Wodzowie Kurumbów i ich królestwa (Burkina Faso)

The Kurumba are farmers who inhabit northern part of Burkina Faso and a few villages of the neighbouring Republic of Mali. The Kurumba settled in the territory which they currently occupy in the thirteenth century. Since then they have established a few separate political organizations called kingdoms in literature. In the central part of the Kurumba territory there is the Kingdom of Lurum, to the east there is the Kingdom of Pela and to the west the King- dom of Karo. The highest authority in the kingdom lies in the hands of a chief (a king) - Ayo- who was identified with the kingdom and whose prosperity was associated with the prosperity of the king- dom. Theoretically his power was absolute. In the Kurumba villages an important role is also played by the landowners - Asendesa - who are the descendants of the first settlers. The power of Ayo is bestowed on him by the Mossi Chiefs, who have subdued the Ku- rumba Kingdoms, whereas the power of Asendesa comes straight from the ancestors. The Kingdom of Lurum was probably the first dominating kingdom as it has the longest genealogy of kings and the body of its legends is the most elaborate. The Kingdom of Pela came into existence in the territory invaded by the Yatenga (established by Mossi) most probably in the first half of the eighteenth century. The long and complicated process of creating the Kingdom of Karo started in the middle of seventeenth century with the Songay arrival.