Queen Pokou

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Queen Pokou, or Awura, Aura, or Abla Pokou (reigned c. 1750 - c. 1760) [1] was queen and founder of the Baoule ethnic group in West Africa, now Ivory Coast. She ruled over a branch of the powerful Ashanti Empire as it expanded westward. A subgroup of the Akan people, the Baoule people are today one of the largest ethnic groups in modern Ivory Coast.

Contents

Biography

Queen Pokou was born princess of Kumasi, Ghana, daughter of Nyakou Kosiamoa, sister of Dakon, the ill-fated successor of Opoku Ware I, and niece of Osei Kofi Tutu I, a formidable king who was the co-founder of the Ashanti Empire. [2]

Queen Pokou became the leader of a breakaway group from the main Ashanti Empire, which she refused to join. Disagreements among the factions resulted in war. Pokou led her group westward, through a long, arduous journey, to the Komoé River. [2] Legend has it that she had to sacrifice her only son for her people to cross the river.

After crossing the river, Pokou and her people settled into an agricultural way of life in the savanna of the area. Pokou died shortly after creating the Baoule kingdom. Her niece Akwa Boni succeeded to the throne. She pursued wars of conquest to widen the limits of the young kingdom. [3] The Baoule people today inhabit the territory between the Komoé and Bandama Rivers. [4] They make up 15 percent of the country's population, having assimilated some smaller tribes over the centuries. [5]

Legend

The founding legend of the Baoule people holds that, when Pokou and her people arrived at the Komoé River, it was uncrossable. Pokou asked her priest for council, and he told her the sacrifice of a noble child was required to cross the river. Pokou then sacrificed her son, throwing the infant into the water. Legend has it that, after the sacrifice, hippopotami appeared and formed a bridge, which Pokou and her people used to cross to the opposite bank of the Komoé. [6] Once on the other side, she called out "Ba ouli" or "the child is dead." This is why her descendants today are known as the Baoule. [4] [ self-published source ]

Portrayal in Film

The Ivorian animated film Pokou, princesse Ashanti by N'ganza Herman and Kan Souffle, which was released in Ivory Coast in 2013, was inspired by the legendary life of Abla Pokou. [7]

Portrayal in Literature

In Queen Pokou: Concerto for a Sacrifice, which won the Grand prix littéraire d'Afrique noire, Véronique Tadjo offers multiple versions of the legend of Queen Pokou. [8] The story of Queen Pokou and the Baoule was also retold by Maximilien Quenum in his Légendes africaines. [9]

Related Research Articles

Human arrival in Ivory Coast has been dated to the Upper Paleolithic period, or at the minimum, the Neolithic period based on weapon and tool fragments, specifically polished shale axes and remnants of cooking and fishing. The earliest known inhabitants of Côte d'Ivoire left traces scattered throughout the territory. Historians believe these people were all either displaced or absorbed by the ancestors of the present inhabitants. Peoples who arrived before the 16th century include the Ehotilé (Aboisso), Kotrowou (Fresco), Zéhiri, Ega, and Diès (Divo).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ivory Coast</span> Country in West Africa

Ivory Coast, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre is the port city of Abidjan. It borders Guinea to the northwest, Liberia to the west, Mali to the northwest, Burkina Faso to the northeast, Ghana to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south. Its official language is French, and indigenous languages are also widely used, including Bété, Baoulé, Dioula, Dan, Anyin, and Cebaara Senufo. In total, there are around 78 different languages spoken in Ivory Coast. The country has a religiously diverse population, including numerous followers of Islam, Christianity, and traditional faiths like Animism.

Yaa Asantewaa I was the Queen Mother of Ejisu in the Ashanti Empire, now part of modern-day Ghana. She was appointed by her brother Nana Akwasi Afrane Okese, the Edwesuhene, or ruler, of Edwesu. In 1900, she led the Ashanti war also known as the War of the Golden Stool, or the Yaa Asantewaa War of Independence, against the British Empire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Véronique Tadjo</span> Pan-African writer and artist from Côte dIvoire (born 1955)

Véronique Tadjo is a writer, poet, novelist, and artist from Côte d'Ivoire. Having lived and worked in many countries within the African continent and diaspora, she feels herself to be pan-African, in a way that is reflected in the subject matter, imagery and allusions of her work.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baoulé people</span> Ethnic group in Côte dIvoire

