The Kingdom of Kquoja or Koya or Koya Temne, or the Temne Kingdom (1505–1896), was a pre-colonial African state in the north of present-day Sierra Leone.

The kingdom was founded by the Temne ethnic group in or around 1505 by migrants from the north, seeking trade with the coastal Portuguese in the south.

The kingdom was ruled by a king called a Bai or Obai. The sub-kingdoms within the state were ruled by nobles titled "Gbana". The Koya Kingdom kept and maintained diplomatic relations with the British and French in the 18th century. Children of Temne nobles were allowed to seek western educations abroad. Koya also traded with Islamic states to its north and had Muslims within its borders.

Under Nembanga's reign (1775–1793), the Koya kingdom signed a treaty, which made it possible for the establishment of a British colony on the peninsula of Sierra Leone in 1788.

Koya participated in the trans-atlantic slave trade, though sources state that such commerce was much more privatized than in other kingdoms. Subjects of Koya traded in slaves on the coast even against the wishes of the state at times.

From 1801 to 1807, Koya fought a war with British colonists and the Susu. Koya lost the northern shoreline of Sierra Leone to the British and Port Loko to the Susu. However, they remained a power in the region. In 1815, the Temne fought another war with the Susu and regained the port. In 1841, the Temne defeated the Loko tribe of Kasona on the Mabaole River dispersing many of the people. In response to a British bombardment, the kingdom expelled the Church Missionary Society missionaries operating at Magbela in 1860.

The kingdom became a British protectorate on 31 August 1896 after which the Koya kings lost virtually all power. Revolts of the Temne and Mende in 1898 were fierce but futile. The British would govern the area of the former kingdom until 1961.

List of Temne monarchs

Names and Dates taken from John Stewart's African States and Rulers (1989).[1]

# Name Reign Start Reign End
1 Farima I c. 1505 c. 1550
2 Farima II c. 1550 c. 1560
3 Farima III c. 1560 1605
4 Sangrafare (or Pedro) 1605 1610
5 Borea I 1610 1630
6 Borea II 1630 1664
7 Felipe II 1664 1680
8 Naimbanna I 1680 1720
9 Naimbanna II 1720 11 November 1793
10 Farima IV 1793 1807
11 Bai Foki 1807 1817
12 Moriba 1817 1825
13 Jack Coby (or Kunia Banna) 1825 1826
14 Fatima 1826 1840
15 Moribu Kindo 1840 1859
16 Bai Kanta (or Alexander) 1859 1872
- Alimani Lahai Bundu
(Regent)		 1872 1890
17 Bai Kompa (or William Rowe) 1890 1898
18 Fula Mansa Gbanka 1898
Sub-Kings of Ko-Fransa
1 Tom I 1770 1778
2 Jimmy 1778 1796
3 Tom II 1796 1807

References

  1. ↑ Stewart, John (1989). African States and Rulers. London: McFarland. p. 155. ISBN 0-89950-390-X.

Sources

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