December 26, 2001
A small village about 10 km away from Segou along the road to Bamako, Segoukoro is the original site from where Bambara kings ruled a kingdom that stretched for thousands of kilometers across West Africa in the 18th century. A typical Malian Bambara village, composed of walled mud brick houses, the village has around 1500 people. I was surprised to see how simple the village was, being that it had such an important role. Aside from Biton Coulibaly's tomb (founder of the kingdom), there were few signs to indicate the village's importance. We met the chief, a descendant of Coulibaly. Walking through the village, we saw the village's three mosques, one built by Coulibaly for his Islamic mother (the king himself was animist). The newest mosque is used by the people for worship only on Fridays.
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