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King Musa Molloh Baldeh
of Fulladu |
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Empires
Part I
Introduction:
Musa Molloh was a
warrior King of Fulladu and leader of
the Fulani independence movement in the
Senegambia region in the late 19th
century.
At the height of
Molloh's reign he ruled over 45
provinces in what later became areas in
parts of Gambia, Senegal, Guinea and
Guinea Bissau (West Africa). It was
skirted by the
Gambia River to the north
and to the south it extended to the Cacheo River and continued at some
points to the Rio Geba in present
Guinea-Bissau.
Taking
opportunity over the grievances of the
Fula living under oppressive
Mandinka
rule and the leadership gap left by the
raids of Fode Kaba on the south bank of
the Gambia River, Musa Molloh and his
army of 20,000 soldiers moved through
Niamina, Tumana, Jimara, Europina then
south onto the Portuguese territory of
Casamance. Coming back to The Gambia in
1879 he came over with the alliance of 2
leaders of significant Fulani states:
Bakari Saada of Bundu and Alpha Ibrahima,
Almamy of Timbo. Fighting together they
captured Kantora, Niani and Wuli. The
majority of the Mandinkas had fled
before he reached these areas and as a
result the areas now became jointly
known as Fulladu.
Colonial
Involvement:
Towards the end
of the 19th century the
British
and French
were making attempts to get control of
the inland area of Senegambia which made
Molloh's job of maintaining his
authority on his newly acquired lands
more complicated.
The French
though saw in him a useful ally that
they could control to govern vast areas
of land by proxy. In 1883 he signed a
treaty with the French putting Fulladu
under French protection. In 1894 the he
agreed to divide half the taxes
collected in Fulladu between himself and
the colonial power as well as allowing
them to build a post on his lands at
Amdallai.
Despite the outward
appearance of co-operation Musa was
playing a game of double dealing
diplomacy and was in discussions with
the British as well. He tried to
play one side against another.
When the French realised this they
coerced him to sign another treaty in
1897 in which they had total control
over him and he was answerable to them
for all his decisions. However,
relations remained strained until in
1903 he was told to go to Saint Louis in
Senegal over charges of misconduct. He
refused to go and promptly burned down
Amdallai's building and took the
population with him to today's Gambian
part of Fulladu which was under British
protection. He later settled in Kesser
Kunda near Janjangbureh where he lived
for many years.
In 1919 things
deteriorated when some of his womenfolk
complained to Cameron, the then British
Governor about Musa Molloh's
mistreatment and even murder of some of
them. He was later arrested in Banjul and exiled
to Sierra Leone until 1923 when he was
allowed back to The Gambia on the
condition that he did not get involved
in any
government business. He died in
1931 at Kesser Kunda.
Part I
Empires
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