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100-750: The Torodbe originated in Futa Toro, a strip of agricultural land along the Senegal River and at the time the state of Takrur , from as early as the 9th to as late as 13th century, later spreading throughout the Fulbe territories. They may well have been a distinct group by the fifteenth century, when the Denianke conquered Takrur , creating the Empire of Great Fulo . In 1644 the Zawaya Berber reformer Nasr ad-Din launched

200-473: A Jihad . Muhammed Bello , son and heir of Uthman dan Fodio, has been attributed as the author of a poem that praises the glorious exploits of the Banu Toro. Al-Haji 'Umar Tall included the poem in the messages he sent to the leaders of Futa Toro when raising support for his jihad , since it showed that the powerful Fodio family supported his cause. The poem said in part: These [Banu Toro/Torodbe] are my people;

300-565: A drainage basin of 270 000  km ( 100 000  sq mi), a mean flow of 680 m /s (24,000 cu ft/s), and an annual discharge of 21.5 km (5.2 cu mi). Important tributaries are the Falémé River , Karakoro River , and the Gorgol River . The river divides into two branches once it passes Kaédi The left branch, called the Doué , runs parallel to the main river to

400-555: A jihad against Gobir which lasted about four years and ended in victory for the Muslims. Shaykh Mukhtar al-Kunti (1729-1811) was an immensely influential reformer who led the Qadiriyya tariqah in West Africa. Shaykh Usman dan Fodio looked up to him as a teacher, and Shaykh Mukhtar reportedly threw his support behind Shaykh Usman in his Sokoto campaign, saying "Usman ibn Fudi is one of

500-468: A weir . The power station was replaced in 2014. In 2013, construction of the Gouina Hydroelectric Plant upstream of Felou at Gouina Falls began. The Senegal River has a drainage basin of 270 000  km ( 100 000  sq mi), a mean flow of 680 m /s ( 24 000  cu ft/s), and an annual discharge of 21.5 km (5.2 cu mi). Important tributaries are

600-479: A camel. Further east, along the river, is the seated emperor ( mansa ) of Mali (" Rex Musa Meli ", prob. Mansa Musa ), holding a gold nugget. His capital, " civitat musa meli " is shown on the shores of the river, and the range of the Emperor of Mali's sway is suggested by all the black banners (an inscription notes "This lord of the blacks is called Musa Melli, Lord of Guinea, the greatest noble lord of these parts for

700-500: A considerable distance south of Cape Bojador ( buyeter ) - indeed, south of a mysterious " cap de abach " (possibly Cape Timris). There are extensive notes about the plentifulness of ivory and gold in the area, including a note that reads "This river is called Wad al-Nil and also is called the River of Gold, for one can here obtain the gold of Palolus. And know that the greater part of those that live here occupy themselves collecting gold on

800-646: A direct route to the Atlantic Ocean. The aquatic fauna in the Senegal River basin is closely associated with that of the Gambia River basin, and the two are usually combined under a single ecoregion known as the Senegal-Gambia Catchments . Although the species richness is moderately high, only three species of frogs and one fish are endemic to this ecoregion. The existence of the Senegal River

900-613: A harsh and oppressive rule on the people. The French provided political and economic support to the Torodbe leaders, who in return let the French build fortified posts along the Senegal valley. Jihad leaders in the region who followed the Torodbe revolutionary tradition in the late nineteenth century included Maba Diakhou Bâ in the Kingdom of Sine , Mahmadu Lamine in Senegal and Samori Ture who founded

1000-544: A jihad to restore purity of religious observance in the Senegal river valley. He gained support from the Torodbe clerical clan against the traditional leaders of the region and initially saw great success, but Nasr ad-Din was killed in 1674 and by 1677 the movement had been defeated. After this defeat, some of the Torodbe migrated south to Bundu and some continued on to the Fouta Djallon . The Torodbe at first recruited members from all levels of Sūdānī society, particularly

1100-529: A reference to Ptolemy 's legendary 'Nigir' (Νιγειρ) (below the Gir), which would be later identified by Leo Africanus with the modern Niger River . Much the same story is repeated by Marmol in 1573, with the additional note that both the Senegal River and Gambia River were tributaries of the Niger River . However, the contemporary African atlas of Venetian cartographer Livio Sanuto , published in 1588, sketches

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1200-680: A scimitar. The River of Gold is sourced at a circular island, what seem like the Mountains of the Moon (albeit unlabeled here). From this same source also flows north the White Nile towards Egypt, which forms the frontier between the Muslim "king of Nubia " (" Rex Onubia ", his range depicted by crescent-on-gold banners) and the Christian Prester John (" Preste Joha "), i.e. the emperor of Ethiopia in

1300-572: A series of jihads in Bundu , Futa Toro , and Futa Jallon in the Senegambia region. The Torodbe Malick Sy, also spelled Mālik Sī, launched one of the first of the jihads towards the end of the seventeenth century in Bundu . Sy was born into a Torodbe family around 1637 near Podor in Futa Toro. He received formal Islamic training in what is now southern Mauritania . He married, and traveled from place to place trying to live by selling amulets. Sy founded

