According to sociologist David P. Gamble, Niumi is pronounced Nyoomi, with a long ‘O’, and was written this way by linguist Gordon Innes.

[3] The earliest inhabitants of Niumi were likely shellfish gatherers and fishermen on the coast, possibly related to the modern-day Serer.

It is said that Samake took over after travelling with a group of other Mandinka rulers from the Gambia to the Emperor of Mali to seek legitimacy for their rule.

The Maane had conquered indigenous people on the south bank of the Gambia River, and settled at the town of Brufut.

[5] At first, the Sonko settled on the borders of Siin and Saalum and collected taxes for the Serer and Wolof rulers, but they later decided to help the Jamme and Maane in their struggle.

In 1678, a Frenchman named Ducasse established a small post on Charles Island, but he and his men were shortly after killed by the natives.

Europeans became involved with the island again in the 19th century, and it was mined for stone in the late 1810s when the British founded the town of Bathurst on the opposite side of the river.

To make matters worse for the Niuminka rulers, in 1816 the British founded Bathurst on the opposite bank of the Gambia and began actively suppressing the slave trade.

The agreement that Burungai signed relinquished all Niumi claims to sovereignty over the river as well as on the territory of the Ceded Mile.

[13] In 1831 an English agricultural society sought to create a settlement for liberated slaves and pensioners on Dog Island, but these settlers were chased out on August 20 due to the sacred nature of the land.

The spark was supposedly lit when two Niumi men entered Fort Bullen, drunk and with cutlasses, and demanded to be served.

[15] The British sent a party after these two men the next day, but with the tense political environment a large crowd gathered in front of the fort.

Finally in November the British retook Fort Bullen, and in January 1832 signed a peace with the Niumimansa confirming the land cession.

[16] In the years after this setback, trade in beeswax and hides increased, but the Niumi ruling elite could not tax it and so looked for alternative sources of income.

Niumimansa Demba Sonko recruited the famous Mandinka warrior Kelefa Saane, the subject of a popular griot song in modern times, to help suppress the revolt.

To prevent a massacre of the Serahulis, the British Governor arranged a truce and sent the force up the river to Fattatenda in order to remove them from danger.

[citation needed] After the death of Demba Sonko in 1862, there was an interregnum before his successor, Buntung Jamme, succeeded to the throne.

One of Marabout chief Maba Diakhou Ba's captains, a Wolof called Amer Faal, took the opportunity to invade Niumi.

The new King of Niumi took refuge in Bathurst, but the headmen of Berending and Essau prepared to make a stand against the Marabouts.

The Governor was determined to remain neutral, but agreed to evacuate Albreda and protect women and children at Fort Bullen.

D'Arcy could not settle the dispute by negotiation, and so launched a punitive expedition against Faal's town of Tubab Kolong in July 1866.

After victory in the Battle of Tubab Kolong, the Niumi forces went on to burn the primarily Muslim villages of Lamin, Albreda, Jufure, and Sika.

[19] Niumi lay in open savanna which provided pasturage and dry sandy soil for groundnut production.

As Niumi had one of the few stretches of river frontage on the Gambia not choked by mangrove swamps, important land and water routes intersected with the kingdom.

[20] The elite of Niumi were active traders, and also profited from charging tolls to passing merchants and resident Europeans.

Slaves carrying ivory, beeswax, hides, and hold were marched down the river from Wuli and other states to the east for trade at the Niumi ports of Jillifree or Albreda.

This was because the next town in line for the throne would attempt to shorten his life, and that poison would be subtly introduced into the diet of the reigning king.