The Mossi kingdoms are a set of several kingdoms that existed in current Burkina Faso. These kingdoms spanned from the 11th century until year 1919 with French colonization. In its beginnings, the Mossi kingdoms consisted of only six small kingdoms: Gourma, Mamprousi, Dagomba, Yatenga, Boussouma and the kingdom of Ouagadougou. Ouagadougou became the most powerful of them and its territory and its name have remained up to the present day.
Birth of the Kingdom
We trace the birth of the Mossi kingdoms in the 11th century. The territory that corresponds to present-day Burkina Faso was subject to numerous migrations. Ouagadougou, probably the oldest kingdom, was founded in 1220 by Oubri. Indeed, Oubri conquered the region of Ouagadougou, then one of his descendants, Yadega, approached present-day Yatenga from the south and seized it, becoming the founder of the Ouahigouya dynasty.
Heyday of the Kingdom
These kingdoms based their power on conquests and the fierce resistance and attacks they opposed to the very powerful kingdoms of Mali and Songhai. Indeed, in 1333, just one year after the death of the Emperor of Mali Gongo-Moussa, the morho-naba (king) of Yatenga burst into Timbuktu and sacked this city; one of his successors made incursions into Macina and Bagana in 1477 and plundered Oualata in 1480. A regular army did not exist, its consisted only of warlords. The warlords took charge in case of conflictby mobilizing all able-bodied men en masse. This is what earned the kingdom its reputation of being an invulnerable army.
The different Mossi kingdoms did not want to unify but they succeeded in maintaining a remarkable social and religious cohesion and an exceptional political stability. This contributed to the consolidation of their powers in the region and seemingly peace.
Decline of the Kingdom
The arrival of Europeans marked the end of several great African kingdoms. There’s no exception here. The Mossi kingdoms did not escape this colonial invasion. If at the beginning France pretended to respect the sovereignty of the Mossi territories, it subtly imposed a sort of protectorate there. The whole greater region became Upper Volta under French administration. Internal civil wars in Yatenga forced the Mossi kings to submit to the settlers. In 1895 the Mossi kingdoms were all dissolved.
