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Ségou
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Ségou
Ségou (French pronunciation: [seɡu]; Bambara: ߛߋߜ߭ߎ߫, Segu) is a town and an urban commune in south-central Mali that lies 235 kilometres (146 mi) northeast of Bamako on the right bank of the River Niger. The town is the capital of the Ségou Cercle and the Ségou Region. With 130,690 inhabitants in 2009, it is the fifth-largest town in Mali.
In the middle of the 19th century there were four villages with the name of Ségou spread out over a distance of around 12 km (7.5 mi) along the right bank of the river. They were, starting from the most upstream, Ségou-Koro (Old Ségou), Ségou-Bougou, Ségou-Koura (New Ségou) and Ségou-Sikoro. The present town is on the site of Ségou-Sikoro.
Ségou has contested origins. Some claim that the word Ségou come from "Sikoro", meaning to the foot of a shea butter tree. Others argue that it was named after Cheikou, a marabout who founded the city, while still other theories support the claim that Ségou was founded by the Bozo fishermen coming from the north in the 4th century, who established their villages along the Niger River. The 11th century CE saw an influx of the Soninke people, who were trying to escape from the collapse of the Ghana Empire, with Mandinka populations following.[citation needed]
Around 1650 Kaladian Coulibaly overthrew the ruling Koita dynasty and established a powerful if short-lived kingdom with Ségou-Koro as capital.
One of Koulibaly's great-grandsons, Mamary Coulibaly, also known as Bitòn, became the chief of his tòn, an association of men, sometime after 1700. By 1712, Bitòn had used his military strength to displace local elders and expand the Bambara Empire. In the subsequent decades, he expanded its territory to encompass regional commerce centers such as Macina and Djenné. The city of Timbuktu would become a tributary state to Bitòn's Bambara Empire. At this time Segou was capital of the Bambara Empire, and a distinct urban architecture began to emerge at Ségou Koro, including mosques.
After Bitòn's death in 1755 a period of instability followed, during which the capital of the Empire moved repeatedly. In 1766 Ngolo Diarra, a former slave and warrior, took control the Bambara Empire and inaugurated a period of prosperity. The Diarra dynasty ruled Ségou until the mid-19th century. He moved the kingdom's capital from Segou-Koro to Ségou-Sikoro, close to the site of the current city.
Mungo Park, passing through Segou in 1797 recorded a testament to the Empire's prosperity:
The view of this extensive city, the numerous canoes on the river, the crowded population, and the cultivated state of the surrounding countryside, formed altogether a prospect of civilization and magnificence that I little expected to find in the bosom of Africa.
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Ségou
Ségou (French pronunciation: [seɡu]; Bambara: ߛߋߜ߭ߎ߫, Segu) is a town and an urban commune in south-central Mali that lies 235 kilometres (146 mi) northeast of Bamako on the right bank of the River Niger. The town is the capital of the Ségou Cercle and the Ségou Region. With 130,690 inhabitants in 2009, it is the fifth-largest town in Mali.
In the middle of the 19th century there were four villages with the name of Ségou spread out over a distance of around 12 km (7.5 mi) along the right bank of the river. They were, starting from the most upstream, Ségou-Koro (Old Ségou), Ségou-Bougou, Ségou-Koura (New Ségou) and Ségou-Sikoro. The present town is on the site of Ségou-Sikoro.
Ségou has contested origins. Some claim that the word Ségou come from "Sikoro", meaning to the foot of a shea butter tree. Others argue that it was named after Cheikou, a marabout who founded the city, while still other theories support the claim that Ségou was founded by the Bozo fishermen coming from the north in the 4th century, who established their villages along the Niger River. The 11th century CE saw an influx of the Soninke people, who were trying to escape from the collapse of the Ghana Empire, with Mandinka populations following.[citation needed]
Around 1650 Kaladian Coulibaly overthrew the ruling Koita dynasty and established a powerful if short-lived kingdom with Ségou-Koro as capital.
One of Koulibaly's great-grandsons, Mamary Coulibaly, also known as Bitòn, became the chief of his tòn, an association of men, sometime after 1700. By 1712, Bitòn had used his military strength to displace local elders and expand the Bambara Empire. In the subsequent decades, he expanded its territory to encompass regional commerce centers such as Macina and Djenné. The city of Timbuktu would become a tributary state to Bitòn's Bambara Empire. At this time Segou was capital of the Bambara Empire, and a distinct urban architecture began to emerge at Ségou Koro, including mosques.
After Bitòn's death in 1755 a period of instability followed, during which the capital of the Empire moved repeatedly. In 1766 Ngolo Diarra, a former slave and warrior, took control the Bambara Empire and inaugurated a period of prosperity. The Diarra dynasty ruled Ségou until the mid-19th century. He moved the kingdom's capital from Segou-Koro to Ségou-Sikoro, close to the site of the current city.
Mungo Park, passing through Segou in 1797 recorded a testament to the Empire's prosperity:
The view of this extensive city, the numerous canoes on the river, the crowded population, and the cultivated state of the surrounding countryside, formed altogether a prospect of civilization and magnificence that I little expected to find in the bosom of Africa.
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