Yacef, Saadi
Saadi Yacef (b. January 20, 1928, Algiers, Algeria – d. September 10, 2021, Algiers, Algeria) was an Algerian independence fighter, serving as a leader of the National Liberation Front during his country's war of independence. He was a Senator in Algeria's Council of the Nation until his death.
Yacef was born in Algiers, the son of parents from the Algerian region of Kabylia. He started his working life as an apprentice baker. In 1945, he joined the Parti du Peuple Algerien, a nationalist party which the French authorities soon outlawed, after which it was reconstituted as the Mouvement pour le Triomphe des Libertes Democratiques (MTLD). From 1947 to 1949, Yacef served in the MTLD's paramilitary wing, the Organisation Secrete (OS). After the OS was broken up, Yacef moved to France and lived there until 1952, when he returned to Algeria to work again as a baker.
Yacef joined the FLN at the start of the Algerian War in 1954. By May 1956, he was the FLN's military chief of the Zone Autonome d'Alger (Autonomous Zone of Algiers), making him one of the leaders on the Algerian side in the Battle of Algiers. He was captured by French troops on September 24, 1957, and eventually sentenced to death. General Paul Aussaresses later asserted that while in custody, Yacef betrayed the FLN and the Algerian cause by providing the French army with the location of Ali la Pointe, another leading FLN commander. Yacef denied it. He was ultimately pardoned by the French government after Charles de Gualle's 1958 return to power.
Yacef claimed to have written his memoirs of the battle in prison although he was illiterate. The writings were published in 1962 as Souvenirs de la Bataille d'Alger. After the Algerian War, Yacef helped produce Italian filmmaker Gillo Pontecorvo's film The Battle of Algiers (1966), based on Souvenirs de la Bataille d'Alger. Yacef played a character modeled on his own experiences in the battle.
Yacef died on September 10, 2021.
Yafi‘i, ‘Abd Allah ibn As‘ad al-
Yafi‘i, ‘Abd Allah ibn As‘ad al- (‘Abd Allah ibn As‘ad al-Yafi‘i) (1300-1367). Sufi author from Yemen. He compiled several biographical works on the lives of saints and Sufis.
Yafi‘i, ‘Abd Allah ibn As‘ad al- (‘Abd Allah ibn As‘ad al-Yafi‘i) (1300-1367). Sufi author from Yemen. He compiled several biographical works on the lives of saints and Sufis.
'Abd Allah ibn As'ad al-Yafi'i see Yafi‘i, ‘Abd Allah ibn As‘ad al-
Ya‘furids
Ya‘furids (Hiwalids). Name of a dynasty which ruled in San‘a’ from 861 until the beginning of the tenth century. It was founded by Ya‘fur ibn ‘Abd al-Rahman al-Hiwali.
Ya‘furids (Hiwalids). Name of a dynasty which ruled in San‘a’ from 861 until the beginning of the tenth century. It was founded by Ya‘fur ibn ‘Abd al-Rahman al-Hiwali.
Hiwalids see Ya‘furids
Yaghma Jandaqi
Yaghma Jandaqi (Abu’l-Hasan Rahim ibn Hajji Ibrahim Quli) (1782-1859). Persian poet. He wrote funeral chants and slanderous and obscene satires.
Yaghma Jandaqi (Abu’l-Hasan Rahim ibn Hajji Ibrahim Quli) (1782-1859). Persian poet. He wrote funeral chants and slanderous and obscene satires.
Jandaqi, Yaghma see Yaghma Jandaqi
Abu’l-Hasan Rahim ibn Hajji Ibrahim Quli see Yaghma Jandaqi
Abu’l-Hasan Rahim ibn Hajji Ibrahim Quli see Yaghma Jandaqi
Yahya
Yahya (d. 1572). Turkish poet of Albanian origin. In Istanbul, he became a bitter enemy of the court poet Khayali Bey and wrote a satirical lament upon the Grand Vizier Rustem Pasha.
Yahya (d. 1572). Turkish poet of Albanian origin. In Istanbul, he became a bitter enemy of the court poet Khayali Bey and wrote a satirical lament upon the Grand Vizier Rustem Pasha.
