History of Guinea-Bissau

The region now known as Guinea-Bissau, in West Africa, has been inhabited by humans for thousands of years. During the 13th century AD, it was a province of the Mali Empire which later became independent as the empire of Kaabu. Portugal claimed the region during the 1450s, but its control was limited to several forts along the coast during most of this period; it gained control of the mainland after the pacification campaigns from 1912 to 1915. The offshore Bijagos Islands were not colonized until 1936. Guinea-Bissau became independent in 1974, and the introduction of multi-party politics in 1991 led to the first multi-party elections in 1994. A civil war broke out in 1998, which lasted until the following year.

Peoples

Although the region's history has not yet been extensively documented with archaeological records, it had a population of hunter-gatherers by 1000 AD. Agriculturists using iron tools soon followed.

The oldest inhabitants were the Jola, Papel, Manjak, Balanta, and Biafada peoples. The Mandinka and Fulani later migrated into the region, pushing the earlier inhabitants towards the coast. A small number of Mandinka had been present in the region as early as the 11th century, but they migrated en masse in the 13th century as Senegambia was incorporated into the Mali Empire by Kaabu founder Tiramakhan Traore. A process of "Mandinkization" followed. The Fulani arrived as early as the 12th century as semi-nomadic herders, but were not a large presence until the 15th century.

The Balanta and Jola had weak (or nonexistent) institutions of kingship, with an emphasis on heads of villages and families. The Mandinka, Fula, Papel, Manjak, and Biafada chiefs were vassals of kings with a variety of customs, rites, and ceremonies. Nobles commanded all major positions, however, which included the judicial system. Social stratification was apparent in clothing and accessories, housing materials, and transportation options.

Commerce was widespread among the ethnic groups. Items traded included pepper and kola nuts from the southern forests, iron from the savannah-forest zone, salt and dried fish from the coast, and Mandinka cotton cloth. Products were commonly sold at markets and fairs, held every seven or eight days and sometimes attended by several thousand buyers and sellers from up to 60 miles (97 kilometres) away. Weapons were prohibited in the marketplace, and soldiers were positioned around the area to maintain order throughout the day. Market sections were allocated for specific products except for wine, which could be sold anywhere.

Pre-colonial kingdoms

Kaabu

Main article: Kaabu

Origins

Kaabu, established in the 13th century, was a province of Mali through the conquest of Senegambia by Tiramakhan Traore (a general of Mali Empire founder Sundiata Keita. According to oral tradition, Tiramakhan Traore invaded the region to punish the Wolof king for insulting Sundiata and went south of the Gambia River into the Casamance. This began a migration of Mandinka into the region. By the 14th century, much of Guinea-Bissau was administered by Mali and ruled by a farim kaabu (commander of Kaabu).

The Empire of Mali began to decline during the 14th century. Formerly-secure possessions in present-day Senegal, the Gambia, and Guinea-Bissau were cut off by the expanding power of Koli Tenguella in the early 16th century. Kaabu became an independent federation of kingdoms, the era's most powerful western Mandinka state.

Society

Kaabu's ruling classes were composed of elite warriors known as the Nyancho, who traced their patrilineal lineage to Tiramakhan Traore. The Nyancho were reportedly good cavalrymen and raiders. The Kaabu Mansaba was seated in Kansala (present-day Gabu) in the eastern Geba region. Malian imperial history was central to Kaabu culture, maintaining its significant institutions and the lingua franca of Mandinka. Individuals from other ethnic backgrounds were assimilated into this dominant culture, and frequent inter-ethnic marriages assisted the process.

The slave trade dominated the economy, enriching the warrior classes with imported cloth, beads, metalware, and firearms. Trade networks to North Africa were dominant until the 14th century, with coastal trade with the Europeans beginning to increase during the 15th century. An estimated 700 enslaved people left the region annually in the 17th and 18th centuries, many from Kaabu.

