Kingdom of Koya
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The Kingdom ofKquojaorKoyaorKoya Temne,or theTemne Kingdom(1505–1896), was a pre-colonial African state in the north of present-daySierra Leone.
The kingdom was founded by theTemneethnic group in or around 1505 by migrants from the north, seeking trade with the coastalPortuguesein the south.
The kingdom was ruled by a king called a Bai orObai.The sub-kingdoms within the state were ruled by nobles titled "Gbana". The Koya Kingdom kept and maintained diplomatic relations with theBritishandFrenchin the 18thcentury.Children of Temne nobles were allowed to seek western educations abroad. Koya also traded with Islamic states to its north and hadMuslimswithin its borders.
UnderNembanga's reign (1775–1793), the Koya kingdom signed a treaty, which made it possible for the establishment of a British colony on the peninsula of Sierra Leone in 1788.
Koya participated in thetrans-atlantic slave trade,though sources state that such commerce was much more privatized than in other kingdoms. Subjects of Koya traded in slaves on the coast even against the wishes of the state at times.
From 1801 to 1807, Koya fought a war with British colonists and theSusu.Koya lost the northern shoreline of Sierra Leone to the British andPort Lokoto the Susu. However, they remained a power in the region. In 1815, the Temne fought another war with the Susu and regained the port. In 1841, the Temne defeated the Loko tribe of Kasona on theMabaole Riverdispersing many of the people. In response to a British bombardment, the kingdom expelled theChurch Missionary Societymissionaries operating at Magbela in 1860.
The kingdom became aBritish protectorateon 31 August 1896 after which the Koya kings lost virtually all power. Revolts of the Temne and Mende in 1898 were fierce but futile. The British would govern the area of the former kingdom until 1961.
List of Temne monarchs
Names and Dates taken from John Stewart'sAfrican States and Rulers(1989).[1]
# | Name | Reign Start | Reign End |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Farima I | c. 1505 | c. 1550 |
2 | Farima II | c. 1550 | c. 1560 |
3 | Farima III | c. 1560 | 1605 |
4 | Sangrafare (or Pedro) | 1605 | 1610 |
5 | Borea I | 1610 | 1630 |
6 | Borea II | 1630 | 1664 |
7 | Felipe II | 1664 | 1680 |
8 | Naimbanna I | 1680 | 1720 |
9 | Naimbanna II | 1720 | 11 November 1793 [citation needed] |
10 | Farima IV | 1793 | 1807 |
11 | Bai Foki | 1807 | 1817 |
12 | Moriba | 1817 | 1825 |
13 | Jack Coby (or Kunia Banna) | 1825 | 1826 |
14 | Fatima | 1826 | 1840 |
15 | Moribu Kindo | 1840 | 1859 |
16 | Bai Kanta (or Alexander) | 1859 | 1872 |
- | Alimani Lahai Bundu (Regent) |
1872 | 1890 |
17 | Bai Kompa (or William Rowe) | 1890 | 1898 |
18 | Fula Mansa Gbanka | 1898 | |
Sub-Kings of Ko-Fransa | |||
1 | Tom I | 1770 | 1778 |
2 | Jimmy | 1778 | 1796 |
3 | Tom II | 1796 | 1807 |
References
- ^Stewart, John (1989).African States and Rulers.London: McFarland. p. 155.ISBN0-89950-390-X.
Sources
- Worldstatesmen
- Sierra Leonean Heroes
- Wars of the World
- Adam Jones, "The Kquoja Kingdom: A Forest State in Seventeenth Century West Africa,"Paideuma29 (1983): 23–43.