Bandiagara is a city in the Malian "Land of the Dogons". "Bandiagara" is also the name of a sandy formation of cliffs and plateaux in the region.
The city is located 63 km east of the Sévaré crossroads, starting point of the roads to Mopti, Gao, Timbuktu, Bamako and the Southern road to Burkina Faso. It is home to different cohabiting ethnic groups (Peuls, Dogons, Bambaras, Malinké).
Tidiani Tall, El Hadj Omar's nephew and successor, chose the Bandiagara as capital of the Takrur (Toucouleur) empire. It is also Malian author Amadou Hampâté Bâ's natal city.
The Cliffs of Bandiagara themselves are a sandstone chain ranging from south to northeast over 200km and extending to the Grandamia massif. The massif's end is marked by the Hombori Tondo , Mali's highest peak at 1,115 meters. Because of its archaeological, ethnological and geological charateristics, the entire site is one of the most imposing in West Africa.
The troglodyte Tellem, an ethnic group later chased arrival of the Dogons, used to live in the slopes of the cliff. Dozens of villages are located along the cliff, like Kani Bonzon, where the Dogons arrived in the 14th century .
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Last updated: 08-24-2005 18:40:56
