Kingdom of Sine Siin | |
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ca. 1335 | |
Capital | Diakhao |
Common languages | Serer |
Religion | Serer religion |
Government | Absolute monarchy, then constitutional monarchy from 2019 – present |
Maad a Sinig, Lamane | |
Historical era | Medieval |
• Established | ca. 1335 |
• Abolition of the monarchy | 1969 |
• Restoration of the monarchy | 2019 |
History of Senegal |
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Senegalportal |
The Kingdom of Sine (or Siin in Serer, variations: Sin or Siine) was a post-classical Serer kingdom along the north bank of the Saloum River delta in modern Senegal. [1]
During the Guelowar Era the region was named after Sine-o-Méo Manneh (Serer proper: Siin o Meo Maane), sister of Maysa Wali Manneh. [2] The inhabitants are called Siin-Siin or Sine-Sine (a common structure for demonyms in Senegal, e.g. Bawol-Bawol and Saloum-Saloum / Saluum-Saluum, inhabitants of Baol and Saloum respectively).
Portuguese explorers in the 15th century referred to Sine as the kingdom of Barbaçim, a corruption of 'Bur-ba-Sine' (Wolof for 'King of Sine'), and its people as Barbacins (a term frequently extended by early writers to Serer people generally, while others insisted that Serreos and Barbacins were completely distinct peoples.) Old European maps frequently denote the Saloum River as the "River of Barbacins/Barbecins". [3] Alvise Cadamosto, a 15th-century Venetian navigator, slave trader, and chronicler, mistakenly distinguished between the "Sereri" (Serer people) and the "Barbacini", which seems to indicate that he was referring to two different people when in fact, the Kingdom of Sine was a Serer Kingdom. [4]
The history of Sine, which has been inhabited by the Serer people for centuries, can be divided into three main periods. [5]
The diverse peoples grouped under the term Serer include the Serer Seex (pronounced Seh or Seeh), subgroups with various dialects of Serer proper, and the Cangin speaking Serers, all of whom historically have moved across Senegambia. [6] According to historian Dennis Galvan, "The oral historical record, written accounts by early Arab and European explorers, and physical anthropological evidence suggest that the various Serer peoples migrated south from the Futa Tooro region (Senegal River valley) beginning around the eleventh century, when Islam first came across the Sahara." [7]
King War Jabi of Takrur first instituted Sharia law and persecuted any of his subjects who refused to abandon their traditional beliefs in favour of Islam. [8] [9] [10] In response, some began migrating south and west. [11] [12] Over generations these people, possibly Pulaar speaking herders originally, moved through Wolof areas and entered the Siin and Saluum river valleys. This lengthy period of Wolof-Serer contact has left historians unsure of the origins of shared "terminology, institutions, political structures, and practices." [13] This migration was the process by which the Serer coalesced into a coherent ethnic group, separate from the Fula and the Wolof. [14]
The lamanes, in particular, who were the guardians of Serer spirituality, leaders and the landowning class, put up a strong resistance to conversion partly to preserve their religion, but also to preserve their assets and power from the centralizing tendencies of the state. [15] In some early Arab sources, the term lamlam became associated with "non-believers" in the region, which may have been a corruption of the Serer title Lamaan . [16] In summarizing the influence of Serer culture, history, religion and tradition on the Senegambia region in his paper "Vestiges historiques, trémoins matériels du passé clans les pays Sereer" (1993), historian and author Professor Charles Becker writes that:
At the time of the Serer lamans, Sine was not called Sine. Instead, the roughly 60 villags were divided into states ruled by lamans, namely: Njafaj; Ña-UI; Joral; Ngohe-Pofin; Hiréna (west of Sine at the Petite Côte); and Singandum — which covers the two banks of the Sine valley. [18] [19]
Niokhobaye Diouf notes that, just before the Guelowar's arrival in Sine, there were three notable rulers using the Serer title laman [20] :
The Wagadou were century maternal dynasty of Soninke origin, descended from the Ghana Empire, [21] that ruled much of modern-day Senegal by marrying into Serer lamanic families. [22] [23] [24] Some of the notable Serer lamanic families included the Sarr family, the Joof family, the Ngom family, etc. These lamanic families formed a great council (the Great Council of Lamanes) to settle disputes. It was similar to a higher court where the lamanes sat to hear disputes brought in front of them so they could pass judgement. It was the last resort if a lamane from another part of Serer country could not decide on a case brought before him or the complainant was not satisfied with the judgment. [25] [26] [27] This Council would elect one of their own as head of the Council.
