View source for Waalo

==History==
===Origins===
Oral histories claim that, before becoming a kingdom, the area of Waalo was ruled by a patchwork of [[Lamane]]s, a [[Serer people|Serer]] title meaning the original owner of the land.<ref name = Epopee>{{cite book |last1=Dieng |first1=Bassirou |last2=Kesteloot |first2=Lilyan |page=255|title=Les épopées d'Afrique noire: Le myth de Ndiadiane Ndiaye |date=2009 |publisher=Karthala |location=Paris |isbn=978-2811102104}}</ref> Etymological evidence suggests that the area was ruled by the Jaa'ogo dynasty of [[Takrur]].{{sfn|Boulegue|2013|p=39}} This aligns with early Arabic written sources which describe an island town known as '''Awlil''' (Waalo) near the mouth of the Senegal river, in a region called Senghana.<ref>Seck, Ibrahima, '‘The French Discovery of Senegal: Premises for a Policy of Selective Assimilation', in Toby Green (ed.), Brokers of Change: Atlantic Commerce and Cultures in Pre-Colonial Western Africa, Proceedings of the British Academy (London, 2012; online edn, British Academy Scholarship Online, 31 Jan. 2013), https://doi.org/10.5871/bacad/9780197265208.003.0016, accessed 29 Sept. 2024.</ref>{{sfn|Boulegue|2013|p=20}} 

===Founding===
The exact founding date of Waalo is debated by historians, but is associated with the rule of the first king, the semi-legendary [[Ndiadiane Ndiaye]], in 1287.<ref name="sarr">Sarr, Alioune, "Histoire du Sine-Saloum (Sénégal)", in Bulletin de l'IFAN, tome 46, série B, nos 3-4, 1987. {{p.|19}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Ndiaye |first1=Bara |editor1-last=Fall |editor1-first=Mamadou |editor2-last=Fall |editor2-first=Rokhaya |editor3-last=Mane |editor3-first=Mamadou |title=Bipolarisation du Senegal du XVIe - XVIIe siecle |date=2021 |publisher=HGS Editions |location=Dakar |page=187 |language=French |chapter=Le Jolof: Naissance et Evolution d'un Empire jusqu'a la fin du XVIIe siecle}}</ref>{{sfn|Boulegue|2013|p=57}} Ndiaye, originally a [[Fula people|Fula]] from Takrur, united the Lamanes and ruled Waalo for 16 years as an arbiter or judge rather than king before, according to some oral accounts, being driven out by his half brother Barka Bo, or Barka Mbodj. After this, Ndiaye took control of Jolof and founded the [[Jolof Empire]].{{sfn|Boulegue|2013|p=45}}<ref name = Epopee/> Barka Mbodj was the first ruler to use the royal title '[[Brak (title)|Brak]]'.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Boulègue |first1=Jean |title=Le Grand Jolof'', (XVIII<sup>e</sup> - XVI<sup>e</sup> Siècle)'' |date=1987 |publisher=Karthala Editions |location=Paris |page=63}}</ref> Ndiaye eventually made Waalo a vassal.{{sfn|Davis|p=198}}


Europeans first appeared off the coast of Waalo in the 15th century, and soon began trading. This caused a significant shift in economic power away from the Jolof heartland towards coastal vassals such as Waalo and [[Cayor]]. [[Buumi Jelen]], a member of the [[List of rulers of the Jolof Empire|royal family]], may have established his own control over Waalo during this period, and is credited with creating a system of ''alkaldes'' who served as customs collectors for the Buurba Jolof. He later attempted to ally with the [[Portugal|Portuguese]] to take power, but was killed by his erstwhile allies in a dispute.{{sfn|Boulegue|2013|p=150}}

The Jolof empire broke up in the aftermath of the battle of Danki in 1549, though the Brak continued to pay symbolic tribute to the Bourba Jolof until 1715.{{sfn|Barry|1972|p=134}}

===The French and the Desert===
In 1638, the French established the first permanent European trading settlement at the mouth of the Senegal River, moving to the site of [[Saint-Louis, Senegal|Saint-Louis]] in 1659 while facing consistent military and political pressure from the [[Brak (African kings)|Brak]].{{sfn|Barry|1972|p=116}} The French presence would have a decisive effect on the rest of the history of Waalo.

