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