1400-793: A single ecoregion known as the Senegal-Gambia Catchments . Only three species of frogs and one fish are endemic to this ecoregion. The river has two large dams along its course, the Manantali Dam in Mali and the Maka-Diama Dam downstream on the Mauritania-Senegal border. In between is the Félou Hydroelectric Plant , built in 1927, but replaced in 2014. The construction of the Gouina Hydroelectric Plant upstream of Felou at Gouina Falls began in 2013. The Senegal's headwaters are

1500-483: A sophisticated understanding of the world and of Islamic thought. They brought this knowledge back with them. Within the Western Sudan , Torodbe clerics would maintain long-distance correspondence over long periods of time. The religious shaykhs would live on payments they were given in their official or judicial roles, or from fees for their religious services. A shaykh would take care of children while they learned

1600-607: A source of contention within the Sisibe ruling class. He also hoped to gain French support for the alliance he was building with the Imamate of Futa Toro and Bambuk against Kaarta , the only state on the upper Senegal that could rival Bundu at this time. But the Europeans, while happy to see Kaarta humbled, did not want Bundunke hegemony either. In 1851 Saada Amadi died and a civil war broke out. El Hadj Umar Tall took advantage, taking over

1700-477: A state based on Hamdullahi which lasted until 1893. Senegal River Senegal River at Dagana, Senegal The Senegal River ( Wolof : Dexug Senegaal , Arabic : نهر السنغال , romanized :  Nahr as-Siniġāl , French : Fleuve Sénégal ) is a 1086-kilometre-long (675 mi) river in West Africa ; much of its length marks part of the border between Senegal and Mauritania . It has

1800-467: A time during the eighteenth century Bundu reverted to pagan rule, but by that time most of the population were Muslim. The Torodbe influenced the Fulbe of the Futa Jallon, their kinsmen, in embracing a more militant form of Islam. A jihad was launched in the Futa Jallon around 1726 or 1727. The movement was primarily religious, and its leaders included both Mandé and Fulbe marabouts . Karamokho Alfa

1900-512: Is a beggar" and "if the calabash did not exist, the Torodo would not survive". The term Torodo is derived from tooraade , meaning "to ask for alms." The Torodbe lived in settled communities and would not follow any caste-based trade such as being fishermen, smiths, weavers or tanners. The jihads launched by the Torodbe leaders were in response to declines in Islamic practices coupled with oppression by

2000-596: Is still an important religious figure. When Sa'adu Abubakar was elected Sultan in 2006 he became formal head of the 70 million Muslims in Nigeria . The Fulbe Muslim state of Masina was established to the south of Timbuktu in 1818. Seku Amadu (Shaykh Ahmad Lobbo) was born in a poor family around 1773 at Malanga in the Segu Empire province of Massina. He was pious, honest and unassuming, and became deeply interested in religion, attracting many followers who were influenced by

2100-616: The Atlantic . In Kaedi it accepts the Gorgol from Mauritania. Flowing through Boghé it reaches Richard Toll where it is joined by the Ferlo coming from inland Senegal's Lac de Guiers . It passes through Rosso and, approaching its mouth, around the Senegalese island on which the city of Saint-Louis is located, to then turn south. It is separated from the Atlantic Ocean by a thin strip of sand called

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2200-620: The Bambuk -Buré goldfield district, which is practically surrounded on all sides by rivers - the Senegal river to the north, the Falémé River to the west, the Bakhoy to the east and the Niger and Tinkisso to the south. The 1413 portolan chart of Mecia de Viladestes gives perhaps the most detailed depiction of the early state of European knowledge about the Senegal River prior to the 1440s. Viladestes labels it "River of Gold" (" riu del or ") and locates it

2300-425: The Falémé River , Karakoro River , and the Gorgol River . Downstream of Kaédi the river divides into two branches. The left branch called the Doué runs parallel to the main river to the north. After 200 km (120 mi) the two branches rejoin a few kilometres downstream of Pondor . The long strip of land between the two branches is called the Île á Morfil . In 1972 Mali, Mauritania and Senegal founded

2400-514: The Langue de Barbarie before it pours into the ocean itself. The river has two large dams along its course, the multi-purpose Manantali Dam in Mali and the Maka-Diama Dam downstream on the Mauritania-Senegal border, near the outlet to the sea, preventing access of salt water upstream . In between Manantali and Maka-Diama is the Félou Hydroelectric Plant which was originally completed in 1927 and uses

2500-477: The Langue de Barbarie or the island of Saint-Louis ). The first town, by the mouth of the Senegal, is called " isingan " (arguably the etymological source of the term "Senegal"). East of that, the Senegal forms a riverine island called " insula de bronch " ( Île à Morfil ). By its shores lies the city of " tocoror " ( Takrur ). Above it is a depiction of the Almoravid general Abu Bakr ibn Umar (" Rex Bubecar ") on

