Editing Dyula people (section)

===Gonja state===
The ''dyula'' presence and changes in the balance of power occasioned political upheavals in other places. Among the paramount Mande political initiatives along trade routes south of [[Djenné|Jenne]] was creation of the ''dyula'' state of [[Gonja people|Gonja]] by Naba'a in the 16th century.<ref name="Bakewell">{{cite book|author=Wilks, Ivor. Wangara, Akan, and Portuguese in the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries|editor1-last=Bakewell|editor1-first=Peter|title=Mines of Silver and Gold in the Americas|date=1997|publisher=Variorum, Ashgate Publishing Limited|location=Aldershot|pages=29–30}}</ref> This was motivated by a general worsening of the competitive position of dyula traders and was occasioned by three factors: (1) a near-monopoly control in exporting forest produce achieved by the Akan kingdom of Bono; (2) the rise to power further north of the [[Dagomba people|Dagomba]] Kingdom which controlled local salt pans; and (3) increased competition following the arrival in the region of rival long-distance traders from [[Hausaland]].

The reaction of the Dyula in the Bono-Banda-Gonja region to these developments was to establish a kingdom of their own in Gonja – the territory northern traders had to cross to reach Akan forestlands, situated in what is now modern [[Ghana]]. By 1675, Gonja had established a [[paramount chief]] called [[Yagbongwura]] to control the kingdom. But Gonja was not a fruitful land in which to try to maintain a centralized government. This is because the Dagomba power to the north and Akan power to the south were too powerful; thus, the new kingdom rapidly declined in strength.<ref>[http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/640523/history-of-western-Africa/54841/The-wider-influence-of-the-Sudanic-kingdoms "The Wider Influence of the Sudanic Kingdoms''], britannica.com</ref><ref>[[Ivor Wilks|Wilks, Ivor]]. "Wangara, Akan and Portuguese in the Fifteenth & Sixteenth Centuries II: The Struggle for Trade". ''Journal of African History'' 23:4 (1982): 463–472</ref>