19th century – 20th century
Sierra Leone Protectorate
Bai Bureh was a Temne chief and the principal leader identified with the 1898 Hut Tax Rebellion in Sierra Leone. He led opposition to the hut tax imposed by the British colonial government and participated in a wider Temne and Mende uprising that attacked colonial officials, troops and trading stations. The passage’s plate caption gives his approximate lifespan as c. 1845–c. 1908.
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The Story
Bai Bureh was one of the Temne chiefs who rejected the British hut tax in 1898. The tax formed part of a wider colonial program involving district commissioners, frontier police, land legislation and administrative consolidation. Temne chiefs unanimously decided not to pay, and Bai Bureh became the leader through whom their resistance was organized.
Mende communities joined the rebellion, extending it across almost three-quarters of the Sierra Leone Protectorate. Under the insurgent leadership, rebel forces attacked and looted trading stations, killed British officials and troops, and targeted people suspected of collaboration with the colonial government. The movement became a broad challenge to the political and economic foundations of British rule.
By May 1898, rebel armies had advanced to within about 40 kilometers of Freetown, compelling the rapid transfer of two companies of troops from Lagos. Bai Bureh’s leadership thus connected a specific fiscal grievance to wider demands for autonomy and resistance to colonial authority.
19th century – 20th century
Sierra Leone Protectorate
Bai Bureh was a Temne chief and the principal leader identified with the 1898 Hut Tax Rebellion in Sierra Leone. He led opposition to the hut tax imposed by the British colonial government and participated in a wider Temne and Mende uprising that attacked colonial officials, troops and trading stations. The passage’s plate caption gives his approximate lifespan as c. 1845–c. 1908.
Continue exploring
The Story
Bai Bureh was one of the Temne chiefs who rejected the British hut tax in 1898. The tax formed part of a wider colonial program involving district commissioners, frontier police, land legislation and administrative consolidation. Temne chiefs unanimously decided not to pay, and Bai Bureh became the leader through whom their resistance was organized.
Mende communities joined the rebellion, extending it across almost three-quarters of the Sierra Leone Protectorate. Under the insurgent leadership, rebel forces attacked and looted trading stations, killed British officials and troops, and targeted people suspected of collaboration with the colonial government. The movement became a broad challenge to the political and economic foundations of British rule.
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