Kaabu

Kaabu, also known as Gabú, is a historic West African empire centered in the Gabú region of present-day northeastern Guinea-Bissau, with extensions into southern Senegal and The Gambia. It arose in the 13th–14th centuries in the aftermath of the Mali Empire and grew from Mandinka-speaking polities into a regional power, later forming a centralized monarchy that governed a network of vassal chiefs and towns. The ruler coordinated defense, diplomacy, and tribute, while local administrators managed diverse communities.

Kaabu controlled inland and coastal trade routes, linking upper Niger and Senegal river networks with Atlantic markets. It participated in trans-Saharan exchanges and, later, in coastal trade with European powers, exporting goods such as salt, gold, kola nuts, and enslaved people while importing textiles and firearms.

The empire was predominantly Mandinka in language and culture, with Islam becoming entrenched through merchants, scholars, and griots. The Kaabu system contributed to the spread of Mandinka cultural influence across the region and helped shape social and religious life in its domains.

By the 19th century, Kaabu faced internal fragmentation and external pressures from rival states and European colonial expansion. Portuguese and French forces moved into the region, and Kaabu gradually dissolved into the colonial territories of Guinea-Bissau, The Gambia, and Senegal. The historical memory of Kaabu remains part of the regional heritage in these countries, cited in discussions of early state formation and pre-colonial West African politics.