The actual foundation date of the Kingdom of Sine is unclear, but in the 13th or 14th century Mandinka migrants entered the area from the southeast. They were led by a matrilinial clan known as the Gelwar. Father Henry Gravrand reports an oral tradition that one Maad a Sinig Maysa Wali Jaxateh Manneh fled with his family from Kaabu following a battle in 1335 which he calls the Battle of Troubang, "troubang" meaning "genocide" ; "to wipe out"; or "to annihilate" a family, clan, or people. [28] [29] Charles Becker pointed out that Gravrand actually described the 1867 (or 1865) Battle of Kansala, although he as well as Senegalese historians Babacar Sedikh Diouf and Biram Ngom agree that the Guelowar dynasty, offshoots of the Ñaanco dynasty of Kaabu, had lost a dynastic struggle there, forcing them to seek refuge in Sine. [30] [29]
Near Niakhar, they encountered the Serer, the Council agreed to grant them asylum, [30] and they joined to create a Gelwaar-led state with its capital at or near a lamanic estate at Mbissel. [31] [32] [33] Under the Serer–Guelowar alliance, Serer men from the noble families of Sine and later Saloum, married Guelowar women and the offsprings of those unions ruled as kings. The children of such unions and their descendants identified as Serer, spoke the Serer language, and followed Serer religion and customs. [34] [31] [35]
Serer oral history says that after Maysa Wali assimilated into Serer culture and served as legal advisor to the laman council of electors for atime, he was chosen by the lamans and people to rule. [36] He served as King of Sine from c. 1350-1370. Lamaan Jame Ngom of Faajaal, a member of the Ngom family and head of the council, was the one who crowned Maysa Wali, and spoke the proclamation words or crowning speech to him so he could repeat it during his coronation ceremony. He was renowned for organising Serer wrestling tournaments in his country (Faajaal). It was through those tournaments that the patriarch of the Faye family, the "great Serer wrestler" Boukar Djillakh Faye demonstrated his skills and was given the hand of a princess in marriage. [37] [38]
The end of the Lamanic period led to a waning of the power and influence of the Lamanes, although the positions did not disappear. [20] [39] [34] [31] Lamanic families pre-Guelowar had real powers and wealth, were heads of their states, and were the custodians of Serer spirituality (A ƭat Roog). After the Guelowar they kept their wealth and titles but were merely provincial chiefs. However, due to their connection to Serer religion, they did maintain some power, and could dethrone a reigning monarch if threatened. [40] [41] [42]
According to legend, Maysa Wali elected the legendary Ndiadiane Ndiaye (Serer proper: Njaajaan Njaay) in c. 1360 as first Emperor of the Jolof Empire. He was the first king of modern Senegal to voluntarily gave his allegiance to Ndiadiane Ndiaye and asked others to do so, thereby making Sine a vassal of the Jolof Empire. [43] Oral traditions hold that the Jolof Empire was not an empire founded by conquest, but through a voluntary confederacy of states. [44] More likely, however, Jolof grew by a process of conquest. In some Serer dialects 'Njaajan Njaay' can be translated as 'catastrophe', indicating what impact his rule may have had on the Serer people. [45]
Serer oral tradition says that Sine never paid tribute to Ndiadiane Ndiaye nor any of his descendants, that the Jolof Empire never subjugated the kingdom, and Ndiadiane Ndiaye himself received his name from the mouth of Maysa Waly. [46] [43] The historian Sylviane Diouf, however, states that "Each vassal kingdom—Walo, Takrur, Kayor, Baol, Sine, Salum, Wuli, and Niani—recognized the hegemony of Jolof and paid tribute." [47]
The Serer Kingdoms of Sine and Saloum were the first to leave the Jolof Empire, at least twenty-nine years before the famous Battle of Danki in 1549, which saw the other kingdoms gained their independence from Jolof. [44] [48]