Decline

In the late 18th century, the rise of the Imamate of Futa Jallon in the east was a powerful challenge to the animist Kaabu. During the first half of the 19th century, civil war erupted as local Fula people sought independence. This long-running conflict led to the 1867 Battle of Kansala. A Fula army led by Alpha Molo Balde laid siege to the earthen walls of Kansala for 11 days. The Mandinka kept the Fulani from climbing the walls for a time, but were eventually overwhelmed. The Mansaba Dianke Walli, sensing defeat, ordered his troops to set the city's gunpowder on fire; this killed the Mandinka defenders and most of the invading army. Although the loss of Kansala marked the end of the Kaabu empire and the rise of the Fuladu kingdom, smaller Mandinka kingdoms survived until they were absorpbed by the Portuguese.

Biafada kingdoms

The Biafada people inhabited the area around the Rio Grande de Buba in three kingdoms: Biguba, Guinala, and Bissege. The former two were important ports with significant lançado communities, subjects of the Mandinka mansa of Kaabu.

Kingdom of Bissau

According to oral tradition, the kingdom of Bissau was founded by the son of the king of Quinara (Guinala), who moved to the region with his pregnant sister, his six wives, and the subjects of his father's kingdom. Relations between the kingdom and the Portuguese were initially warm, but deteriorated over time.

The kingdom defended its sovereignty against the Portuguese "pacification campaigns," defeating them in 1891, 1894, and 1904. The Portuguese, under commanded by Teixeira Pinto and warlord Abdul Injai, absorbed Bissau in 1915.

Bijagos

The Bijagos Islands were inhabited by people with different ethnic origins, leading to cultural diversity in the archipelago. Bijago society was warlike. Men were dedicated to building boats and raiding the mainland, attacking the coastal peoples and other islands. Women cultivated land, constructed houses, and gathered food. They could choose their husbands, generally warriors with the best reputation. Successful warriors could have many wives and boats, and were entitled to one-third of a boat's spoils from any expedition.

Bijago night raids on coastal settlements had a significant impact. Portuguese traders on the mainland tried to stop the raids because they hurt the local economy. The islanders sold a considerable number of slaves to the Europeans, however, who frequently pushed for more captives. The Bijagos, out of the reach of mainland slave traders, were largely safe from enslavement. Portuguese sources say that the children made good slaves but not the adults, who were likely to commit suicide, lead rebellions on slave ships, or escape when they reached the New World.

European contact

Main articles: British Guinea and Portuguese Guinea

Lesser coat of arms of Portuguese Guinea-Bissau

15th–16th centuries

The first Europeans to reach Guinea-Bissau were the Venetian explorer Alvise Cadamosto in 1455, Portuguese explorer Diogo Gomes in 1456, Portuguese explorer Duarte Pacheco Pareira in the 1480s, and Flemish explorer Eustache de la Fosse in 1479–1480. The region was known to the Portuguese as 'The Guinea of Cape Verde', and Santiago was the administrative capital and the source of most of its white settlers.

Although the Portuguese authorities initially discouraged European settlement on the mainland, this prohibition was ignored by lançados and tangomãos who assimilated into indigenous culture and customs. They were mainly from impoverished backgrounds, traders from Cape Verde or people exiled from Portugal, often of Jewish and/or New Christian background. They ignored Portuguese trade regulations banning entering the region or trading without a royal licence, shipping out of unauthorised ports, or assimilating into the native community. In 1520 they reduced measures against the lançados, and trade and settlements increased on the mainland populated by the Portuguese and native traders, as well some Spanish, Genoese, English, French, and Dutch.

With the region's rivers possessing no natural harbours, the lançados and native traders navigated riverways and creeks in small boats purchased from European ships or manufactured locally by trained grumetes (native African sailors, both slave and free). The main ports were Cacheu, Bissau, and Guinala, and each river also sported trading centers such as Toubaboudougou at their furthest navigable point that traded directly with the interior for resources such as gum arabic, ivory, hides, civet, dyes, slaves, and gold. A small number of European settlers established isolated farms along the rivers. Meanwhile, local African rulers generally refused to allow Europeans into the interior, to ensure their control of trade routes.

Europeans were not accepted in all communities, with the Jolas, Balantas, and Bijagos initially hostile. The other ethnicities of the region all harboured communities of lançados, who were subject to taxation and the laws and customs of the community they lived in, including the local courts. Disputes became increasingly frequent and serious in the late 1500s as the foreign traders sought to influence the host societies to their benefit. Under pressure from hostile locals, the Portuguese abandoned the settlement of Buguendo near Cacheu in 1580 and Guinala in 1583, where they retreated to a fort. In 1590 they built a fort at Cacheu, which the local Manjaks unsuccessfully stormed shortly after its construction. These forts, poorly manned and provisioned, were unable to completely free the lançados from their responsibilities to the native monarchs, their hosts, who themselves could not kick the traders out as goods that they brought in were in high demand with the upper class.

