Dagomba kingdom
Quick Summary
The Dagomba kingdom, founded by northern invaders in the 14th century, was a historical kingdom in what is now northern Ghana. The dominant ethnic group, the Dagomba, speak the Dagbani language.1
The kingdom's territory once extended to the Black Volta River but was reduced by the Guang (Gonja) in the mid-17th century. The Dagomba are primarily farmers, cultivating crops like sorghum, millet, and yams, and also raise livestock. Their social structure is based on patrilineages, with a chiefly class whose succession to the office of ya-na (paramount chief) is rotational among divisional chiefs. Their religion incorporates ancestral and earth cults, alongside influences from Islam and Christianity.1
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- Dagomba
According to tradition, the Dagomba kingdom was founded by northern invaders in the 14th century. It extended south to the Black Volta River, but it was reduced in size by the conquests of the Guang (Gonja) in the mid-17th century.
Read MoreAccording to tradition, the Dagomba kingdom was founded by northern invaders in the 14th century. It extended south to the Black Volta River, but it was reduced in size by the conquests of the Guang (Gonja) in the mid-17th century.
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western AfricaThe wider influence of the Sudanic kingdoms…power farther north of the Dagomba kingdom, which controlled local salt pans, and (3) the arrival in the region about 1500 of rival long-distance traders from Hausaland. The Dyula seem to have tried to combat these developments by erecting a major kingdom of their own in Gonja—the territory that the…
Read More…power farther north of the Dagomba kingdom, which controlled local salt pans, and (3) the arrival in the region about 1500 of rival long-distance traders from Hausaland. The Dyula seem to have tried to combat these developments by erecting a major kingdom of their own in Gonja—the territory that the…
Read More