Dyula People
The Dyula (Dioula or Juula) are a Mande ethnic group inhabiting several West African countries, including the Mali, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Senegal and Guinea-Bissau.
Characterized as a highly successful merchant caste, Dyula migrants began establishing trading communities across the region in the fourteenth century. Since business was often conducted under non-Muslim rulers, the Dyula developed a set of theological principles for Muslim minorities in non-Muslim societies. Their unique contribution of long-distance commerce, Islamic scholarship and religious tolerance were significant factors to the peaceful expansion of Islam in West Africa.
Read more about Dyula People: Historical Background, Commercial and Political Expansion, Dyula Culture and Society, Islamic Tradition, Dioula Language, Notable Members
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“...we shall never be the people we should and might be until we have learned that it is the first and most important business of a nation to protect its women, not by any puling sentimentality of queenship, chivalry or angelhood, but by making it possible for them to earn an honest living.”
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