Mbegane Ndour was the king of Sine around the turn of the 16th century (approx. 1495-1514 [ citation needed ]). Lilyan Kesteloot and Anja Veirman advanced the claim that, Mbegane defeated the Takruri marabout Moussa Eli Bana Sall, who at that time reigned over Saloum, by poisoning him with a viper. [49] The authors then went on to claim that, Mbegane Ndour was born of the matrilineal royal clan, but out of wedlock and with a relatively unimportant father. His marriage, they claim, with a princess and priestess of Baol propped up his legitimacy as well as helping him conquer Saloum. [49]
Like most of their subjects in the 19th century, the Serer Kings of Sine and Saloum continued to follow Serer religion. On 18 July 1867, the prolific 19th century Sengalese Muslim cleric, jihadist, and slave trader [50] [51] [52] Maba Diakhou Bâ was defeated at The Battle of Fandane-Thiouthioune fighting against the King of Sine Maad a Sinig Kumba Ndoffene fa Maak Joof when he tried to launch jihad in Sine, but failed. Maba and his allied forces suffered a severe defeat, and he was killed in that battle. [53] [54]
The rulers of Sine retained their title (Maad a Sinig) throughout the colonial period and did not lose official recognition until 1969 after the death of Maad a Sinig Mahecor Joof. [55]
In 2019, the Serer people of Sine decided to reinstate their monarchy, and Maad a Sinig Niokhobaye Fatou Diène Diouf was crowned King of Sine (Maad a Sinig) on 8 February 2019 at Diakhao, the precolonial capital of Sine. He belongs the Royal House of Semou Njekeh Joof via the branch of Maad a Sinig Semou Maak Joof, and a member of the Guelowar matrilineage through his mother Lingeer Fatou Diène. [56] [57] [58] [59] Since Sine is now part of independent Senegal, Niokhobaye Diouf is a constitutional monarch with no official powers. His role is simply ceremonial and diplomatic. He does however, have influence and has been able to utilise the old pleasant cousinship between the Serer and Jola people by liaising with the King of Oussouye (Maan Sibiloumbaye Diédhiou) to help effect economic and cultural development, as well as bring about peace in Casamance, following decades long of the Casamance conflict. [60] [58] [59]
The economic base of Sine was agriculture and fishing. Millet and other crops were grown. Sine was very reluctant to grow groundnut for the French market, in spite of French colonial directives. It was less dependent on groundnut than other states. Deeply rooted in Serer conservatism and Serer religion, for several decades during the 19th century, the Serer farmers refused to grow it or when they did, they ensured that their farming cycle was not only limited to groundnut production. Their religious philosophy of preserving the ecosystem affected groundnut production in Sine. Even after mass production was later adopted, succession struggles in the late 19th century between the royal houses hampered production. However, the Kingdom of Sine was less susceptible to hunger and indebtedness, a legacy which continued right up to the last absolute monarch of Sine – Maad a Sinig Mahecor Joof. It was very common for people from other states to migrate to the Serer kingdoms of Sine and Saloum in search of a better life. The inhabitants of Sine (the "Sine-Sine") rarely migrated. [61]
Some of the king's government (or the political structure of Sine) include: the Lamanes (provincial chiefs and title holders, not to be confused with the ancient Serer Lamanes); the heir apparents such as the Buumi , Thilas and Loul (in that order); the Great Farba Kaba (chief of the army); the Farba Binda (minister of finance, the police and the royal palace) and the Great Jaraff (the king's advisor and head of the noble council of electors responsible for electing the kings from the royal family). [62] [63]
The following list gives a condensed version of the political structure of Sine: [63]
Maad a Sinig (king of Sine)
The Kingdom of Saloum was a Serer kingdom in present-day Senegal as well as Gambia, then called Lower Saluum. The precolonial capital of Saloum was the city of Kahone. It was a sister to the Kingdom of Sine. Their history, geography and culture were intricately linked and it was common to refer to them as the Sine-Saloum and the Serer Kingdoms of Sine and Saloum.
