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36-721: The mogho naba of Wogodogo is the ruler ("king of the world") of Wogodogo, one of the Mossi Kingdoms located in present-day Burkina Faso . The kingdom takes its name from its historic capital, now the Burkinabe national capital of Ouagadougou . Although the most politically powerful of the Mossi Kingdoms, there was no Mossi "empire", and the Wogodogo king did not have authority over the other kingdoms. The French colonial period and subsequent independence have reduced

72-413: A cultural icon, a woman with a strong character and an independent mind and beloved princess who from the age of 14, fought in battle for her father against the neighbouring Malinkés . Skilled with javelins , spears and bows , she was an excellent horsewoman and commanded her own battalion . Yennenga was such an important fighter that when she reached a marriageable age, her father refused to choose

108-580: A dispute with her father, Naa Gbewaa , the founder of the Kingdom of the now Tri-kingdoms of Mamprugu, Dagban, and Namumba. The Dagbamba ethnic group comprises Mamprusi, dagomba, Nanumba, and Mossi People. These four sub-groups sprung out of the three sons and daughter of the Great King, Naa Gbewaa. Naa Gbewaa found his kingdom from Pusiga, near Bawku, stretching across almost all of Northern Ghana, Burkina Faso, and parts of northern Togo. The Mossi branch

144-430: A husband for her or allow her to marry. To express her unhappiness to her father, Yennenga planted a field of wheat. When the crop grew, she let it rot. She explained to her father that was how she felt, being unable to marry. Nedega failed to be moved by this gesture and locked his daughter up. One of the king's horsemen helped Yennenga, disguised as a man, escape on her stallion. Attacked by Malinkés, her companion

180-417: Is considered all powerful with right of life and death on the inhabitants of Wogodogo and Oubritenga. In practice, his power was subject to the custom and law of the fathers. He personifies the empire and embodies its unity, but power is really in the hands of the court of the mogho naba , ministers who make decisions and govern the country. This complex organisation of powers is materialised every Friday during

216-886: Is of Yennenga , the Sister of the three brothers. The eldest of the sons is the Nayiri, King of Mamprugu He resides in Nalerigu. His younger brother is the Yaa Naa, King of Dagon He resides in Yendi. The third and youngest brother is the King of Nanumba, who resides in Bimbilla. Yennenga’s grandsons are the Kings of Tenkodogo , Fada N'gourma , Zondoma Province , Boussouma and stretching across large expanse of Burkina Faso. This event of

252-596: Is often considered the founder of the Ouagadougou dynasty, which ruled from the capital of Ouagadougou . Following the reign of Oubri, centralization and small-scale expansion of the kingdoms were the primary tasks of rulers. The Ouagadougou dynasty retained control in Ouagadougou , but the other kingdoms established by the sons of Ouedraogo retained independence in Tenkodogo, Fada N'gourma, and Zondoma. Under

288-629: The Massina Empire and the Sokoto Caliphate , the Mossi kingdoms largely retained their traditional religious and ritual practices. Domestically, the Mossi kingdoms distinguished between the nakombse and the tengbiise . The nakombse claimed lineage connections to the founders of the Mossi kingdoms and the power of naam, which gave them the divine right to rule. The tengbiise , in contrast, were people who had been assimilated into

324-655: The Mossi Kingdom . Yennenga is considered by the Mossi to be the mother of their empire and many statues of her can be found in the capital city of Burkina Faso, Ouagadougou . A statue of a golden stallion, called the Étalon de Yennenga, is awarded as the first prize in the biennial Panafrican Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou (FESPACO). The national football team is nicknamed "Les Étalons" ("the Stallions") in reference to Yennenga's stallion. Since 2017,

360-520: The Qur'an to royalty in exchange for recognizing the genealogical power of the king. The first European explorer to enter the region was German Gottlob Krause in 1888. This was followed by a British expedition in 1894 led by George Ekem Ferguson , who convinced the Mossi leaders to sign a treaty of protection. Despite this, the French entered the area in 1896 and ignored the treaty of protection, conquering

396-423: The baloum naba , head of the king's servants; the gounga naba , leader of the infantry; the larale naba , keeper of the royal tombs; the kamsaogo naba , manager of the palace eunuchs ; and the widi naba , the royal groom . The chronology of the Mossi Kingdoms prior to the French occupation is unclear. Historian Yamba Tiendrebeogo reconstructed the history of Wogodogo from Mossi oral tradition that included

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432-411: The ceremony of the false departure of the king . The mogho naba has no authority over the other kingdoms of Tenkodogo , Fada N'Gourma , Boussouma and Ouahigouya , whose sovereigns would be, like him, descendants of Yennenga . Traditionally, the rulers of these four kingdoms and the mogho naba avoid each other, but they happen to meet, such as happened in 1946 to consult on the reconstruction of

