From 15th century
South-eastern Mogho, upper Volta basin
The Bisa were related to the Samo and became separated from them after a clan dispute. Based in south-eastern Mogho, they maintained a distinctive political and cultural position while continuing exchanges with the Samo. Their communities resisted external pressure and, despite cultural interaction, paid tribute in captives at the end of the eighteenth century. The extract presents the Bisa as a politically autonomous people whose relations with neighbouring powers combined resistance, exchange, and coercion.
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The Story
The Bisa were connected to the Samo through shared origins or close relationship, but the two groups separated after a dispute between clans. This separation produced a distinct Bisa presence in south-eastern Mogho. Their history illustrates how clan conflict could contribute to the formation of a separate political and social community.
The Bisa maintained cultural exchanges with the Samo while defending their own autonomy. These exchanges did not erase political difference: the Bisa, like the Samo, resisted attempts by stronger neighbours to impose control. Their position in south-eastern Mogho placed them within the wider network of relations surrounding the Mossi states.
By the end of the eighteenth century, resistance coexisted with a tribute obligation in captives. The passage does not explain the institutional details of this tribute, but it shows that Bisa relations with neighbouring powers involved both mutual cultural contact and forms of political subordination.
From 15th century
South-eastern Mogho, upper Volta basin
The Bisa were related to the Samo and became separated from them after a clan dispute. Based in south-eastern Mogho, they maintained a distinctive political and cultural position while continuing exchanges with the Samo. Their communities resisted external pressure and, despite cultural interaction, paid tribute in captives at the end of the eighteenth century. The extract presents the Bisa as a politically autonomous people whose relations with neighbouring powers combined resistance, exchange, and coercion.
Continue exploring
The Story
The Bisa were connected to the Samo through shared origins or close relationship, but the two groups separated after a dispute between clans. This separation produced a distinct Bisa presence in south-eastern Mogho. Their history illustrates how clan conflict could contribute to the formation of a separate political and social community.
The Bisa maintained cultural exchanges with the Samo while defending their own autonomy. These exchanges did not erase political difference: the Bisa, like the Samo, resisted attempts by stronger neighbours to impose control. Their position in south-eastern Mogho placed them within the wider network of relations surrounding the Mossi states.
By the end of the eighteenth century, resistance coexisted with a tribute obligation in captives. The passage does not explain the institutional details of this tribute, but it shows that Bisa relations with neighbouring powers involved both mutual cultural contact and forms of political subordination.
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