Barrow Kunda is a town in
the Gambia
The Gambia, officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. Geographically, The Gambia is the List of African countries by area, smallest country in continental Africa; it is surrounded by Senegal on all sides except for ...
. It is located in
Wuli District in the
Upper River Division. According to tradition the village was founded in the 16th century by Alai Bah, a
marabout
In the Muslim world, the marabout () is a Sayyid, descendant of Muhammad (Arabic: سـيّد, Romanization of Arabic, romanized: ''sayyid'' and ''sidi'' in the Maghreb) and a Islam, Muslim religious leader and teacher who historically had the f ...
from
Futa Toro. The king of
Wuli at the time,
Mansa Jalali Wali convinced him to settle there by promising him autonomy to practice
Islam
Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
and protection from search and seizure.
The Alkalo (village chief) is generally the head of the Barrow family. Barrow Kunda had as of 2009 an estimated population of 1 730.
There is another Barrow Kunda located in
Foni Kansala district.
References
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Populated places in the Gambia
Upper River Division