government in the Middle East and commander of the French Army of the Levant. As commander of French forces during Franco-Turkish war, he presided over the creation of the French Mandates in Syria, between 20 January and 10 February 1920 Gourauds troops were moved north to support forces in the Franco-Turkish War. Gouraud directed the suppression of a rising of Turkish National Forces at the Battle of Marash which led to the withdrawal of French troops back to Syria, there, Gourauds ongoing attempt to control King Faisal came to a head. These territories were reorganised a number of times by Gourauds decrees, Gouraud became the French High Commissioner in Syria and Lebanon, effective head of the colonial government there. He is remembered in the Levant primarily for this role, following the Battle of Maysalun, Gouraud reportedly went to the tomb of Saladin, kicked it, and said, Awake, Saladin
22.
Gabon
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Gabon, officially the Gabonese Republic, is a sovereign state on the west coast of Central Africa. Located on the equator, Gabon is bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, the Republic of the Congo on the east and south, and the Gulf of Guinea to the west. It has an area of nearly 270,000 square kilometres and its capital and largest city is Libreville. Since its independence from France in 1960, Gabon has had three presidents, in the early 1990s, Gabon introduced a multi-party system and a new democratic constitution that allowed for a more transparent electoral process and reformed many governmental institutions. Gabon was also a member of the United Nations Security Council for the 2010–2011 term. GDP grew by more than 6% per year from 2010 to 2012, however, because of inequality in income distribution, a significant proportion of the population remains poor. Gabons name originates from gabão, Portuguese for cloak, which is roughly the shape of the estuary of the Komo River by Libreville, the earliest inhabitants of the area were Pygmy peoples. They were largely replaced and absorbed by Bantu tribes as they migrated, in the 15th century, the first Europeans arrived. By the 18th century, a Myeni speaking kingdom known as Orungu formed in Gabon, on February 10,1722, Bartholomew Roberts, a Welsh pirate known as Black Bart, died at sea off Cape Lopez. He raided ships off the Americas and West Africa from 1719 to 1722, French explorer Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza led his first mission to the Gabon-Congo area in 1875. He founded the town of Franceville, and was later colonial governor, several Bantu groups lived in the area that is now Gabon when France officially occupied it in 1885. In 1910, Gabon became one of the four territories of French Equatorial Africa, in World War II, the Allies invaded Gabon in order to overthrow the pro-Vichy France colonial administration. The territories of French Equatorial Africa became independent on August 17,1960, the first president of Gabon, elected in 1961, was Léon Mba, with Omar Bongo Ondimba as his vice president. However, when Mba dissolved the National Assembly in January 1964 to institute one-party rule, French paratroopers flew in within 24 hours to restore Mba to power. After a few days of fighting, the coup ended and the opposition was imprisoned, French soldiers still remain in the Camp de Gaulle on the outskirts of Gabons capital to this day. When MBa died in 1967, Bongo replaced him as president, in March 1968, Bongo declared Gabon a one-party state by dissolving the BDG and establishing a new party—the Parti Democratique Gabonais. He invited all Gabonese, regardless of political affiliation, to participate. Bongo was elected President in February 1975, in April 1975, the position of president was abolished and replaced by the position of prime minister
23.
History of Mali
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They are artificial, and unite part of the larger Sudan region with parts of the Sahara. As a consequence, Mali is a country, with a majority of its population consisting of Mandé peoples. Malis history is dominated by its role in trade, connecting West Africa. The Mali Empire became Islamic in the early 14th century, under Musa I of Mali, from that time until the 19th century, Timbuktu remained important as an outpost at the southwestern fringe of the Muslim world and a hub of the Arab slave trade. Mandinka from c.1230 to c, the empire was founded by Sundiata Keita and became known for the wealth of its rulers, especially Mansa Musa I. The Mali Empire had many cultural influences on West Africa, allowing the spread of its language, laws. It extended over an area and consisted of numerous vassal kingdoms. The Mali Empire began to weaken in the 15th century, and it survived into the 16th century, but by then had lost much of its former strength and importance. The Mali Empire began to weaken by the mid 14th century, the Songhai took advantage of this and asserted their independence. The Songhai made Gao their capital and began an expansion of their own throughout the western Sahel. And by 1420, Songhai was strong enough to exact tribute from Masina, the emerging Songhai Empire and the declining Mali Empire co-existed during much of the later 14th and throughout the 15th century. In the later 15th century, control of Timbuktu shifted to the Songhai Empire, the Songhay empire eventually collapsed under the pressure from the Moroccan Saadi dynasty. The turning-point was the Battle of Tondibi of 13 March 1591), morocco subsequently controlled Gao, Timbuktu, Djenné, and related trade routes with much difficulty until around the end of the 17th century. After the collapse of the Songhai Empire, no state controlled the region. The Moroccans only succeeded in occupying a few portions of the country, the most notable in what is now Mali were, The Bambara Empire existed as a centralized state from 1712 to 1861, was based at Ségou, and ruled parts of central and southern Mali. It existed until El Hadj Umar Tall, a Toucouleur conqueror swept across West Africa from Futa Tooro, Umar Talls mujahideen readily defeated the Bambara, seizing Ségou itself on March 10,1861 and declaring an end to the empire. A split in the Coulibaly dynasty in Ségou led to the establishment of a second Bambara state and it was defeated in 1854 by Umar Tall, leader of Toucouleur Empire, before his war with Ségou. The Senufo Kenedugu Kingdom originated in the 17th century in the area around what is now the border of Mali, in 1876 the capital was moved to Sikasso
24.