The Saltigue, are Serer high priests and priestesses who preside over the religious ceremonies and affairs of the Serer people, such as the Xooy ceremony, the biggest event in the Serer religious calendar. They usually come from ancient Serer paternal families, and the title is inherited by birthright. In Serer country, Saltigue are always diviners.
Maad a Signig Kumba Ndoffene Famak Joof was the King of Sine in modern-day Senegal. Maad a Sinig means king of Sine. He ruled from 1853 until his death on 23 August 1871. He was the son of Maad Souka Ndela Joof and Lingeer Gnilane Jogoy Joof. His father – Maad Souka Ndela came from The Royal House of Semou Njekeh Joof founded by Maad Semou Njekeh Joof in the early 18th century, which was the third and last Royal House of Joof family of Sine and Saloum. His paternal family ruled three Kingdoms : Sine, Kingdom of Saloum and previously the Kingdom of Baol. They descended from Maad Ndaah Njemeh Joof the 13th century King of Lâ (Laah) in Baol.
The Battle of Fandane-Thiouthioune, also known as the Battle of Somb or the Battle of Somb-Tioutioune, occurred on 18 July 1867. It was a religious war between the Serer people and the Muslim Marabouts in 19th-century Senegal and the Gambia, but it also had a political and economic dimension to it: vendetta and empire-building. Fandane, Thiouthioune and Somb were part of the pre-colonial Serer Kingdom of Sine, now part of independent Senegal.
Guelowar, also spelled Gelwar, Guelwar, Guelware, Gueleware or Gueloware, was a maternal dynasty in the pre-colonial Serer kingdoms of Sine and Saloum. They were from the Mandinka ethnic group. The offspring of Mandinka women and Serer men became the kings of Sine and Saloum. The dynasty lasted from the mid-14th century to 1969, the year both kings died.
Lamane or laman means "master of the land" in the Mandingue, Wolof, and Serer languages. The name was also sometimes the title of chiefs or kings of the Serer people of the Senegambia region which includes modern day Senegal and the Gambia. This title was also used by some kings of the Wolof kingdoms. The title is sometimes used interchangeably with the old title Maad. After the Guelowars' migration to the Sine and the foundation of the Kingdom of Sine, "lamane" denotes a provincial chief answerable to the King of Sine and Saloum.
The medieval history of the Serer people of Senegambia is partly characterised by resisting Islamization from perhaps the 11th century during the Almoravid movement, to the 19th century Marabout movement of Senegambia and continuation of the old Serer paternal dynasties.
Maad a Sinig Mahecor Joof was the last king to rule the Serer Kingdom of Sine, now part of independent Senegal. Maad a Sinig means king of Sine in the Serer language. He reigned from 1924 until his death in 1969. After his death, the Kingdom of Sine was incorporated into independent Senegal.
Joof or Diouf is a surname that is typically Serer. This surname is also spelt Juuf or Juf.
Maad Semou Njekeh Joof was a member of the Joof Dynasty of the Kingdom of Sine now part of independent Senegal. Maad means king and Maad a Sinig means king of Sine in Serer. He was the founder of the Royal House of Semou Njekeh Joof, founded in the early eighteenth century. His royal house was the third and last royal house founded by the Joof family of Sine and Saloum. Since its foundation, at least seven kings of Sine from his royal house had succeeded to the throne including his son Maad a Sinig Boukar Tjilas Sanghaie Joof.
Teigne was a Serer title for the monarchs of the pre-colonial Kingdom of Baol, now part of present-day Senegal. The Kingdoms of Baol and Cayor became intricately linked especially post 1549 when the Faal family came to into prominence, and it was the same family that eventually ruled both Kingdoms with the exception of few interruptions, notably Lat Joor Ngoneh Latir Jobe who was of a different patrilineage.
