Kingdom of Jolof

In 1670, wandering Muslim clerics from Mauretania stirred up a rebellion against the Wolof rulers by a ruse. They promised to show the Wolof people how to produce millet without the labor of planting. During the ensuing rebellion, the Mauretanians invaded, killed the rulers of Waalo and Kayor and defeated the burba Jolof. However, when the Mauretanians could not deliver on their promise, the Wolof restored their rulers and drove the invaders out. This claim is questionable because most rural Wolofs are strong farmers who produce millet and other crops.[4] The Mauretanians still remained a problem, however; and Waalo in particular suffered from their constant raids.[5]

In 1686, Baol split from Kayor under the teigne (king) Lat Sukabe Fall. The burba Jolof used this as an excuse to try and restore his crumbling empire and invaded Kayor. Sukabe, fearing for his own security, invaded Kayor and killed the burba Jolof in battle. He then annexed Kayor creating a union of the two states that would last until his death in 1702. Thereafter, the two states would be ruled by his sons. By the late 18th century, Kayor was pre-eminent again and annexed Baol while inflicting serious defeats on the Muslim al-Mami of Futa Toro in 1786.[5]

In the early 19th century the Trarza Moors dominated the Senegal river valley through their monopoly on the lucrative trade in gum arabic. They frequently raided Jolof for slaves and booty until buurba Mba Buuri began paying an annual tribute around 1820, though raids restarted and conflict intensified in the 1830s and 40s.[6] During this period central rule was weak, but the bergel Makura Niang, dominating a series of buurbas, maintained order in the kingdom. Upon his death around 1848 Jolof was torn by succession disputes and foreign intervention until 1864.[7]

In 1865 Maba Diakhou Bâ's forces led by Lat Jor invaded Jolof and drove buurba Bakantam Khadi, who had refused to convert to Islam, into exile in Bambouk. Maba was forced to retreat a few months later to deal with a revolt and French invasion in his base in Saloum, and the buurba returned, moving the capital to Yang-Yang, but was not able to fully restore order.[8]

In 1870 another reformer, Shaikh Amadou Ba of the Imamate of Futa Toro, again tried to convince the buurba to convert. Ultimately he succeeded in cowing the political leadership of the kingdom, Islamizing the state, and he settled there with his numerous followers.[9]

Resistance remained, however, led by the tuube Sanor Ndiaye and Alboury Ndiaye. After many setbacks, an alliance of Ndiaye, Lat Jor, Ibra Almaami of Futa Toro, and the French defeated and killed Amadou Ba in the battle of Samba Sadio on February 11th 1875.[10] Alboury Ndiaye then became de facto buurba, with an elder uncle as a figurehead. [11]

Ndiaye re-established firm royal control in Jolof, ended the frequent raiding, promoted trade and agricultural production, and continued the Islamization of the country.[12] He supported his cousin Lat Jor in a dispute with the French over the construction of a railroad, creating tension temporarily resolved by a favorable treaty in 1885.[13] In 1886 he defeated an invasion from Cayor by the damel installed by the French in place of Lat Jor in the battle of Gile.[14] By 1890 Jolof was the only remaining independent kingdom in western Senegal, and Alboury Ndiaye was planning to evacuate much of the population eastwards away from French influence. To prevent this, a column led by Alfred Dodds marched on Yang-Yang in May, and Ndiaye moved eastwards across the Ferlo Desert to Futa Toro. Dodds installed a puppet buurba and officially established a protectorate over Jolof, ending its independence.[15]