Alliance with Portugal
A Muslim Wolof, Abdul Injai initially came to notice while assisting in the punitive military missions of Portuguese colonialists Oliveira Musanty and Teixeira Pinto, from 1905 to 1915. [2] This era was the beginning of a Portuguese campaign against the animist tribes of the interior, with the help of the indigenous coastal Islamic population. It would not be until 1936 that areas like the Bijagos Islands would be under complete government control. Tenuous alliances, like those between Abdul Injai and the Portuguese during the Scramble for Africa, reflect the overwhelming tendency for European colonial powers to attempt to divide native African populations based on religious affiliations - particularly the idea that, although racially inferior to Europeans, Muslim Africans possessed higher levels of education and culture and were preferential associates compared to followers of animist or tribal religions. [3]
An outraged Portuguese lawyer later published a damning report on the atrocities committed by African mercenaries under the command of Abdul Injai and Pinto:
"Numerous bands, in which were also found the old, the crippled, women and children, fled, terrorized in the face of the triumphant march of the force of the irregulars [the mercenaries]. And in the disorderly flight, numerous natives, men, women, old people, children and the crippled, perished, drowned in the river, and ... mercilessly killed by the same irregulars. Then followed assaults on the tabancas [villages], these being sacked and burned; their undefended inhabitants were slaughtered; the fields were devastated totally destroyed.... Today, the rich and extensive territory inhabited by Pepels is in the greatest desolation and misery." [4]
Having assisted the Portuguese in the conquest of several native groups from 1914-1915, Injai began to consolidate his power in the Oio region, where Portuguese influence was limited, allowing for him to do as he pleased and act independent of the government. Eventually, the people of Oio paid more attention to the demands of Injai then the government, who terrorized the locals. His mercenary Senegalese army stayed independent there for four years, not only threatening the Portuguese and Oio locals, but also the French administration in Senegal, who feared a return of the mercenary army would lead to conflict in Senegal. [5]
Guinea-Bissau, officially the Republic of Guinea-Bissau, is a country in West Africa that covers 36,125 square kilometres (13,948 sq mi) with an estimated population of 2,026,778. It borders Senegal to its north and Guinea to its southeast.
People have inhabited the region now known as Guinea-Bissau for thousands of years. In the 13th century, it became a province of the Mali Empire that later became independent as the Empire of Kaabu. Portugal claimed the region beginning in the 1450s. During most of this period, Portuguese control of the region was limited to a number of forts along the coast. Portugal gained full control of the mainland after the pacification campaigns of 1912–15. The offshore Bijagos islands were not colonised until 1936. After gaining independence in 1974, the country was controlled by a single-party system until 1991. The introduction of multi-party politics in 1991 brought the first multi-party elections in 1994. A civil war broke out in 1998 and lasted until 1999.
The economy of Guinea-Bissau comprises a mixture of state-owned and private companies. Guinea-Bissau is among the world's least developed nations and one of the 10 poorest countries in the world, and depends mainly on agriculture and fishing. Cashew crops have increased remarkably in recent years, and the country ranked ninth in cashew production for the year 2019.
Bissau is the capital and largest city of Guinea-Bissau. As of 2015, it had a population of 492,004. Bissau is located on the Geba River estuary, off the Atlantic Ocean, and is Guinea-Bissau's largest city, major port, its administrative and military center.
Casamance is the area of Senegal south of the Gambia, including the Casamance River. It consists of the Lower Casamance and the Upper Casamance. The largest city of Casamance is Ziguinchor.
Portuguese Guinea, called the Overseas Province of Guinea from 1951 until 1972 and then State of Guinea from 1972 until 1974, was a West African colony of Portugal from 1588 until 10 September 1974, when it gained independence as Guinea-Bissau.
The African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde is a political party in Guinea-Bissau. Originally formed to peacefully campaign for independence from Portugal, the party turned to armed conflict in the 1960s and was one of the belligerents in the Guinea-Bissau War of Independence. Towards the end of the war, the party established a socialist one-party state, which remained intact until multi-party democracy was introduced in the early 1990s. Although the party won the first multi-party elections in 1994, it was removed from power in the 1999–2000 elections. However, it returned to office after winning parliamentary elections in 2004 and presidential elections in 2005, since which it has remained the largest party in the National People's Assembly.