2600-522: The Niger problem, visited Bondu in 1818 it had been moved to Bulibani (Boolibany), a village with a population of 1500–1800, surrounded by a strong clay wall. The French established a fort at Bakel in Gajaaga in 1820, followed by a brief presence at Sansanding in Bundu itself. Almamy Saada Amadi Aissata Sy, trying to promote trade, agreed to allow a permanent fort built at Senudebou in 1845, though this became

2700-521: The Organisation pour la mise en valeur du fleuve Sénégal (OMVS) to manage the river basin. Guinea joined in 2005. At the present time, only very limited use is made of the river for the transport of goods and passengers. The OMVS have looked at the feasibility of creating a navigable channel 55 m (180 ft) in width between the small town of Ambidédi in Mali and Saint-Louis , a distance of 905 km (562 mi). It would give landlocked Mali

2800-491: The Quran , but the children were expected to work or beg for the shaykh during this period. Other Torodbe lived through farming or herding, although the work was left to inferiors. Wealth was accumulated in the form of slaves, firearms, cloth and hardware. Some scholastic dynasties emerged from the Torodbe, including Usman dan Fodio 's Toronkawa, Seku Amadu 's Bari and Omar Saidou Tall 's Tall. The Torodbe provided leadership for

2900-727: The Semefé (Bakoye) and Bafing rivers which both originate in Guinea ; they form a small part of the Guinea–Mali border before coming together at Bafoulabé in Mali. From there, the Senegal river flows west and then north through Talari Gorges near Galougo and over the Gouina Falls , then flows more gently past Kayes , where it receives the Kolimbiné . After flowing together with the Karakoro , it prolongs

3000-603: The Western Sahara and emerged into an inlet, which they excitedly believed to be the mouth of the Senegal River. The name they mistakenly bestowed upon the inlet - "Rio do Ouro" - is a name it would remain stuck with down to the 20th century. Realizing the mistake, Henry kept pressing his captains further down the coast, and in 1445, the Portuguese captain Nuno Tristão finally reached the Langue de Barbarie , where he noticed

3100-461: The 1367 chart of Domenico and Francesco Pizzigano and carried on in the 1375 Catalan Atlas , the 1413 chart of the Catalan converso Mecia de Viladestes , etc. the "River of Gold" is depicted (if only speculatively), draining into the Atlantic Ocean somewhere just south of Cape Bojador . The legend of Cape Bojador as a terrifying obstacle, the 'cape of no return' to European sailors, emerged around

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3200-636: The 1460s, was already calling it the "Senega" [ sic ], and it is denoted as Rio do Çanagà on most subsequent Portuguese maps of the age. Cadamosto relates the legend that both the Senegal and the Egyptian Nile were branches of the Biblical Gihon River that stems from the Garden of Eden and flows through Ethiopia . He also notes that the Senegal was called "the Niger" by the ancients - probably

3300-463: The Atlantic ocean. The 1351 Medici-Laurentian Atlas shows both the Egyptian Nile and the western Nile stemming from the same internal mountain range, with the note that " Ilic coligitur aureaum ". The portolan chart of Giovanni da Carignano (1310s-20s) has the river with the label, iste fluuis exit de nilo ubi multum aurum repperitur . In the more accurately-drawn portolan charts , starting with

3400-522: The Bambuk-Buré goldfields). It is connected by many streams to the southerly "mountains of gold" (labelled " montanies del lor ", the Futa Djallon / Bambouk Mountains and Loma Mountains of Sierra Leone). It is evident the Senegal river morphs east, unbroken, into the Niger River - the cities of " tenbuch " ( Timbuktu ), " geugeu " ( Gao ) and " mayna " ( Niamey ? or a misplaced Niani ?) are denoted along

3500-457: The Bulibani and Koussan branches of the family, which would be the source of many succession disputes. originated at this time. Mungo Park , the first European traveller to visit the country, passed through Bondu in 1795, and had to submit to many exactions from the reigning monarch. The royal residence was then at Fatteconda ; but when Major William Gray, a British officer who attempted to solve

3600-532: The Egyptian Nile River or drawn from the same source (variously conjectured to some great internal lakes of the Mountains of the Moon , or Ptolemy 's Gir (Γειρ) or the Biblical Gihon stream). Arab geographers Abd al-Hassan Ali ibn Omar (1230), Ibn Said al-Maghribi (1274) and Abulfeda (1331), label the Senegal as the "Nile of Ghana " (Nil Gana or Nili Ganah). As the Senegal River reached into

3700-713: The Islamic Sokoto Caliphate , and El Hadj Umar Tall who created the short-lived Toucouleur Empire . The largest of the Fulani jihads was led by the Torodbe scholar Usman dan Fodio and established the Sokoto Caliphate in 1808, stretching across what is now the north of Nigeria . Usman dan Fodio, the Shehu, was born into a Torodbe clan in 1754 near Galmi in northern Hausaland. His family were originally Fulbe nomadic cattle herders who had probably come to Hausaland from

