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Concept
Ségou
Summary
Ségou (seɡu; ߛߋߓߎ, Segu) is a town and an urban commune in south-central Mali that lies northeast of Bamako on the right bank of the River Niger. The town is the capital of the Ségou Cercle and the Ségou Region. With 130,690 inhabitants in 2009, it is the fifth-largest town in Mali.
The village of Ségou-Koro, upstream of the present town, was established in the 17th century and became the capital of the Bambara Empire.
In the middle of the 19th century there were four villages with the name of Ségou spread out over a distance of around along the right bank of the river. They were, starting from the most upstream, Ségou-Koro (Old Ségou), Ségou-Bougou, Ségou-Koura (New Ségou) and Ségou-Sikoro. The present town is on the site of Ségou-Sikoro.
The village of Ségou-Koro prospered after Biton Mamary Coulibaly became king in 1712 and founded the Ségou Empire (also known as the Bambara or Bamana Empire). Mungo Park became the first European known to have visited the village in 1796. The empire gradually declined and was conquered by El Hadj Umar Tall's Toucouleur Empire in 1861, then by the French Army Colonel Louis Archinard in 1890.
Ségou has contested origins. Some claim that the word Ségou come from "Sikoro", meaning to the foot of a shea butter tree. Others argue that it was named after Cheikou, a marabout who founded the city, while still other theories support the claim that Ségou was founded by the Bozo fishermen coming from the north, who established their villages along the Niger River.
The 11th century CE saw an influx of the Soninke people, who were trying to escape from the collapse of the Ghana Empire, with Mandinka populations following.
Around 1650 Kaladian Coulibaly overthrew the ruling Koita dynasty and established a powerful if short-lived kingdom with Ségou-Koro as capital.
One of Koulibaly's great-grandsons, Mamary Coulibaly, also known as Bitòn, became the chief of his tòn, an association of men, sometime after 1700. By 1712, Bitòn had used his military strength to displace local elders and expand the Bambara Empire.
Official source
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