Who are the Mandinka?
Who are the Mandinka? The Mandinka are one of the most significant ethnic groups in Gambia, and they can trace their ancestry back to the first group of humans to settle in the Sudanese Belt, during the time period between the Stone and Iron Ages.
These early humans were hunters who fashioned weapons out of stone and iron, such as knives, axes, scrapers, hammers, and needles, which they used to kill their prey. Later on, they developed spears, harpoons, clubs, shields, blowguns, bows, and arrows as means of defense against their enemies. Prior to the year 700, the black population that lived in the Sudanese Belt only took up residence in a very small fraction of the region.
They persisted in agricultural practices, which allowed them to amass populations that were larger and more dense than those of their contemporaries, whose primary focus was on cattle breeding. In the end, they were successful in colonizing the forest regions of West Africa. During the early Islamic contact period, which began around 700 BCE and lasted for a few hundred years, long-distance trade played an increasingly important role in the economic, social, and political life of western Sudan.
Some sections of West Africa enjoyed economic prosperity as a result of commerce, which paved the way for the establishment of social stratification and statehood. The Mandinka people were a component of the Soninke Clan of the Mande-speaking peoples that were a part of the empire of Ghana when it first emerged. Manden, Malinke, Mndinka, and Mandingo are a few of the names that have been used to refer to the Mande people.
Following the collapse of the Ghanaian empire in 1076, all of the formerly subservient states that had been a part of the empire were able to reclaim their freedom. It wasn’t until the year 1235 that a modest Mandinka kingdom came into existence. Sundiata Keita, a Mandinka king who is credited with laying the groundwork for what would become the strong Mali Empire, governed the kingdom when it was still a kingdom. In fact, the oral tradition asserts that the Mandinka invasion of Gambia got its start during Sundiata’s administration in the thirteenth century.
This would mark the beginning of their arrival in Gambia. The immigration of Mandinka took place not just through peaceful means but also through the rise of armed power. Prior to the foundation of the Mali Empire, a number of the Mandinka people relocated to the Senegambia region. The first settlers headed south and west in the hopes of finding better farmland, as well as food and a place to shelter themselves. Along with these people, a number of merchants and hunters went into the region of Senegambia that was rich in water resources.
After settling there, they engaged in agriculture and intermarried with members of the native ethnic groups that were already present in the region. Sundiata requested that the military expeditions be carried out, and they were carried out accordingly. In the thirteenth century, he dispatched one of his generals, Tiramang Traore, to the west in order to capture Cassamance and Guinea Bissau. As a direct consequence of this, Tiramang was able to easily destroy the local inhabitants and lay the groundwork for the Kaabu Empire, which eventually expanded all the way to Gambia. Kaabu evolved as the cultural epicenter of the Mandinka people.
Kansala served as the nation’s principal city. On Sundiata’s behalf, Tiramang led military campaigns directed against the Jollof Empire, which was located nearby. As a result of the intermarriage that occurred as a direct result of the Mandinka people’s migration from Mali to Gambia, a large number of Mandinka families were created. Tiramang became a member of the Sanneh family by marriage. Families of the Mandinka ethnic group that trace their lineage back to the people who lived in the Mali Empire include Sanyang, Bojang, Conteh, and Jassey.
At the close of the thirteenth century, the Mandinka exercised power over a territory that extended from Gambia all the way to Futa Jallon. This territory encompassed both land and water. Several Mandinka states made up the Mandinka Empire of Kaabu: Kantora, Tumaana, Jimara, Wurapina, Nyamina, Jarra, Kiang, Foni, and Kombo. The Mandinka have used violence to take control of what was formerly a Jolla state known as Kombo. Amari Sonko, another general under Sundiata Keita’s command, was successful in his assaults against the kingdoms of Baddibu and Barra. Amari founded the Sonko dynasty in both of the kingdoms that he ruled.
The mansas, also known as chiefs, oversaw a centralized government structure that was present in the Mandinka states. Village leaders, who were also referred to as al-cadi, served in several capacities under the local authority. They were members of the nobility, whose primary responsibility it was to allot land and enforce judicial procedures. In addition to that, they were responsible for the collection of taxes. Beginning in the fourteenth century, the states of Mandinka began to see the establishment of trading settlements.
The settlements in which trading took place were often big and densely populated. The influence of Atlantic trade was felt in Gambia; it was a determining factor in the economic, political, and social development of both nations and the population in general. The Kaabu Empire was able to reach its pinnacle in the sixteenth century as a result of its achievements in the fields of trade and commerce, military might, and strong government, which began in the fifteenth century. In addition, Portuguese explorers began to venture into West African territory during this same century.
The Portuguese engaged in trade with the Mandinka at the time, which resulted in very successful interactions. In the year 1491, the Portuguese explorer Rodrigo Bebello and seven other members of his group met with the Mandinka monarch of the state of Kantora, Mandimansa. They got along famously with one another, which ultimately resulted in the formation of a well-functioning commercial system.
The Mandinka engaged in commerce through the exchange of gold, slaves, ivory, and beeswax. The goods were transported from the interior and bartered for crystal beads, iron bars, brass pans, firearms and ammunition, alcoholic beverages, tobacco, and iron caps. They used bars of iron as units of measurement for everything that was traded, and thus ensured that there was an even distribution of the various things.
The Berbers and the Moors, who had already established themselves in Gambia at the beginning of the eleventh century, were drawn to the commercial opportunities offered by the Mandinka states. The Berbers and Moors who converted to Islam established modest Koranic schools in which young men were instructed in the reading and writing of Arabic. The monarchs of Mandinka sent their children to school and hired Muslim teachers, known as marabouts, to pray and conjure up charms for them.
In addition, the marabouts married indigenous Mandinka women, which resulted in the formation of Muslim families. A few of the Mandinka, who formerly adhered to African traditional religions, eventually became Muslims instead. The Mandinka merchants made their way across the continent in caravans that ranged in size from 40 to 100 people. They conducted business transactions in the river valleys. Local Mandinka merchants joined the caravans that were traveling through the river valley.
The ladies, as well as the slaves, were responsible for carrying the weights on their heads. Donkeys were also utilized in the transportation of the cargo. The women went ahead of the men on the journey, and the men followed in their footsteps. As soon as they arrived in the village, the ladies began preparing the food that would be eaten by the group. Woven cloth, ivory, beeswax, skins, gold, civet cats, green parrots, fragrances, corn, shea butter, salt, fish, and iron were among the items that might be traded for one another.
Taxes were paid to the commanders of the caravan by the merchants. The Mandinka also created their own settlements and communities at the same time that the other peoples of Senegambia did, during which time they developed their own distinctive culture. The evolution of culture was accompanied by the development of customs such as naming ceremonies, initiation rituals, marriage practices, and death rituals.
The Mandinka Empire of Kaabu was the most powerful and influential empire in the Senegambia region during the 16th and 17th centuries. But because the theocratic revolution in Futa Jallon at the beginning of the 18th century was successful, the Kaabu Empire could no longer grow.
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