Yahya ibn Adam ibn Sulayman
Yahya ibn Adam ibn Sulayman (757-818). Muslim student of religion from Kufa. He was primarily a traditionist and legalist, who wrote a work on land tax (in Arabic, kharaj).
Yahya ibn Adam ibn Sulayman (757-818). Muslim student of religion from Kufa. He was primarily a traditionist and legalist, who wrote a work on land tax (in Arabic, kharaj).
Yahya ibn ‘Ali
Yahya ibn ‘Ali (856-912). One of the best-known theorists of music of the old Arabian school. His grandfather Yahya ibn Abi Mansur al-Munajjim (d. 831) was the famous astronomer at the court of the ‘Abbasid Caliph al-Ma’mun, and his father ‘Ali ibn Yahya ibn Abi Mansur and his uncle Muhammad has particular skill in music. He wrote a Treatise on Music.
Yahya ibn ‘Ali (856-912). One of the best-known theorists of music of the old Arabian school. His grandfather Yahya ibn Abi Mansur al-Munajjim (d. 831) was the famous astronomer at the court of the ‘Abbasid Caliph al-Ma’mun, and his father ‘Ali ibn Yahya ibn Abi Mansur and his uncle Muhammad has particular skill in music. He wrote a Treatise on Music.
Yahya ibn Khalid
Yahya ibn Khalid (d. 805/806). Member of the Barmakid family. He was imprisoned by the ‘Abbasid Caliph al-Hadi, but the Caliph Harun al-Rashid, whose tutor he had been, appointed him as vizier with unlimited power. In 803, his son Ja‘far ibn Yahya, the favorite of Harun al-Rashid, was suddenly executed, and Yahya imprisoned until his death.
Yahya ibn Khalid was a member of the powerful Persian Barmakids family, son of Khalid ibn Barmak. Around 765, he was appointed to Azerbaijan by the Caliph Al-Mansur. Yahya's son Al-Fadl was born at Ar-Reiy, at the same time as Caliph al-Mahdi's son Harun. Al-Mahdi entrusted Yahya in 778 with Harun's education.
When Al-Hadi was Caliph, Yahya dissuaded the Caliph several times from proclaiming his own son as heir instead of Harun. He eventually did so, and cast Yahya into jail, but died shortly afterwards. When Harun became Caliph as Harun al-Rashid, he made Yahya Vizier.
Under his influence, the Caliph invited to Baghdad many scholars and masters from India, especially Buddhists. A catalog of both Muslim and non-Muslim texts prepared at this time, Kitab al-Fihrist, included a list of Buddhist works. Among them was an Arabic version of the account of Buddha’s previous lives, Kitab al-Budd.
He had three sons, among which Jafar succeeded him as Vizier, Musa ruled Damascus, and Fadl was governor of Khurasan, then of Egypt.
In 803, his family fell into disgrace, and he was cast into prison, where he died in 806 (according to the story, because his son Jafar had an affair with Harun al-Rashid's sister, but most likely because the family had too much power).
Yahya ibn Khalid (d. 805/806). Member of the Barmakid family. He was imprisoned by the ‘Abbasid Caliph al-Hadi, but the Caliph Harun al-Rashid, whose tutor he had been, appointed him as vizier with unlimited power. In 803, his son Ja‘far ibn Yahya, the favorite of Harun al-Rashid, was suddenly executed, and Yahya imprisoned until his death.
Yahya ibn Khalid was a member of the powerful Persian Barmakids family, son of Khalid ibn Barmak. Around 765, he was appointed to Azerbaijan by the Caliph Al-Mansur. Yahya's son Al-Fadl was born at Ar-Reiy, at the same time as Caliph al-Mahdi's son Harun. Al-Mahdi entrusted Yahya in 778 with Harun's education.
When Al-Hadi was Caliph, Yahya dissuaded the Caliph several times from proclaiming his own son as heir instead of Harun. He eventually did so, and cast Yahya into jail, but died shortly afterwards. When Harun became Caliph as Harun al-Rashid, he made Yahya Vizier.
