One of the best-known of the late 19th-century warrior-chiefs of the former Protectorate is Kailondo, the founder of Kailahun, present District Headquarters of Kailahun District, Eastern Province. The earliest published reference to him appears in the memoirs of Alldridge.¹ Later, District Commissioner Hollins² treated at length Kailondo’s prominent position in the history of Luawa Chiefdom, the largest Chiefdom of Kailahun District. Reverend Clarke³ collected additional data during the 1930’s and subsequently published his Story of Kailondo and Ndawa in 1957. More recently, the eminent historian Christopher Fyfe has included a sketch of Kailondo in his writings. Fyfe draws heavily on the writings of Alldridge.⁴

    In this Research Note we shall examine first the possible biases in the earlier accounts and then contrast the published materials with accounts that we have collected from living informants who remember Kailondo and the events of his time.<sup>5

   1</sup>Alldridge (or ‘Big Neck,’ as he is still called by the oldsters of Kailahun District) first met Kailondo in 1890. This early meeting was an outgrowth of the Berlin West Africa Conference (1884-5),

¹  T.J. Alldridge, The Sherbro and Its Hinterland. London: Macmillan, 1901; and, T. J. Alldridge, A Transformed Colony. London: Seeley & Co., 1910.
²   N. C. Hollins, “A Short History of Luawa Chiefdom, Based on Facts Given by Paramount Chief Momo Banya and Elders of the Chiefdom.” Sierra Leone Studies, no. 14, 1929, pp. 10-27.
^3. The Rev. W. R. E. Clarke, “The Foundations of the Luawa Chiefdom (The Story of Kailondo and Ndawa).” Sierra Leone Studies, no. 8 (n.s.), 1957, pp. 245-51.
⁴  Christopher Fyfe, A History of Sierra Leone. London: Oxford University Press, 1962; and Christopher Fyfe, Short History of Sierra Leone. London: Longmans, Green, 1962. Nowhere does Fyfe refer to the writings of Hollins and Rev. Clarke (see above).
⁵We wish to thank the late Pa Gbimottor of Kailahun, Pa Boima Bondo of Semabu Village (Upper Bambara), Pa Brima Yarjo of Folu (Jawi), and the late Section Chief Pa Jusufu of Fargoya (Jawi).




at which the principle of ‘effective occupation’ was decreed the basis for the balkanization of West Africa. The purpose of Alldridge’s 1890 expedition into what later became the Sierra Leone Protectorate was to secure for Britain the requisite Treaties of Protection from Chiefs — and to secure them before the French could expand into that territory. In Kailondo, Alldridge found a local sovereign who recognised clearly the advantages of currying British favour. Kailondo requested that ‘Frontiers’ (West African Frontier Force) be stationed at Kailahun, even though that town was at the time part of Liberia. Alldridge readily granted the request. From this happy meeting of minds emerged Alldridge’s laudatory descriptions of Kailondo-: ‘Certainly he was one of the most intelligent chiefs I ever met; powerful . . . but capable of understanding what was for the lasting interest of his people, and universally beloved for miles around.’⁶  Or, again: ‘Kailondo was a truly sagacious and far-sighted ruler, and is still remembered with affection and respect’⁷

   In contrast Alldridge’s description of another chief who was less impressed by the ‘urgency’ of Britain’s grand colonial design is worthy of note. Of the latter chief, Niagwa, he writes. ‘This Niagwa was a most arrogant man, who did not always observe sufficient courtesy towards the British Government, although he required to be treated with much ceremony himself.’⁸  One could well doubt the objectivity of some of Alldridge’s assessments of character.

   Nearly three decades after Alldridge published his first memoir, N C. Hollins wrote his ‘Short History of Luawa Chiefdom.’ Hollins collected much of his data about Kailondo from the then Paramount Chief of Luawa, the late Momo Banya, who was the son of Kailondo — and hence, scarcely an unbiased source. Hollins provides a lengthy account of the First Kpove War (circa 1880), which commenced, he tells us, with the invasion of the great warrior Ndawa, who burnt Manowa, took Pendembu and Mendi, and eventually grappled with Kailondo at Kenewa and Ngiehun. In this account, Kailondo emerges the gallant young knight who ‘...rid the country of the freebooter...’ (p. 15). Hollins gives a brief account of Kailondo’s subsequent plundering of the countryside, mentioning that he took ‘...much spoil of wives, slaves, cattle, many cloths and a carronade...’ (p. 19). Nowhere does Hollins mention human carnage or human sacrifice, which we believe played a prominent role in Kailondo’s administration of Luawa. What Hollins does note is that although some of Kailondo’s Kpelle slaves ‘...sighed for human flesh... they were not allowed this horrid diet within the Kailahun warfence’ (p. 19).

⁶    A Tramsformed Colony, op. cit., pp. 180-81.
⁷    ibid., p. 199.
⁸    ibid., p. 177.



Reverend Clarke presents us a different version of the First Kpove War. In his account, this War originated in a feud between the Warrior Ndawa and Chief Gbenya of Blama. Chief Gbenya fled north and east from Blama, and Ndawa pursued him. Ndawa invited Kailondo to join in the pursuit, and a temporary alliance was formed between these two warriors.

   Ndawa moved to Sakabu (the village that later grew into present-day Kailahun) and formed an alliance with some of the local chiefs, who convened at Ngiehun (a town between Sakabu and Pendembu). Kailondo likewise gathered a following and marched on Ngiehun. The ensuing struggle, described in detail by Hollins¹⁰ and again by Reverend Clarke, resulted in the downfall of Ndawa and the ascendancy of Kailondo. Reverend Clarke’s description of Kailondo’s administration of Luawa Chiefdom draws heavily on the early memoir of Alldridge,¹¹ whose laudatory descriptions of Kailondo are quoted at length.

