Jusqu’à XIXᵉ siècle
West Africa
Traduction non disponible · Original (anglais) · français indisponible
Samori Ture was the founder and ruler of a Mandingo empire spanning the southern Sudanese savannas between northern Sierra Leone and the Sassandra River. He built a disciplined, semi-professional army, used diplomacy alongside warfare, and resisted French expansion for more than fifteen years. After losing his western territories, he migrated eastward, conquered parts of Gyaman and Gonja, and created a second political centre inland from the Ivory Coast and Asante. Captured by Gouraud at Guelemou in 1898, he was deported to Gabon, where he died in 1900.
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By 1881, Samori Ture had consolidated the southern part of the Sudanese savannas along the West African forest, extending from the northern parts of modern Sierra Leone to the Sassandra River in the Ivory Coast. This territory formed a single Mandingo empire under his authority. Its expansion gave him access to resources and routes that supported the creation of a powerful army, allowing his state to remain politically and militarily ascendant when he first confronted France.
Samori’s army combined permanent infantry units with cavalry formations. The infantry, known as the sofa, numbered between 30,000 and 35,000 men by 1887, while the cavalry numbered no more than 3,000. Permanent units fostered loyalty to local commanders and then to Samori himself, producing what the passage describes as a quasi-national character. Weapons and training were central to this system: from 1876 he acquired European firearms, replaced Chassepot rifles with Gras and Kropatschek weapons, and trained blacksmiths to manufacture copies.
Samori first encountered the French in 1882, when he refused an order to withdraw from Kenyeran, an important market centre. French attacks followed, including fighting near Bamako in which his brother Kémé-Brema participated. After the French occupation of Bure in 1885 threatened the gold resources of his empire, Samori used three armies to recapture the area and then sought British protection as a diplomatic counterweight. His proposal to the governor at Freetown was intended to preserve his sovereignty and compel France to respect it.
Treaties with France in 1886 and 1887 temporarily altered the balance. Samori accepted territorial concessions and, in the later agreement, French protection, but he continued to pursue his own strategic interests, including an attack on Tieba of Sikasso. When French policy encouraged dissidence and obstructed his access to arms from Sierra Leone, he abandoned cooperation. A treaty with the British in 1890 enabled him to purchase modern weapons, while army reforms introduced European-style platoons and companies and emphasized mobile defence rather than reliance on fortifications.
French offensives nevertheless progressively weakened Samori’s western empire. Archinard captured Kankan and burned Bissandugu in 1891, although Samori later defeated French forces at Dabadugu. Humbert’s 1892 campaign captured Bissandugu, Sanankoro and Kerwane at considerable cost to his own column. Convinced that direct confrontation was futile, Samori rejected surrender and moved eastward under a scorched-earth policy, creating a new empire in the hinterland of the Ivory Coast and Asante. He conquered Gyaman and western Gonja, but was eventually trapped between French and British forces and captured at Guelemou on 29 September 1898.
After his capture, Samori was deported to Gabon, where he died in 1900. His defeat ended what the passage characterizes as the longest series of campaigns against a single enemy in the history of the French conquest of the Sudan. His career therefore linked state formation, commercial resources, military adaptation and sustained opposition to European imperial expansion across several West African regions.
Jusqu’à XIXᵉ siècle
West Africa
Traduction non disponible · Original (anglais) · français indisponible
Samori Ture was the founder and ruler of a Mandingo empire spanning the southern Sudanese savannas between northern Sierra Leone and the Sassandra River. He built a disciplined, semi-professional army, used diplomacy alongside warfare, and resisted French expansion for more than fifteen years. After losing his western territories, he migrated eastward, conquered parts of Gyaman and Gonja, and created a second political centre inland from the Ivory Coast and Asante. Captured by Gouraud at Guelemou in 1898, he was deported to Gabon, where he died in 1900.
Poursuivre l’exploration
Le récit
By 1881, Samori Ture had consolidated the southern part of the Sudanese savannas along the West African forest, extending from the northern parts of modern Sierra Leone to the Sassandra River in the Ivory Coast. This territory formed a single Mandingo empire under his authority. Its expansion gave him access to resources and routes that supported the creation of a powerful army, allowing his state to remain politically and militarily ascendant when he first confronted France.
Samori’s army combined permanent infantry units with cavalry formations. The infantry, known as the sofa, numbered between 30,000 and 35,000 men by 1887, while the cavalry numbered no more than 3,000. Permanent units fostered loyalty to local commanders and then to Samori himself, producing what the passage describes as a quasi-national character. Weapons and training were central to this system: from 1876 he acquired European firearms, replaced Chassepot rifles with Gras and Kropatschek weapons, and trained blacksmiths to manufacture copies.
Samori first encountered the French in 1882, when he refused an order to withdraw from Kenyeran, an important market centre. French attacks followed, including fighting near Bamako in which his brother Kémé-Brema participated. After the French occupation of Bure in 1885 threatened the gold resources of his empire, Samori used three armies to recapture the area and then sought British protection as a diplomatic counterweight. His proposal to the governor at Freetown was intended to preserve his sovereignty and compel France to respect it.
Treaties with France in 1886 and 1887 temporarily altered the balance. Samori accepted territorial concessions and, in the later agreement, French protection, but he continued to pursue his own strategic interests, including an attack on Tieba of Sikasso. When French policy encouraged dissidence and obstructed his access to arms from Sierra Leone, he abandoned cooperation. A treaty with the British in 1890 enabled him to purchase modern weapons, while army reforms introduced European-style platoons and companies and emphasized mobile defence rather than reliance on fortifications.
French offensives nevertheless progressively weakened Samori’s western empire. Archinard captured Kankan and burned Bissandugu in 1891, although Samori later defeated French forces at Dabadugu. Humbert’s 1892 campaign captured Bissandugu, Sanankoro and Kerwane at considerable cost to his own column. Convinced that direct confrontation was futile, Samori rejected surrender and moved eastward under a scorched-earth policy, creating a new empire in the hinterland of the Ivory Coast and Asante. He conquered Gyaman and western Gonja, but was eventually trapped between French and British forces and captured at Guelemou on 29 September 1898.
After his capture, Samori was deported to Gabon, where he died in 1900. His defeat ended what the passage characterizes as the longest series of campaigns against a single enemy in the history of the French conquest of the Sudan. His career therefore linked state formation, commercial resources, military adaptation and sustained opposition to European imperial expansion across several West African regions.