Ghana Empire
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The Ghana Empire, properly known as Awkar was located in what is now southeastern Mauritania and western Mali. By the time of the Muslim conquest of North Africa in the 7th century the camel had changed the ancient more irregular trade routes into a trade running from Morocco to the Niger river. The Ghana Empire grew rich from this increased trade in gold. It furthermore encouraged territorial expansion to gain control over the different trade-routes, when Ghanas ruling dynasty began is uncertain, it as mentioned for the first time in written records by Muḥammad ibn Mūsā al-Khwārizmī in 830. In the 11th century the Cordoban scholar Abu Ubayd al-Bakri collected stories from a number of travelers to the region, and gave a detailed description of the kingdom. He claimed that the Ghana could put 200,000 men into the field, more than 40,000 of them archers, as the empire declined it was finally made a vassal to the rising Mali Empire at some point in the 13th century. The origins of Ghana have often been obscured by fights between ethno-historic accounts and interpretations and archaeology, the earliest discussions of its origins are found in the Sudanese chronicles of Mahmud Kati and Abd al-Rahman as-Sadi. In addressing the origin, the Tarikh al-Fettash provides three different opinions, one that they were Black, another that they were Wangara, which are a Soninke group. Al-Kati favored another interpretation in view of the fact that their genealogies linked them to this group and he says that 22 kings ruled before the Hijra and 22 after. While these early views lead to many interpretations of a foreign origin of Wagadu. In addition, the archaeologist and historian Raymond Mauny argues that al-Katis and al-Sadis view of a foreign origin cannot be regarded as reliable, modern scholars, particularly African Muslim scholars, have argued about the extension of the Ghana Empire and tenure of its reign. Islamic religion was very well around the Asian-African-European area. Several such traditions were recorded and published, while there are variants, these traditions called the most ancient polity they knew of Wagadu, or the place of the Wago the term current in the nineteenth century for the local nobility. Upon Dingas death, his two sons Khine and Dyabe contested the kingship, and Dyabe was victorious, founding the kingdom. While Delafosse produced a theory of an invasion by Judeo-Syrians. Raymond Mauny, synthesizing early archaeology, various traditions, and the Arabic materials in 1961 concluded that trade was vital to the empires foundation. While there has not been much study of either traditions or documents, archaeologists have added considerable nuance to the ultimate play of forces. Archaeological research was slow to enter the picture, the Dar Tichitt site had clearly become a complex civilization by 1600 BCE and had architectural and material culture elements that seemed to match the site at Koumbi-Saleh
25.
Pre-imperial Mali
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There are a few sketchy references to pre-Imperial Mali in written sources. The oldest reference comes from al-Bakris account of the Western Sudan written in 1068, in this section, he names two countries Daw and Malal located near the Niger and close to gold-fields, which are likely to be the core of the eventual Empire of Mali. Al-Bakri goes on to describe how the ruler of the kingdom was converted to Islam by a merchant when he witnessed the miraculous shower of rain that ended a drought. This event occurred at least one generation preceding 1068, since al-Bakri noted that the descendants and his nobles kept Islam. Ibn Khaldun, a North African historian living in Egypt interviewed shaykh Uthman, Uthman provided information on the past kings, presumably from oral tradition current in his day, and named the first Muslim king Barmandana. In al-Idrisis account of 1154, he noted that the two towns of Daw and Malal had four days travel between them, located in a valley that joins the Nile. Malal was described as a town, like a large village without a surrounding wall. In 1965 and beyond a Polish archaeological team excavated at Niani, there are also evidences of an Islamic presence, supporting the idea that there was a Muslim or commercial town and a royal town, as well as other sites. These excavations provided the strongest support for the claim that a state of some complexity pre-existed the imperial period in Malis history. Some of what historians have written about pre-Imperial Mali is based on oral tradition collected since the nineteenth century. Much of the focuses on the Epic of Sunjata a series of tales about early Mali that griots assemble into longer versions. There are several of these versions in print, the most famous of which is that of D. T. Niane, thanks to its narrative style. Nianes work, however, is not a translation of an original oral discourse. Rather, it is a reworking in literary form of Kouyates tales, more literal versions of the tradition have since been published in French, English and Mandinka versions. This area was composed of mountains, savannah and forest providing ideal protection and those not living in the mountains formed small city-states such as Toron, Ka-Ba and Niani. The Keita dynasty from which nearly every Mali emperor came traces its lineage back to Bilal, oral chroniclers have preserved a list of each Keita ruler from Lawalo to Maghan Kon Fatta. Scholars since then, while noting the issue, have accepted this chronology. According to traditions, the Manden city-state of Ka-ba served as the capital, Manden was split in half with the Dodougou territory to the northeast and the Kri territory to the southwest
26.
