title: Yankasso
text: # Yankasso
  
  Yankasso is a village in the Safané Department of Mouhoun province of Burkina Faso. It was the site of a serious defeat of the French colonial forces in December 1915.
  
  ## Location
  
  Yankasso is just north of Safané and 46 kilometres (29 mi) southeast of Dédougou. As of the 1996 census, the population of Yankasso was 2,012.
  
  ## Battle of 23 December 1915
  
  In November 1915 there was a revolt in the Black Volta bend against the French. The administrator Jules Brévié arrived at the end of the month to review the situation. On 21 December 1915 a French column left Dédougou led by commandant Simonin. Yankasso was then a large Marka village on the route leading south to Bouna. Simonin suffered a serious check at Yankasso on 23 December. Brévié was present at the battle. The defeat was a political disaster for the colonial forces, since it showed they were not invincible. Within a few days the revolt had spread to the whole of the Volta bend. On 2 March 1916 the French returned and destroyed the village. Most of Burkina Faso was at peace by the end of July 1916.
  
  