3800-523: The Islamic movement in Sokoto. In 1816 Uthman dan Fodio gave him the title of Shaykh, and in 1818 he led a revolt against the local rulers. Early success against the Segu army led to mass conversions of the Fulbe people, and Massina quickly became a strong Muslim state, although warfare with Segu continued for many years. In 1826 the new state took Timbuktu , which was held by Massina until Seku Ahmadu died in 1845. In

3900-472: The Mediterranean coast. There is an unlabeled depiction of a black African man on a camel traveling from " Uuegar " (prob. Hoggar ) to the town of "Organa" (" ciutat organa ", variously identified as Kanem or Ouargla or possibly even a misplaced depiction of Ghana - long defunct, but, on the other hand, contemporaneous with the depicted Abu Bakr). Nearby sits its Arab-looking king (" Rex Organa ") holding

4000-628: The Muslim population. Still, Bundu never attempted to spread Islam beyond its borders. Bundu purchased weapons from both the French on the Senegal river and the British on the Gambia , helping them become a regional power and rival to non-Muslim Kaarta . These weapons also, however, sparked internal conflict over rulership between rival branches of the Sisibe family based in Koussan and Bulibani. Bundu benefited from

4100-585: The Portuguese captain Lourenço Dias opened regular trade contact on the Senegal River, with the Wolof statelets of Waalo (near the mouth of the Senegal River) and Cayor (a little below that), drumming up a profitable business exchanging Mediterranean goods (notably, horses) for gold and slaves. Chronicler Gomes Eanes de Zurara , writing in 1453, still called it the "Nile River", but Alvise Cadamosto , writing in

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4200-528: The Senegal (albeit still trying to respect Classical sources), shows two parallel rivers running east to west, both of them sourced from the same great internal lake (which, Fra Mauro asserts, is also the same source as the Egyptian Nile). Mauro names the two parallel rivers differently,calling one " flumen Mas ("Mas River"), the other the " canal dal oro " ("Channel of Gold"), and makes the note that " Inne larena de questi do fiume se trova oro de paiola " ("In

4300-526: The Senegal was taken up in the 1420s by the Portuguese Prince Henry the Navigator , who invested heavily to reach it. In 1434, one of Henry's captains, Gil Eanes , finally surpassed Cape Bojador and returned to tell about it. Henry immediately dispatched a follow-up mission in 1435, under Gil Eanes and Afonso Gonçalves Baldaia . Going down the coast, they turned around the al-Dakhla peninsula in

4400-399: The Senegal, the Niger and the Gambia as three separate, parallel rivers. Portuguese chronicler João de Barros (writing in 1552) says the river's original local Wolof name was Ovedech (which according to one source, comes from "vi-dekh", Wolof for "this river"). His contemporary, Damião de Góis (1567) records it as Sonedech (from "sunu dekh", Wolof for "our river"). Writing in 1573,

4500-400: The Spanish geographer Luis del Marmol Carvajal asserts that the Portuguese called it Zenega , the 'Zeneges' (Berber Zenaga ) called it the Zenedec , the 'Gelofes' ( Wolofs ) call it Dengueh , the 'Tucorones' ( Fula Toucouleur ) called it Mayo , the 'Çaragoles' ( Soninke Sarakole of Ngalam ) called it Colle and further along (again, Marmol assuming Senegal was connected to the Niger),

4600-481: The Torodbe evolved into a closed society limited to a small number of families. The social stratification between slaves and free people, and between different hereditary occupations, remained unchanged. The Torodbe established schools where students were taught in Arabic . The mosques they erected in the main towns became the center of religious and.scholarly activity, and also were often administrative centers. Tithes were levied on harvests and inheritances to support

4700-457: The abundance of the gold which is collected in his lands". Curiously, there is a defiant gold-bannered town south of the river, labelled " tegezeut " (probably the Ta'adjast of al-Idrisi), and might be an ichoate reference to Djenné . East of Mali, the river forms a lake or "Island of Gold" shown here studded with river-washed gold nuggets (this is what the Pizzigani brothers called the island of " Palolus ", and most commentators take to indicate

4800-462: The accomplished saints; his djihad is just." Usman established the capital of his new empire in Sokoto . After some inconclusive fighting with the state of Bornu , the jihad wound down by 1810. The Shehu divided his conquests between his brother and his son, and spent the remainder of his life in study and teaching. He died in 1817. The Sokoto Caliphate survived until the British conquest in 1903, when it lost political power. The Sultan of Sokoto

4900-443: The area initially with the support of both the people and the Bundu aristocracy. Many Fulbe migrated east to Nioro du Sahel , heart of Tall's Toucouleur Empire . In 1855 Bokar Saada Sy, son of Saada Amadi, claimed the title of almamy with French support, but only managed to exert real control over Bundu after Tall's 1857 defeat at the Siege of Medina Fort with French military support. During this period warfare and famine devastated

5000-476: The capital of a local kingdom. The location Senegany is depicted in 1351 Genoese map known as the Medici Atlas (Laurentian Gaddiano portolan). This town ("Isingan") is fantastically depicted in the 1413 portolan map of Majorcan cartographer Mecia de Viladestes . The name itself might be of Berber Zenaga origin, speculatively related to 'Ismegh' ('black slave', analogous to the Arabic 'abd ) or 'sagui nughal' ('border'). Some sources claim 'Isinghan' remained

