XIXᵉ siècle – XIXᵉ siècle
West Africa
Traduction non disponible · Original (anglais) · français indisponible
The Mandingo Empire was the state created and governed by Samori Ture across the southern Sudanese savannas and adjacent forest zones of West Africa. By 1881 it extended from northern Sierra Leone to the Sassandra River in the Ivory Coast. Its power rested on territorial conquest, control of gold and ivory resources, slave and horse exchanges, and a disciplined army equipped with European firearms. French campaigns progressively displaced the empire westward and eastward until Samori’s capture in 1898.
Poursuivre l’exploration
Le récit
The Mandingo Empire emerged as Samori Ture consolidated the southern Sudanese savannas along the great West African forest. By 1881, the political formation reached from northern Sierra Leone to the Sassandra River in the Ivory Coast. The empire was still expanding in 1882, when Samori first came into conflict with French forces, and its authority was supported by a ruler able to combine military command, commercial policy and diplomacy.
The empire’s military strength was closely connected to its economic resources. Arms purchases were financed through the sale of ivory and gold from the Bure goldfields, while slaves were exchanged for horses in the Sahel and Mossi regions. Samori also established local production by training blacksmiths to repair and reproduce firearms. These arrangements gave the empire a degree of military autonomy unusual among West African states confronting European armies.
French expansion challenged the empire’s control of strategic markets and resources. The occupation of Bure in 1885 was reversed by a Mandingo counteroffensive, but treaties signed with France in 1886 and 1887 required territorial concessions and eventually placed Samori’s country under French protection. The arrangement broke down as French officials encouraged rebellion in recently subdued areas and tried to restrict Samori’s access to weapons from Sierra Leone.
From 1890, Samori reorganized the army, purchased weapons through a treaty with the British in Sierra Leone, and adopted a mobile defensive strategy. French forces captured Kankan, Bissandugu, Sanankoro and Kerwane between 1891 and 1892, inflicting severe losses on the empire’s elite units. Samori responded by abandoning his homeland rather than surrendering, moving eastward toward the Bandama and Comoé rivers while using scorched-earth methods.
Between July 1895 and January 1896, Samori conquered the Abron, or Gyaman, kingdom and western Gonja, thereby creating a new empire in the hinterland of the Ivory Coast and Asante. This eastern formation remained under pressure from both French and British forces. Samori’s capture at Guelemou in September 1898 brought the long campaign to an end and marked the destruction of the imperial structure described in the passage.
XIXᵉ siècle – XIXᵉ siècle
West Africa
Traduction non disponible · Original (anglais) · français indisponible
The Mandingo Empire was the state created and governed by Samori Ture across the southern Sudanese savannas and adjacent forest zones of West Africa. By 1881 it extended from northern Sierra Leone to the Sassandra River in the Ivory Coast. Its power rested on territorial conquest, control of gold and ivory resources, slave and horse exchanges, and a disciplined army equipped with European firearms. French campaigns progressively displaced the empire westward and eastward until Samori’s capture in 1898.
Poursuivre l’exploration
Le récit
The Mandingo Empire emerged as Samori Ture consolidated the southern Sudanese savannas along the great West African forest. By 1881, the political formation reached from northern Sierra Leone to the Sassandra River in the Ivory Coast. The empire was still expanding in 1882, when Samori first came into conflict with French forces, and its authority was supported by a ruler able to combine military command, commercial policy and diplomacy.
The empire’s military strength was closely connected to its economic resources. Arms purchases were financed through the sale of ivory and gold from the Bure goldfields, while slaves were exchanged for horses in the Sahel and Mossi regions. Samori also established local production by training blacksmiths to repair and reproduce firearms. These arrangements gave the empire a degree of military autonomy unusual among West African states confronting European armies.
French expansion challenged the empire’s control of strategic markets and resources. The occupation of Bure in 1885 was reversed by a Mandingo counteroffensive, but treaties signed with France in 1886 and 1887 required territorial concessions and eventually placed Samori’s country under French protection. The arrangement broke down as French officials encouraged rebellion in recently subdued areas and tried to restrict Samori’s access to weapons from Sierra Leone.
From 1890, Samori reorganized the army, purchased weapons through a treaty with the British in Sierra Leone, and adopted a mobile defensive strategy. French forces captured Kankan, Bissandugu, Sanankoro and Kerwane between 1891 and 1892, inflicting severe losses on the empire’s elite units. Samori responded by abandoning his homeland rather than surrendering, moving eastward toward the Bandama and Comoé rivers while using scorched-earth methods.
Between July 1895 and January 1896, Samori conquered the Abron, or Gyaman, kingdom and western Gonja, thereby creating a new empire in the hinterland of the Ivory Coast and Asante. This eastern formation remained under pressure from both French and British forces. Samori’s capture at Guelemou in September 1898 brought the long campaign to an end and marked the destruction of the imperial structure described in the passage.
Continuer le voyage
D’autres chemins liés à cette histoire.