Conakry is seeking the return of the remains of one of its most celebrated anti-colonial figures, more than a century after French forces defeated and killed him in the final battle for the independence of Fouta-Djalon.
Guinea has asked France to return the skull of Almamy Bokar Biro Barry, the last independent ruler of the Imamate of Fouta-Djalon, reopening a painful chapter of the country’s colonial history nearly 130 years after his death.
Bokar Biro was killed in 1896 after leading resistance against France’s expanding colonial presence in what is now Guinea. His defeat marked the end of Fouta-Djalon’s independence and brought the powerful Islamic state under French control.
Now, Guinea wants his remains brought home. The request comes as Conakry steps up efforts to recover historical objects and remains taken to France during the colonial period. In July, Guinea formally asked France to return a collection of manuscripts seized during the colonial conquest, including a Qur’an associated with another major Guinean resistance leader, Almamy Samory Touré.
The campaign has given new momentum to Guinea’s broader effort to reclaim parts of its history held in French institutions.
Bokar Biro ruled Fouta-Djalon at a time when France was rapidly expanding its colonial empire across West Africa.
The mountainous Fouta-Djalon region had strategic importance, and French authorities increasingly sought to bring the independent Imamate under their control.
Bokar Biro resisted.
In one of the most enduring episodes associated with his rule, French authorities pressured him to accept a protectorate arrangement in 1896.
Instead of signing his name to the document, he is remembered for writing “Bismillah” — “In the name of God.”
The gesture became a powerful symbol of his refusal to surrender Fouta-Djalon’s sovereignty voluntarily.
But Bokar Biro was fighting more than a foreign army. Fouta-Djalon was deeply divided by rival political factions and disputes among local chiefs. Those divisions weakened the resistance and gave France opportunities to exploit internal rivalries as it advanced.
The decisive confrontation came at Porédaka on November 13, 1896.
French forces, equipped with superior firearms and artillery, defeated Bokar Biro’s army.
The battle effectively ended organised military resistance to French conquest and paved the way for the incorporation of Fouta-Djalon into the French colonial system.
Bokar Biro was killed shortly afterwards. For Guinea, his death became more than the end of a ruler. It became part of the country’s larger story of resistance to colonial domination.
More than a century later, his remains have become the focus of another struggle, this time fought through diplomacy and demands for restitution rather than on the battlefield.
The request for Bokar Biro’s skull is not simply about returning human remains.
For Guinea, bringing home the remains of a ruler who died resisting French conquest would represent the recovery of a piece of national history.
It would also allow the country to give him the burial and national recognition that, according to the restitution campaign, he was denied after his death.
The issue is part of a wider debate across Africa over human remains, cultural objects and historical materials removed during European colonial rule.
France has faced increasing demands from African countries to return cultural heritage taken during the colonial period. Guinea’s latest efforts include the recovery of manuscripts and objects connected to its anti-colonial resistance figures.
Bokar Biro could not stop the French conquest of Fouta-Djalon in 1896. But his refusal to surrender has ensured that his name survived the colonial era.
Today, Guinea’s demand for his remains transforms that history into a contemporary question: who should have custody of the remains of an African leader who died resisting colonial conquest?
For Conakry, the answer is clear.
After nearly 130 years, Bokar Biro should come home.
His return would not change what happened in 1896. But it could allow Guinea to close one of the most painful chapters of its colonial history with a state funeral for a ruler whose final act was to refuse to give up his country’s sovereignty.
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