Mali Empire
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The Mali Empire, also historically referred to as the Manden Kurufaba, was an empire in West Africa from c.1230 to c. The empire was founded by Sundiata Keita and became renowned for the wealth of its rulers, the Manding languages were spoken in the empire. The Mali Empire was the largest in West Africa and profoundly influenced the culture of West Africa through the spread of its language, laws and customs. Rock art in the Sahara suggests that northern Mali has been inhabited since 10,000 BC, by 300 BC, large organised settlements had developed, most notable near Djenné, one of West Africas oldest cities. By the 6th century AD, the lucrative trade in gold, salt and slaves had begun. There are a few references to Mali in early written literature and this area was composed of mountains, savannah and forest providing ideal protection and resources for the population of hunters. Those not living in the mountains formed small city-states such as Toron, Ka-Ba, yet African Muslim scholars like the London-based Nigerian-British cleric, Sheikh Dr. Adelabu. During the height of Sundiatas power, the land of Manden became one of its provinces, the Manden city-state of Ka-ba served as the capital and name of this province. From at least the beginning of the 11th century, Mandinka kings known as faamas ruled Manden from Ka-ba in the name of the Ghanas, wagadous control over Manden came to a halt after internal instability lead to its decline. The Kangaba province, free of Soninké influence, splintered into twelve kingdoms with their own maghan or faama, Manden was split in half with the Dodougou territory to the northeast and the Kri territory to the southwest. The tiny kingdom of Niani was one of several in the Kri area of Manden, in approximately 1140 the Sosso kingdom of Kaniaga, a former vassal of Wagadou, began conquering the lands of its old masters. By 1180 it had even subjugated Wagadou forcing the Soninké to pay tribute, in 1203, the Sosso king Soumaoro of the Kanté clan came to power and reportedly terrorized much of Manden stealing women and goods from both Dodougou and Kri. According to Nianes version of the epic, during the rise of Kaniaga and he was the son of Nianis faama, Nare Fa. Sundiatas mother was Maghan Kon Fattas second wife, Sogolon Kédjou and she was a hunchback from the land of Do, south of Mali. The child of this received the first name of his mother. Combined in the spoken language of the Mandinka, the names formed Sondjata, Sundjata or Sundiata Keita. The anglicized version of this name, Sunjata, is also popular, in Ibn Khalduns account, Sundjata is recorded as Mari Djata with Mari meaning Amir or Prince. He also states that Djata or Jatah means lion, Prince Sundjata was prophesized to become a great conqueror
27.
Songhai Empire
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The Songhai Empire was a state that dominated the western Sahel in the 15th and 16th century. At its peak, it was one of the largest states in African history, the state is known by its historiographical name, derived from its leading ethnic group and ruling elite, the Songhai. Sonni Ali established Gao as the capital of the empire, although a Songhai state had existed in, other important cities in the empire were Timbuktu and Djenné, conquered in 1468 and 1475 respectively, where urban-centered trade flourished. Initially, the empire was ruled by the Sonni dynasty, during the second half of the 13th century, Gao and the surrounding region had grown into an important trading center and attracted the interest of the expanding Mali Empire. Mali conquered Gao towards the end of the 13th century, Gao would remain under Malian hegemony until the late 14th century, but as the Mali Empire started to disintegrate, the Songhai reasserted control of Gao. Songhai rulers subsequently took advantage of the weakened Mali Empire to expand Songhai rule, under the rule of Sonni Ali, the Songhai surpassed the Malian Empire in area, wealth, and power, absorbing vast areas of the Mali Empire and reached its greatest extent. A series of plots and coups by Askias successors forced the empire into a period of decline, however, the empire experienced a period of stability and a string of military successes during the reign of Askia Daoud. Ahmad al-Mansur, the Moroccan sultan at the time, demanded tax revenues from the salt mines. Askia Daoud responded by sending a large quantity of gold as gift in an attempt to appease the sultan, Askia Ishaq II ascended to power in a long dynastic struggle following the death of Askia Daoud. He would be the last ruler of the empire, after the disastrous defeat at the Battle of Tondibi, the Songhai Empire collapsed. The Dendi Kingdom succeeded the empire as the continuation of Songhai culture, in ancient times there were several different groups of people that collectively formed the Songhai identity. Among the first people to settle in the region of Gao were the Sorko people, the Sorko fashioned boats and canoes from the wood of the cailcedrat tree and fished and hunted from their boats and provided water-borne transport for goods and people. Another group of people moved into the area to exploit the Nigers resources were the Gow people. The Gow were hunters and specialized in hunting animals such as crocodile. The other known group of known to have inhabited the area were the Do people. They were farmers who raised crops in the lands bordering the river. Sometime before the 10th century, these settlers were subjugated by more powerful, horse-riding Songhai speakers. All these groups of people began to speak the same language and they
28.
