Alfa Molo Balde | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Reign | 1867-1883 | ||||
Successor | Musa Molo | ||||
Born | Souloubali | ||||
Died | 1883 Dandou, Guinea-Bissau | ||||
Consort | Coumba Oude | ||||
Issue | Dikory Coumba, Moussa Molo, Sambel Coumba | ||||
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Religion | Islam |
Alfa Molo Balde was the founder of Fuladu, a kingdom in the Casamance region of modern-day Senegal.
Molo Egue was born in Souloubali as a slave of a noble Fula named Samba Egue. [1] The Toucouleur marabout El-Hajj Omar Tall supposedly visited him in 1847, inspiring him to launch a Fula rebellion against the Mandinka rulers of Kaabu that had dominated the region between the Gambia river and what is now Guinea-Bissau for centuries. He attacked a nearby Mandinka village with a few followers, but was repulsed. Over time, however, his band of raiders found increasing success, which attracted recruits and allowed Alfa Molo to build a tata in the village of Ndorna. Faced with a Kaabunke counterattack, he called for help from the Imamate of Futa Jallon. [2]
Alfa Molo's alliance with Futa Jallon plunged Kaabu into an existential war, culminating in the 1867 Battle of Kansala. With his victory, he established the independent kingdom of Fuladu. [3]
In 1873 a conflict broke out with the marabout Fode Kaba. In 1878, allied with the British in The Gambia, Alfa Molo forced him westwards towards Fogny. In 1880, Alfa Molo's former master Samba Egue rebelled, refusing to be ruled by someone of the slave class, but was defeated and killed. [4]
Alfa Molo died in 1883 of venereal disease and was succeeded by his son Musa Molo. [4]
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. Portuguese control of the area was limited to several forts along the coast during most of this period. Portugal gained complete control of the mainland after the pacification campaigns of 1912–1915. The offshore Bijagos Islands were not colonized 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 Mandinka or Malinke are a West African ethnic group primarily found in southern Mali, The Gambia, southern Senegal and eastern Guinea. Numbering about 11 million, they are the largest subgroup of the Mandé peoples and one of the largest ethnic-linguistic groups in Africa. They speak the Manding languages in the Mande language family, which are a lingua franca in much of West Africa. Virtually all of Mandinka people are adherent to Islam, mostly based on the Maliki jurisprudence. They are predominantly subsistence farmers and live in rural villages. Their largest urban center is Bamako, the capital of Mali.
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Kaabu (1537–1867), also written Gabu, Ngabou, and N'Gabu, was a federation of Mandinka kingdoms in the Senegambia region centered within modern northeastern Guinea-Bissau, large parts of today's Gambia, and extending into Koussanar, Koumpentoum, and the Casamance in Senegal.
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The Battle of Kansala or Turban Keloo was the siege of the capital of the Kaabu federation by the Imamate of Futa Jallon, allied with rebellious Fula people from Kaabu itself. The battle, which saw the town completely destroyed, ended Mandinka hegemony over Africa’s Atlantic coast begun by the Mali Empire.
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Fuladu or Fuladugu is a historic region and former Fula kingdom in the Upper Casamance, in the south of Senegal, and including certain areas in The Gambia and Guinea-Bissau. It was the last independent pre-colonial state in the area, ceasing to exist in 1903.
Mussa Moloh, also written as Musa or Moussa Molo was the last king of Fuladu in the Senegambia region. A ruthless and powerful ruler, he played different colonial powers off of each other for decades before being defeated by the French in 1903 and exiled to The Gambia. Musa Molo was the last precolonial leader to exert real territorial control in the region.
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