   Our own field experience indicates that one can expect informants from Kailahun to support Hollins’ version of the struggle between Kailondo and Ndawa; whereas the elders of Jawi and other outlying areas will tend to buttress Reverend Clarke’s account. An important addendum to the view of the latter group is that one point of friction between the two warriors involved the dividing of the booty — Kailondo felt that Ndawa cheated him! In short, one version stresses the chivalry of the conflict; the other, the meanness. Further research might reveal still other variations.

   There are also several versions of Kailondo’s burial. Alldridge states that the warrior’s burial place was a carefully guarded secret.¹² Hollins reports that Kailondo died at Dukonko (Guinea) and was first buried there; but that later the body was removed to Sakona (Guinea) and still later to Komaru (Luawa, near Mano).¹³  Reverend Clarke states that Kailondo died at Lukono


⁹   Clarke, op. cit., p. 248.
¹⁰  op. cit., pp. 14-15.
¹¹  The Sherbro..., op. cit.
¹²  A Transformed Colony, op. cit.,  p. 199.
¹³  op. cit., p. 20.


(Guinea), his fatherland; but that the body was subsequently removed to Sakona; then to Magbalu, his motherland; and finally to Komalu (Komaru), Kai’s fatherland.¹⁴ Accounts from our own informants include all these variations. An interesting sidelight is offered by Rev. Clarke’s account of the burial itself: ‘...as was their custom, his people placed about £12 in the grave together with many country cloths, brass bowls, and boxes.’¹⁵ One of our informants insisted that twelve male slaves were sacrificed and buried with Kailondo.

   Of perhaps greater significance is that our informants do not corroborate the published materials that portray Kailondo as a chief who was ‘...universally beloved for miles around...’¹⁶ Our data do confirm, however, that Kailondo was ‘...a chief who was never spoken of except in the highest terms.’¹⁷ To quote one informant: ‘Kai was in those days so powerful that nothing occurred that did not come to his ears. When anyone said anything against him, Kai would seek him out and seize him by the arm and say, “Now I shall deal with you.” Death seems to have been the usual penalty for failure to speak in the ‘highest terms.’

   Kailondo took great numbers of slaves, reportedly from within his own Chiefdom as well as from other chiefdoms. The informant quoted above continues:


The above and similar accounts shed doubt on Fyfe’s appraisal of Kailondo: “Though so famous in war he was kind and gentle in manner and merciful to his enemies.”¹⁸ Our informants are unanimous in stressing the terror that Kailondo inspired and the

^14.   op. cit., pp. 251.
^15.   id.
^16.   Alldridge,  A Transformed Colony, op. cit., p. 181
^17.   id.
^18.   Short History..., op. cit.,  p. 128.



ruthlessness with which he dealt with all opponents and personal enemies. A not untypical instance was his treatment of the Chiefs of Ngiema, who had sympathised with Ndawa: As a public spectacle Kailondo bound them, tied heavy stones about their necks and threw them into the River Keeya. In another instance he displayed his displeasure with three Gbandi chiefs who had harboured one of Ndawa’s lieutenants and who had refused to surrender him, by razing all the towns in Gbandi country and taking home much booty and slaves.

   In summary, the elders whom we have interviewed have portrayed Kailondo in a light not encountered in the two major (and semi-official) accounts¹⁹ and the subsequent writings based on them. Interestingly, our informants’ accounts of the rough-and-tumble struggles that followed the social turmoil fostered by European contact and the widespread introduction of firearms into the Protectorate of Sierra Leone, generally agree with d’Azevedo’s careful reconstruction of the (19th-century) history of the adjacent Liberian hinterland.²⁰ Further, the accounts of human sacrifice suggest an interesting link between the history of 19th- century hinterland Sierra Leone and that of the great Empires to the south.²¹

   The European Conquest of upcountry Sierra Leone occurred within the lifetime of the oldest resident of the former Protectorate. These surviving elders are an invaluable source of data about pre-colonial society and culture. Unless this information is collected within the next few years — while these elders can

^19.   Alldridge, op. cit.; Hollins, op. cit. What is probably the preliminary draft of District Commissioner Hollins' article is a letter (dated 24 May 1924) which he sent to the Provincial Commissioner, with refererence to a chieftain succession dispute in Luawa. The letter may be found in the District Archives at Kailahun, in an uncatalogued file of miscellaneous correspondence for the years 1924 through the early 1930’s.
^20. Warren L. d’Azevedo, “The Setting of Gola Society and Culture: Some Theoretical Implications of Variation in Time and Space.” Kroeber Anthropological Society, no. 21, 1959, pp. 43-125.
^21. We are indebted to Dr. Milan Kalous, Department of History, Fourah Bay College, for his helpful suggestions and for his generous permission to read a manuscript that he is preparing for publication, “Human Sacrifice in Benin History.” Of interest is the parallel use of the club to strike the heads of the intended sacrificial victims.
   Even after the colonial administration had put an end to large-scale human sacrifice in the Sierra Leone Protectorate, the sacrificial sites were (and are) still used for ritual offerings of foodstuffs. Yigindi, mentioned above, was and is the most famous of these sites along the Moa River in Kailahun District.




still be consulted, and before the published accounts influence oral renditions — whole chapters of the history of Sierra Leone will forever be based on the frequently biased and flimsy accounts of early European travellers and administrators.


^22. Abraham hopes to secure funds for an extensive survey of oral history in Kailahun District.