Under his influence, the Caliph invited to Baghdad many scholars and masters from India, especially Buddhists. A catalog of both Muslim and non-Muslim texts prepared at this time, Kitab al-Fihrist, included a list of Buddhist works. Among them was an Arabic version of the account of Buddha’s previous lives, Kitab al-Budd.
He had three sons, among which Jafar succeeded him as Vizier, Musa ruled Damascus, and Fadl was governor of Khurasan, then of Egypt.
In 803, his family fell into disgrace, and he was cast into prison, where he died in 806 (according to the story, because his son Jafar had an affair with Harun al-Rashid's sister, but most likely because the family had too much power).
Yahya ibn Zayd al-Husayni
Yahya ibn Zayd al-Husayni. Regarded as Imam by the Zaydis. After his father’s death in 740 at Kufa, he fled to Khurasan but was imprisoned by the governor Nasr ibn Sayyar. Released at the order of the Umayyad Caliph al-Walid II, he defeated the commander of Nishapur but fell in the fight against Salm ibn Ahwaz, sent by Nasr. His death deeply affected the Shi‘a of Khurasan, and vengeance for him became the watchword of the followers of Abu Muslim, the leader of the ‘Abbasid movement in Khurasan.
Yahya ibn Zayd al-Husayni. Regarded as Imam by the Zaydis. After his father’s death in 740 at Kufa, he fled to Khurasan but was imprisoned by the governor Nasr ibn Sayyar. Released at the order of the Umayyad Caliph al-Walid II, he defeated the commander of Nishapur but fell in the fight against Salm ibn Ahwaz, sent by Nasr. His death deeply affected the Shi‘a of Khurasan, and vengeance for him became the watchword of the followers of Abu Muslim, the leader of the ‘Abbasid movement in Khurasan.
Yahya Khan
Yahya Khan (Agha Muhammad Yahya Khan) (b. February 4, 1917, Chakwal, British Raj (now Pakistan) - d. August 10, 1980, Rawalpindi, Pakistan). President of Pakistan (March 25, 1969 - December 20, 1971). Born into a prominent family of the North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan, he received his commission in the army from the Military Academy, Dehra Dun, India, in 1938. During World War II, he saw action in the Middle East and Italy. In 1947, he joined the Pakistan Army, becoming a full general and, in 1966, commander in chief. In 1969, when Ayub Khan’s government collapsed, Yahya Khan became president of Pakistan under martial law. His rule ended in 1971with the secession of East Pakistan and the defeat of the Pakistan army in war with India.
Yahya was born to a family that was descended from the elite soldier class of Nader Shah, the Persian ruler who conquered Delhi in the 18th century. He was educated at Punjab University and later graduated first in his class from the Indian Military Academy at Dehra Dun. He served in Italy and the Middle East during World War II and, after the partition of India in 1947, organized the Pakistani Staff College.
After serving in the war with India over the Kashmir region, he became Pakistan’s youngest brigadier general at age 34 and its youngest general at 40. He became commander in chief in 1966. A protégé of President Mohammad Ayub Khan, Yahya was in command of the military when street riots erupted in the country. Ayub called on him to take over the direction of the government and preserve the integrity of Pakistan. He was appointed chief administrator of martial law, which he declared with the words “I will not tolerate disorder. Let everyone return to his post.”
Yahya Khan succeeded Ayub Khan as president when the latter resigned his office in March 1969. In 1971 a serious conflict erupted between the central government and the Awami Party of what was then East Pakistan, led by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. The East Pakistani leader demanded autonomy for his half of the geographically divided country, and Yahya Khan responded by ordering the army to suppress the Awami Party. The brutality with which his orders were carried out and the resulting influx of millions of East Pakistani refugees into India led to the Indian invasion of East Pakistan and the rout of its West Pakistani occupiers. East Pakistan became the independent country of Bangladesh, and with its loss Yahya Khan resigned (December 20, 1971).
He was replaced by his foreign minister, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who put him under house arrest. Shortly afterward he was paralyzed by a stroke and, after his release, played no further important political role.