Meanwhile, the Portuguese monopoly was being increasingly challenged. In 1580 the Iberian Union unified the crowns of Portugal and Spain, leading to the attack of Portuguese possessions in Guinea Bissau and Cape Verde by Spain's enemies. French, Dutch, and English ships increasingly came to trade with the natives and the independent-minded lançados.

17th–18th centuries

In the early 17th century the government attempted to force all Guinean trade to go through Santiago and to promote trade and settlement on the mainland while restricting the sale of weapons to the locals. These efforts were largely unsuccessful. With the end of the Iberian Union in 1640, King João IV attempted to restrict the Spanish trade in Guinea that had flourished for the previous 60 years. The Afro-Portuguese in Bissau, Guinala, Geba, and Cacheu swore allegiance to the Portuguese king, but were not in a position to deny the free trade that the African kings, who now saw European products as necessities, demanded. In Cacheu famine had wiped out the slave troops in charge of defending the fort, the water supply remained in Manjak hands, and the lançados (and their Africanized descendants) were no more enthused about losing customers than the locals, so Captain-Major Luis de Magalhães had no choice but to lift the embargo.

Flag of the Portuguese Company of Guinea

In 1641 the Conselho Ultramarino replaced de Magalhães with Gonçalo de Gamboa de Ayala. He had some success winning over local leaders and stopping Spanish ships at Cacheu. In Bissau, however, two Spanish ships entered and were afforded full protection by the King of Bissau. Ayala threatened violent repercussions, but nothing came of it. He did successfully resettle the Afro-European community of Geba to Farim northeast of Cacheu. The Portuguese were never able to impose their monopolistic vision on the local and Afro-European traders, as the economic interests of the native leaders and Afro-European merchants never fully aligned with theirs. During this period the power of the Mali Empire in the region was dissipating, and the farim of Kaabu, the king of Kassa and other local rulers began to assert their independence.

In the early 1700s the Portuguese abandoned Bissau and retreated to Cacheu after the captain-major was captured and killed by the local king. They would not return until the 1750s. Meanwhile, the Cacheu and Cape Verde Company shut down in 1706. For a brief period in the 1790s, the British tried to establish a foothold on Bolama.

Slave trade

Guinea-Bissau was among the first regions touched by the Atlantic slave trade and, while it did not produce the same number of enslaved people as other regions, the impact was still significant. At first slaves were mainly sent to Cape Verde and the Iberian Peninsula, with the Madeira and the Canary Islands seeing an influx at lower volumes. In Cape Verde especially they were instrumental in developing the plantation economy, growing indigo and cotton and weaving panos cloth that became a standard currency in West Africa.

From 1580 to 1640 many slaves from Guinea-Bissau were destined for the Spanish West Indies, with an average of 3000 shipped every year from Guinala alone. The 17th and 18th centuries saw thousands of people taken from the region every year by Portuguese, French, and British companies. The Fula jihads and specifically the wars between the Imamate of Futa Jallon and Kaabu provided many of these.

There were four main ways in which people were enslaved: as punishment for law breaking, selling themselves or relatives during famines, kidnapped by native marauders or European raiders, or as prisoners of war. Most slaves were bought by Europeans from local rulers or traders. Every ethnicity in the region participated in the trade with the exception of the Balantas and Jolas. Most wars were waged for the sole purpose of capturing slaves to sell to the Europeans in exchange for imported goods, such that they resembled man-hunts more than conflicts over territory or political power. The nobles and kings benefited, while the common people bore the brunt of the raiding and insecurity. If a noble was captured they were likely to be released, as the captors, whoever they were, would generally accept a ransom in exchange for their freedom. The relationship between kings and European traders was a partnership, with the two regularly making deals on how the trade was to be conducted, who was to be enslaved and who was not, and the prices of the slaves. Contemporary chroniclers Fernão Guerreiro and Mateo de Anguiano questioned multiple kings on their part in the slave trade, noting that they recognised the trade as evil but participated because the Europeans would buy no other goods from them.

