The Kong Empire (1710–1898), also known as the Wattara Empire or Ouattara Empire for its founder, was a pre-colonial African Muslim state centered in northeastern Ivory Coast that also encompassed much of present-day Burkina Faso . It was founded by Dyula immigrants from the declining Mali Empire . It established a largely decentralized commercial empire based upon linkages by merchant houses protecting trade routes throughout the region. Kong rose to prominence in the 1800s as a key commercial center and center of Islamic studies . In 1898, Samori Ture attacked the city and burnt it down. Although the city was rebuilt, the Kong empire had dissipated and the French took control over the area.
52-568: The area around Kong had been settled primarily by Gur-speaking agriculturalists: primarily the Senufo people and Tyefo people . Starting in the 16th century, Dyula speakers , an important branch of the Mandé , migrated from the declining Mali Empire into the area and founded the city of Bego. The immigrants were largely Muslim while the Senufo and Tyefo populations were primarily animist . Bego
104-449: A dialect of Dagbani), and Talni . Sample basic vocabulary of Gur languages: Note : In table cells with slashes, the singular form is given before the slash, while the plural form follows the slash. Comparison of numerals in individual languages: The Goulsse Alphabet was invented in 2022 as a native script for the Gur languages Islamic studies Islamic studies refers to
156-953: A heterogeneous living tradition with some non-discursive elements, which is internally extremely dynamic and multifaceted – is the purview of Islamic studies in the modern world. In the years 1821 to 1850, the Royal Asiatic Society in England, the Société Asiatique in France, the Deutsche Morgenländische Gesellschaft in Germany, and the American Oriental Society in the United States were founded. In
208-545: A large sphere of influence throughout the region. But the Senofo People founded Khorhogo, the capital of the Senofo People and future capital of Kong in the 11th Century. Oral history traditions provide additional details but vary greatly in their discussion of the founding of the Kong Empire. A common telling claims that Seku came from the town of Tenegala, a city 9 kilometres (5.6 mi) and larger than Kong at
260-537: A merchant class located in Kong. Kong became a regional commercial center and a center for Islamic studies during this period. Crucial to the organization of the Kong Empire was the existence of a merchant class that directed many of the political aspects. These merchants were significant for the trade they directed but also because each merchant family established a series of key trading outposts along key routes protected by slave warriors. These war houses thus protected
312-553: A number of cultures , philosophies, central teachings and bodies of esoteric knowledge . Kalām emerged as a discipline in response to political disputes among Muslims, and then later in response to the impact of Hellenistic philosophy and the expansion of the Islamic Empire into territories previously dominated and occupied by the Sassanian and Byzantine Empires. Thus, one of the first and persistent questions challenging
364-429: A reassuring scientific framework. However nowadays, besides recurrent debates within history itself, many scientists look unfavorably at a linear conception of time (Rovelli 2018). The first attempt to understand Islam as a topic of modern scholarship (as opposed to a Christological heresy ) was within the context of 19th-century Christian European Oriental studies . Examining and understanding this kind of Islam –
416-568: A separate branch of Atlantic–Congo , while other non-Central Gur languages are placed somewhat closer as separate branches within the Savannas continuum . Kleinewillinghöfer (2014) notes that the closest relatives of Gur appear to be several branches of the obsolete Adamawa family, since many "Adamawa" languages in fact share more similarities with various (Central) Gur languages than with other Adamawa languages. He proposes that early Gur-Adamawa speakers had cultivated guinea corn and millet in
468-437: A significant amount of academic research in that, in the subsequent twenty years, not only expanded and detailed the arguments put forth by these scholars, but also analyzed and improved upon their methodologies. Recent years have seen a shift towards utilizing a broader range of sources and developing more intricate interpretive frameworks, some of which have even challenged the idea of a uniform Islamic gender discourse. Following
520-519: A surge of scholarly research during the early 1990's. This wave of scholarship was influenced by the growing presence of politically and religiously active women scholars with Muslim and Arab backgrounds. Additionally, there was a notable increase in the utilization of gender studies methodologies within the traditionally conservative realms of Islamic history and law. Works such as Leila Ahmed’s Women and Gender in Islam (1992), Fatima Mernissi’s The Veil and
