Rulers · fl. late 18th century
King Yoda (Gola)
Gola war-leader of the interior forest whose campaigns pushed Gola authority toward the Dei coast.
Biography
Gola oral tradition, collected by Warren d'Azevedo in the 1950s, preserves the memory of a period of expansion in which Gola towns pressed south and west into Dei and Vai territory, forcing tributary arrangements and marriage alliances rather than outright conquest.
Yoda belongs to that generation of war-leaders. His authority was Poro-sanctioned rather than dynastic: he could call and dissolve a war, close and open the roads, and enforce a truce, but he did not command a standing state.
Historical significance
Shows how power actually moved in the forest belt — through the initiation societies and alliance, not through the kind of centralised kingship European observers expected to find.
Timeline
- late 18th c.Gola expansion toward the Dei coast
- c. 1800Tributary and marriage settlements with coastal towns
- 1950sTraditions recorded by Warren d'Azevedo
On the map
Associated with Gola forest. Open the historical atlas.
Related entries
References
- d'Azevedo, Warren (1962). 'Uses of the Past in Gola Discourse.' Journal of African History 3(1).
- d'Azevedo, Warren (1959). 'The Setting of Gola Society and Culture.'
Suggested reading
- d'Azevedo (1962).