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84-679: The Zawaya were nomadic tribes from the arid lands to the north and east of the Senegal River in West Africa . Their religious beliefs may possibly be traced back to the eleventh century Almoravid movement, although their generally more passive attitude is in contrast to that of the militant Almoravids. They gave great importance to teaching the Islamic religious sciences and to reciting the Quran . The Zawaya attempted to avoid conflict with

168-595: A Trarza chief who had come to the assistance of the weaker tribes, and 'Uthmān was killed in battle by the Wolof. His successors were decisively defeated by the Hassān. Following this defeat, the Zawaya lost all temporal power and again became strictly tributary to the Hassān, and were parceled out among the Hassān groups. They had to provide milk from their herds to the Hassān warriors and provide them with saddles. They had to let

252-580: 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

336-479: 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

420-484: 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

504-504: 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

588-422: A dialect of the larger Mande Languages language family. There is also a substantial Pulaar ( Fula ) speaking minority as well as a significant amount of Bambara and Wolof (or Oulof) speakers, while most people learn some French in school. A large permanent market serves the department's inhabitants along with a weekly "Lumo" (similar to a flea market). Most inhabitants are subsistence farmers and herders, while

672-677: 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

756-458: A feather flock together". The separation of the tribes of this region into warrior and Zawaya tribes had probably occurred before the fifteenth century. By then some of the Zawaya were moving south to avoid the depredations of the warrior tribes, risking conflict with the sedentary populations of Chemama , Gorgol and Tagant . During the fifteenth century the Beni Ḥassān Arab nomads began to enter

840-538: 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

924-709: 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

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1008-422: A secure and stable administration in the southern Sahara, led by himself, his vizier and four qāḍīs. To do so he would defeat warriors who failed to follow Islamic principles and who harmed the faithful, and would establish a theocratic state that rose above tribal divisions and followed the commands of God. Rather than immediately attack the Hassān, in 1673 Nāșir al-Din launched his jihad with an invasion across

1092-497: A shift in the balance of power occurred as more students and clients were attracted to the Zawaya, who also acquired better arms. The rise of the Zawaya as merchants coincided with growth in demand for religious instruction. The distinction between Zawaya and Hassāni also began to blur, as each group entered the traditional occupations of the other. In modern Mauritania , the Zawaya and Hassāni are both considered noble castes, dominating

1176-830: 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

1260-638: A song by French rapper Booba whose father is from the town. The area that would become Bakel was first settled by a marabout named Abdoulaye Wane from Fouta Toro , along with his students, known as talibes . At the beginning of the 17th century, members of the Ndiaye family fleeing succession disputes in the Jolof Empire moved to the area, then part of the Kingdom of Galam, also called Gajaaga , (see: Royaume de Galam ), eventually integrating into

1344-632: Is a town and urban commune, with a population of 18,939, located in the eastern part of Senegal , West Africa . The town is located on the left bank of the Sénégal River , 65 kilometers (40 mi) from the Malian border and linked by canoe ferry to the village of Gouraye in Mauritania . Bakel is one of the four eponymous departmental capitals in the region of Tambacounda , the other three being Tambacounda , Goudiry and Koumpentoum . Bakel

1428-534: Is known for its French fort (Fort Bakel), which René Caillié visited in 1819. It was also the area where the Mauritanian crisis occurred, a dispute over grazing rights that led to a war between Senegal and Mauritania in 1989. As a result of this conflict, many people around the area moved abroad or emigrated to Senegal. The majority of the population belong to the Soninke-speaking ethnic group,

1512-635: 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

1596-687: 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

1680-425: 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

1764-522: 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

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1848-482: 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

1932-527: 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

2016-751: 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

2100-511: The Senegal River into the Futa Tooro and Wolof states. This would give him control of the trade in gum with the French on the Senegal, a source of income for his new state. He then imposed the zakāt legal tax on the tributary tribes to the north of the Senegal. When one of these tribes called for assistance from the Hassān, war broke out. Nāșir al-Din was supported by most but not all of