Partly in response to the shift in trade away from [[Berbers|Berber]] tribes to the French, [[Nasr ad-Din (Lamtuna)|Nasr ad-Din]], a Berber [[Marabout]], launched the [[Char Bouba War]] or the Marabout War, overthrowing the ruling aristocracy of Waalo (among other Senegal river kingdoms) in an attempt to establish an Islamic theocracy. Upon his death in 1674, however, his movement collapsed and the old hierarchies, aligned with Arab Hassan tribes north of the river and vigorously supported by the French, re-asserted themselves.{{sfn|Davis|p=169}}{{sfn|Barry|1972|p=148–50}}

During this same period, [[Morocco|Moroccan]] forces came south to the Senegal river, forcing the Brak to move the capital from Ngurbel to the south bank and permanently breaking the kingdom's control on the north side.{{sfn|Webb|1995|p=40}}

===A Regional Power===
In another attempt to further strengthen their economic position in the Senegal valley, in 1724 the French allied with Maalixuri, the lord of [[Bethio]], to pressure the ''Brak'' Yerim Mbyanik and the [[Emirate of Trarza]] into concessions. His attempt at secession from Waalo failed when the French company stopped their support. By 1734 Yerim Mbyanik had the most powerful army in the region.{{sfn|Barry|1992|p=280}} His rule and that of his two successors, Njaam Aram Bakar and Naatago Aram, was the apogee of Waalo-Waalo power.

Through the middle decades of the 18th century, Waalo exerted hegemony over the entire Senegal estuary and dominated Cayor as well. When the English took Saint-Louis in 1758 they found that the ''Brak'' had total control over river trade. Naatago repeatedly demanded increases in customs payments and slave prices, and blockaded the island when necessary.{{sfn|Barry|1992|p=281}} In 1762 he appropriated payments from Cayor intended for Saint-Louis, and two years later invaded.{{sfn|Webb|1995|p=42}}

===Decline===
In 1765 the ''Damel'' of Cayor counterattacked, armed with English guns, and soundly defeated the Waalo-Waalo.{{sfn|Webb|1995|p=42}} After Naatago's death in 1766 a long civil war broke out, with the Moors constantly intervening and raiding. In 1775 the English took more than 8000 slaves from Waalo in less than six months.{{sfn|Barry|1992|p=281}}

With recurring civil war and frequent foreign meddling in succession disputes, Waalo's power declined progressively in favor of the Moorish Emirate of Trarza.{{sfn|Barry|1972|p=195–99}}

In the 1820s the [[marabout]] of [[Koki, Senegal|Koki]] Ndiaga Issa, who had amassed significant political power in Cayor, was driven out by the [[damel]]. His forces, led by general Dille Thiam, took control of Waalo instead. The French intervened however, and killed Thiam.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Colvin |first1=Lucie Gallistel |title=ISLAM AND THE STATE OF KAJOOR: A CASE OF SUCCESSFUL RESISTANCE TO JIHAD |journal=Journal of African History |date=1974 |volume=xv |issue=4 |page=604 |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/C5103BEEF02E021E91F418FDD3693BC7/S002185370001389Xa.pdf/islam_and_the_state_of_kajoor_a_case_of_successful_resistance_to_jihad.pdf |access-date=4 December 2023}}</ref>

To stop the cripplying Moorish raids and present a unified front against the French, the [[Lingeer]] [[Njembot Mbodj]] married the Emir of Trarza in 1833. Faced with an alliance that could threaten the survival of the colony, Saint Louis attacked Waalo, deepening the long-running crisis. Njembot Mbodj was succeeded by her sister [[Ndaté Yalla Mbodj|Ndate Yalle]] in 1847, but the French finally conquered the kingdom in 1855.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sheldon |first1=Kathleen |title=Historical Dictionary of Women in Sub-Saharan Africa |date=2016 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |page=179}}</ref>{{sfn|Barry|1972|p=284–9}}