Beginning in the late 18th century, European countries gradually began slowing and/or abolishing the slave trade. The British navy and, to a more half-hearted extent, the U.S. Navy attempted to intercept slavers off the coast of Guinea in the first half of the 19th century. This restriction of supply, however, only increased prices and intensified illegal slave-trading activity. Portugal abandoned slavery in 1869 and Brazil in 1888, but a system of contract labor replaced it that was only barely better for the workers.

Colonialism

Comparison of Africa in the years 1880 and 1913

Up until the late 1800s, Portuguese control of their 'colony' outside of their forts and trading posts was a fiction. African rulers held power in the countryside, and frequent attacks and assassinations against the Portuguese marked the middle decades of the century. Guinea-Bissau became the scene of increased European colonial competition beginning in the 1860s. The dispute over the status of Bolama was resolved in Portugal's favor through the mediation of U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant in 1870, but French encroachment on Portuguese claims continued. In 1886 the Casamance region of what is now Senegal was ceded to them.\

Attempting to shore up domestic finances and strengthen the grip on the colony, in 1891 António José Enes, Minister of Marine and Colonies, reformed tax laws and granted concessions in Guinea, mainly to foreign companies, to increase exports. The modest increase in government income, however, did not defray the cost of the troops used to impose the taxes. Resistance continued throughout the area, but these reforms laid the groundwork for future military expansion.

To meet the Berlin Congress standard of 'effective occupation', the Portuguese colonial government embarked on a series of 'pacification campaigns' that were mostly military failures up until the arrival of Capt. João Teixeira Pinto in 1912. Supported by a large mercenary army commanded by Senegalese fugitive Abdul Injai, he quickly and brutally crushed local resistance on the mainland. Three more bloody campaigns in 1917, 1925, and 1936 were required to 'pacify' the Bissagos Islands. Portuguese Guinea remained a neglected backwater, however, with administration expenses exceeding revenue. In 1951, responding to anti-colonial criticism in the United Nations, the Portuguese government rebranded all of their colonies, including Portuguese Guinea, as overseas provinces (Províncias Ultramarines).

Struggle for independence

Portuguese Colonial War in Portuguese Guinea, 1968

The African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC) was founded in 1956 under the leadership of Amílcar Cabral. Initially committed to peaceful methods, the 1959 Pidjiguiti massacre pushed the party towards more militarized tactics, leaning heavily on the political mobilization of the peasantry in the countryside. After years of planning and preparing from their base in Conakry, the PAIGC launched the Guinea-Bissau War of Independence on 23 January 1963.

Unlike guerrilla movements in other Portuguese colonies, the PAIGC rapidly extended its control over large portions of the territory. Aided by the jungle-like terrain, it had easy access to borders with neighbouring allies and large quantities of arms from Cuba, China, the Soviet Union, and left-leaning African countries. Cuba also agreed to supply artillery experts, doctors, and technicians. The PAIGC even managed to acquire a significant anti-aircraft capability in order to defend itself against aerial attack. By 1973, the PAIGC was in control of many parts of Guinea, although the movement suffered a setback in January 1973 when its founder and leader Amilcar Cabral was assassinated.

Portuguese-held (green), disputed (yellow) and rebel-held areas (red) in Portuguese-Guinea and other colonies 1970

After Cabral's death, party leadership fell to Aristides Pereira, who would later become the first president of the Republic of Cape Verde. The PAIGC National Assembly met at Boe in the southeastern region and declared the independence of Guinea-Bissau on 24 September 1973. This was recognized by a 93–7 UN General Assembly vote in November.

Independence

Following Portugal's April 1974 Carnation Revolution, it granted independence to Guinea-Bissau on 10 September 1974. Luís Cabral, Amílcar Cabral's half-brother, became president. The United States recognised Guinea Bissau's independence on 10 September 1974.

In late 1980, the government was overthrown in a coup led by prime minister and former armed forces commander João Bernardo Vieira.

