Kombo

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Kombo, also called Combo, was a kingdom in the area of present-day The Gambia from around 1271 to 1875. It grew out of the Mali Empire, became independent after its fall, and was ruled by the Sambou Bainunka clan. The first Mansa (king) was Karapha Yalli Jatta (the hunter), who sought help from the Kaabu Empire to establish the kingdom and married Wullending Jasseh, a Bainuk queen of Sanyang, bringing her to Busumbala. The throne alternated between two clans, the Jatta (Djatta) and Bojang (Bodian): when one clan supplied the king, the other chose the crown prince from its own line.

From 1840 to 1855, Mansa Suling Jatta ruled but was killed in the Soninke-Marabout War (1850–1856), after which many Jatta left the area. The Kumpo masquerade is named after Kombo.

European explorers mention Kombo from the 1600s onward; they noted its rice and wax and that the king was Mandinka with a Bainouk mother and a Muslim faith. Early maps show Kombo stretching about 30 miles along the river, from Cape St. Mary’s to the Kabata River, and originally included seven villages: Busumbala, Brikama, Yundum, Jamburu, Kafuta, Sanyang and Manduar. The king’s title was Mansa. In 1875 Kombo was dissolved as a political unit during colonial reorganization; today the area is part of The Gambia and Senegal.