5100-426: The coast of Africa, albeit without communication with Atlantic (it ends in a lake). It depicts some giant ants digging up gold dust from its sands, with the note " Hic grandes formice auream serican [or servant] arenas " ("Here great ants guard gold sands"). In the mappa mundi made by Pietro Vesconte for the c. 1320 atlas of Marino Sanuto , there is an unnamed river stemming from the African interior and opening in

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5200-405: The collection of gold and that the river was wide and deep enough for the largest ships. Nothing more is heard of him either. In 1402, after establishing the first European colony on the Canary Islands , the French Norman adventurers Jean de Béthencourt and Gadifer de la Salle set about immediately probing the African coast, looking for directions to the mouth of Senegal. The project of finding

5300-421: The conquered territories, fortified Torodbe villages were established to maintain the peace. The Liptako Emirate was an early 19th-century Fulani Islamic state in the region where today's Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger meet. At first part of Massina, in 1824 it rebelled and became independent until the French arrived in 1864. Brahima Saidu led the revolt, and his family retained power. The Torodbe, who had opposed

5400-498: The desert end and the treeline begin, and the population change from 'tawny' Sanhaja Berbers to 'black' Wolof people . Bad weather or lack of supplies prevented Tristão from actually reaching the mouth of the Senegal River, but he rushed back to Portugal to report he had finally found the "Land of the Blacks" ( Terra dos Negros ), and that the "Nile" was surely nearby. Shortly after (possibly still within that same year) another captain, Dinis Dias (sometimes given as Dinis Fernandes)

5500-403: The earliest descriptions of the Senegal River. Early Arab geographers believed the upper Senegal River and the upper Niger River were connected to each other, and formed a single river flowing from east to west, which they called the "Western Nile". (In fact, some of the headwaters of the Senegal River are near the Niger River in Mali and Guinea.) It was believed to be either a western branch of

5600-433: The economy, and Tall's call for Muslims to emigrate eastwards to his domain dramatically reduced the population, particularly among the Fulbe. In the 1860s and 70s the Sisibe under Bokar Saada rebuilt their wealth through extensive raiding and trading for slaves and cattle as well as taxing the people. By the late 19th century two thirds of the population was enslaved. After the closing of the Senoudebou fort in 1862, Saada

5700-405: The feasibility of creating a navigable channel 55 m (180 ft) in width between the small town of Ambidédi in Mali and Saint-Louis , a distance of 905 km (562 mi). It would give landlocked Mali a direct route to the Atlantic Ocean . The aquatic fauna in the Senegal River basin is closely associated with that of the Gambia River basin, and the two are usually combined under

5800-416: The first Almamy of the theocratic Almamyate of Futa Toro . He encouraged construction of mosques, and pursued an aggressive policy towards his neighbors. Abdul Kader may have prohibited the trade in slaves on the river. In 1785 they obtained an agreement from the French to no longer trade in Muslim slaves and to pay customs duties to the state. Abdul Kader defeated the emirates of Trarza and Brakna to

5900-442: The first European to actually enter the Senegal river. He didn't get very far. Venturing ashore at one point along the river bank, Afonso tried to kidnap two Wolof children from a woodsman's hut. But he ran into their father, who proceeded to chase the Portuguese back to their launch and gave them such a beating that the explorers gave up on going any further, and turned back to the waiting caravels. Sometime between 1448 and 1455,

6000-423: The former's course along the Mali–Mauritania border for some tens of kilometers till Bakel where it flows together with the Falémé River , which also has its source in Guinea, subsequently runs along a small part of the Guinea-Mali frontier to then trace most of the Senegal-Mali border up to Bakel. The Senegal further flows through semi-arid land in the north of Senegal, forming the border with Mauritania and into

6100-416: The garb of a Christian bishop (coincidentally, this is the first visual depiction of Prester John on a portolan chart). Uniquely, the Viladestes map shows another river, south of the Senegal, which it labels the " flumen gelica " (poss. angelica ), which some have taken to depict the Gambia River . In the 1459 mappa mundi of Fra Mauro , drawn a half-century later, after the Portuguese had already visited

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6200-554: The generic Wolof term bor ("lord"). Curiously, Budomel is reminiscent of Vedamel already used by the Genoese back in the 14th century as an alternative name of the Senegal River. It is almost certain that the Genoese "Vedamel" are corruptions from the Arabic, either Wad al-mal ("River of Treasure", i.e. Gold) or, alternatively, Wad al-Melli ("River of Mali") or even, by transcription error, Wad al-Nill ("River of Nile"). Other etymological theories for "Senegal" abound. A popular one, first proposed by Fr. David Boilat (1853),

6300-406: The heart of the gold-producing Ghana Empire and later the Mali Empire , Trans-Saharan traders gave the Senegal its famous nickname as the "River of Gold". The Trans-Saharan stories about the "River of Gold" reached the ears of Sub-Alpine European merchants that frequented the ports of Morocco and the lure proved irresistible. Arab historians report at least three separate Arab maritime expeditions -

