Vai
Vai (Vei) (Vey) (Gallinas). The Vai (also found in literature as Vey and Vei) are an offshoot of northern Manding speaking peoples of Guinea and Mali. The Vai seem to have moved into the forest region around 1500 and finally settled in an area straddling the Mano River on the Atlantic coast in what today is Sierra Leone and Liberia. Although the initial group was probably small in numbers, the Vai have enculturated surrounding peoples into their way of life. In addition, by maintaining contact with the savanna Mandinka they have perpetuated their former savanna culture in the forest region.
Beginning in the middle to late eighteenth century, Islamic influences began to reach the Vai area. The first contacts seem to have been as a direct result of ongoing trade and cultural contacts between the savanna Mandinka and the coastal Vai. By the middle of the nineteenth century, the Vai, particularly in the northern areas, were also coming into contact with Muslim Fulani traders from the Futa Jallon
Initally, Islam made little impact upon the Vai. Individual political leaders who had consolidated several clans into an unstable confederation might turn to a Muslim divine to sanctify and therefore help to sustain their positions. These divines were recognized as powerful, but the precepts of Islam held little interest for Vai people in general.
Beginning in the twentieth century, the central governments of Sierra Leone and Liberia extended increasing political control over the Vai. Political units were stabilized and select individuals and their lineages were designated as the legitimate rulers. Authority to mete out penalties, particularly the death penalty, which had resided with the Poro elders, was taken over by the central governments. Finally, in 1928 in Sierra Leone and 1930 in Liberia, the various forms of internal servitude were abolished. Vai society, resilient through former periods of changing circumstances, for the first time, was shaken to its core. The legitimacy of the ancestors’ power was undermined. As a consequence, mass conversion to Islam began. Islam provided a belief structure which was respected and which could be accommodated to traditional Vai religious concepts.
Early Portuguese writers called the Vai, Gallinas (“chickens”), reputedly after a local wildfowl. Speaking a language of the Mande branch of the Niger-Congo family, the Vai have close cultural ties to the Mande peoples.
Vai behavior in all aspects of life is strongly influenced by secret societies known as poro and sande—for men and women, respectively. The modern Vai are largely Islāmized. Formerly known as slave traders, the Vai now rely on farming and fishing; many work in government or for foreign companies. Their crafts are well developed, especially weaving and goldsmithing. A unique syllabic system of writing, invented in the 19th century by a Vai man, Doalu Bukere (Duala Bukele), is used mostly among older people. Many Vai are literate in Arabic. In the late 20th century the Vai numbered more than 50,000.
Vei see Vai
Vey see Vai
Gallinas see Vai
Vai (Vei) (Vey) (Gallinas). The Vai (also found in literature as Vey and Vei) are an offshoot of northern Manding speaking peoples of Guinea and Mali. The Vai seem to have moved into the forest region around 1500 and finally settled in an area straddling the Mano River on the Atlantic coast in what today is Sierra Leone and Liberia. Although the initial group was probably small in numbers, the Vai have enculturated surrounding peoples into their way of life. In addition, by maintaining contact with the savanna Mandinka they have perpetuated their former savanna culture in the forest region.
Beginning in the middle to late eighteenth century, Islamic influences began to reach the Vai area. The first contacts seem to have been as a direct result of ongoing trade and cultural contacts between the savanna Mandinka and the coastal Vai. By the middle of the nineteenth century, the Vai, particularly in the northern areas, were also coming into contact with Muslim Fulani traders from the Futa Jallon
Initally, Islam made little impact upon the Vai. Individual political leaders who had consolidated several clans into an unstable confederation might turn to a Muslim divine to sanctify and therefore help to sustain their positions. These divines were recognized as powerful, but the precepts of Islam held little interest for Vai people in general.
Beginning in the twentieth century, the central governments of Sierra Leone and Liberia extended increasing political control over the Vai. Political units were stabilized and select individuals and their lineages were designated as the legitimate rulers. Authority to mete out penalties, particularly the death penalty, which had resided with the Poro elders, was taken over by the central governments. Finally, in 1928 in Sierra Leone and 1930 in Liberia, the various forms of internal servitude were abolished. Vai society, resilient through former periods of changing circumstances, for the first time, was shaken to its core. The legitimacy of the ancestors’ power was undermined. As a consequence, mass conversion to Islam began. Islam provided a belief structure which was respected and which could be accommodated to traditional Vai religious concepts.
Early Portuguese writers called the Vai, Gallinas (“chickens”), reputedly after a local wildfowl. Speaking a language of the Mande branch of the Niger-Congo family, the Vai have close cultural ties to the Mande peoples.
Vai behavior in all aspects of life is strongly influenced by secret societies known as poro and sande—for men and women, respectively. The modern Vai are largely Islāmized. Formerly known as slave traders, the Vai now rely on farming and fishing; many work in government or for foreign companies. Their crafts are well developed, especially weaving and goldsmithing. A unique syllabic system of writing, invented in the 19th century by a Vai man, Doalu Bukere (Duala Bukele), is used mostly among older people. Many Vai are literate in Arabic. In the late 20th century the Vai numbered more than 50,000.
Vei see Vai
Vey see Vai
Gallinas see Vai
Vakaba Ture
Vakaba Ture (d. c. 1849). Founder of the Dyula state of Kabasarana and an early leader of the Dyula revolution. He was of the group of Dyula Muslim traders who after centuries of controlling trade in the Guinea interior region sought political power. He was trained by another Dyula Islamic leader, Mori-Ule Sise, who had launched a holy war in 1835. Vakaba, however, decided that to create his own empire he needed the support of the non-Muslims whom Mori-Ule was fighting. He allied with them to turn on Mori-Ule and defeat him. In 1846/1847, he founded the state of Kabasarana. Because he was primarily interested in tribute and securing the trade routes, he did not alienate the local population by demanding conversion to Islam. Kabasarana grew to control one of the important kola nut trade routes running southward from Bamako. Vakaba was succeeded by his sons in turn, who ruled independently until Kabasarana was incorporated into the Dyula leader Samori Toure’s empire after 1880.
Ture, Vakaba see Vakaba Ture
Vakaba Ture (d. c. 1849). Founder of the Dyula state of Kabasarana and an early leader of the Dyula revolution. He was of the group of Dyula Muslim traders who after centuries of controlling trade in the Guinea interior region sought political power. He was trained by another Dyula Islamic leader, Mori-Ule Sise, who had launched a holy war in 1835. Vakaba, however, decided that to create his own empire he needed the support of the non-Muslims whom Mori-Ule was fighting. He allied with them to turn on Mori-Ule and defeat him. In 1846/1847, he founded the state of Kabasarana. Because he was primarily interested in tribute and securing the trade routes, he did not alienate the local population by demanding conversion to Islam. Kabasarana grew to control one of the important kola nut trade routes running southward from Bamako. Vakaba was succeeded by his sons in turn, who ruled independently until Kabasarana was incorporated into the Dyula leader Samori Toure’s empire after 1880.
Ture, Vakaba see Vakaba Ture
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