Bentyia (Kukyia): a Songhay–Mande meeting point, and a “missing link” in the archaeology of the West African diasporas of traders, warriors, praise-singers, and clerics
The present tragedy in Mali draws our attention to the divisions, tensions and conflicts between West African ethnic groups, religious persuasions, and populations from different regions, in both the present and the past. But a long-term critical perspective on the past brings to light borrowings be...
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Institut des Mondes Africains
2013-05-01
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| Series: | Afriques |
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| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/afriques/1174 |
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| author | Paulo Fernando de Moraes Farias |
| author_facet | Paulo Fernando de Moraes Farias |
| author_sort | Paulo Fernando de Moraes Farias |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The present tragedy in Mali draws our attention to the divisions, tensions and conflicts between West African ethnic groups, religious persuasions, and populations from different regions, in both the present and the past. But a long-term critical perspective on the past brings to light borrowings between cultures, and shows how the mobility of people across West Africa links regional and ethnic histories. The communication axis running from the Aḍagh to the Niger and, along the Niger Valley, from Gao to Busa (in Nigerian Borgu) and beyond, is a strategic locus for investigating this mobility and connectivity. It has linked together the Saharan, savannah, and forest zones of West Africa. It was a magnet for diasporas of Soninke praise-singers and Mande warriors and traders. Fishermen and other waterfolk along the river, oral traditionists and other craftspeople, priests and priestesses of African cults, and Islamic clerics, as well as armies, long-distance merchants, and enslaved human beings, moved along it. Although the archeological sites at Bentyia/Kukyia occupy a strategic position on this historical axis, they have not been excavated, whence a serious gap in our knowledge of the history of the eastern Niger Valley and of West Africa as a whole. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-69e403c8f57143179ea109debce89cb1 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2108-6796 |
| language | deu |
| publishDate | 2013-05-01 |
| publisher | Institut des Mondes Africains |
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| series | Afriques |
| spelling | doaj-art-69e403c8f57143179ea109debce89cb12025-01-09T13:02:45ZdeuInstitut des Mondes AfricainsAfriques2108-67962013-05-01410.4000/afriques.1174Bentyia (Kukyia): a Songhay–Mande meeting point, and a “missing link” in the archaeology of the West African diasporas of traders, warriors, praise-singers, and clericsPaulo Fernando de Moraes FariasThe present tragedy in Mali draws our attention to the divisions, tensions and conflicts between West African ethnic groups, religious persuasions, and populations from different regions, in both the present and the past. But a long-term critical perspective on the past brings to light borrowings between cultures, and shows how the mobility of people across West Africa links regional and ethnic histories. The communication axis running from the Aḍagh to the Niger and, along the Niger Valley, from Gao to Busa (in Nigerian Borgu) and beyond, is a strategic locus for investigating this mobility and connectivity. It has linked together the Saharan, savannah, and forest zones of West Africa. It was a magnet for diasporas of Soninke praise-singers and Mande warriors and traders. Fishermen and other waterfolk along the river, oral traditionists and other craftspeople, priests and priestesses of African cults, and Islamic clerics, as well as armies, long-distance merchants, and enslaved human beings, moved along it. Although the archeological sites at Bentyia/Kukyia occupy a strategic position on this historical axis, they have not been excavated, whence a serious gap in our knowledge of the history of the eastern Niger Valley and of West Africa as a whole.https://journals.openedition.org/afriques/1174West AfricaNiger (River Valley)diasporaarabic inscriptionsBentyia/KukyiaBorgu |
| spellingShingle | Paulo Fernando de Moraes Farias Bentyia (Kukyia): a Songhay–Mande meeting point, and a “missing link” in the archaeology of the West African diasporas of traders, warriors, praise-singers, and clerics Afriques West Africa Niger (River Valley) diaspora arabic inscriptions Bentyia/Kukyia Borgu |
| title | Bentyia (Kukyia): a Songhay–Mande meeting point, and a “missing link” in the archaeology of the West African diasporas of traders, warriors, praise-singers, and clerics |
| title_full | Bentyia (Kukyia): a Songhay–Mande meeting point, and a “missing link” in the archaeology of the West African diasporas of traders, warriors, praise-singers, and clerics |
| title_fullStr | Bentyia (Kukyia): a Songhay–Mande meeting point, and a “missing link” in the archaeology of the West African diasporas of traders, warriors, praise-singers, and clerics |
| title_full_unstemmed | Bentyia (Kukyia): a Songhay–Mande meeting point, and a “missing link” in the archaeology of the West African diasporas of traders, warriors, praise-singers, and clerics |
| title_short | Bentyia (Kukyia): a Songhay–Mande meeting point, and a “missing link” in the archaeology of the West African diasporas of traders, warriors, praise-singers, and clerics |
| title_sort | bentyia kukyia a songhay mande meeting point and a missing link in the archaeology of the west african diasporas of traders warriors praise singers and clerics |
| topic | West Africa Niger (River Valley) diaspora arabic inscriptions Bentyia/Kukyia Borgu |
| url | https://journals.openedition.org/afriques/1174 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT paulofernandodemoraesfarias bentyiakukyiaasonghaymandemeetingpointandamissinglinkinthearchaeologyofthewestafricandiasporasoftraderswarriorspraisesingersandclerics |