6400-430: The integrity of its central authority. This was, however, restored by Bubu's son Maka Jiba between 1731 and 1735. From the 1720s to the 1760s Bundu suffered Moroccan and Moorish slave raids, as did the neighboring states of Gajaaga, Bambuk, and Futa Toro . Maka Jiba died in 1764 and was succeeded by his son Amadi Gai, who adopted the title of almamy and introduced a legal system based on sharia . The division between

6500-426: The jihadist forces and restored them to the throne. With this, French control was effectively complete. The last almamy, chosen by the French, died in 1902. Early years of French control saw a rising population as many former migrants returned. Starting in 1904, however, conditions deteriorated significantly, and large-scale famines forced much of the population to move within or leave Bundu. Slaves in particular took

6600-447: The king. Bundu's growth that would set a precedent for later Fula jihads in West Africa . Sy settled the lands with relatives from his native Futa Toro and Muslim immigrants from as far west as the Kingdom of Jolof and as far east as Nioro du Sahel . Under Sy, Bundu became a refuge for Muslims and Islamic scholars persecuted by traditional rulers in other kingdoms. It eventually expanded east, taking territory from Bambuk . Sy

6700-422: The last one organized by a group of eight mughrarin ("wanderers") of Lisbon (before 1147) - that tried to sail down the Atlantic coast, possibly in an effort find the mouth of the Senegal. Drawing from Classical legend and Arab sources, the "River of Gold" found its way into European maps in the 14th century. In the Hereford Mappa Mundi (c. 1300), there is a river labelled "Nilus Fluvius" drawn parallel to

6800-511: The lower country is fertile, and finely clothed with the baobab , the tamarind and various valuable fruit-trees. Bondu is traversed by torrents, which flow rapidly during the rains but are empty in the dry season. The name 'Bundu' means ' well ' in Pulaar . Bundu in the 17th century was a sparsely-populated part of the kingdom of Gajaaga inhabited mostly by Pulaar communities but with minorities of Jakhanke , Soninke and other peoples. In 1690, Fula Torodbe cleric Malick Sy came to

6900-421: The name "Senegal" is probably a derivation of Azenegue , the Portuguese term for the Saharan Berber Zenaga people that lived north of it. A strong challenge to this theory is that "Senegal" is much older, and might derive from "Sanghana" (also given as Isenghan, Asengan, Singhanah), a city described by the Arab historian al-Bakri in 1068 as located by the mouth of the Senegal River (straddling both banks) and

7000-488: The north, but was defeated and captured when he attacked the Wolof states of Cayor and Waalo . After his release the jihad impetus had been lost. By his death in 1806 the state was dominated by a few elite Torodbe families. Almamys continued to be enthroned in Futa Toro throughout the nineteenth century, but the position had become ceremonial by then. By the mid-nineteenth century, the Torodbe almamis in present.day Senegal had become hereditary oligarchies that imposed

7100-403: The north. After 200 km (120 mi) the two branches rejoin a few kilometers downstream of Podor . In 1972 Mali , Mauritania and Senegal founded the Organisation pour la mise en valeur du fleuve Sénégal (OMVS) to manage the river basin. Guinea joined in 2005. As of 2012 , only very limited use was made of the river for the transportation of goods and passengers. The OMVS have looked at

7200-469: The opportunity to flee or renegotiate their situations, and many joined the French army during World War 1 . With the growth of the peanut basin and the reorientation of trade towards the Dakar-Niger Railway , Bundu was increasingly ignored by the colonial administration. The area was economically marginalized, but also saw a flourishing of religious communities deliberately separating themselves from

7300-517: The origin of my clan; ... for the support of Islam they are in league; ... of them are some who excelled in the religious sciences ... and those who defended themselves against the wickedness of the enemy and declared djihād . 'Umar Tall launched his jihad in 1852. His forces succeeded in establishing several states in the Sudan to the east of Futa Toro, but the French under Major Louis Faidherbe prevented him from including Futa Toro into his empire. 'Umar

7400-583: The pagan French. Although nominally a theocracy, Bundu was founded peacefully rather than through religious revolts such as occurred later in Futa Toro and Futa Djallon . This, as well as the presence of large numbers of non-Fulbe and/or non-Muslim inhabitants, meant that Bundu was more secular than other Fula states of the period, though Islam was a source of prestige and legitimacy as well as causus belli for slaving raids and conquest. Over time increased Fulbe immigration from these more Islamized areas increased

7500-480: The people of Bagamo' ( Bambara of Bamako ?) called it Zimbala (Jimbala?) and the people of Timbuktu called it the Yça . The 16th-century chronicler João de Barros asserts the Portuguese renamed it "Senegal" because that was the personal name of a local Wolof chieftain who frequently conducted business with the Portuguese traders. But this etymology is doubtful (e.g. the ruler of Senegalese river state of Waalo bears

