Writing a Burkina history in an HTML page is an ambitious project, so ambitious that this page is limited to a few stories.

Burkina Faso History


Yennega

Princess Yennega was the beloved daughter of king whose kingdom was located in the modern Ghana. But she ran away from home, riding a stallion.
Then, she met the elephant hunter, named Riale. They had a son, named Ouedraogo (male horse, or stallion), who is the common ancestor of the whole Moaga people.


Binger et Naaba Wobgho

Binger travelled from Dakar to the Ivory Coast at the end of the 19th century. He was a French military officer sent by the Colonial Department and the Foreign Ministry to explore and ultimately to link France's possessions between the Niger River and the Guinea coast by treaties.His role in the history of Burkina is secondary. However, he was one of the very first European to visit the Mosse kingdom in Ouagadougou. He wrote what is still a unique testimony of the pre colonial Mosse customs.

Binger's journey across Africa, between 1887 and 1889, is related in a 1000 pages story, published in 1892 by the "Société des Africanistes" in Paris. It is still a reference. Unfortunately, it has never been translated.

In June 1888, he is in the Mosse country and meets a prince who will become Mogho Naba Wobgho. He finds a well organized kingdom, a king whose polocy is much less naive than what is usually believed about Africa in that time
This story is available (in French) on the French National Libray (BNF) site (PDF, but as it is a fac simile it's heavy and takes time to download). This is the version published in "Le Tour du Monde", which is likely to be an earlier publication than the Société des Africanistes one. The BNF states a 1860 date, which is impossible (1890?).

An extract (PDF format): the Binger in "Waghadougou" pages. It's size is 3M ! Only for broadband internet. This file was downloaded from the BNF site.


Source BNF, 1890

This artwork is also used by the primature site with a legend "Naba WOBGO de Ouagadougou with his army (Photo d'archives)" (sic). When Binger was in the Mosse territory, Boukary, Naba Sanom's brother, was not yet Mogho Naba Wobgho but that's actually the same person!

Thomas Sankara

Thomas Sankara is probably the most famous Burkinabe figure. Beyond his actual historical role, he became a symbol for many Africans. He is almost hold in veneration, as Che Guevara.

Historian will make the difference between the man and the myth. Many books are already available (in French).


A few books about Burkina History (French)

And Joseph Ki Zerbo's :


Links about Burkina History


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