Bambara

Bambara
/bahm bahr"ah, -bahr"euh/, n.
1. a Mande language that is used as a trade language in the upper Niger drainage basin in Africa.
2. a member of an agricultural, Mande-speaking people of Mali.

* * *

People of the upper Niger region of Mali who speak a Mande language of the Niger-Congo family.

Numbering 3.4 million, the Bambara use the distinctive N'ko alphabet, which reads from right to left, and they are noted for their wood and metal sculptures. In the 17th–18th centuries the Bambara developed two separate empires, one based in Ségou (and including Timbuktu) and the other in Kaarta.

* * *

people
 ethnolinguistic group of the upper Niger region of Mali whose language, Bambara (Bamana), belongs to the Mande branch (Mande languages) of the Niger-Congo language family (Niger-Congo languages). The Bambara are to a great extent intermingled with other tribes, and there is no centralized organization. Each small district, made up of a number of villages, is under a dominant family that provides a chief, or fama. The fama has considerable powers but must defer to a council of elders.

      The Bambara, like other West African peoples, use the distinctive N'ko alphabet, which reads from right to left. They have a remarkable system of metaphysics and cosmology, encompassing associated animistic cults, prayers, and myths. Their religious sculptures in wood and metal are renowned.

      Economic changes in the mid-20th century included the introduction of such cash crops as peanuts (groundnuts), rice, and cotton into the pattern of subsistence agriculture. Many people migrated to the region's towns.

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • BAMBARA — est certainement l’un des ethnonymes les plus célèbres d’Afrique de l’Ouest, sans qu’il ait jamais pour autant désigné une population strictement identifiable et aisément délimitable sur le terrain. Sa notoriété, au contraire, est à la mesure de… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Bambara — (Bamanankan) Gesprochen in Mali, Burkina Faso und Elfenbeinküste sowie teilweise in Gambia, Guinea, Mauretanien, Senegal Sprecher 2,8 Millionen Linguistische Klassifikati …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Bambara — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda Bamana Bambara Bambaras del alto Senegal en 1890. Población total 2 700.000 …   Wikipedia Español

  • Bambara — may refer to:* Bambara people, an ethnic group primarily in Mali. * Bambara language, their language, also used by other groups as a lingua franca. * Bambara (beetle) , a genus of feather winged beetles …   Wikipedia

  • Bambara — Bambara,   Banmana, Bamana,Mandingvolk am Oberlauf des Niger im Südwesten der Republik Mali um die Stadt Ségou, kleinere Gruppen in anderen Landesteilen und in den Nachbarrepubliken, etwa 2,6 Mio. Menschen; vorwiegend Ackerbauern. Die… …   Universal-Lexikon

  • bambara — BAMBÁRA subst. 1. s.m. Membru al unei populaţii din regiunea văii superioare a râului Niger. 2. s.n. Limba vorbită de bambara (1), aparţinătoare grupului mandingo (2) şi folosită drept lingua franca în Mali. (cf. engl. bambara) [AHDEL] Trimis de… …   Dicționar Român

  • bambara — bȃmbāra (bȃmbārskī) prid. DEFINICIJA ob. u: SINTAGMA bambara jezik lingv. jezik mandske potporodice nigersko kordofanskih jezika, govori se u Z Africi …   Hrvatski jezični portal

  • Bambāra — (Bambarra), Reich in Sudan (Afrika), zu beiden Seiten des oberen Niger (Dscholiba), grenzt im W. an Senegambien, östlich u. südlich an das Konggebirge, nördlich an die Reiche Massina u. Biru. Größe ungefähr 4000 QM.; zerfällt in Ober u. Unter B …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • Bambara — Bambara, heidn. Volksstamm am obern Senegal und Niger (s. Karte bei »Guinea«), ein Mischvolk von Negern und Fulbe, sanft, gut geartet und arbeitsam, aber von ihren mohammedanischen Unterdrückern, den Toucouleurs, in den äußersten Stand der Armut… …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

  • Bambara — Bambāra, ehemal. Mandingoreich in Franz. Westafrika, am obern Niger; seit 1891 französisch; Hauptstadt Segu Sikoro (6 10.000 E.) …   Kleines Konversations-Lexikon

  • Bambara — Bambara, 4500 QM., großes Königreich im innern Afrika, am Dscholiba, wohl bewässert, wohl angebaut, fruchtbar; der Butterbaum ist hier einheimisch. Die Einwohner sind Neger, Fulahs, beide für den Islam gewonnen und Mauren; der Handelsverkehr ist… …   Herders Conversations-Lexikon

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”