468-515: The 18th century, the economic and military power of the Mossi kingdoms had increased significantly. Foreign trade relations expanded throughout Africa, with important connections made with the Fula kingdoms and the Mali Empire . During this time, the Mossi were attacked by a variety of African forces. Although there were a number of jihad states in the region trying to forcibly spread Islam, namely

504-546: The French and Yatenga to try and capture Wobgo. When the French and British agreed on the boundary between their colonies, Wobgo lost his main support system and he retired with a British pension to Zongoiri in the Gold Coast , where he died in 1904. As a result of the significant centralization of the kingdoms, the French largely kept the administrative organization in place. They made the Mogho Naava in Ouagadougou

540-568: The Mossi Kingdom and make it part of the Upper Volta colony. The French had already conquered or taken over all of the surrounding kingdoms, which had isolated the Mossi kingdoms. The last king of Ouagadougou, named Wobgo or Wobogoo, was warned a day before the French forces were going to attack. He sent a force to meet them in battle as he fled the city. Wobgo's brother, Kouka, then became the king of Ouagadougou and allied himself with

576-436: The Mossi Kingdoms; nevertheless, the rulers of Tenkodogo prior to the formation of Wogodogo are counted as kings of Wogodogo by tradition. The first capital of Oubritenga ("Oubri's land") was Guilongou, near modern-day Ziniaré , but typically moved to a village preferred by each new king upon his accession. Naba Zombré relocated the capital to Wogodogo ( Ouagadougou ). According to Titinga Frédéric Pacéré, in tradition, he

612-601: The Upper Volta. Mossi Kingdoms Some Mossi Kingdoms still exist today as constituent monarchies within Burkina Faso. Most notably, Naba Baongo II currently reigns as Mogho Naba of Wogodogo (Ouagadougou). The kingdoms of Boussouma , Fada N'gourma , Tenkodogo , and Yatenga currently co-exist in a similar fashion, each with their own monarchs. While they no longer hold sovereignty, they still retain some cultural and political influence. Accounts of

648-419: The age of fifteen and was given four horses and 50 cows. A number of horseman joined his forces, and with them, Ouédraogo conquered the local people, married a woman named Pouiriketa who gave him three sons, and built the city of Tenkodogo . The oldest son was Diaba Lompo , who founded the city of Fada N'gourma . The second son, Rawa , became the ruler of Zondoma Province . His third son, Zoungrana , became

684-464: The escape of the princess. Yennenga was a princess of Burkina Faso, who lived over 900 years ago, the daughter of the king Nedega and the queen Napoko. Nedega was an early 12th-century king of the Dagbon Kingdom in what is now northern Ghana . Her father raised her to be a skilled hunter and fighter. She was beautiful (her name, Yennenga, means "the slim" referring to her beauty ) and became

720-465: The fifth ruler, Komdimie (circa 1170), two revolutions were started by members of the Ouagadougou dynasty that established the Kingdom of Yatenga to the north and the Kingdom of Rizim. War between Komdimie and Yatenga lasted for many years, with Yatenga eventually taking over the independent Mossi state of Zondoma. At the same time, Komdimie created a new level of authority for his sons as Dimas of separate provinces. They had some autonomy but recognized

756-422: The four main kingdoms. Each of these retained significant domestic autonomy and independence but shared kinship, military, and ritualistic bonds with one another. Each kingdom had similar domestic structures with kings, ministers, and other officials, and a high degree of administrative centralization. There were prominent rivalries between the different kingdoms, namely between Yatenga and Ouagadougou. Ouagadougou

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792-519: The genealogy of the royal lineage (in order to increase their naam ) and another of sacrifices to tenga . Although they had initially resisted the imposition of Islam and had retained independence from the main Islamic states of West Africa, there began to be a sizable number of Muslims living in the kingdom. In Ouagadougou, the Mogho Naaba assigned an Imam who was allowed to deliver readings of

828-659: The important trading post of Macina . When Askia Mohammad I became the leader of the Songhai Empire and desired to spread Islam , he waged a holy war against the Mossi kingdoms in 1497. Although the Mossi forces were defeated in this effort, they resisted the attempts to impose Islam. With the conquest of the Songhai by the Moroccans of the Saadi dynasty in 1591, the Mossi states reestablished their independence. By

864-565: The kingdoms and would never have access to naam . However, because of their connections to the area, they did have tenga, which allowed them to make decisions about land issues. The rulers' naam and the support of tenga were connected, creating a two-way balance of power in society. Being located near many of the main Islamic states of West Africa, the Mossi kingdoms developed a mixed religious system, recognizing some authority for Islam while retaining their indigenous Mossi Religion . The king participated in two great festivals, one focused on

