Kingdom of Wuli Wuuli Mansa Banko | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Wuli ca. 1850 | |||||||||||
| Status | Kingdom | ||||||||||
| Capital | Madina Wuli | ||||||||||
| Common languages | Mandinka | ||||||||||
| Religion | African traditional religions,Islam | ||||||||||
| Government | Monarchy | ||||||||||
| Mansa | |||||||||||
• 13th century | Mbari Kajo Wali | ||||||||||
• 1904-1936 | Yaka Sara Wali | ||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||
• Tiramakhan Traore's migration | ca. 1235 | ||||||||||
• Vassal ofBundu | 1867 | ||||||||||
| 1889 | |||||||||||
| Currency | cloth,salt,gold | ||||||||||
| |||||||||||
Wuli was aMandinka kingdom located on the north bank of theGambia River in what is now the eastern portion ofThe Gambia and theTambacounda region ofSenegal. Ruled as an independent polity by the Wali family from the early 16th century until European colonialism in the late 19th, it controlled an important crossroads for trading routes linking the upperNiger river valley with the coast.
Before the Mandinka arrived, the area that became Wuli was inhabited by theKonyagui people, theBainuks and a fewWolofs.[1][2] The earliest Mandinka immigrants, presumablyjula traders, came before the founding of the Mali Empire.[3]
According to oral tradition, the first large scaleMandinka migration came fromMali in the 14th century, led byTiramakhan Traore, one ofSundiata's top generals. The firstWulimansa was Mbari Kajo Wali, who came with Traore, learned magic from theJolas of the lower Gambia, and used his power to establish lordship over the land as a vassal of themansa of Mali.[4] He and other early mansas are quasi-legendary figures, and were based east of what became Wuli itself, aroundDialacoto.[5][2]
Modern-day historians have proposed that the Mandinka elite of Wuli did not, in fact, immigrateen masse from theManding region but may have come much earlier, fromBambouk and the upperSenegal river valley.[6] The story of Traore's migration may be simply a story to dramatize what was actually a gradual process of change under the cultural and political hegemony of theMali Empire.[7]
As Mali declined, Wuli fell under the hegemony of theJolof Empire and paid tribute to theBuurba, as did their neighboring states on the north bank of the Gambia -Niumi,Badibou, andNyani.[8][9]
Jalali Wali (early 16th century) was the first Mansa for whom history has recorded details. He founded his capital of Jalalikunda in the north of Wuli, after defeating the local Konyagui king.[10][2] During the 1520s, under his leadership Wuli became independent of the Jolof empire and fought off an invasion fromFuta Toro, perhaps led byKoli Tenguella.[11][12] He recruited new inhabitants, including the Jatta family fromGajaaga who settled inTambacounda, the Baro family who foundedBarrow Kunda, and the Jabais (among others) inSutukoba.[13] Mansa Jalali was eventually killed in battle fighting against theKingdom of Niani, but left behind a kingdom that was the most powerful state on the north bank of the Gambia.[14]
Jalali's death was followed by a period of confusion. His youngest son Kope had tricked his dying father into giving him the secrets of rulership and the royal amulets, but his elder brothers drove him into exile and struggled to establish control over Wuli. Kope eventually returned with amarabout fromKaabu who helped him take control of the country from his base atMadina Ouli.[15] His branch of the Wali family ruled until the fall of the state in the late 19th century and claimed the kingship well into the 20th century.
The late 18th and early 19th centuries saw a significant influx ofTorodbe Muslim refugees fromFuta Toro, who helped popularize Islam in Wuli, although the ruling class maintained many traditional beliefs.[16] Mansa Jatta Wali ruled Wuli in the second half of the 18th century, and fought several wars against Niani as well as an armed dispute with a wealthy Jula trader.[17] He was succeeded by Mansa Faring, who jealously guarded Wuli's trading interests against the British in the early years of the 19th century.[18]
Around the turn of the 19th century, the Scottish explorerMungo Park passed through Wuli on both of his voyages to the Niger River.