2184-622: 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

2268-466: 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

2352-660: 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

2436-468: 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

2520-534: 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

2604-548: 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

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2688-466: The Faith"), emerged as a leader of the Zawaya tribes in resisting the Hassān. He was widely respected for his scholarship, purity of life and healing ability. His goal was to establish an ideal Islamic society based on the original organization of the first caliphs, where ethnic and tribal differences would be ignored. Nāșir al-Din demanded strict obedience to his authority by the Zawaya. He set out to create

2772-742: The Fouta Djallon. Later the Fulbe would establish Islamic states in Futa Tooro (1776), Sokoto (1808) and Masina (1818). In the late 1800s, Zawaya are referenced in a letter by the Kingdom of Jimma 's Muslim state leader Abba Jifar II in Ethiopia to Hadiya rebel Hassan Enjamo . The Kunta became particularly influential in the eighteenth century. Many of them moved east to the region north of Timbuktu and became salt merchants. They adopted

2856-453: The Hassān take the first bucket of water from their wells, and had to feed and shelter Hassān women in time of need. This seems to have been a return to their condition before the revolt started. Many of the Zawaya continued their religious studies after puberty, while others engaged in commerce, agriculture, livestock management or hired out their labor where the work was consist with their religious practices. The Zawaya were required to educate

2940-518: The Hassāni of Ida Aish, who controlled the trade to Bakel on the Senega River, and took some of the profits that the Zawaya had traditionally made from collecting and selling gum. However, a clerical leader managed to establish an alternative gum market at Medine , further upstream, competing with the Hassāni. Both the Zawaya and the Hassāni became more wealthy in slaves and material property, but

3024-479: 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

3108-603: 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

3192-536: The Quran in West African Islamic schools. 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

3276-535: 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

3360-541: 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

3444-452: 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,

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3528-619: 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),

3612-466: The Zawaya, although some disputed his authority to impose the zakāt and did not assist him. There were at least three battles, in each of which the Zawaya defeated the Hassān. However, in the last battle, which probably took place in August 1674, Nāșir al-Din and many of his immediate entourage were killed. The Zawaya elected Sīdī al-Fāḍil as Nāșir al-Din's successor, who took the name of al-Amīn. Al-Amīn

3696-562: 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

3780-589: 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

3864-481: 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

3948-405: 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

4032-498: 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)

4116-403: 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

4200-405: 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

4284-442: 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,

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4368-423: 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

4452-416: 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

4536-554: 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),

4620-406: 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 -

4704-422: 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

4788-432: The local Soninke population. Gajaaga and the neighboring Fula state of Bundu would compete for control over Bakel for the next century, as it was already an important trade depot. The French began to penetrate the region in the 18th century, purchasing slaves from the Gajaaga monarchs to export from Saint Louis at the mouth of the river. In 1818, after the restoration of France's West Africa territories (which at

4872-423: The local people. Nāșir al-Din had gained support from the Torodbe clerical clan of Futa Tooro in his struggle. After the defeat in 1674, some of the Torodbe migrated south to Bundu and some continued on to the Fouta Djallon . The Torodbe, the kinsmen of the Fulbe of the Fouta Djallon, influenced them in embracing a more militant form of Islam. In 1726 or 1727 the Fulbe were to launch their successful jihad in

4956-421: 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

5040-403: 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

5124-401: The people in town are employed in informal businesses that range from carpentry, masonry and transportation of goods to selling fruit and produce on the street. Due to its location in the Sahel , the area is semi-arid with little vegetation outside of the rainy season. Various hills surround the town, which are known locally as "little mountains." Bakel served as fodder for Bakel City Gang ,

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5208-435: 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

5292-467: The politics of the country. The Zawaya introduced sub-Saharan Africans to the two main Sufi brotherhoods. Muhammed al-Hafiz (1759/60-1830) and his people transmitted the Tijaniyyah , while the Kunta , including the scholars Shaykh Sidi Mukhtar (1729-1811) and his son Sidi Muhammad, transmitted the Qadiriyya . There are records of Zawaya moving into the lands south of the Senegal in the seventeenth century, where they proselytized and intermarried with

