Koli Tenguella
Silatigi
Reign1512-1537
PredecessorTenguella
Bornbetween 1450 and 1455
Futa Toro
Died1537
FatherTenguella
MotherNana Keita
ReligionTraditional African

Koli Tenguella (also referred to as Koli Tenguella Bâ/Bah, Koli Tengella Jaaje Baa and Koli Pullo) (r. 1512–1537) was a Fulani warrior and leader who was pivotal in establishing the Empire of Great Fulo.

Early life

Koli was the son of Tenguella, who led a regional conflict against the Mali Empire and Songhai Empire. His mother, Nana Keita, is said in traditional histories to be descended from Sundiata Keita.[1] As part of his father's wars Koli led an army to attack the Manding region but was repulsed and ended up in Futa Jallon, where his troops settled, reinforcing the two-centuries old Fula presence at the expense of the native Jallonke people.[2]

Reign

Koli assumed leadership when his father was killed by the Songhai during an invasion of the Kingdom of Diarra in 1512. There are two conflicting accounts of Koli's whereabouts when he took power.[3]: 180  In one telling, his father had left him in Futa Djallon while invading Diarra, then when he learned of his father's death Koli recruited a large multiethnic army and headed north.[4] The alternative version has Koli accompanying his father and leading the army back to Futa Toro in the wake of the defeat against the Songhai.[5]: 458 [6]

Koli's base in Futa Jallon soon came under Malian pressure and this, along with a famine, drove him to leave the mountains.[7] He proceeded to invade large swathes of what is now eastern Senegal and The Gambia, defeating the small kingdoms of the area piecemeal between approximately 1512 and 1520.[8] Upon arriving in Futa Toro, he gradually overcame the many furbas, agents of the burba of Jolof and the Diawara's of Diarra,[9] establishing his capital at Anyam-Godo. He then invaded and repeatedly defeated the Jolof Empire.[3]: 182  In 1534 he may have attacked Bambuk but was repulsed by the Mandinka. Koli died in 1537, but his successors continued expanding, ultimately controlling the entire area between the upper Senegal and upper Niger rivers by around 1600.[5]

Legacy

Koli Tenguella is a well-known subject of oral histories in Senegambia.[3]: 180  He is the ancestor of the royal and noble dynasty Déniyankobés, the Bâ genealogy to which also belong to the Koli clans Teghéla, Rella, Dianga, Soulé, Diye, Waranka, as well as those of Sanghé Lobaly, Waly and Sinthiane Padalal.

The Sonko family, a royal clan from the Kingdom of Barra, claim descent from Koli Tenguella, but this is likely a 19th century invention for political reasons.[10]

Bibliography

Sources

  • Kane, Oumar (2004). La première hégémonie peule. Le Fuuta Tooro de Koli Teηella à Almaami Abdul. Paris: Karthala. Retrieved 12 July 2023.

References

  1. ↑ Mohamed Bachir Diop, Koli Tenguella Ba, venu du Mali, crée le premier royaume Peul dans le Fouta Toro, Le Devoir, Coin d'histoire, June 11th 2023
  2. ↑ Kane 2004, pp. 133.
  3. 1 2 3 Niane, Djibril Tamsir, ed. (2000). General History of Africa vol. IV: Africa from the Twelfth to the Sixteenth Century. Paris, France: UNESCO Publishing.
  4. ↑ Niane, Djibril Tamsir (2005). "Mali Empire: Decline, Fifteenth Century". In Shillington, Kevin (ed.). Encyclopedia of African History. New York: Fitzroy Dearborn. pp. 921–922.
  5. 1 2 Fage, J.D.; Oliver, Roland, eds. (1975). The Cambridge History of Africa, Vol III. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521209816. Retrieved 11 June 2023.
  6. ↑ Kane 2004, pp. 127.
  7. ↑ Kane 2004, pp. 145.
  8. ↑ Kane 2004, pp. 156.
  9. ↑ Kane 2004, pp. 153.
  10. ↑ Wright, Donald R. “Koli Tengela in Sonko Traditions of Origin: An Example of the Process of Change in Mandinka Oral Tradition.” History in Africa, vol. 5, 1978, pp. 257–71. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/3171489. Accessed 11 June 2023.
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