Agha Muhammad Yahya Khan see Yahya Khan
Yahya Khan (Agha Muhammad Yahya Khan) (b. February 4, 1917, Chakwal, British Raj (now Pakistan) - d. August 10, 1980, Rawalpindi, Pakistan). President of Pakistan (March 25, 1969 - December 20, 1971). Born into a prominent family of the North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan, he received his commission in the army from the Military Academy, Dehra Dun, India, in 1938. During World War II, he saw action in the Middle East and Italy. In 1947, he joined the Pakistan Army, becoming a full general and, in 1966, commander in chief. In 1969, when Ayub Khan’s government collapsed, Yahya Khan became president of Pakistan under martial law. His rule ended in 1971with the secession of East Pakistan and the defeat of the Pakistan army in war with India.
Yahya was born to a family that was descended from the elite soldier class of Nader Shah, the Persian ruler who conquered Delhi in the 18th century. He was educated at Punjab University and later graduated first in his class from the Indian Military Academy at Dehra Dun. He served in Italy and the Middle East during World War II and, after the partition of India in 1947, organized the Pakistani Staff College.
After serving in the war with India over the Kashmir region, he became Pakistan’s youngest brigadier general at age 34 and its youngest general at 40. He became commander in chief in 1966. A protégé of President Mohammad Ayub Khan, Yahya was in command of the military when street riots erupted in the country. Ayub called on him to take over the direction of the government and preserve the integrity of Pakistan. He was appointed chief administrator of martial law, which he declared with the words “I will not tolerate disorder. Let everyone return to his post.”
Yahya Khan succeeded Ayub Khan as president when the latter resigned his office in March 1969. In 1971 a serious conflict erupted between the central government and the Awami Party of what was then East Pakistan, led by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. The East Pakistani leader demanded autonomy for his half of the geographically divided country, and Yahya Khan responded by ordering the army to suppress the Awami Party. The brutality with which his orders were carried out and the resulting influx of millions of East Pakistani refugees into India led to the Indian invasion of East Pakistan and the rout of its West Pakistani occupiers. East Pakistan became the independent country of Bangladesh, and with its loss Yahya Khan resigned (December 20, 1971).
He was replaced by his foreign minister, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who put him under house arrest. Shortly afterward he was paralyzed by a stroke and, after his release, played no further important political role.
Agha Muhammad Yahya Khan see Yahya Khan
Yakan
Yakan. The Yakan are one of the Muslim groups of the southern Philippines who are part of the Sama people. They are practically all Sunni Muslims of the Shafi school. A homogeneous group which has only slight local variations in living and language, they live on the island of Basilan, predominantly in the interior. Information about them traces back only to the latter part of the nineteenth century and is scarce. Probably the Yakan were the original inhabitants of Basilan, but today they comprise less than one-half the population, now sharing the island with later arrivals: Christian Filipinos, mainly living in and around the two municipalities of Isabela and Lamitan, and the Muslim Tausug and Sama, mostly in the coastal villages.
The Yakan are one of the 13 Moro groups in the Philippines. They mainly reside in Basilan.
The Yakans are the traditional settlers of Basilan Island in the Southern Philippines, situated to the west of Zamboanga in Mindanao. It is said that their typical physical characteristics are strikingly different when compared to the other ethnic Filipino groups (relatively high-bridged noses and tall stature). Traditionally they wear colorful, handwoven clothes. The women wear tightfitting short blouses and both sexes wear narrow cut pants resembling breeches. Traditionally, the women covered themselves partly with a wrap-around material while the man wraps a sash-like cloth around the waist where he places his weapon - usually a long knife. Nowadays most of the Yakans wear western clothes and use their traditional clothes only for special festivals.
In the early seventies, some of the Yakan settled in Zamboanga City due to political unrest which led to armed conflicts between the militant Muslims and government solders. The Yakan village in Upper Calarian is famous among local and foreign tourists because of the Yakan art of weaving. Traditionally, they have used plants like pineapple and abaca converted into fibers as basic material for weaving. Using herbal extracts from leaves, roots and barks, the Yakans dyed the fibers and produced colorful combinations and intricate designs.
