SEGOU and KAARTA
The kingdoms of Segou and Kaarta grew up on either side of the Niger river in the 17th and 18th centuries, largely as slave-trading states whose major occupation was warfare. Segou in particular is the subject of a wonderful epic cycle which traces the history of the kingdom from its foundation by Mamari Biton Koulibaly in the early 18th century to a time just before its decline in the early 19th century. The turning point in the decline was the battle of Noukouma in 1818, when the forces of Segou met, and were defeated by, a new Fulbe Muslim community founded by Cheikou Amadou Barry in Massina; the kingdom subsisted for another thirty years until al-Hajj Umar Tall conquered it around 1860, and it was ruled by his successors until the capture of Segou by Archinard in 1890. The kingdom of Kaarta, a successor state to the Soninke state of Jara, is far less colorful in the oral tradition, and was defeated by Segou around 1798; the warfare was witnessed by Mungo Park.
The story of Segou can be told as a unit (e.g. by Tayiru Banbera, in David Conrad's
version), but is more frequently broken into discrete stories in which the entertainment value is
clearly far more important than the historical record. Some elements of the cycle deal with the
succession of kings (rarely smooth and legal), but the majority deal with the wars of Segou and
the various heroes and warriors who confront and serve the kingdom. The story lines cross the
language barriers in the area, and there is a certain generic similarity to the stories of warrior
heroes told in Bamana, Fulfulde, and Soninke.
| Performer | Title
Bibliographic Reference |
Language | Date |
| Anonymous | La famille Koulibaly
Arnaud 1912 pp. 176-185 |
French |
ca. 1905 |
| Dawning of Segou
Courlander and Sako 1994 pp. 11-23 |
English |
1970s | |
| Ngolo Diarra
Courlander and Sako 1994, pp. 25-43 |
English |
1970s | |
| Bassadjalan Zambele
Courlander and Sako 1994 pp. 45-58 |
English |
1970s | |
| Sokufo Seriba
Courlander and Sako 1994 pp. 59-67 |
English |
1970s | |
| Samaniana Bassi
Courlander and Sako 1994 pp. 69-83 |
English |
1970s | |
| Da Monzon and Chiaro Mamari
Courlander and Sako 1994 pp. 85-93 |
English |
1970s | |
| Anonymous | Sekuruna Toto and Da Monzon
Courlander and Sako 1994 pp. 95-98 |
English |
1970s |
| Bakaridjan Kone
Courlander and Sako 1994 pp. 99-149 |
English |
1970s | |
| Praise of Malamini Sinsani
Courlander and Sako 1994 pp. 151-154 |
English |
1970s | |
| Diuladjan Diabi, hero of Kiban
Courlander and Sako 1994 pp. 155-167 |
English |
1970s | |
| Tuba's Last Effort against Kiban
Courlander and Sako 1994, pp.169-171 |
English |
1970s | |
| Kumba Sira Maga
Frobenius Atlantis vi pp. 128-132 |
German |
1910? | |
| Bakari Jan
Monteil 1966, pp.370-375 |
Bamana
Bilingual |
pre-1905 | |
| Bakari Jan II (Betrayal)
Monteil 1966, pp. 376-379. |
Bamana
Bilingual |
pre-1905 | |
| Mariheri of Dionkoloni
Dantioko 1978, pp. 156-169 |
Soninke
Bilingual |
1980s? | |
| Tayiru Bambera
(n.b. spellings vary) |
Election of Biton Koulibali
