There is evidence that during the eighteenth century slave trading along the Vai coast increased dramatically from the previous period, and with the abolition of the trade by the British in 1807, and the Americans in 1808, the illicit trade maintained the same volume because other nationals took the place of British and American traders. During the early part of the nineteenth century many European mercantile houses, most especially the French, established ties with local Vai traders. In return for consignments of goods, these Europeans received regular shipments of slaves. With the trade came economic power, which local Vai men could translate into wives, mercenaries and domestic slaves, thereby increasing their subject population. Zolu Duma was one such individual who by the beginning of the nineteenth century had succeeded in consolidating his political power through economic means.

His Birth.

Nothing is known from the documentary evidence concerning Zolu Duma’s birth, except that he was Gola in origin. The oral traditions vary concerning the exact place of his birth. There are at least three different places mentioned. One is Gohn Koko, a town in the Kongbaa area of northern Liberia. Kongbaa was the reputed homeland of the Gola peoples. The second is Jawajei, a town in the Vai Kone area, the region where Zolu Duma later settled.
The last location, Mano Gobla, was a town located in the Gobla area of the modem Lofa-Gola chiefdom. Both Vai Kone and Gobla were originally Gola areas, but the former is now considered Vai. All of the sites of his birth are plausible, and we must remain uncertain until further evidence is forthcoming.
Whatever the case, all the evidence indicates that his father’s family did not reside in the area in which he would later establish his town, though there is possible evidence from one of the sources that his mother’s family may have come from Vai Kone. However, since both the Gola and Vai emphasize their patrilineal ties, in general an individual’s most important kinship linkages are with one’s paternal family.

Zolu Duma’s Overseas Training and Return.

According to one of the oral traditions, while visiting the Gola town, Jangama, a Vai man, Nyor, from Vonzua in the Vai Kiadii Clan, was offered Zolu Duma as a ward.
In this relationship Zolu Duma was placed as a client to Nyor, his patron. Nyor accepted Zolu Duma and returned to the Vai country. In time, Nyor placed Zolu Duma with a Bassa man, Wuling, who was acting as a trading agent between the Vai people and the Europeans. An alternative version of the tradition states that Zolu Duma’s father himself placed his son with Wuling, since the latter was a wealthy man.
The practice of having one’s son raised by important individuals was common, as it made possible an extra­kin linkage between the two families presumably to their mutual benefit.
Zolu Duma followed in the footsteps of other local people who were sent abroad to be educated. Such had been the case of the man who trained Wuling. According to Vai traditions, a young man named Jangba from the Bassa area was captured by Europeans and carried off to Europe. There he was trained in their language and trading practices. Eventually he was returned to the Bassa country.
Jangba then began training others among who was Wuling. After Wuling had completed his education, he moved north and settled at Cape Mount, eventually founding the town of Bendu on the shore of Lake Pisu. From his new location Wuling began trading with the Europeans. At the same time, he too began to train several local youths. One was a man named Kpana who would eventually settle in Bongma in the Tewo Vai area. Another was Zolu Duma.
It is unknown who took Zolu Duma away from the coast and to what European country. The oral traditions never distinguish Europeans from each other, all of them being called Poo moenu and their country being referred to as merely Poo, meaning Westerners and a European country, respectively. After a period of time, Zolu Duma returned to initiate his own trading establishment.
The practice of sending youths abroad for training grew out of the increasing commerce between coastal peoples, particularly the Vai, and European traders.
Part of the trade expansion can be linked to greater demands for slaves. What in the past had been rather casual interactions between scattered African leaders and various European traders was now increasingly formalized. One of the mechanisms used was to appoint certain local men to act as agents for the European traders.

The traders encouraged this as it alleviated the problem of negotiating with many people and the consequent interminable discussions over prices and resultant delays in obtaining cargoes. A fellow agent farther up the coast either recommended an agent to a European trader, or several prospective agents came to the ship to obtain the trade of the vessel. Each man had letters of recommendation from previous Europeans who had deal with the particular person and on this basis a suitable agent could be chosen.
However, this practice was not sufficiently secure to the European traders and so the system evolved one step farther. Some traders, hoping to have more honest, dependable and loyal agents on the coast, obtained the children of prominent individuals whom they took to Europe to be educated. These individuals were eventually returned to the coast to act as the European’s personal agent and representative.
Zolu Duma’s training was an example of this policy by the European traders. The training provided Zolu Duma special opportunities to gain power not granted to most Gola and Vai youths who remained within the framework of the traditional social structure. Vai historians, however, viewed Zolu Duma’s success from another point of view.