Democracy

Main article: Guinea-Bissau Civil War

In 1994, 20 years after independence from Portugal, the country's first multiparty legislative and presidential elections were held. An army uprising that triggered the Guinea-Bissau Civil War in 1998, created hundreds of thousands of displaced persons. The president was ousted by a military junta on 7 May 1999. An interim government turned over power in February 2000 when opposition leader Kumba Ialá took office following two rounds of transparent presidential elections. Guinea-Bissau's transition back to democracy has been complicated by a crippled economy devastated by civil war and military interference in government.

Presidential palace in Bissau damaged during the civil war of 1998–99 in 2007

Presidency of Kumba Ialá

Despite reports that there had been an influx of arms in the weeks leading up to the election and reports of some 'disturbances during campaigning' – including attacks on the presidential palace and the Interior Ministry by as-yet-unidentified gunmen – European monitors labelled the election as "calm and organized".

In January 2000, the second round of a general election took place. The presidential election resulted in a victory for opposition leader Kumba Ialá of the Party for Social Renewal (PRS), who defeated Malam Bacai Sanhá of the ruling PAIGC. The PRS were also victorious in the National People's Assembly election, winning 38 of the 102 seats.

2003 coup

Main article: 2003 Guinea-Bissau coup d'état

In September 2003, a military coup led by Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces General Verissimo Correia Seabra took place. The sitting President Ialá as well as Prime Minister Mário Pires were placed under house arrest. After being delayed several times, legislative elections were held in March 2004. A mutiny of military factions in October 2004 resulted in the death of the General Correia Seabra causing widespread unrest.

Second presidency of João Bernardo Vieira

In June 2005, presidential elections were held for the first time since the 2003 coup. Deposed President Ialá returned as the candidate for the PRS, claiming to be the legitimate president of the country. The election was won by former president João Bernardo Vieira, deposed in the 1999 coup. Vieira beat Malam Bacai Sanhá in a run-off election. Sanhá initially refused to concede, claiming that tampering and electoral fraud occurred in two constituencies including the capital, Bissau.

Despite reports of arms entering the country prior to the election and some "disturbances during campaigning", including attacks on government offices by unidentified gunmen, foreign election monitors described the 2005 election overall as "calm and organized".

Three years later, PAIGC won a strong parliamentary majority, with 67 of 100 seats, in the parliamentary election held in November 2008. In November 2008, President Vieira's official residence was attacked by members of the armed forces, killing a guard but leaving the president unharmed.

On 2 March 2009, Vieira was assassinated by what preliminary reports indicated to be a group of soldiers avenging the death of the head of joint chiefs of staff, General Batista Tagme Na Wai, who had been killed in an explosion the day before. Vieira's death did not trigger widespread violence, but there were signs of turmoil in the country, according to the advocacy group Swisspeace. Military leaders in the country pledged to respect the constitutional order of succession. National Assembly Speaker Raimundo Pereira was appointed as an interim president until a nationwide election on 28 June 2009. It was won by Malam Bacai Sanhá of the PAIGC, against Kumba Ialá as the presidential candidate of the PRS.

2012 coup

Main article: 2012 Guinea-Bissau coup d'état

On 9 January 2012, President Sanhá died of complications from diabetes, and Pereira was again appointed as an interim president. On the evening of 12 April 2012, members of the country's military staged a coup d'état and arrested Pereira as well as a leading presidential candidate. Former vice chief of staff, General Mamadu Ture Kuruma, assumed control of the country in the transitional period and started negotiations with opposition parties.

Presidencies of José Mário Vaz and Umaro Sissoco Embaló

José Mário Vaz was the President of Guinea-Bissau from 2014 until 2019 presidential elections. At the end of his term, Vaz became the first elected president to complete his five-year mandate. He lost the 2019 election to Umaro Sissoco Embaló, who took office in February 2020. Embaló is the first president to be elected without the backing of the PAIGC.

In February 2022, there was a failed coup attempt against President Embaló. According to Embaló, the coup attempt was linked to drug trafficking. Another coup attempt in 2023 resulted in clashes between government forces and the National Guard. On 11 September 2024, President Umaro Sissoco Embaló announced that he would not seek a second term in the upcoming presidential elections scheduled for November 2025.

See also

• Politics of Guinea-Bissau
• United Nations Peacebuilding Support Office in Guinea-Bissau (UNOGBIS)
• City of Bissau history and timeline

References

Bibliography

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