Sikasso was a small village until 1870, when
Tieba Traoré, whose mother came from Sikasso, became
Faama of the
Kénédougou Kingdom and moved the capital there. He established his palace on the sacred
Mamelon hill (now home to a
water tower) and constructed
a massive tata to defend against the attacks of both the
Malinke conqueror
Samori Ture and the
French colonial army. This made Sikasso the largest fortified city ever built in west Africa. Sikasso withstood a 15-month siege by Ture from 1887 to 1888 before the French, allies of Kenedougou against Ture, relieved the city. Despite this, the
French contrived a diplomatic crisis to attack in 1898. They began a major artillery barrage against the tata on April 15th 1898, and the city fell on May 1st amid furious house-to-house fighting.
Babemba Traore, Tieba's brother who had succeeded him as
faama, ordered his bodyguards to kill him rather than let him fall into French hands. He is still remembered for honoring the
Bamanankan saying "Saya ka fisa ni maloya ye" (literally: death is preferable to shame). 4000 captives were taken from the sack and parcelled out as slaves among the French and their African auxiliaries. They were marched back west to the
Niger, with many too weak or starved to continue dying or being killed along the way. In modern-day Sikasso, attractions include the large
market, Mamelon hill, the remains of Tieba Traoré's
tata, and the nearby Missirikoro Grotto. The festival takes place every June, celebrating the
traditional Malian instrument. ==Geography==