10°51′36.2″N 14°25′26.6″W / 10.860056°N 14.424056°W
Wassoulou Empire | |||||||||||||||
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1878–1898 | |||||||||||||||
Flag | |||||||||||||||
![]() Wassoulou Empire at its peak | |||||||||||||||
Capital | Bissandugu | ||||||||||||||
Common languages | Arabic (official) Mandinka | ||||||||||||||
Religion | Sunni Islam | ||||||||||||||
Government | Monarchy | ||||||||||||||
Faama | |||||||||||||||
• 1878–1898 | Samori Ture | ||||||||||||||
History | |||||||||||||||
• Established | 1878 | ||||||||||||||
• Disestablished | 29 September 1898 | ||||||||||||||
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Today part of | Côte d'Ivoire Guinea Mali Sierra Leone |
The Wassoulou Empire, also referred to as the Ouassalou Empire, Mandinka Empire, Samory's Empire or the Samorian State, was a short-lived West African state that existed from roughly 1878 until 1898,[1] although dates vary from source to source. It spanned from what is now southwestern Mali and upper Guinea, with its capital in Bissandugu; it expanded further south and east into northern Ghana and Ivory Coast before its downfall.