Dumestre, Recueil manding pp. 34-47 |
Bamana | 27 May 1971 |
| L'accession de Da
Dumestre 1979, pp. 265357 |
Bamana
Bilingual |
pre-1970 | |
| Biton et les génies
Dumestre 1979, pp. 359-399. |
Bamana
Bilingual |
ca.1975 | |
| Biton Koulibaly
Kesteloot 1978, pp. 612-681 |
Bamana
Bilingual |
ca. 1970 | |
| The Epic of Bamana Segu
Conrad 1990 |
BamanaEnglish | 1975 | |
| A. Bime | Segou Koro et Mamari Biton
Bime, pp. 92-95. |
French | 1957 |
| Sory Camara | Da Monzon et Douga de Kore
Dumestre 1979, pp. 183-263 |
Bamana
Bilingual |
ca. 1970 |
| Da Monzon et Douga de Kore
Kesteloot 1972 IV, 24-42; 1993 II 104-122 |
Bamana
French |
ca. 1969 | |
| Baba Cissoko | Bakari Jan et Bilissi
Dumestre 1979, pp. 111-181 |
Bamana
Bilingual |
ca. 1970 |
| La trahison de Bakari Jan
Dumestre 1979 pp. 61-109 |
Bamana
Bilingual |
ca. 1970 | |
| Kefa Diabate | Biton Coulibaly et le génie Faro
Kesteloot 1993 vol 1, 65-73. |
Bamana
French |
1970 |
| Kumba Silamakan et Da Monzon
Kesteloot 1993 II pp. 82-82 |
Bamana | ca. 1968 | |
| Mamadi Aissa Diakite | Les Massassi du Karta
Adam 1904 pp. 56-69 |
Arabic | ca. 1900 |
| Les Massa-si
Delafosse 1913 pp. 52-61 |
Arabic?
French |
ca. 1900 | |
| Gaoussou Diarra | Testament of Da Monzon
Sauvageot 1981, pp. 289-295 |
Bamana
bilingual |
1955 |
| Seydou Drame | Da Monzon and Dietekoro Karta
Kesteloot 1993 I pp. 95-123 |
Bamana
French |
ca. 1970 |
| Laaji Sumayla Fane | L'accession de Da
Bazin 1979 pp. 438-445 |
Bamana
bilingual |
14 Aug. 1970 |
| Gorke | Da Monzon et Karta Thièma
Kesteloot 1993 II pp. 123-144 |
Bamana
French |
ca. 1970 |
| Sissoko Kabine | Ngolo Diarra et Biton Koulibali
Kesteloot 1993, vol. I, pp. 75-84 |
Bamana
French |
ca.1968 |
| Monzon et Dibi de Niamina
Kesteloot 1993 I 85-94 |
Bamana
French |
ca.1968 | |
| Da Monzon et Bassi de Samaniana
Kesteloot 1993 I 33-62 |
Bamana
French |
ca.1968 | |
| Bakari Jan et Bilissi
Kesteloot 1993 II pp. 2-40 |
Bamana
French |
ca.1968 | |
| La trahison de Bakari Jan
Kesteloot 1993 II pp. 41-60 |
Bamana
French |
ca.1968 | |
| Bakari Jan et les Peuls du Kounari
Kesteloot 1993, vol. 2, pp.61-71 |
Bamana
French |
ca.1968 | |
| La prise de Dionkoloni
Kesteloot and Dumestre 1975 |
Bamana
Bilingual |
ca. 1970 | |
| Cheikh Moussa Kamara | Histoire de Segou
Ndiaye, ed. 1978 |
Arabic
French |
ca. 1920 |
| Moulaye Kida | Da Monzon and Samanyana Basi
Bird, 1972, pp. 457-467 |
Bamana
English |
January 1967 |
| Mamadou Kida | Silamaka Fara Dikko
Ousmane Ba 1988, pp. 20-163 |
Bamana
Bil. German |
Summer 1983 |
| Bakoroba Kone | Douga -- the Vulture
Bird 1972, pp. 468-477. |
Bamana
English |
April 1968 |
| Fabu Kuate | Biton Koulibaly
Frobenius, Atlantis v, pp. 344-351 |
Bamana
German |
pre-1910 |
| Kore Tammoura | (informant on history of Segou)
Monteil 1966, passim. |
Bamana? | ca.1900 |
| Dominique Traore | Samaniana Bassi
Notes Africaines #34 (1947) |
French | 1947 |
Robert Arnaud. La singulière légende des soninkés: traditions orales sur le royaume de Koumbi. In L'Islam et la politique musulmane en Afrique occidentale française. Paris, Comité de l'Afrique française, 1912.