572-536: A wooded savanna environment. The regions on the map denote regional distribution of the Central Gur languages. The tree-diagram below denotes the relations between these languages and their closest relatives: The position of Dogoso–Khe in Southern Gur is not clear; it is not closely related to other members of the branch. Bodomo (2017) refers to the entire Central Gur group as Mabia . The term Mabia
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#1732765823712624-736: Is a portmanteau of the two lexical innovations ma - 'mother' + bia 'child'. The following is a classification of the Mabia (or Central Gur) languages from Bodomo (2017), as cited in Bodomo (2020). Bodomo divides Mabia into three primary branches, namely West, East, and Central. The term Mabia , instead of Gur , is also used by Naden (2021). Naden (2021) lists the languages of the Southern/Eastern Mabia group as Dagbani , Hanga , Kantoosi , Kamara , Kusaal (Kusasi) , Mampruli (Mamprusi) , Nabit , Nanun/Nanuni (also considered
676-581: Is due to the fact that early Islam forbade the painting of human beings, especially the Prophet , as Muslims believe this tempts followers of the Prophet to idolatry . This prohibition against human beings or icons is called aniconism . Despite such a prohibition, depictions of human beings do occur in Islamic art, such as that of the Mughals , demonstrating a strong diversity in popular interpretation over
728-545: The Middle East and other areas that are or have been part of, or influenced by, Islamic culture, such as Hebrew , Turkish , Persian , Urdu , Azerbaijanian and Uzbek . Islamic architecture is the entire range of architecture that has evolved within Muslim culture in the course of the history of Islam . Hence the term encompasses religious buildings as well as secular ones, historic as well as modern expressions and
780-625: The Niger–Congo languages . They are spoken in the Sahelian and savanna regions of West Africa , namely: in most areas of Burkina Faso , and in south-central Mali , northeastern Ivory Coast , the northern halves of Ghana and Togo , northwestern Benin , and southwestern Niger . A few Gur languages are spoken in Nigeria . Additionally, a single Gur language, Baatonum , is spoken in Benin and in
832-609: The historical study of Islam , Islamic civilization , history of the Muslim world , historiography , Islamic law , Islamic theology and Islamic philosophy . Specialists in Islamic studies concentrate on the detailed, academic study of texts written in Arabic within the fields of Islamic theology , Islamic law , and the Qur'an and Hadith along with ancillary disciplines such as Tafsir or Qur'an Exegesis. However, they also often apply
884-546: The jihad states of West Africa . Importantly, the warrior class created in the Empire, the sonangi , were not adherents to Islam and as time grew on, largely lived in separate communities practicing animist faiths. Augustus Henry Keane wrote in 1907 that "Nor is Kong a hotbed of Moslem fanaticism, as has also been supposed; but on the contrary, a place distinguished, one might almost say, by its religious indifference, or at all events by its tolerant spirit and wise respect for all
936-441: The 16th century, originally as a sub-division of divinity . This latter context gave early academic Islamic studies its Biblical studies character and was also a consequence of the fact that, throughout early-modern Western Europe, the discipline was developed by churchmen whose primary aim had been to refute the tenets of Islam . Today, academic Islamic studies is usually taught and studied alongside or after an extensive study of
988-593: The Arabic language, with named undergraduate and graduate degrees in Arabic and Islamic studies existing at universities such as Georgetown University , the University of Exeter , University of Oxford , University of Leeds , SOAS at the University of London , Yale University and several universities in Holland and Germany (notably Leiden University and Tübingen University ). A recent HEFCE report emphasises
1040-555: The Black Volta region where they divided territory creating what the French called "Les Etats de Kong." These kingdoms lasted for a short time before losing relevance to French colonial administration in 1898. The city of Kong was rebuilt by the French, but only about 3,000 residents returned and the city decreased significantly in relevance. Gur languages The Gur languages , also known as Central Gur or Mabia , belong to
