chiefdom · West Africa

Pakao

1500 CE – 1880 CE (approx.)

Mandinka district of the middle Casamance known as a centre of Muslim scholarship in a largely non-Muslim region.

Origins

Known mainly from oral tradition and colonial records. Pakao was settled by Mandinka families along the north bank of the Casamance river, probably by the 16th century, at the edge of the Kaabu Empire's sphere.

Rule and society

Pakao was organised as a set of villages under chiefs, but stood out for its clerical lineages, who ran Quranic schools and spread Islam among neighbouring peoples. It paid tribute to Kaabu and maintained ties with Gambian Mandinka states.

Decline and legacy

In the second half of the 19th century Pakao was caught up in the wars of Fula and Mandinka Muslim leaders and then came under French rule, becoming part of French Senegal by the 1880s.

Few sources survive for this state; details are uncertain.

Connections (1)

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Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Pakao. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/pakao
MLA
“Pakao.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/pakao. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Pakao.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/pakao.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Pakao’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/pakao (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