The Baule or Baoulé are a Akan people and one of the largest ethnicities in Côte d'Ivoire. The Baoulé are traditionally farmers who live in the centre of Côte d'Ivoire, in a French braid shaped region between the rivers Bandama and N'Zi. This area broadly encompasses the regions around the cities of Bouaké and Yamoussoukro. The Baoulé have come to play a relatively important role in the recent history of Côte d'Ivoire: the State's first President, Félix Houphouët-Boigny, was a Baoulé; additionally, since the Ivorian cocoa boom of the 1960-1970s, the Baoulé have also become one of the most widespread ethnicities throughout the country, especially in the Southern forests where they are amongst the most numerous planters of cocoa, rubber, and coffee and sometimes seem to outnumber the local native ethnic groups.

The Akan people are a Kwa group living primarily in present-day Ghana and in parts of Ivory Coast and Togo in West Africa. The Akan speak dialects within the Central Tano branch of the Potou–Tano subfamily of the Niger–Congo family. Subgroups of the Akan people include: the Agona, Akuapem, Akwamu, Akyem, Anyi, Ashanti, Baoulé, Bono, Chakosi, Fante, Kwahu, Sefwi, Wassa, Ahanta, and Nzema, among others. The Akan subgroups all have cultural attributes in common; most notably the tracing of matrilineal descent in the inheritance of property, and for succession to high political office.

The diverse culture of Ivory Coast, a coastal West African country bordered by Ghana, Liberia, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Guinea, is exemplified by a multitude of ethnic groups, events, festivals, music, and art.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Komoé River</span> River in West Africa

The Komoé River or Comoé River is a river in West Africa. The river originates on the Sikasso Plateau of Burkina Faso, flow through the Cascades de Karfiguéla, forms a short section of the border between Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast until it enters Ivory Coast, where it is the major drainage for northeastern portion of that country before emptying into the Atlantic. The banks of the Komoé are shaded by riparian forests along most of it length providing an important habitat for wildlife and a source of agricultural water. Where reliable floodplains form in Ivory Coast, rice may be grown. A portion of the river in northern Ivory Coast is the source of the vegetative richness that earned that area a UNESCO World Heritage Site designation, Comoé National Park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kwahu</span>

Kwahu refers to an area and group of people that live in Ghana and are part of the Twi-speaking Akan group. Their homeland has been dubbed Asaase Aban, or the Natural Fortress, in view of its position as the highest habitable elevation in the country. Kwahu lies in the Eastern Region of Ghana, on the west shore of Lake Volta. The Kwahus share the Eastern Region with their fellow Akans: the Akyem and Akuapem, as well as the Adangbe-Krobos. Among Kwahu lands, a significant migrant population work as traders, farm-hands, fisherfolk, and caretakers in the fertile waterfront 'melting pot' of Afram plains. These migrants are mostly from the Northern and Volta Regions, as well as, some indigenous Guans from the bordering Oti and Brong-Ahafo regions live in the Afram Plains area. Kwahus are traditionally known to be wealthy traders, owning a significant number of businesses and industries in Ghana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Languages of Ivory Coast</span> Languages of the country and its peoples

Ivory Coast is a multilingual country with an estimated 78 languages currently spoken. The official language, French, was introduced during the colonial period. This language is taught in schools and serves as a lingua franca in the country, along with Dioula.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anglo-Ashanti wars</span> Series of five conflicts between the British Empire and the Ashanti Empire between 1824 and 1900

The Anglo-Ashanti wars were a series of five conflicts that took place between 1824 and 1900 between the Ashanti Empire—in the Akan interior of the Gold Coast—and the British Empire and its African allies. The wars were mainly due to Ashanti attempts to maintain and enforce their imperial control over the coastal areas of present-day Ghana, where peoples such as the Fante and the Ga had come under the protection of the British. Although the Ashanti emerged victorious in some of these conflicts, the British ultimately prevailed in the fourth and fifth conflicts, resulting in the complete annexation of the Ashanti Empire by 1900.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">War of the Golden Stool</span> 1900 war between UK and Ashanti Empire

