Marka people
| Languages | |
|---|---|
| Marka language | |
| Religion | |
| Islam | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Bambara peopleandSoninke people |
TheMarka(alsoMarka Dafing,Meka,orMaraka) people are aMande peopleof northwestMali.They speakMarka,aManding language.Some of the Maraka (Dafin people are found in Ghana.
History[edit]
The Marka originated fromSoninke peoplefromWagadu Empirewho migrated to the middle Niger between the 11th and 13th centuries. The term 'Maraka' means 'men who rule' inBambara,which may have originated as a term for the colonists from Wagadu or merely as a term of respect.[1]: 171
Relatively geographically constrained compared to other trading communities such as theJakhankeandDyula people,they foundedNyaminaandSansandingduring this early period, andBarouéliandBanambain the 19th century.[1]: 171 All four were at various times prominent trading and religious centers.
Muslimmerchant communities at the time of theBambara Empire,the Maraka largely controlled the desert-side trade between theSaheland nomadicBerbersandMoorsof theSahara.Their economy was based on slave plantation agriculture growing food and cotton to be traded.[1]: 173 The Bambara integrated Maraka communities into their state structure, and Maraka trading posts and plantations multiplied in theSegubased state and itsKaartavassals in the 18th and early 19th centuries. When the Bambara Empire (which practicedAfrican spirituality) was defeated by the Maraka's fellow MuslimUmar Tallin the 1850s, the Maraka's unique trade and landholdings concessions suffered damage from which they never recovered.
Today[edit]
Today there are only around 25,000 Marka speakers, and they are largely integrated amongst theirSoninkeandBambaraneighbors.
Culture[edit]
The Marka people are adherents of Islam.[2]
References[edit]
- ^abcRoberts, Richard (1980)."Long distance trade and production: Sinsani in the nineteenth century".Journal of African History.21(2): 169–188.doi:10.1017/S0021853700018156.Retrieved25 October2023.
- ^Levtzion, Nehemia; Pouwels, Randall (2000).The History of Islam in Africa.Ohio University Press. p. 76.ISBN978-0-8214-4461-0.
- Richard L. Roberts.Warriors, Merchants and Slaves: The State and the Economy in the Middle Niger Valley 1700-1914.Stanford University Press (1987),ISBN0-8047-1378-2.
- Richard L. Roberts. Production and Reproduction of Warrior States: Segu Bambara and Segu Tokolor, c. 1712-1890.The International Journal of African Historical Studies,Vol. 13,No. 3 (1980),pp. 389–419.