Zolu Duma at Gohn Koko.

There are several versions of the oral traditions pertaining to Zolu Duma’s visit to the town, Gohn Koko. No supportive written documentary evidence exists; yet, the reasons for the trip are understandable. If, as one version of the oral traditions states, Zolu Duma was born in Gohn Koko, the trip was a return home. But even if this were not the case, the visit to the Gola heartland, Kongbaa, where Gohn Koko was located, had the purpose of revalidating his Gola kinship and cultural ties.
From the point of view of Vai historians the trip had another function. It was during this visit that Zolu Duma gained spiritual support for the great tasks, which lay ahead. In Gohn Koko Zolu Duma saw and met an anthropomorphic spirit, a jinai (jinn). At the same time, the latter realized that Zolu Duma had the potential to be a great fearless leader. In order to test Zolu Duma’s bravery, she demanded that Zolu Duma kill the chiefs daughter. When Zolu Duma did so, the jinai knew she had found her man and decided to “follow” him, giving Zolu Duma the spiritual support necessary for his future success. Together, the jinai and Zolu Duma fled the wrath of the chief whose daughter had been murdered. The two proceeded southward eventually settling on a site along the Gbai creek, and there founded the town of Gohn, commonly known as Gohn Zolu Duma, that is, Zolu Duma’s fortified town.

Zolu Duma Settles at Gohn.

Gohn continues to exist today and is located in the center of what came to be called the Zolu Duma Clan of the Vai Kone Chiefdom. Originally this was Gola territory and was known simply as Kone.
Whether Zolu Duma himself actually founded the town, or whether there has been an earlier settlement located on the site must await archaeological excavation. In addition, it is not known who granted him permission to settle there.
The location was at the headwaters of a navigable stream, Gbai creek, up which small canoes could be paddled. From this site it was easy to transport trade goods, including slaves, from the interior to the coast via the Mofi River, and at the same time have access to trade goods brought by the Europeans. For instance, to this day European cannons can be found in Gohn, which could only have been transported from the coast by means of boats, there being no beasts of burden available in this rainforest region. Gohn was located, not unlike many other important Vai towns, at a transshipment point where cargoes had to be transferred from boats to the backs and heads of carriers. Thus, it was a strategic site for an individual such as Zolu Duma, who was to build his political power on the base of the European-African trade.

The Molly Man.

From the point of view of Vai historians, however, a far more important contributor to his success was Zolu Duma’s jinai. In addition, his success was predicted well before it occurred. The single best-known portion of Zolu Duma’s story recalled by Vai historians concerns a Manding Muslim.
During the latter part of the eighteenth century when Zolu Duma began his rise to power, there were several traveling Manding Muslim teachers, called specifically kamor in Vai, who visited the Vai and Gola areas. In fact, by 1836, one observer noted that Islam was prevalent among the prominent Vai men. Mosques were common and Manding travelers who visited various towns acted as teachers of the faith. In addition, wealthy chiefs as priests and religious instructors often retained these Manding for several years.
Zolu Duma’s relationship to one such visiting Manding Muslim was not particularly harmonious. This Muslim, in the traditions usually called kamor Nyei, came to Zolu Duma just as the latter was beginning to gain political strength. As a consequence, Zolu Duma asked the kamor to pray for him so that he might gain additional power. The Muslim agreed to do this and after some initial prayers told Zolu Duma to stand on a rice fanner. The Muslim then made the fanner rise high in the sky at the same time telling Zolu Duma to look in all directions. Once he had done this, kamor Nyei brought the fanner and Zolu Duma back to earth. He then told Zolu Duma that all the area, which he had seen from the great height, would come under his control.
The traditions state that Zolu Duma was pleased, but not wanting others to obtain similar power through this Muslim, he ordered that kamor Nyei be killed. The Muslim after initially protesting, accepted his fate. However, before being put to death he asked permission to say his prayers. Then he informed Zolu Duma that, although his prediction would come true, upon Zolu Duma’s death, his successors would never maintain such power, and in fact, because of his foul act, Zolu Duma’s successors would be doomed to a humble status.
Through this incident Vai historians make it clear that Zolu Duma’s career was an exception to the Vai norm. It was occasionally possible for an individual to become exceedingly powerful and to use his power in a brutal and arbitrary manner, but such concentrated power and behavior could not be tolerated for most men and certainly would not be institutionalized and perpetuated from one generation to the next.

