Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-ttngx Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-06T23:01:00.261Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

5 - Resisting the French Empire

from Part III - Gajaaga at the Center, the French Empire at the Edges

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 November 2023

Makhroufi Ousmane Traoré
Affiliation:
Pomona College, California
Get access

Summary

The chapter analyzes the organization of the Soninke’s resistance and its various forms. It shows how through high tariff barriers, taxes on caravans of captives, taxes on trips to the gold mines, assassinations, political alliances, and control over the circulation of information, the Bacili weakened French trading activities and also dissuaded slave traders in captives from entering Gajaaga. Assassinations in particular were a frequent strategy used by the Soninke in Gajaaga to eliminate French agents and their local allies from negotiations. The Bacili additionally utilized tactics of dispersion and impediment. Dispersing captives consisted of attacking the caravans and freeing the captives, allowing them to escape to Gajaaga, Bambuxu or Futa Toro. The Soninke also deliberately impeded Europeans commercial operations. The Bacili held back European ships in villages for as long as possible by stretching out negotiations on the taxes required for passage, thus exposing them to epidemics, of which they died in large numbers.

Type
Chapter
Information
Slavery, Resistance, and Identity in Early Modern West Africa
The Ethnic-State of Gajaaga
, pp. 269 - 366
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×