Bamana Empire
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The Bamana Empire was a large West African state based at Ségou, now in Mali. This state was established after the fall of the Mali Empire and it was ruled by the Kulubali or Coulibaly dynasty established c.1640 by Kaladian Coulibaly also known as Fa Sine or Biton-si-u. The empire existed as a state from 1712 to the 1861 invasion of Toucouleur conqueror El Hadj Umar Tall. In around 1640, Fa Sine became the third Faama of a kingdom of Bambara people in the city of Ségou in Mali. Though he made many successful conquests of neighboring tribes and kingdoms, he failed to set up a significant administrative framework, in the early 18th century, Mamari Kulubali settled in Ségou and joined an egalitarian youth organization known as a tòn. Mamari soon reorganized the tòn as a army, assumed the title of bitòn. He established control over Ségou, making it the capital of a new Bambara Empire, fortifying the capital with Songhai techniques, Bitòn Kulubali built an army of several thousand men and a navy of war canoes to patrol the Niger. He then proceeded to launch successful assaults against his neighbors, the Fulani, the Soninke, and he also attacked Tomboctou, though he held the city only briefly. During this time he founded the city of Bla as an outpost, Mamari Coulubali was the last ruler to be called Bitòn. All future rulers were simply titled Faama, bakari, the first Faama after Mamari reigned from. Faama De-Koro ascended in 1712 reigning until 1736, the kingdom had three more faamas with unstable 4-year reigns until falling into anarchy in 1748. In 1750, a slave named Ngolo Diarra seized the throne and re-established stability. The Ngolosi, his descendants, would continue to rule the Empire until its fall, ngolos son Mansong Diarra took the throne following his fathers 1795 death and began a series of successful conquests, including that of Tomboctou and the Macina region. The Bambara Empire was structured around traditional Bambara institutions, including the kòmò, the kòmò often consulted religious sculptures in their decisions, particularly the four state boliw, large altars designed to aid the acquisition of political power. The economy of the Bambara Empire flourished through trade, especially that of the slaves captured in their many wars, the demand for slaves then led to further fighting, leaving the Bambara in a perpetual state of war with their neighbors. A study on the Haitian Revolution led to the discovery that writing existed in the Ségou Empire, at the Battle of Noukouma in 1818, Bambara forces met and were defeated by Fula Muslim fighters rallied by the jihad of Cheikou Amadu of Massina. The Bambara Empire survived but was irreversibly weakened, seku Amadus forces decisively defeated the Bambara, taking Djenné and much of the territory around Mopti and forming into a Massina Empire. Timbuktu would fall as well in 1845, the real end of the empire, however, came at the hands of El Hadj Umar Tall, a Toucouleur conqueror who swept across West Africa from Dinguiraye
29.
Kaarta
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Kaarta, or Kaarta, was a short-lived Bambara kingdom in what is today the western half of Mali. As Bitòn Coulibaly tightened his control over Ségou, capital of his newly founded Bambara Empire, in 1753, they founded the kingdom of Kaarta on the homeland of the long-defunct Ghana Empire, taking Nioro du Sahel as their capital. In 1878 the French governor of Senegal Briere de lIsle sent a French force against the Kaarta Toucouleur vassal state along the bank of the Senegal River. Blocked by the minister in Paris, he argued that they were a threat to the Senegalese Imamate of Futa Toro with which the British were poised to interfere. The Ministry gave in and on 7 July 1878, a French force destroyed the Kaarta Toucouleur fort at Sabouciré, killing their leader and this portion of the Kaarta vassals was then incorporated into the Khasso Wolof protectorate kingdom. French Colonel Louis Archinard later conquered the territory of the former Kaarta kingdom in 1890
30.
