GAMBIAN MANDINKA
The Mandinka of the Gambia are the western branch of the Mande peoples; they look back to the time of Sunjata and the leadership of Tira Magan Traore for their origins (the text of Bamba Suso in Innes 1974 illustrates this perception). In the 18th and 19th centuries, the society was dominated by the nyanchos, a warrior aristocracy devoted to slave-raiding for the Atlantic trade; the figure of Kelefa Sane evokes the ethos of this period. Around 1867, ongoing hostilities with the Muslim Fulbe of the Futa Jallon led to warfare, and the Almami of Timbo led an army that captured Kansala, capital of Kaabu. In a sense, the modern Gambia dates from this period.
This listing includes Sunjata texts and hunters' narratives that also appear separately in the
specialized sections. Following the table of performances is a list of sources and secondary readings.
Sherif Jabarteh | Kinte History
Wright 1979, pp. 117-123 |
Mandinka
English |
ca. 1975 |
Kelefa Sanneh and Niumi/Jokadu
Wright 1979, pp. 95-109 |
Mandinka
English |
1 Jan. 1975 | |
Unus Jata | History of Niumi
Wright 1979, pp. 30-40 |
Mandinka
English |
Sept.
1974 |
Amadou Jebate | La jeunesse de Soundiata
Recueil de littérature pp. 108-125 |
Mandinka
bilingual -F |
ca, 1980 |
Amadu Jebate | Janke Waali
Innes 1976, pp. 31-71 |
Mandinka
bilingual |
April 1969 |
Ba Ansu Jebate | Musa Molo
Innes 1976, pp. 181-254 |
Mandinka
bilingual |
pre-1969 |
Shirif Jebate | Kelefa Saane
Innes 1978, pp. 79-115 |
Mandinka
bilingual |
pre-1968 |
Bakari Kamara | Mambi and the Crocodile
Innes and Sidibe 1990, pp. 15-73 |
Mandinka
English |
1969 |
Mammadu and the Great Beast
Innes and Sidibe 1990, pp. 74-120 |
Mandinka
English |
1969 | |
Banna Kanute | Sunjata
Innes 1974, pp. 136-259 |
Mandinka
bilingual |
1969 |
Dembo Kanute | Faa Koli
Innes 1974, pp. 260-323. |
Mandinka
bilingual |
1968 |
Sana Kuyate | Battle of Kansala
Sidibe 1980 |
Mandinka
English |
pre-1980 |
Kemo Kuyate | Early History of Niumi (Jasey)
Wright 1979 pp. 73-89 |
Mandinka
English |
15 Sept. 1974 |
Samba Laoube and Boubacar Senn | Guelowar History
Wright 1979, pp. 149-170 |
Mandinka
English |
4 Feb. 1975 |
Afang Lasana Saane | The Battle of Kansala
Trilling, Sourcebook pp. 6-11 |
Mandinka
English |
ca. 1980 |
Saajo Saane | Battle of Kansala
Trilling Sourcebook, pp. 13-22 |
Mandinka
English |
ca. 1980 |
Abdoulie Samba | Early Gambian history
Wright 1979, pp. 129-140 |
Mandinka
English |
12 Nov. 1974 |
Bamba Suso | Sunjata
Innes 1974, pp. 34-135 |
Mandinka
Bilingual |
1969 |
Musa Molo
Innes 1976 pp. 127-180 |
Mandinka
bilingual |
1969 | |
Fode Kaba
Innes 1976, pp. 255-306 |
Mandinka
bilingual |
1969 | |
Kaabu Mandinka
Innes 1976 pp. 72-126 |
Mandinka
bilingual |
1969 | |
Kelefa Saane
Innes 1978, pp. 28-78 |
Mandinka
bilingual |
pre-1968 | |
Various | Local histories
Cissoko and Sambou 1974 |
Mandinka
bilingual F |
1969 |
REFERENCES
Sources
Sékéné-Mody Cissoko and Kaoussou Sambou. Recueil des Traditions Orales des Mandingues de Gambie et de Casamance. Niamey, CELHTO, 1974.
Kandioura Drama, ed. "Epopée de Naling Sonko (Gabou)." Dakar: IFAN. Paper presented at the Conference on Gabou.
Ethiopiques 28 (July-Oct. 1981). Special Issue: Actes du colloque international sur les traditions orales du Gabou.
Gordon Innes, ed. and trans. 1974. Sunjata: Three Mandinka Versions. London, School of
Oriental and African Studies.
-----. 1976. Kaabu and Fuladu: Historical Narratives of the Gambian Mandinka. London, School of Oriental and African Studies.
-----. Kelefa Saane: His Career Recounted by Two Mandinka Bards. London, SOAS, 1978.
Gordon Innes and Bakari Sidibe, eds. and trans. Hunters and Crocodiles: Narratives of a Hunters' Bard Performed by Bakari Kamara. Sandgate, Paul Norbury/Unesco. 1990.
Amadu Jebaate.1980. "La jeunesse de Soundiata." ed. and trans. D. Creissels and S. Jatta. Recueil de Littérature Mandingue. Paris. pp. 108-125.
Bakari Sidibe. The Battle of Kansala, recided by Sana Kuyate. Banjul, Oral History and Antiquities Division, 1980. Paper Presented at a Conference on the History of Gabou, Dakar.
Alex Trilling. "A Sourcebook on the Fall of Kansala and the Life of Janke Waali." Banjul, Oral History and Antiquities Division, 1980. Paper Presented at a Conference on the History of Gabou, Dakar.
Donald Wright. Oral Traditions from the Gambia: volume 1. Mandinka Griots. Athens, Ohio. Ohio University Center for International Studies, 1979.
Donald Wright. Oral Traditions from the Gambia: volume 2. Family Elders. Athens, Ohio. Ohio University Center for International Studies. 1980.
See Also:
Alice Bellagamba. Ricordati di ieri: Storia e storie in una regione del Gambia. Torino: L'Harmattan Italia, 2000.
Djibril T. Niane. Histoire des Mandingues de l'ouest. Paris: Karthala, n.d. (1989?)
Charlotte Quinn. Mandingo Kingdoms of the Senegambia. Evanston: Northwestern University Press, 1972.
Christian Roche. "Les trois Fode Kaba." Notes Africaines 128 (Oct. 1970), pp. 107-111
Patience Sonko-Godwin. Ethnic groups of the Senegambia Region: Social and Political Structures. Banjul: Government Printers, 1986.
------. Ethnic Groups of the Senegambia Region: A Brief History. Second Edition. Banjul, Sunrise Publishers, 1988.
-----. Leaders of the Senegambia Region: Reactions to European Infiltration, 19th -20th Century. Banjul: Sunrise Publishers, 1995.
Donald Wright. "Kaabu and Niumi." Paper presented to the conference on Manding Studies. London, 1972.
------. The Early History of Niumi. Ohio University, Center for International Studies. Africa Series No. 32. 1977.
------. "Koli Tengela in Sonko Traditions of Origin." History in Africa 5 (1978), pp. 257-271.
------. "The Epic of Kelefa Sane as a Guide to the Nature of Precolonial Senegambian Society -- and Vice Versa." History in Africa 14 (1987), pp. 287-309.
-----. The World and a Very Small Place in Africa. Armonk: M. E. Sharpe, 1997.
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