Assess the career and achievements of Samouri-Toure in the history of West Africa.

He was born in about 1830 son of a commoner, he spent his early years as a farmer in his native village of Manyambaladugu near the town of Sanankoro and therefore he grew up as a peasant and later he became a trader (Dyala) during which time he traveled as far as the coast of Sierra-Leone, Liberia trading in rifle and gun powder and cattle he later took Kole nuts from the forests of Liberia and horses form Bobo in upper-Lotta traded in slaves and all this gave the young Samouri-Toure a good and useful experience which he was later used in establishing himself as an important figure in the history of West Africa.

The year 1853 became a turning point in the history of his life for one day which he was away on the long distance trade, news reached him that his home town of Sonankoro had been raided by troops of Sere-Biema the king of Bisandugu and the worst of all was that his mother had been captured and taken to Bisandugu.

Because of this incident Samouri-Toure took courage, went to Sere-Biema and asked him to offer services in his army in return for the freedom of his mother.  For seven years, Samouri-Toure served in Sere-Biema’s army and rose to the position of a commander and was therefore able to add to his already rich experience as a trader and that of a professional soldier.

It was during his time as a soldier that Samouri-Toure came to learn about the disunity that existed among the Mandinka people for he believed that there was no chief who was strong enough to bring unity and peace in the whole of Mandika land and therefore he saw it as his duty to bring this unity and peace a decision that received support by a member of warriors whom he personally led and he was given real loyalty.

It was with this force, his experience as a trader and soldier that Samouri-Toure declared himself independent of Sere-Biema made his home village Somaneous as the main base of his operations supported by many chiefs, Samouri-Toure was able to create a large empire in what came to be known as the Mandika empire which extended from Sierra-Leone in the west ivory coast in the East towards North of Liberia and the forests of the south.

The expansionism of Samouri-Toure through West Africa greatly worried European imperialists especially the French who seriously interfered  in Samouri’s state especially from the years of 1882 partly because Samouri empire stood in the way of the French colonial designs and ambitions in western Sudan for the French were determined to take over the whole of western Sudan as their colony and this meant using all possible ways  and means to destroy Samouri and annex his empire.

Samouri troops had taken over Kiviera a small village just a few miles away from the town of Siguri Guinea and given that the French were interested in Siguri they saw the invasion of Kiviera as a threat to their position and interest and they therefore asked him to withdraw his forces something  Samouri-Toure refused which led to the beginning of the fight between the French and Mandika forces.  This was because France a European power which wanted to create a colony in Western Sudan couldn’t tolerate the establishment of a strong state like that of Samouri in their area, its therefore from this basis that a war was declared against Samouri-Toure.

It’s also argued that the clash between the French and Samouri-Toure forces was because Samouri forces cut the telegraphic line which the French had established between Kita and Bamako something that greatly annoyed the French people who were left with no other alternative than destroying Samouri-Toure.  However it’s vital to note that Samouri-Toure wasn’t the kind of man to be threatened by the French and indeed he ordered his forces not to surrender but to attack and destroy the French garrisons at Najidi fort and the French used their mighty forces to ensure that Samouri-Toure is destroyed and indeed when they gave him a hard time, he resorted to guerrilla war fare which greatly undermined the French forces who in 1855 had concentrated large forces near the borders of Samouri empire.

By 1880’s these forces had been a great destruction on both sides and indeed Samouri fore saw a great defeat in future and he decided to negotiate with the French for a honourable settlement in the Kinsera treaty according to which Samouri was to rule his empire undisturbed by the French especially in the lands of South of River Niger as the lands of North came under the French protection.

Unfortunately, Samouri-Toure refused to honour the terms of this treaty for he wasn’t ready to accept French protection of any form in his territories something that annoyed the French and only increased the struggle between the two parties.

