page_title: Bamana Empire
section_title: Economy and structure
hierarchical_section_title: Bamana Empire / Economy and structure
caption_attribution_description: English: Archer of the Bambara kingdom of Segou. Note: The vegetation above his left feet is photoshopped.
context_page_description: The Bamana Empire was a large West African state based at Ségou, now in Mali. This state was established after the fall of the Mali Empire and the Keita dynasty, as a smaller Bambara Empire founded by other Bambara families related to the Keita clan. It was ruled by the Kulubali or Coulibaly dynasty established c. 1640 by Kaladian Coulibaly also known as Fa Sine or Biton-si-u. The empire existed as a centralized state from 1712 until the 1862 invasion of Toucouleur conqueror, El Hadj Umar Tall.
context_section_description: The Bamana Empire was structured around traditional Bambara institutions, including the kòmò, a body to resolve theological concerns.  The kòmò often consulted religious sculptures in their decisions, particularly the four state boliw, large altars designed to aid the acquisition of political power.
  The economy of the Bamana Empire flourished through trade, especially that of the slaves captured in their many wars.  The demand for slaves then led to further fighting, leaving the Bambara in a perpetual state of war with their neighbors.
  Mungo Park, passing through the Bambara capital of Ségou two years after Diarra's 1795 death, recorded a testament to the Empire's prosperity:
  The view of this extensive city, the numerous canoes on the river, the crowded population, and the cultivated state of the surrounding countryside, formed altogether a prospect of civilization and magnificence that I little expected to find in the bosom of Africa.
caption: Bamana archer.
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