Douentza (

Fulfulde Fula ( ),Laurie Bauer, 2007, ''The Linguistics Student's Handbook'', Edinburgh also known as Fulani ( ) or Fulah (, , ; Adlam: , , ; Ajami: , , ), is a Senegambian language spoken by around 36.8 million people as a set of various diale ...

: ''Duwayⁿsa'') is a town and urban commune in the

Mopti Region Mopti (Fula language, Fulfulde: 𞤁𞤭𞥅𞤱𞤢𞤤 𞤃𞤮𞥅𞤩𞤼𞤭𞥅, transliterated ''Diiwal Moobti'') is the fifth administrative region of Mali, covering 79,017 km2. Its capital is the city of Mopti. During the Mali War, ...

of central

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 ...

. The town lies 145 km east-northeast of

Mopti Mopti (Fulfulde: Mobti) is a town and an urban commune in the Inner Niger Delta region of Mali. The town is the capital of the Mopti Cercle and the Mopti Region. Situated 630 km northeast of Bamako, the town lies at the confluence of the ...

on the RN16, a paved road that links Mopti and

Gao Gao (or Gawgaw/Kawkaw) is a city in Mali and the capital of the Gao Region. The city is located on the River Niger, east-southeast of Timbuktu on the left bank at the junction with the Tilemsi valley. For much of its history Gao was an imp ...

. It is the administrative center of the

Douentza Cercle Douentza Cercle is an administrative subdivision of the Mopti Region of Mali. The administrative center (''chef-lieu'') is the town of Douentza. During the Tuareg rebellion of 2012, it was the southernmost part of the state of Azawad, accor ...

. The town's old quarter is mostly

-speaking. Newer sections of the town near the highway are mostly Bambara-speaking.

History

The area around Douentza was densely populated and the site of industrial-scale iron during the height of the Wagadou Empire between approximately 700 and 1200 CE. Douentza is the leading town in the historic region of Haayre (or Hayre), a

Fulbe The Fula, Fulani, or Fulɓe people are an ethnic group in Sahara, Sahel and West Africa, widely dispersed across the region. Inhabiting many countries, they live mainly in West Africa and northern parts of Central Africa, South Sudan, Darfur, ...

-led kingdom dating to the 19th century. Its name ("Haayre" meaning "rocky place") describes the rocky outcrops which dominate many areas near Douentza, and have provided defense for the locals against raiders and invaders throughout their history. From at least the 17th century CE, villages in the area were fought over by Tuareg and Fulbe groups before the rise of the centralized Fulbe

Massina Empire The Caliphate of Hamdullahi (; ; ; ; also: Dina of Massina, Sise Jihad state), commonly known as the Massina Empire (also spelled ''Maasina'' or ''Macina''), was an early nineteenth-century Sunni Muslim caliphate in West Africa centered in the ...

and its later conquest by the Fulbe and Toucouleur forces of

El Hadj Umar 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 ...

. The French moved into the area in the last decade of the 19th century, in part assimilating the previous political entities as elements of so-called strategy of

Indirect rule Indirect rule was a system of public administration, governance used by imperial powers to control parts of their empires. This was particularly used by colonial empires like the British Empire to control their possessions in Colonisation of Afri ...

. Douentza remains a largely Fulbe town and region, but populations of Touareg, former Touareg slaves (the "Bella"), Bambara, and other ethnicities live in the local towns and villages. In Douentza town in particular, large portions of Fulbe population" . On 5 April 2012, it was captured by the

Tuareg rebels The Tuareg people (; also spelled Twareg or Touareg; endonym, depending on variety: ''Imuhaɣ'', ''Imušaɣ'', ''Imašeɣăn'' or ''Imajeɣăn'') are a large Berber ethnic group, traditionally nomadic pastoralists, who principally inhabit the S ...

of the

National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ...

(MNLA). Describing the town as the "frontier" of their new nation, the MNLA declared an end to their offensive. The following day, the group officially declared the independence of

Azawad Azawad, or Azawagh (Tuareg languages, Tuareg: Azawaɣ, or Azawad; ), was a short-lived diplomatic recognition, unrecognised state lasting between 2012 and 2013. Azawagh (''Azawaɣ'') is the generic Tuareg, Tuareg Berber name for all Tuareg Ber ...

from Mali. On 1 September 2012, the Islamist group

Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa The Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (abbreviated MOJWA) or the Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa (abbreviated MUJWA; ''Jamāʿat at-tawḥīd wal-jihād fī gharb ʾafrīqqīyā''; , abbreviated MUJAO), was a militant Is ...

took over Douentza, which had previously been held by a Songhai secular militia, the ''Ganda Iso'' ( Songhai for "Sons of the Land"). A MOJWA spokesman said that the group had had an agreement with the Ganda Iso, but had decided to occupy the town when the militia appeared to be acting independently. Once MOJWA troops surrounded the city, the militia reportedly surrendered without a fight and were disarmed. On 15 January 2013, the Douentza high school was bombed by the French Air Force. This

operation Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...

was coupled with other air strikes and ground forces. Twenty United Nations′ peace keepers were wounded in attacks by rebels on 10 February

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

Transport

The town is served by Douentza Airport.

References

{{Communes of the Mopti Region Communes of Mopti Region