Bilanga is a town in the

Bilanga Department Bilanga is a department or commune of Gnagna Province in northern Burkina Faso Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in West Africa, bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the sout ...

Gnagna Province Gnagna is one of the 45 provinces of Burkina Faso, and is in Est Region. The capital of Gnagna is Bogandé. The population of Gnagna in 2019 was 675,897. Subdivision Gnagna is divided into 7 departments: References See also *Regions of Bur ...

in eastern

Burkina Faso Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in West Africa, bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Ivory Coast to the southwest. It covers an area of 274,223 km2 (105,87 ...

. The town has a population of 3,470 and is the capital of Bilanga Department.

History

Bilanga was at one point the capital of the

Gourma Gurma (also called Gourma or Gourmantché) is an ethnic group living mainly in northeastern Ghana, Burkina Faso, around Fada N'Gourma, and also in northern areas of Togo and Benin, as well as southwestern Niger. They might include the Bassar ...

region, and fought several wars against the

Songhai Empire The Songhai Empire was a state located in the western part of the Sahel during the 15th and 16th centuries. At its peak, it was one of the largest African empires in history. The state is known by its historiographical name, derived from its lar ...

. After his decisive loss at the

Battle of Tondibi The Battle of Tondibi was the decisive confrontation in the 16th-century invasion of the Songhai Empire by the army of the Saadi dynasty in Morocco. The Moroccan forces under Judar Pasha defeated the Songhai under Askia Ishaq II, guaranteeing t ...

and his subsequent deposition,

Askia Ishaq II Askia Ishaq II, also known as Askia Isḥāq Zughrānī, was the ruler of the Songhai Empire from 1588 to 1591. He commanded the Songhai force at the Battle of Tondibi, where he was defeated by Saadian forces from Morocco who subsequently destroy ...

sought refuge in the town. But the first night he was there, the vengeful population stormed the house where his party was staying and killed him.

References

External links

Satellite map at Maplandia.com
Populated places in the Est Region (Burkina Faso) Gnagna Province {{Gnagna-geo-stub