BALANSAMA, MARA
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Mara Balansama (mid-18th century?-1830s?), was a ruler of Barawa, a Koranko chiefdom in what is now part of the Nieni chiefdom in the Koinadugu district of northeastern Sierra Leone. He promoted trade with neighbouring states, as well as with Freetown.
PHOTO CAPTION: Mara Balansama. SOURCE: Vera Viditz-Ward
In contemporary tradition, he is referred to as Maran Balansama. The name Balansama is common among the Koranko, and is particularly associated with rulers of the Koranko Mara clan, to which he belonged. At the turn of the last century, for instance, a Balansama Mara ruled the Koranko chiefdom of Sengbe in what is now Koinadugu District. In the 1970s this same chiefdom had yet another Balansama Mara as paramount chief.
Balansama Mara was born probably about the middle of the 18th century and was the son of Mansa Sewa of the Koranko of Barawa. By the end of that century, Balansama appears to have succeeded his father as ruler of Barawa, and having his capital at Kulakonka. He also ruled over the domain of the Koranko of the Koroma clan, then centered at Kamarow, now an abandoned site in the Koranko chiefdom of Diang, in the Koinadugu district.
Alexander Gordon Laing (1793-1826), a British traveler who is believed to have been the first European to have visited Tombouctou, visited Kulakonka in 1822, and gave the following description of Balansama and his domain: The capital of North Western Koranko is Kulakonko, where Balansama, the present king resides; he is a man of considerable influence and property and is the most powerful chief between his country and Sierra Leone; his authority extends as far as the banks of the Niger and his capital is visited by the nations of Sangara (Sankaran) for the purposes of trade.
It appears that in the 18th century, Balansama’s father, Sewa, had joined with the Yalunka of the state of Solimana to oppose the jihad (holy war waged in the name of Islam) launched by the Fula of Futa Jallon. This gave the Solima, the people of Solimana, a dominant influence over the Barawa. Later, when Balansama had consolidated his authority in Barawa, he tried to end Solima influence. In consequence, a Solima force attacked Kamarow, then an important town in Balansama’s domain. This led to much conflict between Balansama and the manga (ruler) Sori Wuleng of the Solima.
The counter-influence exerted by the Solima did not, however, effectively diminish Balansama’s authority, as Laing attests. Balansama placed his sons as rulers of the major towns in his domain. One son, named Kalu, became headman of Kulakonka. By the 1820s, large trading caravans were being organised in Balansama’s territory to travel to Freetown. Numerous other trade caravans from Sankaran country (a region on the headwaters of the Niger River, south of Kankan, in what is now the Republic of Guinea) traded with Kulakonka, or passed through that town en route to Freetown. Balansama appears to have assured the safety of the trade route through Barawa, and in return levied tolls that gave him wealth and consequent influence.
Balansama’s death probably occurred in the 1830s. He was succeeded by his son Damatibolo.
C. MAGBAILY FYLE