Massina Empire
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The Massina Empire was an early nineteenth-century Fulbe Jihad state centered in the Inner Niger Delta area of what is now the Mopti and Ségou Regions of Mali. The Fulas of the region had for centuries been the vassals of larger states, including the Mali Empire, the Songhai Empire, the Moroccan pashas of Tomboctou, early struggle created the Massina leadership and in 1818 Seku Amadu led a jihad against the Bambara Empire in 1818. The empire expanded rapidly, taking Djenné in 1819 and establishing a new capital at Hamdullahi in 1820. At the height of the Empires power, a 10,000 man army was stationed in the city, alcohol, tobacco, music and dancing were banned in accordance with Islamic law, while a social welfare system provided for widows and orphans. One of the most enduring accomplishments was a code regulating the use of the inland Niger delta region by Fula cattle herders, in 1825, Seku Amadu conquered Timbuktu. He died in 1845, leaving control of the Massina Empire to his son, Amadu II, in 1862, El Hadj Umar Tall of Toucouleur launched an attack on the Massina from his newly secured base at Ségou. After a series of battles, he entered Hamdullahi on March 16. Amadu III was captured and put to death, though resistance briefly continued under Amadu IIIs brother Ba Lobbo, the destruction marked the effective end of the Massina Empire. Toward a chronology for the Caliphate of Hamdullahi, slavery and Colonial Rule in French West Africa. And Slaves, The State and the Economy in the Middle Niger Valley, un empire peul au XIXe siècle, la Diina du Maasina. Nineteenth Century Timeline of Western and Central Sudan History of Mali
31.
French Sudan
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French Sudan was a French colonial territory in the federation of French West Africa from around 1880 until 1960, when it became the independent state of Mali. The colony was formally called French Sudan from 1890 until 1899 and then again from 1921 until 1958, the colony was initially established largely as a military project led by French troops, but in the mid-1890s it came under civilian administration. A number of reorganizations in the early 1900s brought increasing French administration over issues like agriculture, religion. Following World War II, the African Democratic Rally under Modibo Keita became the most significant political force pushing for independence, Mali initially retained close connections with France and joined in a short-lived federation with Senegal in 1959, but ties to both countries quickly weakened. In 1960, the French Sudan colony formally became the Republic of Mali and began to distance itself further from Senegal, French Sudan originally formed as a set of military outposts as an extension of the French colony in Senegal. Though the area offered France little economic or strategic gain, the military effectively advocated greater conquest in the region. French conquest began in 1879, when Joseph Gallieni was dispatched to the area to establish a fort and this was followed with the establishment of a number of French forts and political alliances with specific leaders in the region in the early 1880s. Desbordes gradually took more territory, often using inter-ethnic rivalries. Archinard led military campaigns against Samori Ture, Ahmadu Tall, and other resistant leaders in the region, Archinards campaigns were often executed through direct military control, without civilian oversight. As costs increased, the French administration decided to replace Archinards control over the area with a civilian governor, the region was governed under a number of different names between 1880 and 1960. The area was Upper River from 1880 until 18 August 1890, on 10 October 1899, French Sudan was divided, with the southern cercles joining coastal colonies, and the rest split into two administrative areas called Middle Niger and Upper Senegal. In 1902, the region again was organized as a colony under the name Senegambia. The name changed again in 1904 to Upper Senegal and Niger, finally, in 1921, the name changed back to French Sudan. Borders and administration of the colony similarly changed a number of times, originally, and for the initial period, the colony vacillated between military administration and civilian administration from Senegal. In 1893, French Sudan formally came under administration, which lasted until 1899. At that point, a reorganization of the colony split 11 southern provinces to other French colonies like French Guinea, the area that was not reorganized was governed in two administrations linked to other French colonies. Following this, the territory of the colony was reestablished in 1902, though the borders shifted slightly, there was little territorial change until 1933. At that point, the colony of the French Upper Volta dissolved, in 1947, Upper Volta was reestablished, and the French Sudan borders became those that eventually became the borders of Mali
32.