Trade Relations, Ma Malia and the Expansion of Territory.

From the early part of the nineteenth century the export slave trade from the Vai country continued at a high rate. For Zolu Duma, this was an important export item. Gohn was a collecting point for slaves being brought down from the interior. There is little question that Zolu Duma established a series of trading relations with minor chiefs throughout the hinterland of Gohn from whom he was able to obtain, by subdividing a major European contract, the numbers of slaves, which were being demanded. Such was the pattern other Vai chiefs followed.
The oral traditions describe another mode in which Zolu Duma, at least on one occasion, was able to acquire on short order a number of slaves demanded by a European trader. In the incident told by Vai historians, Zolu Duma tricked his sister, Ma Malia, who was the head of a woman’s traditional school, the Sande society. Zolu Duma on false grounds encouraged Ma Malia’s Sande society girls to visit a European ship. Having previously made an agreement with the European traders, once the girls were on board, the vessel set sail. Ma Malia was dismayed at what Zolu Duma had done and openly expressed her anger. For that, Zolu Duma had her killed. A woman, even, his sister, he said, had no right to challenge his actions.
It is hard to conceive a ruler enslaving his own people with any regularity and not causing serious disruption to his political control. Nevertheless, Zolu Duma was apparently able to do so. Part of the purpose that Vai historians have in telling the story is to demonstrate how considerable Zolu Duma’s power was, and that he even had the audacity to enslave his own people and kill his own sister. At the same time it makes clear to everyone that although Zolu Duma might do these deeds, he was distorting the social structure of the society.
In the beginning it is likely that Zolu Duma maintained trading ties with his mentor, Willing, and in fact for a time he might have been his agent in the interior. We know, for instance, that descendents of Zolu Duma were the rulers of the coastal trading town, Gambia. It is reasonable to presume that
this town originally had been Wuling’s outlet to the sea and the European traders offshore. In time, Zolu Duma also would make use of the island, Masating (literally, chiefs island) in Lake Pisu as another trading site.
As Zolu Duma’s trade increased, he began to consolidate his relations with the interior and neighboring rulers. To the east his area of control abutted that of Sao Boso, the ruler of the Condo Confederation with its capital at Bopolu. It is said that a treaty of peace and non-aggression existed between the two rulers. As a consequence, there were relatively few disturbances between the two leaders. This meant that Zolu Duma, resting assured that his rear was not threatened, was able to turn his attentions in other directions.
Not unlike Wuling at an earlier date, Zolu Duma began to attract young men to his side, whose parents desired to have their sons “educated.” One such individual, Fahn Fila Jenge was bom in Maima Gobla, the area from which, at least one tradition recalls, Zolu Duma’s father had derived. Jenge was sent by his parents to Zolu Duma’s town to become his ward and apprentice.
In a similar manner, the parents of Fahn Torlor (Gotolo) sent him to live with Zolu Duma. From Zolu Duma’s point of view, this particular relationship was mutually beneficial, as Fahn Tolorlor’s father came from the town of Torsor in the Tombe area and his mother came from the town of Tienemai, Manoballa Clan, in the Gawula area. Thus through this one individual, Zolu Duma extended his relationships to at least two families in two different areas of the Vai country.
As Zolu Duma’s economic wealth and consequent political power increased, he began to look for means to expand his trading outlets. Initially the Tombe and Gawula areas were outside his political control. They were, however, intervening areas between his territory and the sea. Thus, it was natural that in time frictions would increase between Zolu Duma and the rulers of these areas.
The oral traditions allude to problems. Initially, a war broke out between the leaders of Gawula and Zolu Duma’s people in which the former with the assistance of outsiders seem to have won the day. In time new difficulties arose. One account mentions that Zolu Duma smarted under ethnic slurs cast by Vai against his Gola people. According to this tradition, Zolu Duma organized an army, which easily marched from Cape Mount through Tombe subduing all the towns.

