Bai Bureh, leader of the Temne people during the Temne-Mande-War 1898, after his capture
The only known photo of Bai Bureh, the last ruler, taken in 1898. 
The Kingdom of **Kquoja** or **Koya** or **Koya Temne**, or the **Temne Kingdom** (1505–1896), was a pre-colonial African state. It was located in the north of Sierra Leone. Its capital was at Cape Mount in what is now Liberia.

The kingdom was founded by the Temne ethnic group in or around 1505. Migrants from the north who wanted to trade with the Portuguese in the south founded the kingom. 

It was ruled by a king called a Bai or Obai. The sub-kingdoms within the state were ruled by nobles titled "Gbana". The Koya Kingdom kept and maintained diplomatic relations with the British and French in the 18th century. Children of Temne nobles were allowed to get western educations abroad. Koya also traded with Islamic states to its north and had Muslims within its borders.

Under Nembanga's reign (1775–1793), the Koya kingdom signed a treaty which made it possible for the establishment of a British colony on the peninsula of Sierra Leone in 1788.

Koya participated in the trans-atlantic slave trade, though sources state that such commerce was much more privatized than in other kingdoms. Subjects of Koya traded in slaves on the coast even against the wishes of the state at times.

From 1801 to 1807, Koya fought a war with British colonists and the Susu. Koya lost the northern shoreline of Sierra Leone to the British and Port Loko to the Susu. However, they remained a power in the region. In 1815, the Temne fought another war with the Susu and regained the port. In 1841, the Temne defeated the Loko tribe of Kasona on the Mabaole River dispersing many of the people. In response to a British bombardment, the kingdom expelled the Church Missionary Society missionaries operating at Magbela in 1860.

The kingdom became a British protectorate August 31, 1896. At that point the Koya kings lost almost all power. Revolts of the Temne and Mende in 1898 were fierce but futile. The British would govern the area of the former kingdom until 1961.

  

LIST OF RULERS OF THE KOYA KINGDOM OR TEMNE KINGDOM!

The Obai or Bai was the ruler of the Temne people in the Kingdom of Koya, in what is now northwestern Sierra Leone. The kingdom became part of the British protectorate in Sierra Leone after 1898, and the Bai was then a king in title only.

1450 Foundation of Koya state (Koya Kingdom or Temne kingdom) ..........Bais (Rulers)

1505 to 1680Unknown Names and Number of Bais, Bai

1680 to 1720 Naimbanna I (in Port Lokko), Bai

1720 to 11 November 1793 Naimbanna II, Bai

1793 to 1807 Farima IV (Farama), Bai

1807 to 1817 Foki, Bai

1817 to 1825 Moriba Kindo Bangura, Alikali, Bai

1825 to 1826 Kunia Banna, Alikali, Bai

1826 to 1840 Fatima Brima Kama, Alikali, Bai - Queen

1840 to 1859 Moribu Kindo, Bai

1859 to 1872 Kanta (Alexander, Conteh), Bai

1872 to 1887 VACANT,

1887 to 1898 Burech (Kabalai), Bai , 1st time from Kasseh

1890 to 1898 Kompa Bakari Bombolai (William Rowe), Bai, from Koya

1898 Fula Mansa Gbanka, Bai

| # | Name | Reign Start | Reign End |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | king niger | c. 1450 | c. 1562 |
| 2 | amram mew ||| | c. 1562 | c. 1618 |
| 3 | king eliab bai | c. 1618 | 1634 |
| 4 | ori uzziel amram || | 1634 | 1651 |
| 5 | ed croton shango | 1610 | 1630 |
| 6 | amram castro imotep v | 1630 | 1680 |
| 7 | Felipe II (bais) | 1664 | 1680 |
| 8 | Naimbanna I | 1680 | 1720 |
| 9 | Naimbanna II | 1720 | 11 November 1793
[*source?*] |
| 10 | Farima IV | 1793 | 1807 |
| 11 | Bai Foki | 1807 | 1817 |
| 12 | Moriba Kindo Bangura, Alikali, Bai | 1817 | 1825 |
| 13 | Kunia Banna, Alikali, Bai | 1825 | 1826 |
| 14 | Fatima Brima Kama, Alikali, Bai - Queen | 1826 | 1840 |
| 15 | Moribu Kindo | 1840 | 1859 |
| 16 | Kanta (Alexander, Conteh), Bai | 1859 | 1872 |
| - | Burech (Kabalai), Bai , 1st time from Kasseh | 1872 | 1890 |
| 17 | Kompa Bakari Bombolai (William Rowe), Bai, from Koya | 1890 | 1898 |
| 18 | Fula Mansa Gbanka | 1898 |
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