Mali Federation
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The Mali Federation was a Federation in West Africa linking the French colonies of Senegal and the Sudanese Republic for a period of only two months in 1960. It was founded on 4 April 1959 as a territory with self-rule within the French Community, the Sudanese Republic officials resisted this dissolution, cut off diplomatic relations with Senegal, and defiantly changed the name of their country to Mali. After World War II, the colonies of French West Africa began pushing significantly for increased self-determination, following the May 1958 crisis, the colonies of French West Africa were given the chance to vote for immediate independence or to join a reorganized French Community. Only Guinea voted for independence and the other colonies of French West Africa voted to join the French Community. In the 1958 election to decide the issue of independence, two parties split the countries of west Africa, the African Democratic Rally and the African Regroupment Party. The two regional groupings of parties struggled against one another on the issue of independence and the extent of ties with France. The RDA was the party in the Ivory Coast colony, the French Sudan colony. The two parties also were part of governments in French Upper Volta, Niger, and French Dahomey. While the two struggled with one another to shape the political future of the region, Mauritania often became a neutral party which would break any deadlocks. The vote of 1958 revealed a number of divisions within the parties, the resulting deadlock was so severe that the meeting was officially said to have never taken place. In late November 1958, French Sudan, Senegal, Upper Volta and Dahomey all declared the intention to join the French Community, French Sudan called for representatives of each of the four countries to Bamako on 28 to 30 December to discuss the formation of the federation. The result is only the colonies of French Sudan and Senegal were engaged in the discussions of the formation of the federation by 1959. Elections in March 1959 in both French Sudan and Senegal cemented the power of the major parties pushing for the formation of a federation, although Senghor won the elections by a large margin, some conservative Islamist marabouts supported the candidacy of Cheikh Tidjane Sy. Sy was arrested on election day as a result of rioting which was blamed on his party. After the elections, the assemblies of Senegal and French Sudan approved the federation and this involved three different political projects with the principle of parity enshrined in each, A federal government, united social movements, and a shared political party for both countries. The federal government was going to have an assembly composed of 20 members from each of the colonies, a President, until the President was elected, the Premier of the Mali Federation was to be Keïta and the vice-Premier was to be Mamadou Dia from Senegal. Further, as part of the parity principle, any legislative initiatives required a signature by both the Premier and the responsible for that issue. The colonies were to share the import and export taxes raised in the port of Dakar between them and this sharing was to the advantage of French Sudan which had almost a third of its 1959 budget provided by this tax income
33.
Tuareg rebellion (2012)
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It was led by the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad and was part of a series of insurgencies by traditionally nomadic Tuaregs which date back at least to 1916. The MNLA was formed by former insurgents and a significant number of heavily armed Tuaregs who fought in the Libyan Civil War. On 22 March, President Amadou Toumani Touré was ousted in a coup détat over his handling of the crisis, a month before a presidential election was to have taken place. Mutineering soldiers, under the banner of the National Committee for the Restoration of Democracy and State, suspended the constitution of Mali, although this move was reversed on 1 April. The Islamist group Ansar Dine, too, began fighting the government in stages of the conflict, claiming control of vast swathes of territory. As a consequence of the instability following the coup, Northern Malis three largest cities—Kidal, Gao and Timbuktu—were overrun by the rebels on three consecutive days. On 5 April, after the capture of Douentza, the MNLA said that it had accomplished its goals, the following day, it proclaimed Azawads independence from Mali. After the end of hostilities with the Malian Army, however, by 17 July, MOJWA and Ansar Dine had pushed the MNLA out of all the major cities. On 14 February 2013 the MNLA renounced their claim of independence for Azawad, issues such as climate change and a rooted background of forced modernization onto the northern Nomadic areas of Mali have caused much tension between the Tuareg peoples and the Malian government. Tuareg separatist groups had staged previous unsuccessful rebellions in 1990 and in 2007, many of the Tuaregs currently fighting in the rebellion have received training from Gaddafis Islamic Legion during his tenure in Libya. Hence many of the combatants are experienced with a variety of techniques that have posed major problems to the national governments of Mali. The MNLA is an offshoot of a Tuareg political movement known as the National Movement for Azawad prior to the 2012 insurgency, after the end of the Libyan Civil War, an influx of weaponry led to the arming of the Tuareg in their demand for independence for Azawad. Many of the returnees from Libya were said to have come back for financial reasons such as losing their savings, as well as due to the racism of the NTCs fighters. Another commentator described the US as a catalyst for the rebellion, citing the training of Tuareg rebels by the U. S. and the overthrow of Libyas government in 2011. The strength of this uprising and the use of heavy weapons, such issues arise from an illicit weapons trade around the Sahel region that is linked to a variety of factors, including the funneling of weapons from Libya. Though dominated by Tuaregs, the MNLA claimed to represent other ethnic groups as well, the MNLAs leader Bilal Ag Acherif said that the onus was on Mali to either give the Saharan peoples their self-determination or they would take it themselves. Another Tuareg-dominated group, the Islamist Ansar Dine, also fought against the government, however, unlike the MNLA it does not seek independence but rather the impositions of sharia across united Mali. The movements leader Iyad Ag Ghaly, who was part of the early 1990s rebellion, is believed to be linked to an offshoot of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb that is led by his cousin Hamada Ag Hama
34.
