right|thumbnail|250px|Tomb of [[Biton Mamary Coulibaly at Segou koro, near Ségou.]]

The Ségou Empire (also Bambara or Bamana Empire, ) was one of the largest states of West Africa in the 18th century. Along with Kaarta it was one of the most important successors of the Songhai Empire. Based on an earlier kingdom established in 1640, it grew into a powerful empire in the early 18th century under Bitòn Coulibaly. The empire existed as a centralized state from 1712 until the 1861 invasion by the Toucouleur conqueror El Hadj Umar Tall.

History

Bitonsi

Around 1640, Kaladian Coulibaly, also known as Fa Sine, became the leader of a small Bambara kingdom in the city of Ségou in Mali. Though he made many successful conquests of neighboring tribes and kingdoms, he failed to set up a significant administrative framework, and the new empire disintegrated following his death ().

In 1712 Mamari Kulubali, also known as Biton Coulibaly, Kaladian's great-grandson, was elected the leader of a youth organization known as a tòn. Mamari soon reorganized the tòn as a personal army supplemented with runaway slaves, assumed the title of bitòn, and set about overthrowing the traditional political order. He introduced a novel system of taxation using the cowrie shell as currency. Dinkoro Coulibaly reigned for a few years before being overthrown by his brother Ali. A devout muslim, he attempted to convert the empire and was soon deposed himself. During this period the Faama ruled from a massive palace in Segou and commanded a well-organized cavalry army, often used for raising tribute and taxes in the form of cowries. The capital, Segou, was a prosperous city of around 30,000 inhabitants straddling both banks of the Niger river. When El Hadj Umar Tall, a Toucouleur religious leader, declared a jihad against the empire in 1859, this balkanization prevented 'faama' Ali from mounting an effective defense. Tall took Nyamina without a fight on May 25, 1860, then defeated the Bamana army at Witala in September.

Government

The Segou Empire was structured around traditional Bambara institutions. The most important of these was the ton, or age-group. They were in theory completely egalitarian and elected their own leaders. Through charisma and ruthless power politics, however, Biton converted this into essentially an army made up of forobadjon (nominally, slaves of the community) led by tondjons, or slaves of the ton but who were in practice a military aristocracy. Any faama strong enough to control the tondjons was in effect an absolute monarch, doling out state property as rewards for bravery. A 40-man council of state swore allegiance and obedience to him and served as a rubber stamp. Relatives were given key posts, and the faama was the head priest of powerful and important religious cults. The army was a place where ethnic and class distinctions mattered little, and capable people could rise and make their fortunes.

See also

  • Bambara language, a Mande language, spoken by 6 million people in Mali
  • Bambara people, an ethnic group who represent 40% of Mali's population
  • Kaarta, another Bambara kingdom of the same epoch

References

Further reading

  • Segu Kingdom rulers, from Host Kingdoms
  • Mali traditional states from World Statesman
  • Epics about the Segou Kingdom