900-410: The lengths of the reigns of historical rulers. Other scholars propose more recent dates for many pre-colonial events—setting the start of Oubri's reign around 1495 rather than 1182—and correspondingly shorter reigns for many rulers. The first Mossi Kingdom was centered around Tenkodogo. Wogodogo, initially a client state of Tenkodogo, gradually grew in power until it was the dominant political power in

936-409: The origin of the Mossi kingdoms and parts of their history are imprecise, with contradictory oral traditions disagreeing on certain aspects of the story. The origin story is unique in that a woman plays a key role as the progenitor of the royal line. The origins of the Mossi state are claimed by one prominent oral tradition to come from when a [[Moré-Dagbamba princess, Yennenga , left home because of

972-411: The power vested in the position, but the mogho naba retains an influential role in Burkina Faso. The position is typically hereditary , following male-only lines of descent. Originally, the position passed primarily to brothers (or even cousins), rather than to sons, but by the reign of Zombré had transitioned to its current order of succession , where rule generally passes to the eldest living son of

1008-454: The previous ruler. Children born to sons who predecease their fathers are not eligible to inherit the title. However, a tribal council is ultimately responsible for selecting the mogho naba , and the heir apparent may be passed over if, for example, he is deemed physically unfit for the position's traditional role in war or if he would fail to uphold the dignity of the office (as in cases of adultery ). This council has traditionally included:

1044-426: The primary leader of the region and created five ministers under him that governed different regions (largely adhering to the Mossi kingdom borders). The Mossi kingdoms were organized around five different kingdoms: Ouagadougou , Tenkodogo , Fada N'gourma , Zondoma (later replaced by Yatenga ), and Boussouma . However, there were as many as 19 additional lesser Mossi kingdoms, which retained connection to one of

1080-423: The princess aspired to another destiny and decided to leave the kingdom. On the run with her horse, she meets a young hunter, Rialé with whom she had a child called Ouedraogo . Ouedraogo is a famous last name in Burkina Faso and means "male horse" in honor to the horse which leads the princess to Rialé. Yennenga or her son Ouedraogo are considered the founder of the Mossi Kingdoms . There are different versions about

1116-672: The ruler of Tenkodogo after Ouédraogo died. Zoungrana married Pouitenga, a woman sent from the king of the Ninisi people, and the resulting intermarriages between the Dagbamba—mamprusi, dagomba, And namumba, the Mandé, the Ninisi, and local peoples became the Mossi people. Zoungrana and Pouitenga had a son, Oubri, who further expanded the kingdom by conquering the Kibissi and some Gurunsi peoples. Oubri, who ruled from around 1050 to 1090 CE,

List of rulers of Wogodogo - Misplaced Pages Continue

1152-464: The sovereignty of the Ouagadougou dynasty. This system of taking over territory and appointing sons as Dimas would continue to be practiced by many of the future rulers. The increasing power of the Mossi kingdoms resulted in larger conflicts with regional powers. The Kingdom of Yatenga became a key power, attacking the Mali and Songhai Empire between 1328 and 1477, taking over Timbuktu and sacking

1188-433: The story of Yennenga dates in different oral histories to be anytime between the 11th and the 15th centuries. According to the story, the princess Yennenga escaped dressed as a man. She then came to the house of a Mandé elephant hunter named Rialé. They had a son named Ouédraogo who was given that name from the horse that Yennenga used to escape. Ouédraogo visited his grandfather, The Nayiri, King of Mamprugu, at Gambaga at

1224-502: The years. On discovering his daughter was still alive, King Nadega arranged for a feast as well as sent delegates to retrieve his beloved daughter back home. Princess Yennenga together with Raile returned to the Dagomba kingdom with open arms from her father; who ensured that his grandson Ouedraogo received the best of trainings. He was also gifted with cavalry, cattle and other goods which was used to set up Mossi kingdom. Ouedraogo founded

1260-517: Was killed, and Yennenga was left alone. She continued to ride north. One night, when she was exhausted from crossing a river, Yennenga's stallion took her into a forest. She met and befriended a solitary elephant hunter called Riale. When he saw through Yennenga's disguise, they fell in love. Yennenga and Riale had a son they named Ouedraogo , which means "stallion" and is now a common name in Burkina Faso. Ouedrago visited his grandfather King Nadega, who has been searching for Princess Yennenga over

1296-416: Was often considered the primary Mossi kingdom, ruled by Mogho Naaba , but it was not the capital of the Mossi kingdoms as each retained autonomy. Yennenga Yennenga was a legendary princess, considered the mother of the Mossi people of Burkina Faso . She was a famous warrior precious to her father, Naa Gbewaa or Nedega, the founder of the kingdom of Dagbon , now in present day Ghana. But

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