1092-468: The Islamic community was the status of a believer who committed grave sins. The term “Islamic law” would in itself be an example of such a holistic merging of two spheres, conflating a person’s faith with his rights, or even three, if “law” is seen as a natural aspect of state politics that in a modern differentiated system should not be separated from religion, in its institutions and its rules. Islamic jurisprudence relates to everyday and social issues in
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#17327658237121144-613: The Male Elite (first published in English in 1991, translated from a 1987 French original), and Fedwa Malti-Douglas’s Woman’s Body, Woman’s Word: Gender and Discourse in Arabo-Islamic Writing (1991) surveyed large swathes of Islamic history and thought, suggesting structural connections between gendered religious discourses and the social and political roles and rights of women over time. The work from this era sparked
1196-494: The academic study of Islam , which is analogous to related fields such as Jewish studies and Quranic studies . Islamic studies seeks to understand the past and the potential future of the Islamic world. In this multidisciplinary program, scholars from diverse areas (history, culture, literature, art) participate and exchange ideas pertaining to the particular field of study. Generations of scholars in Islamic studies, most of whom studied with Orientalist mentors, helped bridge
1248-448: The ancestor of Gur languages probably had a noun class system; many of today's languages have reduced this to a system of nominal genders or declensions or no longer have a class system. A common property of Gur languages is the verbal aspect marking. Almost all Gur languages are tonal , with Koromfé being a notable exception. The tonal systems of Gur languages are rather divergent. Most Gur languages have been described as following
1300-499: The context of a given Sufi’s own time for reasons as to why he/she was known as a Sufi. Sufism is not that, they do not follow the Islam properly it’s just that they spend more time with God. It is an individual way of studying. It might also be referred to as Islamic mysticism. While other branches of Islam generally focus on exoteric aspects of religion, Sufism is mainly focused on the direct perception of truth or God through mystic practices based on divine love. Sufism embodies
1352-466: The death of his brother Famaga). After establishing control over Kong, forces under Seku and allied leaders with their own war houses, took over towns and settlements throughout the region mainly focused on control of trade routes. They took over the region around the Black Volta to the north early during Seku's reign and to the south to Boule . In the south, the forces of the Kong Empire ran into
1404-526: The early 1700s, Seku Wattara (sometimes written as Sekou or Sekoue), a Dyula who claimed descent from the Malinké Keita lineage and who had studied the Qu'ran and engaged in commerce before becoming a warrior, deposed and killed an important leader in Kong, Lasiri Gbambele, by uniting the forces of a number of Dyula leaders in the area. Seku used this consolidated power to control politics in Kong and create
1456-653: The early time of Islam, of Muhammad and how the Quran was written. In the 1970s, the Revisionist School of Islamic Studies questioned the uncritical adherence to traditional Islamic sources and started to develop a new picture of the earliest times of Islam by applying the historical-critical method . To understand the history of Islam provides the indispensable basis to understand all aspects of Islam and its culture. Themes of special interest are: The history of women and gender in Islamic studies experienced
1508-478: The empire did continue to assert control over territory. In 1840, the empire took limited control over the gold trade out of Lobi country . Kong power and control of trade over the territory decreased significantly in the later part of the 1800s. Although the importance of the city in terms of commerce and Islamic study persisted, its independence and sphere of influence had decreased. On 20 February 1888, Louis Gustave Binger entered Kong and made agreements with
1560-851: The extreme northwest of Nigeria. Three other single Gur languages, the Tusya , Vyemo and Tiefo languages , are spoken in Burkina Faso. Another unclassified Gur language, Miyobe , is spoken in Benin and Togo. In addition, Kulango , Loma and Lorhon , are spoken in Ghana, Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso. Additionally, a few Mossi speakers are in Senegal , and speakers of the Dagaare language are also found in Cameroon . The Samu languages of Burkina Faso are Gur languages. Like most Niger–Congo languages,