The army then moved into Gawula conquering great stretches of this area halting its attack at the gates of Bendu, the town of Zolu Duma’s teacher and trading partner, Wuling. Whatever may have been the actual cause and time for the attack on Tombe and Gawula, Zolu Duma came to dominate these areas, usurping the political control of the traditional leader of Gawula at Mando, Dwalu Fagbana, also known as King Gray.
Zolu Duma had now gained unhindered access to the coast. Not only did he obtain control of the coastal town of Fanima, which had belonged to Dwalu Fagbana, but also he was able to establish an additional outlet at the mouth of the Lofa River.
There is little evidence available concerning Zolu Duma’s power south of the Lofa River. He may have controlled the Gobla area, and he probably had a certain amount of influence over the Dei people intervening at times when he had a special interest in the area.

Mana’s Visit to Zolu Duma.

To the west, Zolu Duma’s influence did not extend beyond the Mafa river and in fact, he may have had only minimal influence between the Mafa and Mofi rivers. This is not to say that his reputation had not been spread much farther.
To the far west on the coast in the Vai area known as the Gallinas, today a part of southern Sierra Leone, there was a ruler named Siaka. He too had gained considerable political power through trade with the Europeans. Vai historians retain a story about the two rulers. According to the traditions, Siaka had heard several reports to the effect that there was a powerful ruler living to the interior who possessed some wealth and power. He could not believe, however, that anyone could surpass his own political strength. In order to ascertain the truth of the reports, he decided to send his son, Mana, to visit and see for himself.
Mana was dispatched with a bag of gold and other gifts. After several days of traveling, Mana approached a village near Gohn Zolu Duma where he met children playing. They were all well dressed. In fact, they were dressed in cloth better than that which Mana had reserved to clad himself when he arrived at Gohn.
On entering the village, he saw a noble looking man who was also well dressed. Assuming that he had arrived at Gohn and that the man was Zolu Duma, he bowed and addressed him humbly.Much to his embarrassment, he learned that the man was only Zolu Duma’s chief warrior and slave. Attempting to regain his composure, Mana was given directions and set off for Gohn itself, where he was welcomed.

After being provided with a house, Mana was eventually taken before Zolu Duma, and there he presented his bag of gold. This time he learned to his surprise that Zolu Duma already had many chests full of gold. One account even states that all of his chests, as well as those of his wives, were so full that they did not know where to put the new bag of gold! Thus, the gift, which Siaka and Mana thought, would truly impress this interior ruler turned out to be something common.
Following a brief stay at Gohn, Mana was provided with presents to carry back to Siaka. One version states that Mana was so embarrassed that he left Gohn without even saying good-bye. On his return, Mana reported what he had done and what he had seen, much to the disbelief and bewilderment of Siaka.
As in the earlier traditions, Vai historians use this account to demonstrate the power and authority, which Zolu Duma commanded. Everyone in the area knows about Siaka’s power, but as the oral traditions indicated, Zolu Duma’s power was even greater, at least greater than thought probable for an “interior” ruler. In addition, one has to assume that there is at least a grain of chauvinism on the part of the historians who tell the tale.

Beginning with this tradition, Zolu Duma’s story can be linked to written sources. References to Siaka date from 1808 when he was involved in consolidating his control over the Gallinas area.
In 1814, we have the earliest European description of Zolu Duma and his town. The account describes the town, which is for some unknown reason called “Couscea,” the etymology of which is not clear, and states that:
Couscea contains from fifteen to twenty thousand inhabitants; it is walled by balks, placed horizontally in two rows about three feet distance, the interspace filled with clay. The town was strong, with four gates, at each of which there are cannons that are in tolerably good order.
The account also notes that it was possible to sail from the sea by canoe to the town, and that Zolu Duma, who is called “Peter Careful”, was spoken of with great respect, especially since he had treated his visitors with kindness.
Items of trade included camwood, ivory, locally woven cotton cloth and rice. There is no mention of slaves, but then it is possible that this trade was hidden from most European eyes, particularly since the British and Americans forbade it.
A personal description of Zolu Duma written by a Church Missionary Society traveler in 1819 was far less complimentary. Given what we have seen of Zolu Duma’s tactics, it was probably not too far off the mark.
The present King [Peter] is a native of the Golah country but has continued partly by force and partly by fraud to secure to himself the government of Cape Mount. He is a quarrelsome and cruel man generally at war with his neighbors, whom he seldom fails putting to death if they fall into his hands. He has also stopped and plundered several strangers passing through his dominions, white as well as black, and is generally looked upon and spoken of as an object of terror by all around.
Again in March 1821, Zolu Duma was referred to in the following manner:
This part of the coast we had previously learned to be the occupancy of King Peter, one of the most powerful and warlike Chiefs in West Africa, and more deeply engaged in the Slave Trade than any of his neighbors. The known hostility of his views to the objects of the American Government and Society, dissuaded us from incurring any loss of time or expense in procuring an interview with him.
Needless to say, reports on Zolu Duma by these Europeans and Americans created an unfavorable impression. Liberian settlers would also view him with considerable caution.

