Rulers · fl. c. 1835–1870s

Momoru Sao

Son and successor of Sao Boso at Bopolu; host of Benjamin Anderson on the Musardu road in 1868.

Biography

Momoru Sao inherited a confederation that was no longer expanding. Where his father had built the Condo state on the strength of the caravan road, Momoru governed it in a period of pressure: Barline war-parties to the north-east, an ambitious settler republic on the coast, and rival Mandingo houses at Musardu contesting the trade.

He kept Bopolu open. Benjamin Anderson, sent inland by the Liberian government in 1868, was received there, detained for weeks by negotiation rather than force, and finally passed onward with letters of introduction. Anderson's account is the fullest description we have of how a Condo ruler actually worked: courts held in the open, tribute assessed in cloth and kola, and roads guaranteed by the ruler's personal word.

Historical significance

Momoru Sao is the bridge between the pre-1822 interior order and the documented nineteenth century. Because Anderson wrote him down, we can read backwards into his father's state.

Timeline

c. 1835Succeeds Sao Boso at Bopolu
1868Receives Benjamin Anderson en route to Musardu
1870sCondo authority contracts as coastal trade shifts

On the map

Associated with Bopolu. Open the historical atlas.

References

Anderson, Benjamin (1870). Narrative of a Journey to Musardu.
Holsoe, Svend E. (1971). 'The Condo Confederation in Western Liberia.'