Kingdom of Kong

The Kong Empire (1710–1898), also known as the Wattara Empire or Ouattara Empire for its founder, was a pre-colonial African Muslim state centered in the northeastern Ivory Coast that encompassed much of present-day Burkina Faso. Dyula immigrants from the declining Mali Empire founded it. It established a largely decentralized commercial empire based upon linkages by merchant houses protecting trade routes throughout the region. Kong rose to prominence in the 1800s as a key commercial center and center of Islamic studies. In 1898, Samori Tureattacked the city and burnt it down. Although the city was rebuilt, the Kong empire had dissipated, and the French took control of the area.