1612-639: The gap between Orientalism and Religious studies. The subfield that grew out of this effort is called "Islamic studies." The study of Islam is part of a tradition that started in Western academia on a professional scale about two centuries ago, and has been previously linked to social concern. This academic tradition has not only led to an accumulation of knowledge, even if some of it is almost forgotten or badly neglected, but has also witnessed major changes in interests, questions, methods, aesthetics, and ethics of Islam. Many academic Islamic studies programs include
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1664-573: The growing Ashanti Empire about control over Gyaaman leading to a significant series of battles ending in Ashanti control over Gyaaman, but recognition of the authority of the Kong Empire. To establish stable control, Seku appointed each of his twelve sons as chiefs of crucial settlements throughout the region. Seku died in 1735 and the empire largely fell into disarray. His son, Kere-Mori, asserted authority but Seku's brother Famaga refused to recognize his claim and so took control over large parts of
1716-477: The impactful comprehensive syntheses of the early 1990's, more in-depth and context-specific studies have delved into social customs, religious beliefs, and the interplay between the two. Sufism ( تصوف taṣawwuf ) is a mystic tradition of Islam based on the pursuit of spiritual truth as it is gradually revealed to the heart and mind of the Sufi (one who practices Sufism).According to Renard (2021) quoted by Green
1768-470: The importance of the cities and the ability for the private merchant armies to grow significantly larger. The city became notable for a large number of Islamic clerics and scholars in the city and for regular mosque construction throughout the Empire. However, the importance to Islam did not impact the ruling aristocracy in their management of state: they derived no legitimacy from Islam, they did not implement Sharia , and were thus fundamentally different from
1820-514: The important city of Djenné-Djenno , on the banks of the Niger River before they were pushed back by forces of Bitòn Coulibaly . From about 1740 until the destruction of Kong in 1898, a politically decentralized state existed with its center in the city of Kong. The alliances that held the Empire together under Seku largely dissipated and the state was held together largely through linked settlements and outposts ruled by different members of
1872-409: The increasing, strategic importance for Western governments since 9/11 of Islamic studies in higher education and also provides an international overview of the state of the field. With the events of 11 September 2001, Islam has become the most prominent world religion and occupies center stage in world politics. In Islamic Studies, there is a tendency to rely on history (as method and approach) as
1924-576: The leaders as part of the control of the area by France as part of French West Africa . These agreements made Kong a key target for attacks from Samori Ture as a front in the Mandingo Wars between the Wassoulou Empire and the French. In 1897, Samori defeated the last forces of Kong and burnt the town to the ground causing members of Seku's royal house to flee to the north. The remaining members of Seku's royal house took refuge in
1976-405: The life of Muslims. It is divided in fields like: Key distinctions include those between fiqh , hadith and ijtihad . Islamic studies scholars also deal with the long and rich tradition of philosophy as developed by Muslim philosophers . It is divided in fields like: Islamic studies scholars are also active in the history and philosophy of science . Significant progress in science
2028-414: The meaning of Sufism is “a strong method of Muslim’s knowledge and practice bringing proximity to or meditation with God and believed that it came from Prophet Muhammad from generation to generation who followed him” (P.8). The etymological term Suf has mysticism to the educational notion of asceticism. The ascetics and mystics have different and separate roles in each setting, and everyone needs to search
2080-470: The methods adapted from several ancillary fields, ranging from Biblical studies and classical philology to modern history , legal history and sociology . Scholars in the field of Islamic studies are often referred to as "Islamicists" and the discipline traditionally made up the bulk of what used to be called Oriental studies . The transitional generation of Islamicists were betwixt and between an era when Islamic studies were dominated by Orientalism and
2132-455: The model of a two tone downstep system, but the languages of Oti-Volta branch and some others have three phonemic tones. Sigismund Wilhelm Koelle first mentions twelve Gur languages in his 1854 Polyglotta Africana , which represent ten languages in modern classification. Notably, he correctly identified these languages as being related to one another; his 'North-Eastern High Sudan' corresponds to Gur in modern classification. The Gur family
