Bandiagara

Bandiagara is a small town and urban commune, the administrative capital of the Bandiagara Region of Mali. Its name translates roughly as large eating bowl, a reference to the communal bowl from which meals are served. On the Bandiagara Escarpment about 2,000 people speak Bangime, a language isolate used mainly as an anti-language, and the area holds the highest point of the country. The town lies 65 kilometres east-southeast of Mopti, and a seasonal river, the Yamé, flows northeast through it. Its people include Dogons, Fulani and Bambaras. Bandiagara is said to have been founded in 1770 by the Dogon hunter Nangabanu Tembély, and in 1864 Tidiani Tall, nephew and successor of El Hadj Umar Tall, chose it as capital of the Toucouleur empire. It is the birthplace of the Malian authors Amadou Hampâté Bâ, Madina Ly-Tall and Yambo Ouologuem.