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Vamba Sherif | |
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 Sherif in 2015 | |
| Born | 1973 Kolahun, Liberia |
| Occupation | Author |
| Language | Dutch |
| Period | 1999–present |
| Genre |
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| Notable works | Land of My Fathers |
| Website | |
| vambasherif | |
Vamba Sherif (born 1973) is a Liberian-born writer residing in the Netherlands. [1] He writes in English and Dutch. His 2015 novel The Emperor's Son [2] deals with Samori Toure, who founded a great empire in northwestern Africa in the 19th century. Toure fought the English and the French to hold on to this empire.
Sherif was born in Kolahun, Liberia, in 1973 and spent parts of his youth in Kuwait, where he completed his secondary education. The First Gulf War compelled him to flee Kuwait and settle first in Syria and then in the Netherlands, where he studied law. [3] The Liberian civil war triggered the need in him to explain Liberia to himself, which resulted in his first novel, about the founding of the country, published in Dutch under the title Het land van de vaders, in 1999, and in English translation as Land of My Fathers, in 2016. His second book was The Kingdom of Sebah, published in 2003, followed by Bound to Secrecy in 2006 and The Witness in 2011. Bound to Secrecy was chosen as one of the ten best translated books in Germany in 2010 in a list that included Robert Bolaño's 2666. Sherif has written for numerous publications in the Netherlands and around the world, including The New York Times , Long Cours in France, and KulturAustausch in Germany. One of his earliest stories, "Faces", was published in African Writing, and his tale "The Bridge of Sighs" was published in The Kalahari Review.[ citation needed ]
The modern state of Guinea did not come into existence until 1958, but the history of the area stretches back well before European colonization. Its current boundaries were determined during the colonial period by the Berlin Conference (1884–1885) and the French, who ruled Guinea until 1958.
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).
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.
The Dyula are a Mande ethnic group inhabiting several West African countries, including Mali, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, and Burkina Faso.
Samory Toure, also known as Samori Toure, Samory Touré, or Almamy Samore Lafiya Toure, was a Mandinka Muslim cleric, military strategist, and founder of the Wassoulou Empire, an Islamic empire that was stretched across present-day north and eastern Guinea, north-eastern Sierra Leone, southern Mali, northern Côte d'Ivoire and part of southern Burkina Faso.
Wassoulou is a cultural area and historical region in the Wassoulou River Valley of West Africa. It is home to about 160,000 people, and is also the native land of the Wassoulou genre of music.
The Wassoulou empire, also referred to as the Mandinka Empire, Samory's Empire or the Samorian State, was a short-lived West African state that existed from roughly 1878 until 1898, although dates vary from source to source. It spanned from what is now southwestern Mali and upper Guinea, with its capital in Bissandugu; it expanded further south and east into northern Ghana and Ivory Coast before its downfall.
The Kénédougou Kingdom,, was a pre-colonial West African state established in the southeastern portion of present-day Mali, as well as parts of northern Côte d'Ivoire and western Burkina Faso.
Manga Sewa was a Yalunka King of the Solimana who blew up a magazine and much of Falaba, the capital of Solimana, killing himself, his family and other leaders, rather than let it fall to Samori Toure's army.
The Mandingo Wars were a series of conflicts from 1883 to 1898 between France and the Wassoulou Empire of the Mandingo people led by Samori Ture. Comparatively, the French faced serious resistance by the Mandinka, as they were able to make use of firearms and tactics that impeded French expansion in the area. The French were ultimately triumphant and established dominance over Mali, Guinea and the Ivory Coast.
The Kong Empire (1710–1898), also known as the Wattara Empire or Ouattara Empire for its founder, was a pre-colonial African Muslim state centered in northeastern Ivory Coast that also encompassed much of present-day Burkina Faso. It was founded by Dyula immigrants from the declining Mali Empire. It established a largely decentralized commercial empire based upon linkages by merchant houses protecting trade routes throughout the region. Kong rose to prominence in the 1800s as a key commercial center and center of Islamic studies. In 1898, Samori Ture attacked the city and burnt it down. Although the city was rebuilt, the Kong empire had dissipated and the French took control over the area.
The back-to-Africa movement was a political movement in the 19th and 20th centuries advocating for a return of the descendants of African American slaves to the African continent. The movement originated from a widespread belief among some European Americans in the 18th and 19th century United States that African Americans would want to return to the continent of Africa. In general, the political movement was an overwhelming failure; very few former slaves wanted to move to Africa. The small number of freed slaves who did settle in Africa—some under duress—initially faced brutal conditions, due to diseases to which they no longer had biological resistance. As the failure became known in the United States in the 1820s, it spawned and energized the radical abolitionist movement. In the 20th century, the Jamaican political activist and black nationalist Marcus Garvey, members of the Rastafari movement, and other African Americans supported the concept, but few actually left the United States.
Sofa is a Mandinka term for slave soldiers who served in the army of the Mali Empire. Sofas would also fight, in varying capacities, in the armies of later Mandé states such as the Bamana and Wassoulou empires.
The Yalunka, or Dialonké, are a Mandé-speaking people and the original inhabitants of Futa Jallon, a mountainous region in Guinea, West Africa. The Yalunka people live primarily in Guinea, particularly in Faranah, while smaller communities are found in Kouroussa. Additional Yalunka are also located in northeastern Sierra Leone, southeastern Senegal, and southwestern Mali.
Crossing the River is a historical novel by British author Caryl Phillips, published in 1993. The Village Voice calls it "a fearless reimagining of the geography and meaning of the African diaspora." The Boston Globe said, "Crossing the River bears eloquently chastened testimony to the shattering of black lives."
The Kabadougou Kingdom was a Malinké warrior kingdom situated in north-west Côte d'Ivoire centered on the town of Odienné and bordered the Kingdom of Worodougou. It was ruled by the Touré dynasty, whose founder centered the society around slavery. The dynasty in an alliance with Samori Ture fought French colonization until 1898.
The Zabarma Emirate was an Islamic state that existed from the 1860s to 1897 in what is today parts of Ghana and Burkina Faso.
Africa–United States relations are the political, economic and cultural ties between the United States and the independent African countries.
Al Hassan Toure is a professional soccer player who plays as a forward for French Championnat National club Ajaccio. Born a Liberian refugee in Guinea, he has represented Australia at youth level.
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