Das Imamat Futa Jallon oder einfach Jalon (arabisch إمامة فوتة جالون; Fuuta Jaloo - Fuuta Jalon, 𞤊𞤵𞥅𞤼𞤢 𞤔𞤢𞤤𞤮𞥅, en.: Imamate of Futa Jallon)[1] war ein west afrikanischer theokratischer Staat in der Region des Fouta Djallon-Hochlands im heutigen Guinea. Der Staat wurde um 1727 durch einen Dschihad der Fulani gegründet und wurde später Teil von Französisch-Westafrika (1896).
Ursprünge
BearbeitenDie Fouta Djallon-Region wurde durch die halbnomadisch lebenden Fulɓe over successive generations between the 13th and 16th centuries. Initially, they followed a traditional African religion.Vorlage:Citation needed In the 16th century an influx of Muslim Fulɓe from Macina, Mali changed the fabric of Fula society.Vorlage:Citation needed
As in the Imamate of Futa Toro, the Muslim and traditionalist Fula of Futa Jallon lived side-by-side. Then, according to traditional accounts, a 17th-century holy war erupted. In 1725, the Muslim Fulɓe took complete control of Futa Jallon after the battle of Talansan and set up the first of many Fula theocratic states to come. Karamokho Alfa was appointed Emir al-Mu'minin ("Commander of the Faithful") and first Almami of the Imamate of Futa Jalon. He died in 1751 and was succeeded by Emir Ibrahim Sori (died 1791), who consolidated the power of the Islamic state. Vorlage:Sfn Sori's death caused the imamate of Futa Jallon to disintegrate into a federation of nine autonomous provinces with constant succession disputes over who had the right to be imam.Vorlage:Sfn Eventually, the leading Soriya and Alfaya families agreed to alternate the imamate amongst them.Vorlage:Sfn
Futa Jallon soon began slave raiding throughout the region, selling the slaves to European trading houses on the coast, or settling the slaves (hubbu) in agricultural colonies called runde.Vorlage:Sfn By the mid-19th century, slaves made up half of Futa Jallon's population.Vorlage:Sfn Futa Jallon's theocratic model would later inspire the Fula state of Futa Toro.Vorlage:Citation needed
Organization
BearbeitenThe new Imamate of Futa Jallon was governed under a strict interpretation of Sharia with a central ruler in the city of Timbo, near present-day Mamou. The Imamate contained nine provinces called diwe, which all held a certain amount of autonomy. These diwe were: Timbo, Timbi, Labè, Koîn, Kolladhè, Fugumba, Kèbaly, Fodé Hadji and Murya, Massi. The meeting of the rulers of these diwè at Timbi decided to introduce Alpha Ibrahima from Timbo as first Almamy Fuuta Jallonke with residence at Timbo. Timbo then became the capital of Fuuta Jallon until the arrival of French colonialists. The objective of the constitution of this Imamate was to convince local communities to become Muslim. It became a regional power through war and negotiation, wielding influence and generating wealth. As a sovereign state, it dealt with France and other European powers as a diplomatic peer while championing artistic and literary achievement in Islamic learning at centers such as the holy city of Fugumba.Vorlage:Citation needed
The Muslims of Futa Jallon became divided into factions. The clerical faction took the name of the Alfaya out of respect to the legacy of Karamokho Alfa, while the secular faction called themselves the Soriya after his successor Ibrahima Sori.Vorlage:Citation needed
The two factions came to an agreement that power should alternate between leaders of the two factions.Vorlage:Sfn The rulers of the two cities of Timbo and Fugumba were descended from the same original family, and later all competition for the position of almami was between these two cities.Vorlage:Sfn
Dominance
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At his height, the Imamate of Futa Jallon became a multiethnic, multilingual society,Vorlage:Citation needed ruled by Muslim Fulɓe and one of the most powerful state in West Africa, backed by powerful free and slave armies. The Fulɓe of Futa Jallon and Futa Toro were able to take advantage of the growing Atlantic slave trade with the Europeans on the coast, particularly the French and Portuguese. The twin Fula states also supplied valuable grain, cattle and other goods to their European neighbors on the coast. The Almaami would demand gifts in return for trade rights and could enforce his will with a well-supplied army. In 1865, Futa Jallon supported an invasion of the Mandinka kingdom of Kaabu, resulting in its demise at the Battle of Kansala in 1867. It conquered the remnants of the Kingdom of Jolof in central Senegambia in 1875. Futa Djalon wanted to conquer and expand with but Mama Jankeh Wali Sanneh did not agree and wanted them to leave West Africa just as it is with each family ruling over their own people, so to conquer Futa Djalon attacked Kaabu so they could pursue their imperial goals, after the death of Mama Jankeh Wali Sanneh (AS), the Almami of Futa Djalon married his daughter.Vorlage:Citation needed
Decline
BearbeitenVorlage:Unreferenced section The French were not satisfied with mere dominance of the coast and increasingly one-sided trade with the Fulbe. They began making inroads into Futa Jallon by capitalizing on its internal struggles. Finally, in 1896, at the Battle of Porédaka, the French defeated the last Almaami of Futa Jallon, Bokar Biro.Vorlage:Citation needed
See also
BearbeitenReferences
BearbeitenNotes
- Boubacar Barry: Senegambia and the Atlantic Slave Trade. Cambridge University Press, 1997, ISBN 978-0-521-59760-9, S. 98 (google.com [abgerufen am 10. Februar 2013]).
- William Derman, Louise Derman: Serfs, Peasants, and Socialists. University of California Press, 1973, ISBN 978-0-520-01728-3 (google.com [abgerufen am 10. Februar 2013]).
- Richard Gray: The Cambridge History of Africa. Cambridge University Press, 1975, ISBN 978-0-521-20413-2 (google.com [abgerufen am 10. Februar 2013]).
- Roman Loimeier: Muslim Societies in Africa: A Historical Anthropology. Indiana University Press, Bloomington, Indiana 2013, ISBN 978-0-253-00797-1, S. 115 (google.com [abgerufen am 7. April 2022]).
- Office for Subject Cataloging Policy: Library of Congress subject headings. Cataloging Distribution Service, Library of Congress, 1992 (google.com [abgerufen am 16. Februar 2013]).
- Lamin O. Sanneh: The Crown and the Turban: Muslims and West African Pluralism. Basic Books, 1997, ISBN 978-0-8133-3058-7 (google.com [abgerufen am 10. Februar 2013]).
External links
Futa Jallon, Imamate of}} [[Category:Countries in precolonial Africa]] [[Category:History of Guinea]] [[Category:History of Guinea-Bissau]] [[Category:Former monarchies of Africa]] [[Category:History of Senegal]] [[Category:French West Africa]] [[Category:Fula history]] [[Category:1896 disestablishments]] [[Category:States and territories established in 1725]] [[Category:Former theocracies]]