Suling Jatta (died 24 June 1855) was a Mandinka and jola of

King of Kombo Kombo was a kingdom and later a chieftaincy in Gambia during the colonial period. Kombo was part of the Mali Empire and gained independence after its fall, and was then ruled by the Sambou Bainunka clan. Mansa Karapha Yalli Jatta became the fi ...

during the mid-nineteenth century. Jatta was persuaded to cede a portion of his territory called

Kombo North/Saint Mary Kombo North/Saint Mary is one of the nine districts of the Gambia's Brikama Local Government Area (formerly known as the Western Division), which is located to the south of the Gambia River in the southwest of the country. Kombo North/Saint Mary is ...

to the British in 1840 for African-American freed slaves. He led the Soninke during the early part of the Soninke-Marabout War, and after the Storming of Sabbajee in 1853, ceded more land to the British. Jatta was killed after being shot through the heart during a

Marabout A marabout ( ar, مُرابِط, murābiṭ, lit=one who is attached/garrisoned) is a Muslim religious leader and teacher who historically had the function of a chaplain serving as a part of an Islamic army, notably in North Africa and the Saha ...

attack on his capital at

Busumbala Busumbala , also known as Old-Busumbala, is a small town in western Gambia The Gambia,, ff, Gammbi, ar, غامبيا officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. It is the smallest country within mainland Africa ...

in 1855. He was buried in Old Busumbala( Tungbung Ngoto). After the war most of the Jatta clan moved to

ll over the regions Ll/ll is a digraph that occurs in several languages English In English, often represents the same sound as single : . The doubling is used to indicate that the preceding vowel is (historically) short, or that the "l" sound is to be extended ...

King of Kombo

In 1840, Jatta was persuaded by Sir Henry Vere Huntley, the Lieutenant Governor of the Gambia, to cede a northern portion of his territory to the British as a settlement for Liberated Africans. This territory later went by several names, including British Kombo, Kombo St. Mary, and Cape St. Mary. Jatta was the sitting King when the Soninke-Marabout War broke out in 1850. The war saw the ruling Soninke people pitted against radical Islamists known as Marabouts. Jatta led the Soninke faction in the war, which was focused on the towns of Yundum, Busumbala, and Brikama. The Marabouts were focused at Sabbajee, Gunjur, and Brefet. Much of the early war was fought via mercenaries. Jatta signed a treaty with British Governor

Luke Smythe O'Connor Luke Smythe O'Connor (15 April 1806 – 24 March 1873) was a British army officer and colonial administrator. He served as Governor of the Gambia from 1852 to 1859, and held senior roles in the Colony of Jamaica during the 1860s, including Pres ...

in 1853, in which agreed to cede a further northern part of his territory, including the town of Sabbajee, on the condition that the British quell the Marabouts in the area. This led to the first Storming of Sabbajee in 1853. Jatta was killed in battle on 24 June 1855, when a

force under the

Mandinka Mandinka, Mandika, Mandinkha, Mandinko, or Mandingo may refer to: Media * ''Mandingo'' (novel), a bestselling novel published in 1957 * ''Mandingo'' (film), a 1975 film based on the eponymous 1957 novel * '' Mandingo (play)'', a play by Jack Ki ...

commander Fodi Kabba Dumbuya attacked his capital at

. His forces were able to repel the attack, but Jatta had been shot through the heart and was killed instantly in the fray.

References

1855 deaths Gambian royalty 19th-century monarchs in Africa {{Africa-royal-stub