Scenes from the Mamprugu Kingdom, northern Ghana. Traditional culture and attires. Photographs by William Haun.

Scenes from the Mamprugu Kingdom, northern Ghana. Traditional culture and attires. Photographs by William Haun. 

The history of the Mamprugu Kingdom, as that of Dagomba and Nanumba, begins with the legendary Tohazie, the Red Hunter, who is said to have hailed from the Lake Chad region in the East. With a band of horsemen, Tohazie travelled to Mali, where according to the oral histories, he married the daughter of the king and fathered Kpoginumbo. After conflicts with the Songhai, Kpoginumbo and his followers moved south to Biun, in modern-day Burkina Faso, and his son, Naa Gbewaa, moved further south to Pusiga in modern-day northeastern Ghana, where he founded the kingdom of Dagbon somewhere in the 15th century. His sons went on to found the Mamprugu and Nanumba Kingdoms as well, and another descendant, the warrior princess Yennenga, went on to found the Mossi Kingdom after marrying a Mandé hunter. Consequently, there are many historical and cultural connections between these Gur-speaking peoples.