Furthermore, Samouri-Toure being a devout Muslim didn’t want the French non muslims to dominate him so they decided to fight against the Pagan French people such that in 1891 when the French attacked Bisandugu capital of Mandika empire, Samouri and large numbers of the local population retreated in order to establish a new and safer capital and as they moved away from Bisandugu capital and the French forces used a similar policy known as the “scrotched earth policy”.

Hence this wonton/wholesome destruction led to misery both for the French and Samouri forces and indeed the Sudanese who were affected by the wars between these two decided to ally with the French purposely to destroy Samouri and end the resistance.

After moving from Bisandugu, Samouri established a new capital at Dabakqala in the North Eastern part of Ivory coast but even here Samouri wasn’t safe for the French troops kept on attacking and looting until 1898 when Samouri was finally attacked, arrested and taken prisoner, later an exiled to Gabon where he later died in 1900.

The death of Samouri-Toure did witness the conclusion of the Mandika empire which became part of the French empire of West Africa.

What should be noted is that Samouri-Toure became a very significant figure in the history of West Africa for he managed to become a thorn in the flesh of French imperialism for a period of 16 years and indeed it was for his contribution against French imperialism that historians sometimes describe him as the Bonaparte of Sudan, others refer to him as the “Napoleon of Africa”.

The question therefore should be how and why did Samouri-Toure manage to rally people behind him against French imperialism.

Question  

Why was Samouri-Toure able to resist French imperialism for long?

How far did Samouri-Toure succeed in uniting the people against foreign aggression.

Why did he managed to rally against the French.

The resistance of Samouri-Toure against French imperialism is explained by a number of factors among which was that he was an Orthodox and devolt Muslim who didn’t want the “infidels” i.e French Christians to dominate him and he therefore used Islam as a unifying factor against imperialism; its therefore on this note that Samouri-Toure managed to resist French imperialism for a long time.

Closely related, he made the Mandika people believe that his wars against French imperialism were Jihads aimed at keeping the infidels off the Mandika empire therefore Samouri-Toure was seen as a protector and saviour of Islam.

The Tijaniyya brotherhood to which Samouri-Toure belonged emphasised equality and dignity of all men and this appealed to the Mandika as it was special and similar to their tradition and it greatly reduced tribal difference and promoted unity among the Mandika people and it’s little wonder that they managed to resist French imperialism for a long time.

As a personality, Samouri-Toure was a fascinating person a man of great courage and ability who managed to attract people behind him to resist against French imperialism.

In political organisation, Samouri reorganised his kingdom, created a system of checks and balances which ensured that everybody was catered for something that promoted unity within his empire and largely enabled him to attract people against French imperialism.

Militarily, Samouri army was organised along tribal lines whereby every region was meant to submit a given section of young and energetic men who were put under training ready for any eventuality promotion within the army was largely based on merit and this organisation gave rise to success especially in the battle field as later evident in resisting against French imperialism.

Traditionally, the Mandika people had a common hatred against the French for they always regarded them as infidels something that made them forget their differences and they therefore begun to resist against a common enemy.  He used Dyula merchants as spies on the French so sometimes he knew of their plans before they attacked and he was usually prepared for the attacks.

Lastly, the people who inhabited the Mandika spirit were predominantly Mande speaking possessing a national spirit through a common origin which tends to trace its way as far back as the ancient empire of Mali such that to them, a man like Samouri-Toure was being looked as a new Mansa-Musa.  It’s like wonder therefore that when Samouri called upon them to fight for their common cause, they all rallied behind him.  It’s therefore in this context that Samouri-Toure resisted French imperialism for a period of sixteen years until when he succumbed to the French authority this took over the Mandika empire in 1898.

REASONS WHY SAMOURE TOURE LOST THE WAR.

Around 1890, Samoure's forces had become weak and started retreating eastwards where they established a new capital at Dabakala. This new town had a number of disadvantages to the strength of the Mandika kingdom. For example, it was distant from the coast and Sierra Leone where Samoure's forces were getting arms.

At the time of retreat, Samoure Toure employed the scotched earth policy that caused hunger and famine to both his people and the Frenchmen. Under this policy, Samoure's forces on front line lacked continued food supply hence leading to their defeat.