Zolu Duma and the Liberian Settlers.

During the five years prior to Zolu Duma’s death, he came under increasing pressure from outsiders, especially the African Americans who had settled at Cape Mesurado to form what would be the colony of Liberia. Zolu Duma’s role in the negotiations for the original tract of land, which was obtained by Robert Stockton and Eli Ayres in December 1821, is obscure. Although Zolu Duma is often mentioned as a participant in the negotiations, for instance by Beysolow, but he is not a signatory to the treaty.
By 1826, there were indications that the ruler of Cape Mount, presumably Zolu Duma, though it may have been his son, was anxious to welcome missionaries in his territory. There was apparently an intense interest in acquiring a Western education. Undoubtedly the model was already planted in their midst, as exemplified by Zolu Duma himself, who had been trained abroad. One of the results of that training was self-evident to all - he was ruler of the area.
Zolu Duma was beginning to feel the pressure of the peoples under his subjugation who which to be free. In particular, the Vai of Tombe and Gawula resented his political domination. There was also some indication that the slave population, estimated as high as three-quarters of all of the people, was in revolt. If a large proportion of the population consisted of domestic slaves, it remained imperative for a leader to maintain a firm grip over all the population. In addition, the “normar flow of export slaves was being hampered, which must have affected the whole economic structure.
In October, and again in December 1826, Liberian commissioners, and then the Agent for the Colony, went to Cape Mount to negotiate for control of the trade from that area. However, on both occasions, it was impossible to conclude any firm agreement. The difficulty was attributed to “the unsettled state of their government,” and the fact that there had been “a very great commotion among the nation during the year past.”
There were indications that the political stability of Zolu Duma’s territory was beginning to crack. Although the exact date of his death cannot be ascertained, by November 28th, 1827, he was reported dead. If during the previous year he were having health problems, this would have accounted for the political instability. One of the characteristics of the various polities created in the Gola-Vai area was the fact that leadership was not hereditary, but rather fell to one strong individual. When his strength wavered, so did his political power.

Zolu Duma’s Death.

As with Zolu Duma’s birth, there is scanty information concerning his death, and at that, it is somewhat contradictory. The possibility exists that he died a natural death after a period of illness. There is also a tradition that he became lost while following an elephant. Finally, there was the prediction in one of the accounts of the Muslim diviner, kamor Nyei, that Zolu Duma would die from chiggers, a small worm-like insect that digs into the feet.
Whatever the cause, Zolu Duma, as befitted such a great ruler, was immediately buried with a large quantity of silver cups, spoons and bowls. The final observance, the so-called forty-day funeral ceremony, was held on February 12, 1828. Large crowds of people fiom all the surrounding towns attended.
From the Vai point of view, the funeral was a festive occasion. “They have all the feasts. They do everything until everybody satisfied,” but as improperly understood by a Baptist missionary:
The funeral commenced ... with firing of guns, crying, singing, and
dancing in so much that the whole town was nothing but confusion.
The final ceremonies had been celebrated for Zolu Duma. But this was not the end of the story.
Shortly after Zolu Duma’s death a three-way struggle took place between the two individuals he had raised, Fahn Fila Jenge and Fahn Torlor, and Zolu Duma’s son, Jala Finji. Jala Finji quickly lost control over large areas formerly controlled by his father. However, it was an attack on Gohn Zolu Duma by Fahn Fila Jenge and his subsequent actions, which shocked everyone. Not only did Jenge sack the town killing all his captives, but prior to burning the town, he exhumed Zolu Duma’s skull and the silver, leaving Zolu Duma’s body to be consumed in the burning town. Zolu Duma’s life had been filled with violence. His remains were destroyed in violence.
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