TS_Art of Africa_4C.qxp 10/17/2011 3:50 PM Page 92
subjects of religion and politics and came to visit him at Gao in- This prince made the pilgrimage to Mecca in 1497 and
profited by his journey to converse at length with Soyuti and
other celebrated Muslim doctors; he consecrated a sum of
100,000 gold dinars to pious alms and to the purchase of land
where he had a hostel built for Sudanese pilgrims; finally he
reached the height of his glory in receiving from the grand cherif
of Mecca, then Moulai EI-Abbas, the investiture of Khalife “for
the Tekrur country,” that is, Sudan. The sherifeven went so far as
to send one of his nephews, Moulai Es-Sekli, a native of
Bagdad,to Gao as ambassador from the kingdom of the Hedjaz
to the askia.
However, the empire of Gao reached a considerable territorial
extension, mostly at the expense of the Mandinka Empire. As early
as 1494 Amar, brother of Mohammed, had annexed the whole
of the Massina to the Songhoy, including the Fulani kingdom of the
Diallo. In 1499, after having returned from Mecca and having
unsuccessfully attempted the conquest of Yatenga, the askia him-
self captured the Bagana; in 1501, he conquered a part of the
kingdom of Diara and, in 1508, he pushed on as far as Galam,
that is to say, to the country of the Bakal on the Senegal.KKoollii--TTeennggeellllaa
About the same epoch the Fulani chief Tengella, called by the title
of ardo by his compatriots and that of silatigui or siratigui by the
Mandinka, wandered from Termes to Kingui (province of Diara and
of Nioro). Supported, probably, by the emperor of Manding, he
preached a revolt against the askia and made war on the king of
Diara because the latter accepted the suzerainty of the Songhoy.Ntomomask (Bambara).
Mali.
Wood, cowries, metal, height: 74.3 cm.
Aura Collection.This mask is a representation of the mother of mankind, Faro the water
goddess. It is from the Ntomoinitiative society for non-circumcised young boys.Mask (Yaure).
Wood, height: 43 cm.
O. Lecorneur, Paris.This mask appears to be an artistic production of the Yaure because of the
two lateral parts of the hairstyle which sit back and the crenate edge. Also
existing on some Bambara masks, the meaning of the comb-like stucture
remains unknown.