The seputangan is the most intricate design worn by the women around their waist or as a head cloth. The palipattang is patterned after the color of the rainbow while the bunga-sama, after the python. Almost every Yakan fabric can be described as unique since the finished materials are not exactly identical. Differences may be seen in the pattern or in the design or in the distribution of colors.
Contacts with Christian Filipinos and the American Peace Corps brought about changes in the art and style of weaving. Many resorted to the convenience of chemical dyes and they started weaving table runners, placemats, wall decor, purses and other items which are not present in a traditional Yakan house. In other words, the natives catered because of economic reason to the needs of their customers. New designs were introduced like kenna-kenna, patterned after a fish; dawen-dawen, after the leaf of a vine; pene mata-mata, after the shape of an eye or the kabang buddi, a diamond-shaped design.
Yakan. The Yakan are one of the Muslim groups of the southern Philippines who are part of the Sama people. They are practically all Sunni Muslims of the Shafi school. A homogeneous group which has only slight local variations in living and language, they live on the island of Basilan, predominantly in the interior. Information about them traces back only to the latter part of the nineteenth century and is scarce. Probably the Yakan were the original inhabitants of Basilan, but today they comprise less than one-half the population, now sharing the island with later arrivals: Christian Filipinos, mainly living in and around the two municipalities of Isabela and Lamitan, and the Muslim Tausug and Sama, mostly in the coastal villages.
The Yakan are one of the 13 Moro groups in the Philippines. They mainly reside in Basilan.
The Yakans are the traditional settlers of Basilan Island in the Southern Philippines, situated to the west of Zamboanga in Mindanao. It is said that their typical physical characteristics are strikingly different when compared to the other ethnic Filipino groups (relatively high-bridged noses and tall stature). Traditionally they wear colorful, handwoven clothes. The women wear tightfitting short blouses and both sexes wear narrow cut pants resembling breeches. Traditionally, the women covered themselves partly with a wrap-around material while the man wraps a sash-like cloth around the waist where he places his weapon - usually a long knife. Nowadays most of the Yakans wear western clothes and use their traditional clothes only for special festivals.
In the early seventies, some of the Yakan settled in Zamboanga City due to political unrest which led to armed conflicts between the militant Muslims and government solders. The Yakan village in Upper Calarian is famous among local and foreign tourists because of the Yakan art of weaving. Traditionally, they have used plants like pineapple and abaca converted into fibers as basic material for weaving. Using herbal extracts from leaves, roots and barks, the Yakans dyed the fibers and produced colorful combinations and intricate designs.
The seputangan is the most intricate design worn by the women around their waist or as a head cloth. The palipattang is patterned after the color of the rainbow while the bunga-sama, after the python. Almost every Yakan fabric can be described as unique since the finished materials are not exactly identical. Differences may be seen in the pattern or in the design or in the distribution of colors.
Contacts with Christian Filipinos and the American Peace Corps brought about changes in the art and style of weaving. Many resorted to the convenience of chemical dyes and they started weaving table runners, placemats, wall decor, purses and other items which are not present in a traditional Yakan house. In other words, the natives catered because of economic reason to the needs of their customers. New designs were introduced like kenna-kenna, patterned after a fish; dawen-dawen, after the leaf of a vine; pene mata-mata, after the shape of an eye or the kabang buddi, a diamond-shaped design.
Yaker, Layachi
Layachi Yaker (b. January 11, 1930, Souk Ahras, French Algeria – d. November 25, 2023, Algiers, Algeria) was an Algerian diplomat and politician of the National Liberation Front (Front de libération nationale - FLN).
The eldest of twelve children, Layachi Yaker was born on January 11, 1930, in Souk-Ahras to a family from Tamazirt, a commune of Irdjen, Tizi Ouzou. He became engaged, at age 17, in the Algerian National Movement in the framework of the Democratic Union of the Algerian Manifesto (UDMA). Self-taught, he combined political action with salaried work while training as an accountant.
Sent to Paris by his firm in order to become a chartered accountant, Yaker was elected vice-president of the General Union of Algerian Muslim Students in July 1955. This was a key election for the communist youth of Algeria in their struggle for liberation. During the Algerian War, Yaker was a fundraising agent for the FLN in France.
