ORIGIN OF ALABAMA NAME

History of the African province of Alabama

Alabama is the name of a region that existed at the time of the Sosso kingdom in the present-day Republic of Mali (West Africa). This region was located in the gold-bearing area called Gangaran. The Berbers who ruled the empire of Ghana conquered this region in the 7th century and gave the name of Salou to this province which was ruled by black warriors called Keyta. The Fofana emperors of the Ghanaian Empire created the village of Toukoto, north of the city of Kita in Mali, in the 8th century when the Berbers were ousted from the throne of the Ghanaian Empire.

After the empire of Ghana, the kingdoms created by the warlords competed in the 12th century to take over this gold-rich and cotton-producing region. It was the Oulalé kings who first conquered this gold-rich region before being driven out by the Soninke conqueror Sidiky Keta of the kingdom of Mara, who not only conquered this region, but also Kingui, further north on the Mauritanian border.

After the capture of this region at the beginning of the 13th century by the first king of the Keyta dynasty of Sosso, Samou, a new province under the name of Alabama was created with the village of Toukoto as its capital, at the mouth of the Bakhoye river (today's cercle of Kita). The command of this province was entrusted to a warlord with the surname Camara.

The exactions of the Sosso kings pushed the inhabitants of the province of Alabama to join the Mandingo coalition fighting against the Sosso. These inhabitants provided warriors for the troops of the Traoré who were allied with the Mandingo. After the victory over the Sosso and the establishment of the Mali Empire in the second half of the 13th century, the Badiaga Soninke became the rulers of the Alabama province.

After the break-up of the Mali Empire, Alabama became independent in the 14th century. This sparsely populated province fell victim to the wars that followed the end of the Mali Empire. It became depopulated, its population moving north to escape the manhunters. In the 16th century, the few people who were there were victims of raids, reducing the population to slavery. Some were taken to Senegal and Gambia, and others to Guinea.

By Youba Bathily is an historian from Mali

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