5376-400: The powerful, gold-rich Kingdom of Bundu further south. The fort became a base for promoting French influence, playing local leaders off of each other. Liberalization of trade after 1848 intensified the competition between native chiefs and groups vying for access to markets and imported goods. In the 1850s, the Bakel garrison was strengthened as Omar Saidou Tall 's jihad gained strength in

5460-424: The proselytizing Sufi tariqas , particularly the Qadiriyya order, meant that Islam was no longer the private religion of Saharan traders, but began to steadily spread among the black populations of the Sahel and further south. Many West African libraries and collections of Islamic writings include works by Zawaya authors. Most of these writings are in Arabic. Today the Zawaya continue to be in demand as teachers of

5544-429: The region and presented over-matched local tribes with a way to undermine French power. In 1855, the fort was officially annexed, following pressure from Saint Louisian merchants. In 1858, upper Gajaaga, between Bakel and the Faleme river , was annexed to the French colony. In 1886 the town was besieged briefly by the forces of Mahmadu Lamine . Sénégal River at Bakel (before construction of Manantali Dam ) Bakel

5628-448: The region. Hassāni rulers imposed heavy tributes on the Zawaya, but did not give them effective protection against their enemies. Although subordinate to the Banū Ḥassan warriors, the Zawaya ranked above other Berbers. These in turn ranked above blacksmiths, who were said to be Jewish in origin, and mixed-race people. In the late seventeenth century, Awbek Ashfaga of the Banū Daymān tribe, later to style himself Nāșir al-Din ("Protector of

5712-439: 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

5796-403: 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

5880-488: 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

5964-432: 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

6048-406: 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

6132-493: The stronger groups, but this was mingled with respect. A story was told by the sixteenth century Timbuktu jurist al-Muṣallī, so-called because he worshiped in the mosque so often. He was a Zawaya from the west and a regular attendant at the teaching circle of the jurist Maḥmūd, grandson of Anda Ag-Muhammad in the female line. Al-Muṣallī resolved to ask for the hand of Maḥmūd's daughter in marriage. Before he could make his proposal Maḥmūd politely deflected it, saying that "birds of

6216-415: The stronger warrior groups by renouncing arms and paying tribute. In the west, the Zawaya were of Berber origin, while after the fifteenth century the warrior tribes were Arab . In the center, the reverse applied. The Zawaya were Arab, while Berber or Tuareg tribes held military and political power. The Zawaya, with their passive lifestyle of herding, prayer and study, were treated with some contempt by

6300-570: The teachings of the fifteenth century cleric Muhammad al-Maghili , said to be the first to introduce the Qadiriyya Sufi brotherhood to the western Sudan. The Kunta produced several important clerics, of whom Sidi Mukhtar had the greatest impact. Sidi Mukhtar became the leader of a Tuareg coalition dominated by the Kunta that controlled the Niger bend and surrounding areas. He is also credited with authoring over 300 treatises. His sponsorship of

6384-592: The time consisted only in Saint-Louis and Gorée ) in the 1815 Treaty of Paris , Auguste Jacques Nicolas Peureux de Mélay led a small flotilla up the Senegal . Blocked from going past Bakel by the seasonal drop in water level, they chose the spot to build a fort. The fort was established to counter growing British penetration of the West African market, attracting trade in gum arabic , gold, leather, and ivory. It also served to establish closer relations with

6468-497: 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

6552-506: 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 Bakel, Senegal Bakel

6636-419: The Ḥassanī children. Although subject to the Hassān, their religious influence on their Arab masters grew. The economic and political structure of the region changed as contact with Europeans increased. Slaves were increasingly used to mine salt and cultivate crops in the oases rather than as trade goods. The French continued to expand the gum trade, particularly after 1815. This brought increased prosperity to

6720-431: Was disposed to make peace with the Hassān, and they were willing to accept his religious authority but not his right to levy the zakat. Most of the Zawaya were opposed to the peace, and deposed al-Amīn, replacing him with 'Uthmān, the former vizier and close friend of Nāșir al-Din. 'Uthmān took an aggressive stance against the Hassān, and again attempted to enforce collection of the zakāt. His tax collectors were massacred by

6804-568: 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

6888-596: 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

6972-453: 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

7056-726: 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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