Kombo

There are relatively few mentions of Kombo in early Western literature on the Gambia, owing primarily to the fact that European visitors primarily visited the northern ports. In 1621, as English explorer Richard Jobson was about to leave the Gambia, he recorded that he met the King of Kombo, who welcomed him to the country. Portuguese explorer André Donelha wrote in 1625 that Kombo "produces much rice and is very beautiful." Another Portuguese explorer, Francisco de Lemos Coelho, wrote in 1688 that the King of Kombo was a Falupo, a general term meaning a Jola living near Casamance, and that his village was the largest anywhere on the river. Coelho further wrote that Kombo had "much wax and rice" and that the King and his people were pagan.[2]

An early map of the Gambia by the Courlanders in 1651 shows that they believed Kombo was an island. The Vermuyden map of 1661 and Leach's map of 1732 did not make this same error. Leach's map shows a number of locations, including Mansakunda (the King's town), a Muslim town to the east of the kingdom called Morakunda, and Kabata town. Francis Moore wrote in 1730 that the territory of Kombo spanned approximately 30 miles from Cape St. Mary's to the Kabata River.[3]

There were originally six villages of Kombo. Five names are known: Brikama, Yundum, Jamburu, Kafuto, and Manduwar.[4]

The King of Kombo was known as 'Mansa'.[4]