| Period | Key Developments | |--------|-----------------| | | The Mandinka empire (Mali) established a trading network that integrated the coastal Guinean territories. | | Colonial era (1884–1958) | French indirect rule reinforced ethnic hierarchies; Mandinka were positioned as tax collectors, fostering resentment among the Fula and Soussou. | | Post‑independence (1958–1990) | President Ahmed Sékou Touré’s one‑party state alternated between co‑optation and repression of Mandinka elites. After his death (1984), a series of military coups intensified patronage politics. | | 1990s political liberalization | The 1995 election of President Lansana Conté, a Fula‑origin leader, sparked competition over state resources, especially in the bauxite‑rich coastal provinces (Boké, Kindia). |