🧑🏿 An ethnic group 🎭 Related to culture 🏰 A historic kingdom

Bamana

9.9

An old West African kingdom centered on Ségou in the 1700s and 1800s

proper noun

: Bamana

The Bamana kingdom, centered in Ségou, flourished during the 18th and 19th centuries.

Examples

Many historical artifacts from the Bamana period are on display in the national museum.
There are two major variants of the Bamana legend of creation, with regional differences within them.

Academic text (2008)
For those outside Bamana society, bogolanfini, like any foreign language, is a text that can be read if one learns its vocabulary.

Academic text (1997)
Senufo art demonstrates significant influences from Bamana and other Mand peoples.

Academic text (2008)
The Bamana are a Mande people, while the Limba are not, though there have been major Mande influences at Bafodea.

Academic text (2007)
Despite the inexorable adoption of Islam by the Bamana and Maninka, practices related to twins and rooted in Bamanaya persist in many rural villages.

Academic text (2008)
In addition to a ni and a dya, the Bamana believe that each living being possesses a tere, which is a positive force comprising conscience and character, and which reflects Pemba, the creator God.

Academic text (2008)
The rich culture of the Bamana is celebrated each year during local festivals.

Surface Forms

Bamana main

Etymology

Bamana as a place name comes from the same people who built the historic kingdom, often called Bambara, so the word refers to the old West African state centered on Ségou that belonged to the Bamana people.