7600-626: The poorer people. Torodbe clerics included people whose origin was Fula , Wolof , Mande , Hausa and Berber . However, they spoke the Fula language , married into Fulbe families, and became the Fulbe scholarly caste. As with the Zawaya and Mandé clerisies, the early Torodbe clerics were looked down upon by the warrior groups in their societies, which usually had little interest in Islam. The Torodbe originally lived on charity, as shown by sayings such as "the Torodo

7700-457: The region from his home near Podor in the Futa Toro . He and his followers may have been fleeing persection in the aftermath of the Char Bouba war or simply seeking a place where Sy could enforce his interpretation of sharia law . The tunka of Gajaaga gave Sy control first over one village and then a larger territory, the border of which Sy advantageously manipulated by cheating on a pact with

7800-418: The revolt, were given the role of forming an electoral college that would select the amir based on his personal merit, proven abilities, family connections and other factors. One of the Torodbe would swathe the head of newly chosen amir in a turban. Around 1827, the Torodbe cleric 'Umar Tall left Futa Toro and made an extended pilgrimage to Mecca. El Hadj 'Umar Tall returned in 1846 and began recruiting for

7900-483: The ruling classes. They aimed to eliminate relics of traditional religious beliefs, and to elevate Islam from a personal belief into the law of the land, creating theocratic states. After they had taken power it was at first thought that the Torodbe would eventually eliminate obstacles to social movement, perhaps even freeing the slaves. A person would achieve status through Islamic learning and observance of Islamic precepts. In practice, particularly in Futa Toro and Bundu,

8000-600: The same single river. South of them (barely visible) are what seem like the towns of Kukiya (on the eastern shore of the Island of Gold), and east of that, probably Sokoto (called "Zogde" in the Catalan Atlas) and much further southeast, probably Kano . North of the Senegal-Niger are the various oases and stations of the trans-Saharan route (" Tutega " = Tijigja , " Anzica " = In-Zize, " Tegaza " = Taghaza , etc.) towards

8100-403: The same time (possibly encouraged by Trans-Saharan traders who did not want to see their land route sidestepped by sea). The river is frequently depicted with a great river island midway, the "Island of Gold", first mentioned by al-Masudi, and famously called " Wangara " by al-Idrisi and " Palolus " in the 1367 Pizzigani brothers chart. It is conjectured that this riverine "island" is in fact just

8200-537: The sands of both these rivers gold of 'palola' may be found"), and nearer to the sea, " Qui se racoce oro " ("Here gold is collected"), and finally, on the coast, " Terra de Palmear " ("Land of Palms"). It is notable that Fra Mauro knew of the error of Henry the Navigator's captains about the Daklha inlet, which Mauro carefully labels " Reodor " ("Rio do Ouro", Western Sahara), distinctly from the "Canal del Oro" (Senegal River). Christian Europeans soon began attempting to find

8300-531: The sea route to the mouth of the Senegal. The first known effort may have been by the Genoese brothers Vandino and Ugolino Vivaldi , who set out down the coast in 1291 in a pair of ships (nothing more is heard of them). In 1346, the Majorcan sailor, Jaume Ferrer set out on a galley with the explicit objective of finding the "River of Gold" ( Riu de l'Or ), where he heard that most people along its shores were engaged in

8400-406: The shores of the river which, at its mouth, is a league wide, and deep enough for the largest ship of the world." The galley of Jaume Ferrer is depicted off the coast on the left, with a quick note about his 1346 voyage. The golden round island at the mouth of the Senegal River is the indication (customary on portolan charts) of river mouth bars or islands - in this case, probably a reference to

8500-481: The short-lived Wassoulou Empire in what is now Guinea. These men attempted to overthrow the Europeans and their allies in the cause of Islam, but were eventually defeated by superior forces. In the nineteenth century several Muslim states arose to the east of the Senegambia region in the Sahel region along the Niger River . The most illustrious leaders to emerge from the Torodbe movement were Usman dan Fodio , who created

8600-414: The state of Bundu in the 1690s. The Muslim rulers had authority over village chiefs, whom they could appoint or dismiss. Bundu thereby became a haven for other Torodbe, and expanded eastwards into Bambuk . He was succeeded by Bubu Malik, who died around 1715. Bundu then entered a period of anarchy as the state's neighbors launched attacks while the different communities of Torodbe asserted their autonomy. For

8700-401: The state. The imam headed both the religious and the political organization. He delegated responsibility for security to the amirs who ran the police and army. The Torodbe intelligentsia of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries were by no means cut off in a backwater. Some of them undertook the pilgrimage to Mecca and then spent many years in countries such as Egypt, where they absorbed

8800-539: The title ' Brak ', and Cadamosto gives the personal name of the Senegal river chieftain as "Zucholin"). The confusion may have arisen because Cadamosto says the Portuguese interacted frequently with a certain Wolof chieftain south of the river, somewhere on the Grande Côte , which he refers to as Budomel . "Budomel" is almost certainly a reference to the ruler of Cayor , a combination of his formal title (" Damel "), prefixed by

