Dyula intellectualism in the Ivory Coast and Ghana : a study of the life and career of Al-Ḥājj Ṣāliḥ b. Muḥammad b. Uthmān

Abstract

This thesis is concerned with the 19th century politico-religious and intellectual aspects of the Dyula of Bondoukou and the career of al-Ḥājj Ṣāliḥ b. Muḥammad b. Uthmān of Jinini (d. 1932). Among the points of discussion are the establishment of the Gyaman Abron kingdom in northern Ivory Coast, the founding of a Dyula imamate and trading community within its frontiers, the impact of the Samorian and French subjugation of the territory, the intellectual activity of the Dyula, and the influence of al-Ḥājj Ṣāliḥ in Bondoukou, Jinini and Wenchi. Selected Dyula Arabic writings are included to give the reader an idea of the level of Dyula familiarity with the language and Islamic learning; this is not intended to be an exhaustive study of Dyula scholarship. To the degree which the sources permit, the focus of this study is upon the life of a little known scholar in the West, al-Ḥājj Ṣāliḥ.