In March 1823 a British expedition led by MajorAlexander Grant came upriver to Wuli fromBathurst seeking closer commercial relations and possibly to establish a trading post. Mansa Faring refused to grant the British any trading concessions.[19]: 620–21 Mansa Nkoi (also known as Koyo) came to power in 1827, however, and was much friendlier to European trade.[20] In 1829 he cededFattatenda to the British administratorWilliam Hutton for $2000 up front and an annual payment of $200.[19]: 627 The agreement was later repudiated by the British government and Hutton was dismissed.[21] Still, Mansa Nkoi protected Wuli's position as the easternmost center of trade on the Gambia by restricting their access to Tenda andBundu to the east.[20]
By the 1830s Wuli, like much of the region, was divided between the Muslim (marabout) population and a larger animist (Soninke) group. The kingdom was regularly being raided by nearbymarabout states.[22]
TheWulimansa in the second half of the 19th century, Nyanamadi, was a gentle but ineffective ruler, overshadowed by his brother Fenda Mamadi.[23] In 1863, 64, and 65almamy Bokar Saada ofBundu led an alliance ofFuta Toro,Khasso and other powers to repeatedly attack the important Wuli trading center ofTambacounda. In 1865 a 12,000-man Bundu army burned the British trading post ofFattatenda as thealmamy looked to destroy any entrepots that he could not control.[24] By 1867 Nyanamadi had surrendered and paid tribute to Saada, although Bundu slave raids continued.[25] During the 1860s and 70sAlfa Molo, king ofFuladu, in turn tried to conquer Wuli but was repulsed.[26] This period of upheaval saw the Walis abandon Madina Ouli and move south to the town of Sine, close to the Senegal-Gambia border today.[27]
As a satellite of Bundu, which was allied with the French, Wuli became a target for theSarakhollemaraboutMahmadu Lamine Drame in 1887 when he sacked Netteboulou and executed thewulimansa. Drame set up a base at Toubakouta in Niani, where he was killed by French forces.[28]
In 1888 Wuli became a protectorate of France.[29] When France and Britain set the colonial boundary between The Gambia and Senegal in the 1890s, Wuli was divided in two.This division, coupled with the rise ofrail transport at the expense of river trade, economically marginalized much of the area.[30]
In 1895, the French created acercle of Ouli with its capital at Sine, but two years later moved the administration toMakacolibantang.[31] In 1919 the seat of administration moved again to Tambacounda.[32] The last Mansa of Wuli, Yaka Sara Wali, died in 1936.[33]
Wuli, particularly the important commercial and religious center ofSutukoba, was a hub for the trade in slaves, salt, gold, leather, shellfish, beeswax, European manufactures and other goods, linking theAtlantic coast, theSenegal River, and the Manding heartland in theNiger River basin.[34][35] The economic and political power of theJula traders was instrumental in the founding and growth of the state.[36]
During the 19th century Wuli developed a local industry manufacturing a kind ofgunpowder calledtimbertio.[37]
Society and governance were divided into levels: the state (banko), extended family or interest group (kabilo), the village (sateo), and compound (suo). Each division took care of all its own judicial, legislative, and executive functions. The Mansa was responsible for general law and order, including policing roads, war and relations with other states, and preventing or prosecuting major crimes. Kabilos regulated family affaires, marriages, inheritance, divorce, land, etc. Villages dealt with their relevant public works and agricultural questions.[38] There were no official subdivisions of Wuli - each village was independent of the others and owed its allegiance directly the Mansa.[39] Great and influential men could and did, however, come to control large networks of people and resources. These included theNimang of Pathiab, the successor to the throne and guardian of the northwestern march nearKoussanar, as well as the powerful and relatively independent Signate clan ofNetteboulou.[40][41]
Slavery was an essential part of society and foundation of elite power. RoyalMansajong slaves, based at court, were a hereditary class that served as the soldiers, tax collectores, and the executive branch of government. The Mansa ruled through the council of state, theMansa Bengo, staffed with the heads of the most important families, villages, and interest groups.[42] The Mansa's government was funded with taxes generally paid in kind once a year. He could also levy duties on julas or European traders and other travellers.[43]Fula pastoralists paid taxes at a time and quantity decided by the ruler, arbitrarily, but taking care not to push them to emigrate.[44]
Thejalang (fetish) of the Wali family is known as Tamba Jalli, and its worship served essentially as Wuli's state religion. Its form is an ancient, three-bladedtamba (spear) wrapped in white hand-woven cloth calledfataro. Jalali Wali was believed to have brought it with him when he settled in Wuli.[45] The Mansa regularly sacrificed to thejalang and consulted it for divination; in extreme circumstances human sacrifices were required, generally in the form of a warrior who went to battle exposed and not expecting to return. In 1887 two Wuli princes volunteered to die to guarantee a victory against Mamadu Lamine, and succeeded on both counts. Thejalang is still housed and venerated atSinthiou-Maleme.[46]
Muslims were a part of the earliest Mandinka migrations into Wuli, andmarabouts served the Mansas as scribes and charm-makers for centuries. OtherJakhanke students ofAl-Hajj Salim Suwari arrived later.[47] Even during the widespread religious wars of the mid-19th century, the marabouts of Wuli generally stayed away from overtly political activity and the Walis continued to protect them and seek prayers and charms from them.[48]
