| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 2.2 million | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| West Africa | |
| Languages | |
| Dyula,French,English | |
| Religion | |
| PredominantlySunni Muslim | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Mandinka,Bambara,Jakhanke |
TheDyula (Dioula orJuula) are aMandeethnic group inhabiting severalWest African countries, includingMali,Côte d'Ivoire,Ghana, andBurkina Faso.
Characterized as a highly successful merchantcaste,Dyula migrants began establishing trading communities across the region in the fourteenth century. Since business was often conducted under non-Muslim rulers, theDyula developed a set of theological principles forMuslim minorities in non-Muslim societies. Their unique contribution of long-distance commerce, Islamic scholarship andreligious tolerance were significant factors in the peaceful expansion of Islam in West Africa.[1]
The term 'Dyula' is sometimes used interchangeably withWangara orJakhanke, depending on the historical period and region.
The Mandé embraced Islam during the thirteenth century following introduction to the faith through contact with theNorth African traders. By the 14th century, theMalian empire (c. 1230–1600) had reached its apogee, acquiring a considerable reputation for the Islamic rulings of its court and the pilgrimages of several emperors who followed the tradition ofLahilatul Kalabi, the first black prince to makehajj toMecca. It was at this time that Mali began encouraging some of its local merchants to establish colonies close to the gold fields of West Africa. This migrant trading class were known asDyula, theMandingo word for “merchant”.[2]
TheDyula spread throughout the former area of Mandé culture from the Atlantic coast ofSenegambia to theNiger and from the southern edge of theSahara to forest zones further south. They established decentralized townships in non-Muslim colonies that were linked to an extensive commercial network, in what was described by professorPhilip D. Curtin as a "trading diaspora". Motivated by business imperatives, they expanded into new markets, founding settlements under the auspices of various local rulers who often permitted them self-governance and autonomy. Organization ofdyula trading companies was based on a clan-family structure known as thelu – a working unit consisting of a father and his sons and other attached males. Members of a givenlu dispersed from thesavanna to the forest, managed circulation of goods and information, placed orders, and effectively controlled the economic mechanisms ofsupply and demand.[3]
Over timedyula colonies developed atheological rationale for their relations with non-Muslim ruling classes and subjects in what authorNehemia Levtzion dubbed "accommodationist Islam".[4] The man credited with formulating this rationale is SheikhAl-Hajj Salim Suwari, aSoninke cleric from the core Mali area who lived around 1500. He madehajj toMecca several times and devoted his intellectual career to developing an understanding of the faith that would assist Muslim minorities in "pagan" lands. He drew on North African and Middle Eastern jurists andtheologians who had reflected on the problem of Muslims living among non-Muslim majorities, situations that were frequent in the centuries of Islamic expansion.[5]
Sheikh Suwari formulated the obligations of Muslim minorities in West Africa into something known as theSuwarian tradition. It stressed the need for Muslims to coexist peaceably with unbelievers and so justified a separation of religion and politics. In this understanding, Muslims must nurture their own learning and piety and thereby furnish good examples to the non-Muslims around them. They could accept jurisdiction of non-Muslim authorities as long as they had the necessary protection and conditions to practice the faith. In this teaching, Suwari followed a strong predilection in Islamic thought for any government, even if non-Muslim or tyrannical, as opposed to none. The militaryjihad was a resort only if the faithful were threatened. Suwari discourageddawah (missionary activity), instead contending that God would bring non-Muslims to Islam in his own way; it was not a Muslim's responsibility to decide when ignorance should give way to belief. Since their Islamic practice was capable of accommodating traditional religions,dyula often served as priests,soothsayers, and counselors at the courts ofanimist rulers.[6]
As fellow Muslims,dyula merchants were also able to assess the valuabletrans-Saharan trade network conducted by North African Arabs andBerbers whom they met at commercial centers across theSahel. Some important trade goods included gold,millet, slaves, and kola nuts from the south and slave beads andcowrie shells from the north (for use ascurrency). It was under Mali that the great cities of the Niger bend includingGao andDjenné prospered, with Timbuktu in particular becoming known across Europe for its great wealth. Important trading centers in Southern West Africa developed at the transitional zone between the forest and the savanna; examples includeBegho andBono Manso (in present-day Ghana) andBondoukou (in present-day Côte d'Ivoire). Western trade routes continued to be important, withOuadane,Oualata andChinguetti being the major trade centres in what is nowMauritania.[7]
The development ofDyula trade in Ghana and the adjacent Ivory Coast had important political consequences and sometimes military implications as well. Thedyula spearheaded Mande penetration of the forested zones in the south by establishing caravan routes and trading posts at strategic locations throughout the region en route to cola-producing areas. By the start of the sixteenth century,dyula merchants were trading as far south as the coast of modern Ghana.