Northern Mali conflict
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The Northern Mali Conflict, Mali Civil War, or Mali War refers to armed conflicts that started from January 2012 between the northern and southern parts of Mali in Africa. On 16 January 2012, several insurgent groups began fighting a campaign against the Malian government for independence or greater autonomy for northern Mali, an area known as Azawad. The National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad, an organization fighting to make Azawad an independent homeland for the Tuareg people, had control of the region by April 2012. On 22 March 2012, President Amadou Toumani Touré was ousted in a coup détat over his handling of the crisis, mutinous soldiers, calling themselves the National Committee for the Restoration of Democracy and State, took control and suspended the constitution of Mali. As a consequence of the instability following the coup, Malis three largest northern cities—Kidal, Gao and Timbuktu—were overrun by the rebels on three consecutive days. On 5 April 2012, after the capture of Douentza, the MNLA said that it had accomplished its goals, the following day, it proclaimed Azawads independence from Mali. The MNLA were initially backed by the Islamist group Ansar Dine, after the Malian military was driven from Azawad, Ansar Dine and a number of smaller Islamist groups began imposing strict Sharia law. The MNLA and Islamists struggled to reconcile their conflicting visions for a new state. Afterwards, the MNLA began fighting against Ansar Dine and other Islamist groups, including Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa, by 17 July 2012, the MNLA had lost control of most of northern Malis cities to the Islamists. The government of Mali asked for military help to re-take the north. On 11 January 2013, the French military began operations against the Islamists, Forces from other African Union states were deployed shortly after. By 8 February, the Islamist-held territory had been re-taken by the Malian military, Tuareg separatists have continued to fight the Islamists as well, although the MNLA has also been accused of carrying out attacks against the Malian military. Fighting is still ongoing even though French forces are scheduled for withdrawal, a ceasefire agreement was signed on February 19,2015 in Algiers, Algeria but sporadic terrorist attacks still occur. In the early 1990s Tuareg and Arab nomads formed the Mouvement Populaire de l’Azaouad/Azawad Peoples Movement, the MNLA was an offshoot of a political movement known as the National Movement for Azawad prior to the insurgency. After the end of the Libyan Civil War, an influx of weaponry led to the arming of the Tuareg in their demand for independence for the Azawad. The strength of this uprising and the use of heavy weapons, though dominated by Tuaregs, the MNLA stated that they represented other ethnic groups as well, and were reportedly joined by some Arab leaders. The MNLAs leader Bilal Ag Acherif said that the onus was on Mali to either give the Saharan peoples their self-determination or they would take it themselves, another Tuareg-dominated group, the Islamist Ansar Dine, initially fought alongside the MNLA against the government. Unlike the MNLA, it did not seek independence but rather the imposition of Islamic law across Mali, thereafter, Mali has been in a constant struggle to maintain its territory
35.
Ebola virus disease in Mali
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Ebola virus disease in Mali occurred in October 2014, leading to concern about the possibility of an outbreak of Ebola in Mali. A child was brought from Guinea and died in the city of Kayes. Mali contact traced over 100 people who had contact with the child, in November, a second unrelated outbreak occurred in Malis capital city, Bamako. Several people at a clinic are thought to have been infected by a man traveling from Guinea, on January 18 Mali was declared Ebola-free after 42 days with no new cases. There had been a total of eight cases with six deaths. As of late 2014, the Ebola virus epidemic in Malis southern neighbors Liberia, Sierra Leone, Mali, a country of about 16.5 million people, was ranked as one of the top four countries at risk for an outbreak prior to its first reported case. In late October 2014, a girl died from Ebola in the city of Kayes. The child, later identified as Fanta Kone, was admitted to hospital on 21 October where she tested positive for typhoid, the child, her grandmother, uncle, and five-year-old sister arrived in Bamako after traveling roughly 1000 km from Guinea, where Kones father had died. They then traveled to Kayes by bus, Fanta Kones father, a Red Cross worker, assisted at a private medical clinic in Beyla that was owned and run by his father, Fantas paternal grandfather. It is suspected that he may have contracted Ebola from a farmer from another village, the farmer died on 12 September, and his daughters on 23 September. After falling ill in late September, Fantas father traveled to his village of Sokodougou,70 kilometres away. By 20 October, the grandfather, his wife. Fantas mother and 3-month-old sibling remain disease-free and are residing in Guinea during a 40-day mourning period before joining the rest of her family in Mali. The hospital pediatrician in Kayes said he was told that the child had been born and raised in Kayes, the childs samples were tested at Malis Center for TB and AIDS Research. Hemorrhagic fevers like Ebola, Marburg virus, and Lassa fever can have similar symptoms, there are about half a million cases of Lassa fever per year in West Africa, causing about 5,000 deaths. There was concern that Kone had exposed others to the virus during her journey because she had been bleeding from her nose, contact with blood or feces from someone ill with Ebola is a high risk factor for the disease. By 25 October, it was estimated that the child had contact with as many as 300 people,43 of whom were placed in isolation to prevent the disease from spreading, of the 43,10 were health care workers. By 27 October,111 people had identified as contacts, but the search was hampered by a lack of health care workers
36.