In February 1957, Yaker was arrested by the French government and spent two and a half years in French prisons (La Santé and Fresnes Prison). After several hunger strikes, he obtained the status of political prisoner. He was released on parole in October 1959.
Layachi Yaker joined the Provisional Government of the Algerian Republic (GPRA) in Cairo, Egypt in January 1961. In November of the same year, he was appointed Representative of the GPRA to India and Bangladesh.
After Algeria's independence in July 1962, Layachi Yaker returned to the country and was appointed a senior official at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He was nominated Minister of Commerce in June 1969, serving until April 1977. He then served in the People's National Assembly from 1977 to 1979. From September 1979 to August 1984, he served as Ambassador of Algeria to the Soviet Union (1979-1982) and to the United States (1982-1984).
In 1989, Yaker joined the United Nations system. He served as Special Advisor to the Director-General of UNESCO in Paris until 1992, and then as Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) from 1992 to 1995 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations.
From 1995 to 1997, Yaker was President of the International Ocean Institute (IOI).
Throughout his career, Layachi Yaker was very actively involved in strengthening and improving relations between developed countries and so-called Third World countries, in particular as a Member of the Brandt Commission and co-editor of the North-South Report.
Layachi Yaker died in Algiers on November 25, 2023.
Yalunka
Yalunka. The name “Yalunka” is interpreted by the Yalunka themselves to mean “people of the Yalun.” This means that they consider themselves to be the original inhabitants of the Futa Jalon plateau in West Africa. The Yalunka (Dialonke, Djalonke, Dyalonke, Jallonke, Jalunka) live in the northeastern corner of Sierra Leone and portions of the Republic of Guinea.
Yalunka. The name “Yalunka” is interpreted by the Yalunka themselves to mean “people of the Yalun.” This means that they consider themselves to be the original inhabitants of the Futa Jalon plateau in West Africa. The Yalunka (Dialonke, Djalonke, Dyalonke, Jallonke, Jalunka) live in the northeastern corner of Sierra Leone and portions of the Republic of Guinea.
The Yalunka people originated in the mountainous Koulikoro along the Niger River valley. According to Susu oral tradition, they identify the Yalunka with the medieval Sosso Empire of Soumaoro Kante. The earliest evidence suggests that sometime around the eleventh century, the Yalunka people arrived in the hilly plateau region of the Futa Jallon in Guinea, since the disintegration of the Sosso Empire. The Yalunka people were agricultural animists and among the first settlers in Jallonkadu, the former name in what eventually became Futa Jallon. At first, the Yalunka accepted Islam. After the seventeenth century, Islamic theocracies supported by the Fula people began a period of Fula dominance and their version of Islam in the region traditionally occupied by the Yalunka. The Yalunka people, along with the Susu people, then renounced Islam. The Fula people and their leaders, such as Karamokho Alfa and Ibrahima Sori, launched a series of jihads targeted against the Yalunka in the eighteenth century. The Yalunka were defeated, subdued, and returned to Islam in 1778. The jihads contributed immensely to the Solima Yalunka state's creation in Guinea and Sierra Leone's northeastern boundary in the nineteenth century. In the time of the Yalunka's desolation, Almamy Samori Toure collaborated with the Fulani, French, and Toucouleur allies, to exploit and oppress the Yalunka people, In the process, Samori Touré sold many Yalunka captives to the Fulani and Europeans. The Yalunka people were considered strongly "pagan" and violently anti-Muslim.
Sporadic relations with the British at Freetown were established in the 1820s and continued throughout the nineteenth century. In the 1820s the Yalunka were strongly pagan and violently anti-Muslim. Although some were drawn to Islam in this period, between the 1820s and early 1880s Islam made only modest headway among them. Itinerant Muslim Quranic teachers, goldsmiths and gunsmiths were in the area from time to time.
In 1884, Solima was conquered by one of the armies of Samory Toure and incorporated into his empire. Toure, a Mandinka, was a great nineteenth century state builder and proponent of Islam. There was heroic resistance (the ruler of Falaha blew himself up rather than surrender), but after Toure’s conquest all the survivors were forcibly converted to Islam. By 1892, the British and French had driven Toure from the Yalunka area, and with the creation of the Sierra Leone Guinea border, Solima was divided into two colonial spheres. (The territories of the other former Yalunka polities are entirely in Guinea.)