On the forest's northern fringes, new states emerged, such asBono and Banda. As the economic value of gold and kola became appreciated, forests south of these states which had hitherto been little inhabited because of limited agricultural potential became more thickly populated, and the same principles of political and military mobilization began being applied there. Village communities became tributaries of ruling groups, with some members becoming the clients and slaves needed to support royal households, armies, and trading enterprises. Sometimes these political changes were not to the advantage of theDyula, who employed Mande warriors to guard their caravans and if necessary could call in larger contingents from the Sudanic kingdoms. In the seventeenth century, tensions between the Muslims and the local pagans in Begho erupted into a destructive war which eventually led to the total abandonment of the Banda capital. The local people eventually settled in a number of towns further east, while the dyula withdrew to the west to the further side of the Banda hills where they established the new trading center ofBonduku.[8]
Thedyula presence and changes in the balance of power occasioned political upheavals in other places. Among the paramount Mande political initiatives along trade routes south ofJenne was creation of thedyula state ofGonja by Naba'a in the 16th century.[9] This was motivated by a general worsening of the competitive position of dyula traders and was occasioned by three factors: (1) a near-monopoly control in exporting forest produce achieved by the Akan kingdom of Bono; (2) the rise to power further north of theDagomba Kingdom which controlled local salt pans; and (3) increased competition following the arrival in the region of rival long-distance traders fromHausaland.
The reaction of the Dyula in the Bono-Banda-Gonja region to these developments was to establish a kingdom of their own in Gonja – the territory northern traders had to cross to reach Akan forestlands, situated in what is now modernGhana. By 1675, Gonja had established aparamount chief calledYagbongwura to control the kingdom. But Gonja was not a fruitful land in which to try to maintain a centralized government. This is because the Dagomba power to the north and Akan power to the south were too powerful; thus, the new kingdom rapidly declined in strength.[10][11]
Many of the trading posts established by theDyula eventually became market villages or cities, such asKong in today's Northeastern Côte d'Ivoire. It emerged as a commercial center when Malian merchants began trading in the territory which was inhabited by pagan Senufo and other Voltaic groups. The sous-préfecture of Kong, in the area of Kong toDabakala, is said to be the “origin” area, wheredyula traders first settled in the twelfth century.Dyula presence in the Kong area grew rapidly in the seventeenth century as a result of the developing trade between the commercial centers along the Niger banks and the forest region to the south which was controlled by the Baule chiefdoms and theAshanti. Thedyula brought their trading skills and connections and transformed Kong into an international market for the exchange of northern desert goods, such as salt and cloth, and southern forest exports, such as cola nuts, gold, and slaves. The city was also a religious center that housed a substantial academic community of Muslim scholars, with palaces and mosques built in the traditionalSudanese style. As Kong grew prosperous, its early rulers from the Taraweré clan combineddyula and Senufo traditions and extended their authority over the surrounding region.[12]
By the eighteenth century thedyula had become quite powerful in the area and wished to rid themselves of subordination to Senufo chiefs. This was achieved in an uprising led by Seku Wattara (Ouattara), adyula warrior who claimed descent from the Malinke Keita lineage and who had studied the Quran and engaged in commerce before becoming a warrior. By rallying around himself alldyula in the area, Seku Wattara easily defeated local chiefdoms and set up an independentDyula state in 1710, the first of its kind in West Africa. He established himself as ruler and under his authority, the city rose from a small city-state to the capital of the greatKong Empire, holding sway over much of the region. Thedyula of Kong also maintained commercial links with European traders on the Atlantic coast around theGulf of Guinea, from whom they easily obtained prized European goods, most notably rifles, gunpowder, and textiles. The acquisition of weapons allowed for the creation of an armed militia force that protected trade routes passing through the territories of various minor rulers. In the course of developing his state, Seku Wattara built a strong army composed mostly of defeated pagan groups. The leadership of the army eventually developed into a new warrior class, calledsonangi, which was gradually separated from the overalldyula merchant class.[13]
The Kong Empire started to decline after the death of Seku Wattara. Succession struggles divided the kingdom into two parts, with the northern area being controlled by Seku's brother Famagan who refused to recognize the rule of Seku's oldest son in the south. Towards the end of the nineteenth century, many of Kong's provinces had formed independent chiefdoms. The city of Kong retained the prestige of an Islamic commercial center, but it was no longer the seat of an important political power. It eventually came under French colonial control in 1898. Despite the fall from glory, the seventeenth-century Kong Friday Mosque survived, and the city was largely rebuilt in a traditionalSudano-Sahelian architectural style and features a Qur'anic school.
The Mande conquerors of the nineteenth century frequently utilized trade routes established by theDyula. Indeed, it was his exploitation of their commercial network that allowed military leaderSamory Touré (1830–1900) to rise to a dominant position in theUpper Niger region. A member of adyula family from Sanankoro inGuinea, Samori conquered and unitedDyula states during the 1860s. He gained control over the Milo River Valley in 1871, seized the village ofKankan in 1881, and became the principal power holder on the Upper Niger. By 1883, Samori had successfully brought the local chieftains under his control and officially founded the kingdom ofWasulu.
