Diarra, also referred to as Kingui, Diafunu, or Kaniaga, was a Soninke state in what is now northwestern

Mali Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...

, centered around the town of Diarra. Founded in the 11th century, it was occasionally independent but frequently under the domination of a series of Sahelian empires until its final destruction by the

Toucouleur Empire The Tukulor Empire (; ; ; also known as the Tijaniyya Jihad state or the Segu Tukulor or the Tidjaniya Caliphate or the Umarian State) (1861–1890) was an Islamic state in the mid-nineteenth century founded by Elhadj Oumar Foutiyou Tall of the ...

in the 19th century.

Names

The kingdom has many different names, which are used in different contexts. ''Diarra'' (also spelled ''Jaara'' or ''Zara'') is the name of the capital, and so applied to the state as a whole. ''Kingui'' is the

Pulaar Pulaar (in Latin script, Latin: , in Ajami script, Ajami: ), often referred to as Pulaar du Nord, is dialect of the Fula language spoken primarily as a first language by the Fula people, Fula and Toucouleur peoples in the Senegal River valley ar ...

term for the region. ''Kaniaga'' is a Soninke term for land between the upper

Senegal river The Senegal River ( or "Senegal" - compound of the Serer term "Seen" or "Sene" or "Sen" (from Roog Seen, Supreme Deity in Serer religion) and "O Gal" (meaning "body of water")); , , , ) is a river in West Africa; much of its length mark ...

and the Niger bend, derived from a

Malinke Maninka (also known as Malinke), or more precisely Eastern Maninka, is the name of several closely related languages and dialects of the southeastern Manding subgroup of the Mande language family (itself, possibly linked to the Niger–Congo ...

term which means 'north'; it is sometimes applied to Diarra, and sometimes to the

Sosso Empire The Sosso Empire, also written as Soso or Susu, or alternatively Kaniaga, was kingdom of West Africa that originated as a vassal of the Ghana Empire before breaking away and conquering their former overlords. Inhabited by the Soninke ancestors ...

, as both were located to the north of the

Manding region Manding, Manden or even Mandé is a region located in West Africa, a space between southern Mali and eastern Guinea. It is the historic home of the Manding languages, Mandinka community. The Malinke people, Malinke are at the origin of the found ...

. ''Diafunu'' (also spelled ''Zafunu'') is a region around the upper Kolinbiné River. The name means "people of Dia", and was the name by which the kingdom was known when it was a province of the

Ghana Empire The Ghana Empire (), also known as simply Ghana, Ghanata, or Wagadu, was an ancient western-Sahelian empire based in the modern-day southeast of Mauritania and western Mali. It is uncertain among historians when Ghana's ruling dynasty began. T ...

and later the

Mali Empire The Mali Empire (Manding languages, Manding: ''Mandé''Ki-Zerbo, Joseph: ''UNESCO General History of Africa, Vol. IV, Abridged Edition: Africa from the Twelfth to the Sixteenth Century'', p. 57. University of California Press, 1997. or ''Manden ...

History

Local histories recount that the Soninke first came to the area later known as Diafunu in the 7th century AD from Dia. The first capital was the city of Sain Demba.

Aoudaghost Aoudaghost also transliterated as Awadaghust, Awdughast, Awdaghusht, Awdaghost, and Awdhaghurst () is a former Berber town in Hodh El Gharbi, Mauritania. It was an important oasis town at the southern end of a trans-Saharan caravan route that i ...

, a royal seat of the

(Wagadou), was captured by the

Almoravid Empire The Almoravid dynasty () was a Berber Muslim dynasty centered in the territory of present-day Morocco. It established an empire that stretched over the western Maghreb and Al-Andalus, starting in the 1050s and lasting until its fall to the Almoh ...

in the second half of the 11th century, at which time Sain Demba was supposedly destroyed and the city of Diarra was built. The ''Mana Maga'', as the kings of Diarra were known, broke away and established an independent state under the Niakhate dynasty. The kingdom became wealthy through trans-Saharan trade, controlling much of the southern parts of the former Wagadu (Ghana) Empire, and conquering

Takrur Takrur, Tekrur or Tekrour ( 500 – c. 1456) was a state based in the Senegal River in modern day Senegal which was at its height in the 11th and 12th centuries, roughly parallel to the Ghana Empire. It lasted in some form into the 18th ...

