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Gambia's Soninke Marabout
Wars |
History Page Muslims
in Gambia
History of Islam
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Introduction:
The Soninke-Marabout Wars began in the
Gambia in the 1850s until 1901. It was essentially
a civil war among the Mandinka tribe which erupted on
both the
north and south banks of the
river. The
Marabouts were holy Islamic clerics and teachers and the Soninke
were Mandinka kings. The wars were caused
partly by
the persistent adherence of the Soninkes and their
people to local traditional religions in the form of
animism, lax religious practices combined with a
taste for alcohol at the same time as adhering to Islam. Most of the wars were in
fact battles and skirmishes but displaced large
numbers of people in Gambia. The word Marabout was
later extended to devout Muslims in general. In
Senegal they were referred to as the Thiedo by the
Wolof. The word Soninke comes from So-ni which is the
Mandinka word for libation or sacrifice. This is not
to be confused with the term Soninke that is applied
to the Serahule.
Background:
Islam
was brought to the peoples of Senegambia by north
African traders in the 11th century. When the
Portuguese arrived in the area in the 15th century
there were Marabouts in most of the chief's courts in
Gambia. These Marabouts would marry local women thus
creating Muslim families in communities that still
held onto the beliefs of the traditional animist
religion.
These religious leaders would over
time purchase a potion of for
farming as well as for
dwellings. Such land was given to them by the local
Mansas for their services as court secretaries. In
these settlements the Marabouts would build mosques,
establish Koranic schools and teach the new
religion
of Islam. These settlements in time developed into
Muslim towns called Morokunda. These settlements
existed in Saloum & Baddibou, Niumi, Tumana, Europina,
Jarra and Kombo. The Marabouts regarded those living
outside these towns as infidels or Kafirs. Thus they
saw it as their religious duty to extend Islam to
these people which eventually resulted in the
Soninke-Marabout Wars which raged for decades from
the 1850s. The war was similar to many Islamic
Jihadist movements that emerged in other parts of
West Africa in the nineteenth century. It should be
noted that their aims were not just religious but had
political and secular goals.
Causes:
The
Jihadist movements of West Africa at the time were
the result of a deliberate attempt to create new
states that were to be based on the foundations of a
purified and puritanical
Islam as well as bringing about social and
economic justice. These conflicts have their roots in
the past. The Muslims resented their exclusion from
political power. They further resented the
taxes they were forced to pay as many of them
had become wealthy through trade and performing
rituals for dignitaries and fee peasants alike. To
compound matters further the Marabouts were often
targets for pillaging
and plunder by their lax Muslim neighbours.
Uprisings and Conflicts:
This led to a Marabout uprising in Wuli in 1842,
Kombo in 1855 culminating in Baddibu in 1861 but the
main area of turmoil was in the Kombos where there
was much loss of life, crops and social upheaval.
Even Jola and
Serer mercenaries were bought into the
fray and no tribe in the region was left untouched.
By the middle of the 1870s the whole of the Kombo
area was in Marabout control and the main war aim was
largely now forgotten and both sides fought for
political and economic reasons. During the conflicts
the British tried to keep out of it and only
intervening when the colony or its British subjects
were at risk. After the killing of a travelling
commissioner by a Marabout leader, by the name of Fodi Kabba Dumbuya,
on the Sankandi in 1901 the British and French in
Senegal (Saloum) acted decisively and managed to kill
Fodi Kabba which effectively ended the
Soninke-Marabout Wars. The legacy that was left was
the replacement of traditional animist ruling classes
with Marabout leaders thus putting Islam on firmer
ground. The population displacements created large
numbers of refugees among the Wolof, Serer, Serahule
and Fulani.
Leaders:
Thus
certain memorable leaders emerged such as Amath Bah who was
better known as Ma Ba Diakhou,
Fodi Silla and Fodi Kabba.
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