Having established an empire, he adopted the religious title ofAlmami in 1884 and recreated the Malian realm. This new state was governed by Samori and a council of kinsmen and clients who took on the management of the chancery and thetreasury, and administered justice, religious affairs, andforeign relations. Unlike some of his contemporary state-builders, Samori was not a religious preacher, and Wasulu was not a reformist state as such. Nevertheless, he used Islam to unify the nation, promoting Islamic education and basing his rule onshari’a (Islamic law). However, Samori's professional army was the essential institution and the real strength behind his empire. He imported horses and weapons and modernized the army along European lines.[14]
Dyula traders had never enjoyed as much prosperity as they did under thealmamy. Even though they did not play a central part in the creation of the state, thedyula supported Samori because he actively encouraged commerce and protected trade routes, thus promoting a free circulation of people and goods. Samori put up the strongest resistance to European colonial penetration in West Africa, fighting both the French and British for seventeen years. Samori's would-be Muslim empire was undone by the French, who tookSikasso in 1898, and sent Samori into exile, where he died in 1900.[15]
Dyula society is hierarchical orcaste-based, withnobility and vassals. Like numerous other African peoples, they previously held slaves (jonw), who were oftenwar prisoners from lands surrounding their territory. Descendants of former kings and generals had a higher status than theirnomadic and more settled compatriots. With time, that difference has eroded, corresponding to the economic fortunes of the groups.
The traditionaldyula social structure is further organized into various familialclan groups, and clan affiliation continues to be a dominant aspect of both collective and individual identity. People are fiercely loyal to their clan lineage, often expressing their cultural history and devotion through the oral traditions of dance and storytelling. Thedyula arepatrilineal andpatriarchal, with older males possessing the most power and influence. Men and women commonly reside in separate houses made of mud or cement - men occupying roundhouses and women in rectangular ones. The father heads the family, and inheritances are passed down from fathers to their sons. Despite being illegal, thedyula still practicepolygamy, and young people are often encouraged to marry within their own clan.
Another hereditary class that was afforded a particularly important status by thedyula social hierarchy was occupied by thetuntigi or warrior class. Thedyula had long been accustomed to surrounding their cities with fortifications and taking up arms when it was deemed necessary in order to defend themselves and maintain the smooth flow of trade caravans. As a result, they became closely associated with thetuntigi warriors.
Thedyula have been predominantly Muslim since the 13th century. Many in rural areas combine Islamic beliefs with certain pre-Islamic animistic traditions such as the presence of spirits and use ofamulets.Dyula communities have a reputation for historically maintaining a high standard of Muslim education. Thedyula family enterprise based on thelu could afford to provide some of its younger men an Islamic education. Thus, anulema (clerical) class known as karamogo emerged, who were educated in the Quran and commentary (tafsir),hadith (prophetic narrations), and the life ofMuhammad. According to thedyula clerical tradition, a student received instruction under a singlesheikh for a duration varying from five to thirty years, and earned his living as a part-time farmer working his teacher's lands. After he completed his studies, akaramogo obtained a turban and anisnad (teaching license), and either sought further instruction or started his own school in a remote village. A highly educatedkaramogo could become a professionalimam orqadi (judge).
Certain families gained a reputation for providing multiple generations of scholars. For example, the Saghanughu clan was adyula lineage living in Northern and Western Ivory Coast and parts of theUpper Volta. This lineage may be traced to Timbuktu, but its principal figure was Sheikh Muhammad al-Mustafa Saghanughu (died 1776), theimam of Bobo-Dyulasso. He produced an educational system based on three canonical texts of Quranic commentary (tafsir) andhadith. His sons continued spreading their father's teachings and expanded through towns in Ghana and the Ivory Coast, founding Islamic schools, ormadaris, and acting asimams andqadis.[16]
Thesemadaris were probably a positive byproduct of the long history of Muslims' interest in literary work. InThe Islamic Literary Tradition in Ghana, authorThomas Hodgkin enumerates the large literary contribution that was made by Dyula-Wangara Muslims to the history of not only the regions they found themselves in but also of West Africa as a whole. He cites al-Hajj Osmanu Eshaka Boyo ofKintampo as an "‘alim with a wide range of Muslim connexions and an excellent grasp of local Islamic history" whose efforts brought together a great many Arabic manuscripts from around Ghana. These manuscripts, theIsnad al-shuyukh wa’l-ulama, orKitab Ghunja, compiled by al-Hajj ‘Umar ibn Abi Bakr ibn ‘Uthman al-Kabbawi al-Kanawi al-Salaghawi of Kete-Krachi whom Hodgkin describes as "the most interesting, and historically significant of the poets", may now be found in the library of theInstitute of African Studies of theUniversity of Ghana.[17]
Thedyula speak theDioula language orJulakan, which is included in the group of closely interrelatedManding languages that are spoken by various ethnic groups spread across Western Africa. Dioula is most closely related to theBambara language (the most widely spoken language in Mali), in a manner similar to the relation between American English and British English. It is probably the most used language for trade in West Africa.
The Dioula language and people are distinct from theDiola (Jola) people ofGuinea-Bissau andCasamance.
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