. During this period the Mana Maga extended their authority into the desert and beyond.Lewicki Tadeusz. Un État soudanais médiéval inconnu : le royaume de Zāfūn(u).. In: Cahiers d'études africaines, vol. 11, n°44, 1971. pp. 501-525. DOI : https://doi.org/10.3406/cea.1971.2781 . www.persee.fr/doc/cea_0008-0055_1971_num_11_44_2781 In the early 12th century a king of Diarra passed through

Marrakesh Marrakesh or Marrakech (; , ) is the fourth-largest city in Morocco. It is one of the four imperial cities of Morocco and is the capital of the Marrakesh–Safi Regions of Morocco, region. The city lies west of the foothills of the Atlas Mounta ...

on a pilgrimage. The Arab scholar and traveller

Yaqut al-Hamawi Yāqūt Shihāb al-Dīn ibn-ʿAbdullāh al-Rūmī al-Ḥamawī (1179–1229) () was a Muslim scholar of Byzantine ancestry active during the late Abbasid period (12th–13th centuries). He is known for his , an influential work on geography con ...

described the scene, emphasizing the relative power of the Diafunu monarch over his Almoravid host (although ''Zafunu'' could possibly refer to Ghana here): Diarra came back under the sway of Wagadou by around 1150, and then the

and the

beginning in the early 13th century. The Niakhate dynasty, however, gained a reputation for cruelty and tyranny. In the early 15th century the last Mana Maga of the dynasty, Seriba Niakhaté, was driven out or fled Diarra for the area around

Bamako Bamako is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Mali, with a 2022 population of 4,227,569. It is located on the Niger River, near the rapids that divide the upper and middle Niger valleys in the southwestern part of the country. Bamak ...

, leaving power to Daman Guilé Diawara, a renowned hunter originally from

Mande Mande may refer to: * Mandé peoples of western Africa * Mande languages, their Niger-Congo languages * Manding languages, Manding, a term covering a subgroup of Mande peoples, and sometimes used for one of them, Mandinka people, Mandinka * Garo p ...

. Under the new dynasty Diarra thrived as a center for the caravan trade, charting a course increasingly independent of Malian influence. Daman Guilé Diawara was succeeded as king by his son Kouria Mamadou, who took the title 'Faren,' meaning 'governor,' who was followed by his son Silamaghan. After Silamaghan's death the country was divided between his sons, who frequently fought amongst each other. In 1501 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 ...

conquered the Malian province of Diafunu, to the south of Diarra proper. The Fula warlord

Tenguella Tenguella (also known as Temelá or Tenguella Ba) was a Fula people, Fula ''silatigi'' or chief who founded a short-lived state called Futa Kingui in the upper Senegal river valley, a precursor of the Empire of Great Fulo. He was referred to as ...

invaded Diarra in 1511, at which point the kingdom called for help from the Songhai Empire.

Umar Komajago Umar Komajago, also spelled Konjaago, Komadiaga and many other variants, was the Kanfari, or ruler of the western provinces, of the Songhai Empire under his brother Askia Mohammad I from 1494 until his death in 1520. Deputized by his brother t ...

, a brother of the

Askia Mohammad I Askia Muhammad Ture I (1443–1538), born Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr al-Turi or Muhammad Ture, was the first ruler of the Askia dynasty of the Songhai Empire, reigning from 1493 to 1528. He is also known as Askia the Great, and his name in modern So ...

, led a powerful force on a 2-month march through the desert, then in 1512 defeated and killed Tenguella in battle. After this, Diarra likely swore fealty to the Songhai. In 1754, the Bambara kingdom of Kaarta conquered and vassalized the kingdom.Gomez, Michael A. “The Problem with Malik Sy and the Foundation of Bundu (La Question de Malik Sy et La Fondation Du Bundu).” Cahiers d'Études Africaines, vol. 25, no. 100, 1985, pp. 537–53. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/4392006. Accessed 18 June 2023. The last monarch of Diarra, Biranté Karounga Diawara, was captured and executed by

Omar Saidou Tall Hadji Oumarûl Foutiyou Tall (ʿUmar ibn Saʿīd al-Fūtī Ṭaʿl, , – 1864 CE), born in Futa Tooro, present-day Senegal, was a Senegalese Tijani sufi Toucouleur Islamic scholar and military commander who founded the short-lived Touc ...

on May 31, 1860.

References

{{Sahelian kingdoms Political history of Mali 7th-century establishments in Africa Sahelian kingdoms 1860 disestablishments in Africa Successor states to the Ghana Empire