Kansala

{{Short description|Former capital of Kaabu}} {{For|the Indian village|Kansala (India)}} {{Infobox ancient site |name=Kansala |map_size=240|alternate_name=|image=|alt=|caption= |image_size=240 |map_type=Guinea-Bissau|map_alt=|width=|native_name= |relief=yes |coordinates={{coord|12|32|11|N|014|11|41|W|display=inline,title}} |location=Gabu Region |region=Guinea Bissau |type= |part_of= |length= |map_caption= |area= |occupants= |event= |builder= Mansa Sala Sane |material= |built= |abandoned= 1867 |epochs= |cultures= Kaabu |dependency_of= Mali Empire |height= |depth= |excavations= |archaeologists= |condition= |ownership= |management= |public_access= |website= |notes=}}

'''Kansala''' was the last capital of Kaabu, located in what is now Guinea Bissau. The town was destroyed in the 1867 Battle of Kansala.

==History== Kaabu was founded by Mandinka immigrants from the Mali Empire in the 13th century, and was initially its vassal. Mansa Sala Sane established Kansala to replace the old, less centrally located Bainuk capital of Mampatim. The city was also the site of the sacred grove where the ''mansaba'' of Kaabu was crowned.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Mane |first1=Daouda |editor1-last=Fall |editor1-first=Mamadou |editor2-last=Fall |editor2-first=Rokhaya |editor3-last=Mane |editor3-first=Mamadou |title=Bipolarisation du Senegal du XVIe - XVIIe siecle |date=2021 |publisher=HGS Editions |location=Dakar |page=279 |language=French |chapter=La Question des Origines et de l'Emergence de l'Etat de Kaabu}}</ref> As the Mali empire waned, Sama Koli proclaimed independence in 1537 but maintained many of the trappings of Malian cultural heritage and established trade relations with the Portuguese on the coast.<ref name = consular>[http://www.consulmarbissau.com/sites/default/files/files/tourist_guide_guinea-bissau_eu_acl2018_en_web.pdf Discovering Guinea Bissau, 2nd edition, p98]</ref>

The defenses of the city were legendary: a series of seven concentric tata, each representing one of the core territories of the empire.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Canós-Donnay |first1=Sirio |editor1-last=Ibsen |editor1-first=Timo |editor2-last=Ilves |editor2-first=Kristin |editor3-last=Maixner |editor3-first=Birgit |editor4-last=Messal |editor4-first=Sebastian |editor5-last=Schneeweiß |editor5-first=Jens |title=Fortifications in their Natural and Cultural Landscape: From Organising Space to the Creation of Power |date=2022 |publisher=Habelt-Verlag |location=Bonn |page=73 |chapter=Fluid fortresses in changing states: Tàta in southern Senegal (13th–19th centuries AD)}}</ref> In the 1860s the Fula of Kaabu and its neighboring states, committed Muslims, launched the Kansala War to end animist Mandé dominance of the region.<ref name = consular/> The city was besieged for eleven days, when the reigning Mansaba Janke Wali lost heart. As the Fula swarmed into Kansala, he ignited the gunpowder stores, killing all the Mandinka defenders and devastating the invading army.<ref>{{cite book |first1=Richard Andrew Jr. |last1=Lobban |first2=Peter Karibe |last2=Mendy |title=Historical Dictionary of the Republic of Guinea-Bissau |edition=4th |publisher=Scarecrow Press|p=276 |year=2013 |place=Lanham |isbn=978-0-8108-5310-2}}</ref>

==Archaeology== The site of Kansala was excavated for the first time by a multinational team in early 2024, focusing on the remains of the ruler's tata.<ref>Canós-Donnay, Sirio, et al. "First excavations at Kansala, last capital of the Kaabu Kingdom (Guinea-Bissau)." (2025).</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

Category:Archaeological sites of Western Africa Category:History of Guinea-Bissau Category:Capitals of former countries