The War of the Golden Stool, also known as the Yaa Asantewaa War, the Third Ashanti Expedition, the Ashanti Uprising, or variations thereof, was a campaign in 1900 during the series of conflicts between the United Kingdom and the Ashanti Empire, an autonomous state in West Africa that fractiously co-existed with the British and its vassal coastal tribes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Legends of Africa</span> African mythology

The Legends of Africa reflect a wide-ranging series of kings, queens, chiefs and other leaders from across the African continent including Mali, Benin, Ghana, Nigeria, Congo, Ethiopia, Eritrea and South Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ashanti Empire</span> Former Akan empire centred on present-day Ghana

The Asante Empire, today commonly called the Ashanti Empire, was an Akan state that lasted from 1701 to 1901, in what is now modern-day Ghana. It expanded from the Ashanti Region to include most of Ghana as well as parts of Ivory Coast and Togo. Due to the empire's military prowess, wealth, architecture, sophisticated hierarchy and culture, the Ashanti Empire has been extensively studied and has more historic records written by European, primarily British, authors than any other indigenous culture of sub-Saharan Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ghana–Ivory Coast relations</span> Bilateral relations

Ghana–Ivory Coast relations refers to the diplomatic relations between Ghana and Ivory Coast. Both nations are members of the United Nations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Akan religion</span> Traditional religious beliefs and practices of the Akan people

Akan religion comprises the traditional beliefs and religious practices of the Akan people of Ghana and eastern Ivory Coast. Akan religion is referred to as Akom. Although most Akan people have identified as Christians since the early 20th century, Akan religion remains practiced by some and is often syncretized with Christianity. The Akan have many subgroups, so the religion varies greatly by region and subgroup. Similar to other traditional religions of West and Central Africa such as West African Vodun, Yoruba religion, or Odinani, Akan cosmology consists of a senior god who generally does not interact with humans and many gods who assist humans.

The Abbé, are an Akan people who live predominantly in the Ivory Coast, and number 580,000. Abbés speak the Akan dialect Abé.

Akwa Boni, was a sovereign Queen of the Baoulé people. The niece of Queen Pokou, she inherited the throne in around 1760 and ruled until her death in about 1790. She expanded the territory of the Baoulé, crossing the Bandama River and into the central Ivory Coast. In order to cross the river, one story has it that she needed to sacrifice her son to the river god; in doing so she gave her people their name, bauli, meaning 'the son is dead'.

Emile Eugène André Dervain (1928–2010) was a Martinican-Ivorian playwright, lawyer and judge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Culture of the Ashanti Empire</span> Pre-colonial Ashanti culture

The Ashanti Empire was governed by an elected monarch with its political power centralised. The entire government was a federation. By the 19th century, the Empire had a total population of 3 million. The Ashanti society was matrilineal as most families were extended and were headed by a male elder who was assisted by a female elder. Asante twi was the most common and official language. At its peak from the 18th–19th centuries, the Empire extended from the Komoé River in the West to the Togo Mountains in the East.

References

  1. Basil Davidson (2014). West Africa Before the Colonial Era: A History to 1850. Routledge. p. 229. ISBN   978-1-317-88265-7.
  2. 1 2 King, Adele (2004). From Africa: New Francophone Stories . University of Nebraska. pp.  10. ISBN   978-0-8032-2758-3.
  3. "La Légende D'Abla Pokou Reine Des Baoulé" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-02-02. Retrieved 2018-09-27.
  4. 1 2 Jackson, Guida M. (2009). Women Leaders of Africa, Asia, Middle East, and Pacific. Xlibris. p. 35. ISBN   978-1-4415-5843-5.
  5. "Ivory Coast". countrystudies.us. Retrieved 2018-09-24.
  6. Hamilton, Janice (2004). Ivory Coast in Pictures . Twenty-First Century Books. pp.  23. ISBN   978-0-8225-1992-8.
  7. "Cinéma : "Reine Pokou, Princesse Ashanti" / Le tout premier film ivoirien d'animation en 3D bientôt sur les écrans".
  8. Quist-Arcton, Ofeibea (23 December 2010). "Arcton Chooses 'Queen Pokou'". NPR. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
  9. Blair, Dorothy S. (1976). African Literature in French: a history of creative writing in French from west and equatorial Africa . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p.  34. ISBN   978-0-521-21195-6.