Amadou Hampate Ba and Lilyan Kesteloot, "Da Monzon et Karta Thiema" Abbia 14-15, pp. 179-206.
Ousmane Bâ. Silamaka Fara Dikko: ein westafrikanisches Epos in den Bambara-Versionen von Mamadou Kida und Almami Bah (Mali). Berlin, Verlag von Dietrich Reimer, 1988.
Jean Bazin, "La production d'un recit historique." Cahiers d'Études africaines. 19 (1979). 435-483.
A. Bime. "Segou-Koro et le Biton Mamari." Notes Africaines 75 (July 1957), pp. 92-95.
Charles Bird, ed. and trans. "Bambara oral prose and verse narratives." in African Folklore, ed. Richard Dorson. New York: Anchor Books. 1972. pp. 441-477.
David Conrad. A State of Intrigue: the Epic of Bamana Segu according to Tayiru Bambera. Oxford University Press. Fontes Historiae Africanae series varia vi.
David C. Conrad. The Role of Oral Artists in the History of Mali. Dissertation, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, 1981. 2 volumes.
Harold Courlander and Ousmane Sako. The Heart of the Ngoni. New York, Crown Publishers, 1982.
Oudiary Makan Dantioko. Contes et légendes Soninké . Paris, CILF/ Edicef. 1978.
Maurice Delafosse. Traditions historiques et légendaires du Soudan Occidental. Publication du Comité de l'Afrique française. Paris. 1913.
Gerard Dumestre, ed. and trans. La geste de Segou. Paris, Armand Colin, 1979. Classiques Africains. (Previously published at the University of Abidjan, Institut de Linguistique Appliquée No. 48. 1974).
Gerard Dumestre and Lilyan Kesteloot, eds. and trans. La prise de Dionkoloni. Paris, Armand Colin, 1975. Classiques Africains.
Leo Frobenius, Spielmannsgeschichten der Sahel. Atlantis VI. Iena, Eugen Diederichs, 1921. Reprint Martin Sändig.
-----. Dichten und Denken im Sudan. Atlantis V. Iena, Eugen Diederichs. 1925.
Cheikh Moussa Kamara. "Histoire de Ségou." ed. and trans. Moustapha Ndiaye. Bulletin de l'IFAN. Ser. B. 40.3 (1978). pp. 458-488.
Lilyan Kesteloot, ed. "L'histoire de Biton Koulibaly." Transcribed by Mamadou Boidié Diarra, translated by Lilyan Kesteloot. Bulletin de l'IFAN. Ser B, 40.3 (1978). pp. 613-681.
Lilyan Kesteloot. "Le mythe et l'histoire dans la formation de l'empire de Ségou." Bulletin de l'IFAN. Ser. B. 40.3 (1978). pp. 578-678.
Lilyan Kesteloot, ed. and trans. Da Monzon de Segou. Paris, L'Harmattan, 1993. 2 vols. First published 1974, Paris. Fernand Nathan, 4 volumes.
Lilyan Kesteloot. "Une épisode de l'épopée bambara de Segou: Bakari Dian et Bilissi." Bulletin de l'IFAN. Series B No. 35 (1973) pp. 881-902.
Lilyan Kesteloot, ed. L'Épopée traditionelle. Paris, Fernand Nathan, 1971.
Mamadou Konate, "Une épopée Malienne - Da Monzon de Segou." Abbia 14-15 pp. 171-9.
Charles Monteil. Les Bambara de Segou et du Kaarta. Paris, Maisonneuve et Larose. 1977. First printed 1924. Notes by Jean Bazin.
Charles Monteil. Contes Soudanais. Paris, Ernest Leroux. 1905. Kraus Reprint 1977.
Serge Sauvageot. "Le testament politique de Monzon: Texte bambara." In Le sol, la parole, et l'écrit: Mélanges offerts à Raymond Mauny. Paris, Société française d'historie d'outre-mer, 1981. pp. 289-295.
Dominique Traore. "Samaniana Bassi." Notes Africaines 34 (1947), pp. 1-3.
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