Oio is a region in Guinea-Bissau. Its capital is Farim. Other major cities and towns include Nhacra, Mansôa, Bissorã and Cumeré. The region borders Senegal to the north, the Guinea-Bissau regions of Bafatá, Bissau and Biombo to the east, the Rio Geba/Guinea-Bissau region of Quinara to the south and the Guinea-Bissau region of Cacheu to the west. There has not been any local administration since the civil war of 1998-99 and all the social services are done by organs of civil society and other government agencies. It is a coastal region covered with Mangrove swamps, rain forest and tangled forest and receives an annual rainfall of more than 1,000 mm (39 in), while the inland has savannah woodlands.
The Guinea-Bissau Civil War was fought from 7 June 1998 to 10 May 1999 and was triggered by an attempted coup d'état against the government of President João Bernardo Vieira led by Brigadier-General Ansumane Mané. Government forces, backed by neighbouring states, clashed with the coup leaders who had quickly gained almost total control over the country's armed forces.
The Guinea-Bissau War of Independence, also known as the Bissau-Guinean War of Independence, was an armed independence conflict that took place in Portuguese Guinea from 1963 to 1974. It was fought between Portugal and the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde, an armed independence movement backed by Cuba, the Soviet Union, and Yugoslavia. The war is commonly referred to as "Portugal's Vietnam" because it was a protracted guerrilla war which had extremely high costs in men and materiel and which created significant internal political turmoil in Portugal.
The Struggle Front for the National Independence of Guinea was a political movement in Guinea-Bissau. Founded by groups opposed to the Marxist doctrine of Amílcar Cabral and the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC), FLING played a minor role in the national liberation struggle against Portuguese colonial rule.
The Casamance conflict is an ongoing low-level conflict that has been waged between the Government of Senegal and the Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance (MFDC) since 1982. On May 1, 2014, the leader of the MFDC sued for peace and declared a unilateral ceasefire.
Portuguese is spoken in a number of African countries and is the official language in six African countries: Angola, Cape Verde, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique and São Tomé and Príncipe. There are Portuguese-speaking communities in most countries of Southern Africa, a mixture of Portuguese settlers and Angolans and Mozambicans who left their countries during the civil wars. A rough estimate has it that there are about 14 million people who use Portuguese as their sole mother tongue across Africa, but depending on the criteria applied, the number might be considerably higher, since many Africans speak Portuguese as a second language, in countries like Angola and Mozambique, where Portuguese is an official language, but also in countries like South Africa and Senegal, thanks to migrants coming from Portuguese-speaking countries. Some statistics claim that there are over 60 million Portuguese speakers in the continent.
Senegal is a multilingual country: Ethnologue lists 36 languages, Wolof being the most widely spoken language.
The Balanta are an ethnic group found in Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Senegal, Cape Verde and The Gambia. They are the largest ethnic group of Guinea-Bissau, representing more than one-quarter of the population. Despite their numbers, they have remained outside the colonial and postcolonial state because of their social organisation. The Balanta can be divided into six clans: Nhacra, Ganja (Mane), Naga, Patch, Sofar and Kentohe. The largest of which are the Balanta Kentohe.
Manjak people or the Manjaco are a West African ethnic group who primarily reside in Guinea-Bissau with smaller communities in The Gambia, and Senegal. The Manjaco constitute about 14% of the population of Guinea-Bissau. Within Guinea-Bissau, the people primarily live in the Bassarel and Babok areas in the northern coastal Cacheu Region.
Manjak or Manjack or Njak is a Bak language of Guinea-Bissau and Senegal. The language is also known as Kanyop.
Papels, also known as Moium, Oium, Papei, Pepel or Pelels, are an ethnic group primarily located in Guinea-Bissau, though are also found in Casamance (Senegal) and Guinea. Their population in Guinea-Bissau is about 183,000, with 9,000 living outside of the country. They traditionally engaged in hunting and agriculture.
Ziguinchor is the capital of the Ziguinchor Region, and the chief town of the Casamance area of Senegal, lying at the mouth of the Casamance River. It has a population of 214,874. It is the eighth largest city of Senegal, but is nearly separated from the north of the country by the nation of The Gambia.
João Teixeira da Rocha Pinto was a Portuguese military officer who served throughout his career in the administration of Portuguese colonies of Africa. João Pinto bore the nickname The Devil's Chief. He gained distinction for his role in administering the military contingents of Portuguese Mozambique during the late years of World War I. He was killed in action in 1917.