Geography of Mali
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Mali is a landlocked nation in West Africa, located southwest of Algeria, extending south-west from the southern Sahara Desert through the Sahel to the Sudanian savanna zone. Malis size is 1,240,192 square kilometres, Desert or semi-desert covers about 65 percent of Malis area. The Niger River creates a large and fertile inland delta as it arcs northeast through Mali from Guinea before turning south, Malis territory encompasses three natural zones, the southern cultivated Sudanese zone, central semi-desert Sahelian zone, and northern desert Saharan zone. The terrain is primarily savanna in the south and flat to rolling plains or high plateau in the north, there are rugged hills in the northeast, with elevations of up to 1,000 meters. Desert or semi-desert covers about 65 percent of Malis area, the Niger River creates a large and fertile inland delta as it arcs northeast through Mali from Guinea before turning south and eventually emptying into the Gulf of Guinea. The Niger and Senegal are Mali’s two largest rivers, the Niger is generally described as Mali’s lifeblood, a source of food, drinking water, irrigation, and transportation. The countrys lowest point is on the Senegal River and its highest point is Hombori Tondo, Mali is one of the hottest countries in the world. During this time, flooding of the Niger River is common, the vast northern desert part of Mali has a hot desert climate with long, extremely hot summers and scarce rainfall which decreases northwards. The central area has a hot climate with very high temperatures year-round, a long, intense dry season. The little southern band possesses a tropical wet and dry climate very high temperatures year-round with a dry season, during the hottest season of the year, temperatures are high throughout the country. Timbuktu, Taoudenni, Araouane, Gao, Kidal, Tessalit are some of the hottest spots on Earth during their warmest months, kayes, with an average high temperature of about 44° in April is nicknamed the pressure cooker of Africa due to his extreme heat year-round. Mali has overall a hot, sunny and dry climate dominated by the subtropical ridge, geologically, Mali consists mostly of vast flatlands of granite and shale covered by sandstone and alluvial quartz. The suture zone is to the west of the Adrar des Ifoghas mountains, there may also be petroleum reserves in the Taoudeni basin. Not all deposits are being exploited, and some may not be commercially viable, sixty-five percent of Mali’s land area is desert or semi-desert. According to estimates in 2011, only 5.63 percent of Mali’s area can be classified as arable land, Mali was estimated to have 2,358 square kilometers of irrigated land in 2003. Mali has 100 cubic kilometers of total water resources as off 2011 estimates. Mali faces numerous challenges, including desertification, deforestation, soil erosion, drought. Deforestation is a serious and growing problem
37.
Cercles of Mali
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A cercle is the second level administrative unit in Mali. Mali is divided into eight régions and one district, the régions are subdivided into 49 cercles. These subdivisions bear the name of their principal city, during French colonial rule in Mali, a cercle was the smallest unit of French political administration that was headed by a European officer. A cercle consisted of several cantons, each of which in turn consisted of several villages, in 1887 the Cercle of Bafoulabé was the first cercle to be created in Mali. In most of former French West Africa, the term cercle was changed to Prefecture or Department after independence, since these reforms, cercles are now directly subdivided into rural and urban communes, which in turn are divided in Quartiers which have elected councils at each level. There are 703 communes,36 urban communes and 667 rural communes, Mali Maplibrary, vector maps of national subdivisions of Mali. Regions, Cercles and Places in Mali, African Development Information Services Database, contains listing of Arrondissements under each Cercle page, as well as some Communes and places of interest in each Cercle. French Colonialism in Tropical Africa 1900-1945
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Communes of Mali
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A Commune is the third level administrative unit in Mali. Mali is divided into eight regions and one capital district and these subdivisions bear the name of their principal city. The regions are divided into 49 Cercles, rural Communes are subdivided in Villages, while Urban Communes are subdivided into Quartier. Communes usually bear the name of their principal town, the capital, Bamako, consists of six Urban Communes. There were initially 701 communes until the Law No, not every built up area is a Commune, and not every Commune contains a large town. Unlike French Communes, they are not the lowest level administrative structure of the nation, legally, the Commune structure was created by Law no 96- 059/AN- RM of 4 November 1996. The communes generally retain the boundaries as the former arrondissements. Commune affairs are directed by a Commune Council of elected members, the executive is tasked with carrying out the directives voted by the Council. National policies are carried out by a Sub-Prefect, who carries out certain of the Councils directives over the local arms or national bodies. Includes GIS data files for Mali, statsoid. com, Mali MATCL - MINISTERE DE LADMINISTRATION TERRITORIALE ET DES COLLECTIVITES LOCALES, Government of the Republic of Mali. Maplibrary, vector maps of subdivisions of Mali
