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Siaka (sometimes also written or pronounced as Shaka ; ca. 1785 – 1843 ) was a king of the Vai people (also: Gallinas ), whose settlement area is now partly in Sierra Leone and partly in Liberia. He is considered the founder of the modern ruling house of the Massaquoi and the kingdom of the Gallinas (1814), which was the only one in Africa to have a crown designed after the European model.
In fact, the Massaquoi (English: "great kings") were already an influential ruling family before Siaka founded his empire. Fafua-Lue, the wife of Zachary Rogers, the chief agent of the Gambia Adventurers in Sherbro (from 1672: Royal African Company ), came from the Massaquoi family.
According to oral tradition, the Massaquoi family are descendants of Mansa Musa, the renowned ruler of the Mali Empire who was the world's richest monarch in the 14th century, a status that remains unparalleled to this day. They migrated down to the area of present-day Sierra Leone, probably as part of the Mani-Sumba migration, which led to profound changes in the political and ethnic structure of the coastal regions of West Africa from around 1450 onwards.
Siaka's power was based primarily on military strength. He waged numerous wars against neighboring peoples. Prisoners were enslaved and either had to work in salt mines on the coast or were sold to European-American slave traders and smugglers. Particularly close business relations are said to have existed with Pedro Blanco , who ran the trading post Fort Lomboko in the mangrove forest on the coast . On average, Siaka Massaquoi is said to have sold around 2,000 slaves per year to transatlantic traders. But this was only the surplus of his own needs.
These formally illegal business activities became known to the public in the USA and Europe during the slave revolt on the schooner Amistad , the story of which was made into a film by Steven Spielberg in 1997 .
Siaka's son Mana Siaka (ca. 1800–1872) also led numerous wars with neighboring states and continued to be active in the slave trade/smuggling during the first years of his reign. However , after the destruction of Fort Lomboko by the Royal Navy in 1849, he was forced to sign an anti-slavery agreement with the British (1850).
The Massaquoi family still formally rules the Chiefdom of Gallines-Peri (Sierra Leone) with two side branches ( Massaquoi Sembehun and Massaquoi Gendema ). The descendants of Zachary Rogers and Fafua-Lue form the ruling family in the Chiefdom of Kpaka . Other side branches are considered "royal" in the Chiefdoms of Niawa and Soro-Gbema .
The Kingdom of Gallinas continues to exist as a non-governmental organization (NGO).
Momolu Massaquoi (1869–1938), great-grandson of King Siaka, was the first diplomat from an independent African country ( Liberia ) in Europe. From 1922 to 1930 he was Consul General in Hamburg . At the same time, his son Al Haj and his daughter Fatima lived with him in the city. Al Haj's relationship with the German nurse Bertha Baetz produced their son Hans-Jürgen Massaquoi , and Momolu Massaquoi's relationship with the German chambermaid Elli Jansen produced the German singer-songwriter Fasia Jansen . Both are direct descendants of King Siaka.
References
- . Published at Hartford, New York, and Boston, for the booksellers, 1839 ( yale.edu [accessed June 15, 2020]).
- ↑Jump to:a b House of Massaquoi. In: Manya Seisay. 27 March 2019, accessed 15 June 2020 (British English).
- ↑ Magbaily C. Fyle: . Scarecrow Press, 2006, ISBN 978-0-8108-6504-4 ( google.de [accessed on 15 June 2020]).
- ↑ B. Marie Perinbam: . Routledge, 2018, ISBN 978-0-429-98018-3 ( google.de [accessed June 16, 2020]).
- ↑ Video Archives | Ghosts of Amistad. Retrieved June 16, 2020 (English).
- ↑ Magbaily C. Fyle: . Scarecrow Press, 2006, ISBN 978-0-8108-6504-4 ( google.de [accessed on 16 June 2020]).
- ↑ Tristan Reed, James A. Robinson : . Ed.: Harvard University, University of Chicago. May 20, 2016, p. 72, 123–124, 128 .
- ↑ GALLINAIS KINGDOM UNION LIBERIA SIERRA LEONE: GALLINAIS KINGDOM UNION LIBERIA SIERRA LEONE. Retrieved 15 June 2020 (American English).
- ↑ Raymond J. Smyke: . Xlibris, 20 January 2005 ( google.de [accessed on 16 June 2020])