Kong Empire
Ivory Coast, 1710–1898. Draft, not yet reviewed
The Kong Empire, also known as the Wattara Empire or Ouattara Empire for its founder Seku Watara, was a pre-colonial state centered in what is now northeastern Ivory Coast that also encompassed much of present-day Burkina Faso and parts of Mali and Ghana. It established a largely decentralized commercial empire based upon linkages between merchant houses, protecting trade routes throughout the region. Kong rose to prominence in the 1700s as a key commercial center and center of Islamic studies. In 1898, Samori Ture attacked the city and burnt it down.
Seat of power: Kong
No rulers documented for this era yet.
Culture
- Starting in the 14th century Mandé merchants, known as the Dyula, migrated from the Mali Empire into the area founding the trading cities of Begho, Bouna, Bondoukou and Kong.
- These immigrants were largely Muslim while the local Senufo and Tyefo populations were primarily animist.
- Seku Watara, a Dyula who had studied the Qu'ran and engaged in commerce before becoming a warrior, deposed and killed an important leader in Kong, Lasiri Gbambele, by uniting the forces of a number of Dyula leaders in the area.
- Although the city was rebuilt, the Kong empire did not survive and the French took control over the area.
Picture
The Kong Empire was a pre-colonial state centered in what is now northeastern Ivory Coast.
Image: HetmanTheResearcher, CC BY 4.0, file
Sources
Text adapted from the Wikipedia articles listed as sources, CC BY-SA 4.0.