Muslims united against the cruel despotism of Ahmadu and his
brothers. Thus the French troops, sent to put order into this chaos,
were welcomed as liberators. Lieutenant-Colonel Archinard
entered Segu, 6 April 1890; becoming Colonel, he occupied
Nioro on 1 January 1891, and, promoted to general, he
captured the city of Bandiagara on 29 April 1893, which the
Tukulors had made their capital in the Massina.
TThhee WWa annddeer riinnggs s oof f SSaammo or rii
French peace succeeded Tukulor adventure. Only one serious
obstacle menaced it, from the direction of the south, in the person
of the Mandinka conqueror Samori Toure, a native of Wassulu,
who, gaining the east in the measure that the French disturbed his
position in the west, devastated Kong, the Gimini, and the region
of Bonduku (Ivory Coast) in 1894-1895, attacking the British
troops of the Gold Coast in 1897, then retreating towards the
northeast of Liberia where, after a struggle of nearly eighteen
years, he was at last made prisoner on 29 September 1898 by
a Captain Gouraud, and Captain Gaden, who went on to
become general and governor of the colonies respectively.
TThhee PPeeooppl lees s oof f tthhee WWe es st t CCo oaas st t
Until now, I have spoken only of the peoples constituting the great
States: the Sarakolle, the Mandinka, the Songhoy, the Mossi, the
Bambara, the Gurmanche, the Berba, the Fulani, and the Tukulors.
There were, however, many others in West Africa which, though
not having had such brilliant fortunes, in no way deserve to be
passed over in silence. If we follow the coastal zone after the
mouth of the Senegal, we first meet the Wolofs, divided into three
kingdoms, of small extent, in truth, the Walo with its prince bearing
the title of brae, the Wolof with its bur, and the Cayor with its
damel, who were at all times remarkable for their organisation, the
second of which, especially, played an important role on several
occasions. Farther to the south are the Baol, formed of Wolof and
Serer groups obeying a king who bears the title of tegne. Beyond
was the great Serer kingdom of Sine, where agriculture had
always been flourishing.
Then we arrive at a scattering of tribes, for the most part very
backwards and often half savage, the probable remains of
populations formerly more numerous and more compact, among
whom the Mandinka and the Fulani had filtered in during centu-
ries, sometimes driving them to the shores of the ocean and
sometimes even to the islands situated in the estuaries of the
rivers, as in the case of the Diola of the lower Gambia and of the
Casamance, the Balant, Banyoun, Bissago, Papel, Biafada, etc.,
of Portuguese Guinea, the Nalu, Landuman, and Baga of lower
Plaque (Benin), 16thcentury.
Nigeria.
Brass, 50 x 40 cm.
The Trustees of the British Museum, London.The heavily stylised palm tree in this plaque may be a Borassus palm in fruit.
A Beninese suggested that many plaques such as these illustrate proverbs, but
was unable to clearly identify what the two fallen, symmetrically arranged leaves
on either side of this tree represented.