The Royal House of Semou Njekeh Joof was founded in the early 18th century by Maad Semou Njekeh Joof from the Kingdom of Sine, now part of present-day Senegal. It was the third and last royal house founded by the Joof family – during the Guelowar period, since the reignes of Maad a Sinig Maysa Wali Jaxateh Manneh and Maad a Sinig Mahecor Joof. From the date of its foundation up to the dissolution of Sine in 1969, at least seven kings from this royal house had succeeded to the throne of Sine.
This is a timeline of the history and development of Serer religion and the Serer people of Senegal, The Gambia and Mauritania. This timeline merely gives an overview of their history, consisting of calibrated archaeological discoveries in Serer countries, Serer religion, politics, royalty, etc. Dates are given according to the Common Era. For a background to these events, see Roog, Serer religion, Serer creation myth, Serer prehistory, Lamane, States headed by Serer Lamanes, Serer history and Serer people.
Maad a Sinig Maysa Wali Jaxateh Manneh was a king described in the oral tradition of the Serer pre-colonial Kingdom of Sine and the first of the Guelowar maternal dynasty to rule in Serer country. He reigned as Maad a Sinig from c. 1350 to 1370.
The Royal House of Boureh Gnilane Joof was a royal house founded in the 14th century by Jaraff Boureh Gnilane Joof. He was a member the Serer tribe, from the pre-colonial Kingdom of Sine now part of independent Senegal. It was the first royal house founded by the Joof family during the Guelowar period. Boureh Gnilane Joof was a royal prince and a Jaraff, a Serer title of nobility with the powers of a prime minister. He was neither a Maad a Sinig nor a Maad Saloum but a royal prince who had the title Jaraff bestowed upon him by his cousin and brother-in-law - Maad a Sinig Diessanou Faye. His father Maad Patar Kholleh Joof was the king of Laa and Teigne of Baol. Boureh's brothers were the first from this house to have succeeded to the throne of Sine during the Guelowar period. His name was adopted in his honour to refer to the first royal house founded by the Joof family during this dynastic period. The Joof family of Sine, from this royal house also ruled in the Kingdom of Saloum The Joof family also ruled in Baol. From the date of its foundation up to the abolition of the Serer monarchies of Sine and Saloum in 1969, at least ten kings from this house had succeeded to the throne of Sine. As the first royal house of Sine founded by the Joof family in this dynastic period, the Royal House of Boureh Gnilane Joof holds great significance in Senegambian, Joof family and Serer history, because all the subsequent royal houses founded by the Joof family branched out from this royal house.
The Royal House of Jogo Siga Joof was the second royal house founded by the Joof family during the Guelowar dynastic period of Sine. The Guelowar period commences from c. 1350 during the reign of Maad a Sinig Maysa Wali and ends in 1969 following the deaths of the last Serer kings of Sine and Saloum and the disestablishment of the monarchies in Serer countries. The pre-colonial Kingdom of Sine now lies within present-day Senegal.
Lingeer Fatim Beye Joos Fadiou was a 14th-century Serer princess and queen (Lingeer) from the Kingdom of Sine. She is the matriarch and early ancestor of the Joos Maternal Dynasty of Waalo. She is usually regarded by some sources as the founder of the Joos Maternal Dynasty. The pre-colonial Kingdoms of Sine and Waalo now lies within present-day Senegal. Her surname is Beye (English-Gambia) or Bèye (French-Senegal). Joos Fadiou is her maternal clan. In Serer, "Fa-tim" means "the maternal clan of..."
The patronym Faye is one of the typical surnames of the Serer people of Senegal, the Gambia and Mauritania. In French-speaking Senegal and Mauritania, and English-speaking Gambia, the surname is spelled Faye.
Boukar Djillakh Faye was a 14th-century Serer wrestler (njom) from the post-classical Kingdom of Sine which lies within present-day Senegal.
Babacar Sedikh Diouf or Babacar Sédikh Diouf is a Senegalese historian, author, researcher, campaigner against "Wolofization", a Pan-Africanist, and former teacher. He has written extensively about the history and culture of Senegal, Africa, and that of the Serer ethnic group to which he belongs. He usually writes by the pen name Babacar Sedikh Diouf.