With the departure of Toure’s troops and the imposition of colonial rule, most Yalunka lapsed into pagan ways, although some remained Muslim. In addition, more Muslims came from what was now Guinea into the Yalunka region of Sierra Leone. A Christian mission (Church Missionary Society) was started in the 1890s but had collapsed by the early 1900s. In the 1950s, another Christian mission (Missionary Church Society) was begun, but it met with only modest success. Throughout this period Islam gained steadily, and by the 1960s over ninety percent of the Yalunka were Muslim, the remainder being Christian (the last elderly pagan Yalunka died in the 1950s.)
The Yalunka are a Mande people who were one of the original inhabitants of Futa Jallon (or Fouta Djalon), a mountainous region in Guinea, West Africa, and they are a branch of the Mandinka people of West Africa. Today, the Yalunka are concentrated mostly in Guinea and Sierra Leone. Most of the Mandinka in both Guinea and Sierra Leone are considered ethnic Mandinka primarily because of the similarities in costume and languages.
Small communities also live in Senegal and Mali. The Yalunka are also known as the Dialonke or Jallonke, which literally means "inhabitants of the Jallon (mountains)." In the eighteenth century, many of the Yalunka were dispersed from the Futa Jallon by the Fulani, another vast people group in the region.
The language of the Yalunka, also called Yalunka, belongs to the Mande branch of the Niger-Congo language family. Yalunka is partially understood by those who speak Susu, another Mande language. In fact, the Yalunka often refer to themselves as the ancestors of the Soso, and some scholars see the two as one group. The Yalunka region has tall grass with a few trees and some bush areas. The country is hilly, and most of it is 1,000 to 2,000 feet above sea level.
In 1884, Solima was conquered by one of the armies of Samory Toure and incorporated into his empire. Toure, a Mandinka, was a great nineteenth century state builder and proponent of Islam. There was heroic resistance (the ruler of Falaha blew himself up rather than surrender), but after Toure’s conquest all the survivors were forcibly converted to Islam. By 1892, the British and French had driven Toure from the Yalunka area, and with the creation of the Sierra Leone Guinea border, Solima was divided into two colonial spheres. (The territories of the other former Yalunka polities are entirely in Guinea.)
With the departure of Toure’s troops and the imposition of colonial rule, most Yalunka lapsed into pagan ways, although some remained Muslim. In addition, more Muslims came from what was now Guinea into the Yalunka region of Sierra Leone. A Christian mission (Church Missionary Society) was started in the 1890s but had collapsed by the early 1900s. In the 1950s, another Christian mission (Missionary Church Society) was begun, but it met with only modest success. Throughout this period Islam gained steadily, and by the 1960s over ninety percent of the Yalunka were Muslim, the remainder being Christian (the last elderly pagan Yalunka died in the 1950s.)
The Yalunka are a Mande people who were one of the original inhabitants of Futa Jallon (or Fouta Djalon), a mountainous region in Guinea, West Africa, and they are a branch of the Mandinka people of West Africa. Today, the Yalunka are concentrated mostly in Guinea and Sierra Leone. Most of the Mandinka in both Guinea and Sierra Leone are considered ethnic Mandinka primarily because of the similarities in costume and languages.
Small communities also live in Senegal and Mali. The Yalunka are also known as the Dialonke or Jallonke, which literally means "inhabitants of the Jallon (mountains)." In the eighteenth century, many of the Yalunka were dispersed from the Futa Jallon by the Fulani, another vast people group in the region.
The language of the Yalunka, also called Yalunka, belongs to the Mande branch of the Niger-Congo language family. Yalunka is partially understood by those who speak Susu, another Mande language. In fact, the Yalunka often refer to themselves as the ancestors of the Soso, and some scholars see the two as one group. The Yalunka region has tall grass with a few trees and some bush areas. The country is hilly, and most of it is 1,000 to 2,000 feet above sea level.
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