Worse still, this new capital consisted of mainly forested mountains, which during the rain season were unhabitable and hit by lack of food as a result of famine. The soils were also poor and food production was quite limited. Trade was reduced and at this point it started thinking of peaceful negotiations with French officers.

Further more, Samoure thought of the failure to secure cooperation from the British and from any other African neighbouring state made Samoure to be isolated. Moreover as the war became longer and rougher, suppliers to his army became less and less which made his soldiers in the battle field to desert the war.

Military weakness of Samoure's forces; Compared to the French Samoure's forces were poorly trained, poorly armed and uncoordinated in terms of organisation. Although Samoure had tried to build a strong army, it could not match with that of the French in military capacity.

Exhaustion of Samoure's treasury; with time, package of money and other previleges that Samoure used to offer to his spies and army officers went on reducing a factor that reduced their moral in the battle field. By 6th year of the war, most of these had deserted him.

Lack of cooperation with the neighbours; Samoure was ambitious in terms of territorial expansion. Therefore, at the begining of this war, Samoure Toure was on bad terms with most of his neighbours most of whom cooperated with the French to defeat Samoure Toure at the end of the war.

Lack of defined single religious ideology during the war; Samoure Toure bom from a peasant traditional religious family later turned to Islam. But during the time of his administration, and in the war, he could not favour the moslems which annoyed them. Much as he had used Islam as a unifying factor to fight the French catholics, most of the moslems had limited moral in the war.

The French were used to the landscape of West Africa as by 1843, French men had begun settling in Senegal. Therefore unlike other wars between the whites and Africans where the topography had disadvantaged the whites, in West Africa, Frenchmen never had such a problem which made them overrun the Mandika empire.

It was time for scramble and partition of Africa. Moreover France had lost a number of valuable territories to her rival European powers basically Egypt to Britain in Africa 1882, plus Alsace and Lorraine to Germany in 1871 in Europe. Therefore it had to fight tooth and nail and take over Mandika empire for purposes of compensation.

Negotiations were organised for his peaceful surrender but before these negotiations ended he was captured on September 29th 1898. He was deported in the Island of Ugowe in the offshore of Gabon where he died in 1900 at the age of 70.

In conclusion therefore, samoure toure had acquired, established and expanded his empire through wars and diplomacy which could no longer hold after 1898. His troops had been overrun by French forces and all qualities of a stable kingdom could no longer be traced in the Mandika empire.

He will remain in the books of African history as a great European resister. Although to Europeans he was considered as a backward looking person due to the great suffering he inflicted on his people as he tried to retreat eastwards. Despite this, Samoure Toure is seen as a military strategist, a genius, tactician and above all diplomat,

Peroz. a French soldier described him as the Bonaparte of western Sudan due to stiff resistance he staged against the French.

He was not religiously gifted although he tried to carry out a religious Jihad. He was only gifted in military and administrative skills. This is why the intensity of his Jihad crusade had a little impact in West Africa in comparison to that ofUthman Dan Fodio, Al Haji Umar and Ahmed Segu.

His pronouncement of a muslim state was tactical and not in principle. For example he equally treated pagans and Christians in a similar way like moslems during his time of rule.

.Another famous writer Micheal Crowther observed that; "He was the most interesting of all resistors in the period of colonial penetration. In him we could see a leader who might have achieved the modernisation of his own state despite of the French military might".

Indeed the defeat of Samoure by the French became the greatest achievement in their process of acquiring France. In West Africa nowhere else did they meet such resistance similar to that staged by the great Mandika leader.

Perhaps if Kabalega of Bunyoro, Lobengula of Ndebele kingdom, Mkwawa of the Hehe, Mwanga of Baganda, Koitaleh of the Nandi, Jaja of Opobo, Menelik of Ethiopia and Colonel Urabi Pasha of Egypt had cooperated and formed an organisatition with Samoure Toure most likely Africa would have escaped colonisation.