8900-529: The title of almami . The farmers of Futa Toro continued to suffer from attacks by nomads from what is now Mauritania. The jihad in Futa Jalon was followed by a jihad in Futa Toro between 1769 and 1776 led by Sulaymān Baal . In 1776 the Torodbe threw out the ruling Denianke Dynasty. Sulayman died in 1776 and was succeeded by Abdul Kader , a learned teacher and judge who had studied in Cayor . Abdul Kader became

9000-542: The usual Berber term to refer to the Wolof kingdom of Cayor . Some Serer people from the south have advanced the claim that the river's name is originally derived from the compound of the Serer term "Sene" (from Rog Sene , Supreme Deity in Serer religion ) and "O Gal" (meaning "body of water"). 15°47′17″N 16°31′44″W  /  15.78806°N 16.52889°W  / 15.78806; -16.52889 Bundu, Senegal Bundu (also Bondu , Bondou and Boundou )

9100-561: The west in the fifteenth century. Usman dan Fodio learned the Quran by heart. He learned Arabic grammar, verse and metrics and basic Maliki law. He studied rhetoric, history and literature, and became a fluent and educated writer of Arabic. In his early years, Usman dan Fodio was an itinerant mallam , teaching a message of reform against illegal taxation, corruption, pagan ceremonies, unqualified mallams and other abuses and departures from strict Islamic practice. In 1804 Usman dan Fodio launched

9200-428: Was a state in West Africa existing from the late 17th century until it became a French protectorate dependent on the colony of Senegal . It lay between the Falémé River and the upper course of the Gambia River , that is between 13 and 15 N. , and 12 and 13 W. The country is an elevated plateau, with hills in the southern and central parts. These are generally unproductive, and covered with stunted wood; but

9300-473: Was defeated by the French at Medine in 1857, losing access to the territories further down the Senegal River. In 1860 he concluded a treaty with the French in which he recognized their supremacy in Futa Toro, while he was recognized in Kaarta and Ségou . He then launched an attack on the Muslim state of Massina. A coalition of Muslim states resisted, and in 1864 'Umar was defeated and killed. His followers set up

9400-472: Was elected leader of the jihad . He took the title almami , or "the Imam ". Under his leadership the Imamate of Futa Jallon became the first Muslim state to be founded by the Fulbe. In 1751 Ibrahim Sori succeeded Karamokho Alfa. After many years of conflict, Ibrahim Sori achieved a decisive victory in 1776 that consolidated the power of the Fulbe state. The jihad had achieved its goals and Ibrahim Sori assumed

9500-407: Was killed in 1699 caught in an ambush by the army of Gajaaga . Sy was succeeded by his son Bubu Malick Sy, who expanded the realm southwards at the expense of local Mandinka kingdoms. By 1716 Bundu was the most powerful state on the upper Senegal. When he in turn died between 1718 and 1727, an interregnum ensued that threatened both Sisibe (the descendants of Malick Sy) control over the state and

9600-554: Was known to the early Mediterranean civilizations. It or some other river was called Bambotus by Pliny the Elder (possibly from Phoenician " behemoth " for hippopotamus ) and Nias by Claudius Ptolemy . It was visited by Hanno the Carthaginian around 450 BCE at his navigation from Carthage through the pillars of Herakles to Theon Ochema ( Mount Cameroon ) in the Gulf of Guinea . There

9700-596: Was that "Senegal" comes from the Wolof phrase sunu gaal , meaning "our canoe" (more precisely, "our pirogue "). Bailot speculates the name probably arose as a misunderstanding, that when a Portuguese captain came across some Wolof fishermen and asked them what the name of the river was, they believed he was asking who their fishing boat belonged to, and replied simply "it is our canoe" ( sunu gaal ). The "our canoe" theory has been popularly embraced in modern Senegal for its charm and appeal to national solidarity ("we're all in one canoe", etc.). More recent historians suggest

9800-453: Was the first known European since antiquity to finally reach the mouth of the Senegal River. However, Dias did not sail upriver, but instead kept sailing down the Grande Côte to the bay of Dakar . The very next year, in 1446, the Portuguese slave -raiding fleet of Lançarote de Freitas arrived at the mouth of the Senegal. One of its captains, Estêvão Afonso , volunteered to take a launch to explore upriver for settlements, thus becoming

9900-457: Was the most powerful representative of French interests east of Bakel. He used this position to continually raid neighboring states for captives and booty, particularly the Kingdom of Wuli . Nevertheless, in the face of popular discontent, a series of famines and plague outbreaks, and renewed succession disputes, the state was fragile. Mahmadu Lamine 's popular 1885-7 jihad briefly drove the Sisibe out of power until French military power defeated

10000-696: Was trade from here to the Mediterranean World, until the destruction of Carthage and its west African trade net in 146 BCE. In the Early Middle Ages (c. 800 CE), the Senegal River restored contact with the Mediterranean world with the establishment of the Trans-Saharan trade route between Morocco and the Ghana Empire . Arab geographers, like al-Masudi of Baghdad (957), al-Bakri of Spain (1068) and al-Idrisi of Sicily (1154), provided some of

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