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2184-430: The northern settlements and operated out of Bobo-Dioulasso . Although there was a significant internal rivalry between the force of Kere-Mori and Famaga they were allied for external purposes. This was most crucial in the 1730 expeditions north of the Black Volta toward the Niger River . In November 1739, the combined forces took over a number of important cities including the trade post of Sofara . The forces reached
2236-425: The post-Orientalist era of post-colonial criticism and critical theory in the social sciences and much of religious studies. In fact, some of the more traditional Western universities still confer degrees in Arabic and Islamic studies under the primary title of "Oriental studies". This is the case, for example, at the University of Oxford , where classical Arabic and Islamic studies have been taught since as early as
2288-493: The production of all places that have come under the varying levels of Islamic influence. Islamic visual art has, throughout history, been mainly abstract and decorative, portraying geometric, floral, Arabesque , and calligraphic designs. Unlike the strong tradition of portraying the human figure in Christian art , Islamic art is typically distinguished as not including depictions of human beings. The lack of portraiture
2340-419: The religious views of the surrounding indigenous populations." Ethnic relations remained largely split between the Mandé merchants and urban citizens and the Senufo agricultural population. There were few attempts to create an ethnically homogenous population by the leadership and thus these ethnic groups existed largely with one another, and other immigrant populations. Although politically decentralized,
2392-473: The second half of the 19th century, philological and historical approaches were predominant. Leading in the field were German researchers like Theodore Nöldeke with his History of the Quran , and Ignaz Goldziher 's work on hadith ( Muslim Studies ). Orientalists and Islamic scholars alike preferred to interpret the history of Islam in a conservative way. They did not question the traditional account of
2444-494: The time. By 1709, Seku was the richest person in Tenegala and used his war house to assist the leader of Gonja in an assault on Bouna , an endeavor that provided him with significantly more slaves for his war house and firearms. Lasiri Gbambele was Seku's uncle through his father and a powerful leader in Kong. Although they were related, there was significant discord as a result of a dispute between Lasiri and Seku's father about
2496-433: The trade routes for the merchants and also allowed raiding and organized warfare to occur largely directed by the merchants. Two of the most important houses were those linked to the lineage of Seku and Famaga. The chieftains linking their lineage to Seku often took the name Wattara to signify this relationship. With these crucial routes controlled, Kong became a center of trade for both gold and kola nuts . This increased
2548-436: The woman who would become Seku's mother. This oral tradition claims that in 1710 Lasiri used his power to suppress Islam in Kong and embrace the indigenous Nya cult. The crisis developed when Lasiri expelled a Muslim cleric from Kong and Seku brought together his forces with those of other Dyula leaders to attack Kong. Lasiri was defeated and executed by Seku. The Kong Empire under Seku lasted from around 1710 until 1740 (with
2600-495: Was destroyed at some point and the Dyula residents moved to the city of Kong. The area became a site for expansion, raiding and warfare of a number of regional powers, mainly Gonja and Dagomba . In this context, a set of heterogeneous populations and a set of different war houses (merchants with a large number of mercenaries and slaves dedicated largely to warfare) developed in the city of Kong. The documented history shows that in
2652-613: Was made in the Muslim world during the Middle Ages , especially during the Islamic Golden Age , which is considered a major period in the history of science. Scholars also study the relationship between Islam and science , for example in the application of Islamic ethics to scientific practice. This field includes the study of modern and classical Arabic and the literature written in those languages. It also often includes other modern, classic or ancient languages of
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#17327658237122704-460: Was previously called Voltaic , following the French name (langues) Voltaïques (named after the Volta River ). It was once considered to be more extensive than it is often regarded today, including the Senufo languages and a number of small language isolates. The inclusion of Senufo within Gur has been rejected by many linguists, including Tony Naden . Williamson and Blench place Senufo as
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