The Emirate of Trarza (

arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

: إمارة ترارزة) was a pre-colonial state in what is today southwest

Mauritania Mauritania, officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, is a sovereign country in Maghreb, Northwest Africa. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Western Sahara to Mauritania–Western Sahara border, the north and northwest, ...

. It has survived as a traditional confederation of semi-nomadic people to the present day. Its name is shared with the modern

Region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

Trarza Trarza () is a region in southwest Mauritania. Its capital is Rosso. Other major cities and towns include Mederdra and Boutilimit. Trarza borders the regions of Inchiri and Adrar to the north, Brakna to the east, and the country of Senegal t ...

. The population, a mixture of

Berber Berber or Berbers may refer to: Ethnic group * Berbers, an ethnic group native to Northern Africa * Berber languages, a family of Afro-Asiatic languages Places * Berber, Sudan, a town on the Nile People with the surname * Ady Berber (1913–196 ...

tribes, had been there for a long time before being conquered in the 11th century by

Hassaniya Arabic Hassaniya Arabic (; also known as , , , , and Maure) is a variety of Maghrebi Arabic spoken by Mauritanian Arabs, Malian Arabs and the Sahrawis. It was spoken by the Beni Ḥassān Bedouin tribes of Yemeni origin who extended their authority o ...

speakers from the north. Europeans later called these people

Moors The term Moor is an Endonym and exonym, exonym used in European languages to designate the Muslims, Muslim populations of North Africa (the Maghreb) and the Iberian Peninsula (particularly al-Andalus) during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a s ...

/''Maures'', and thus have titled this group "the Trarza Moors".

Early history

Trarza, founded in the midst of the final wars between the local

Bedouin The Bedouin, Beduin, or Bedu ( ; , singular ) are pastorally nomadic Arab tribes who have historically inhabited the desert regions in the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, the Levant, and Mesopotamia (Iraq). The Bedouin originated in the Sy ...

s and the

Arab Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

conquerors of the

Maghreb The Maghreb (; ), also known as the Arab Maghreb () and Northwest Africa, is the western part of the Arab world. The region comprises western and central North Africa, including Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, and Tunisia. The Maghreb al ...

, was organized as a semi-nomadic state led by a

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

Prince, or

Emir Emir (; ' (), also Romanization of Arabic, transliterated as amir, is a word of Arabic language, Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocratic, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person po ...

. Trarza was one of three powerful emirates that controlled the northwest bank of the Senegal River from the 17th to the 19th centuries CE; the others were the emirates of Brakna, and the Tagant.

Society and structure

The Arab conquests had resulted in a society divided according to ethnicity and caste. The "warrior" lineages or

clan A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, a clan may claim descent from a founding member or apical ancestor who serves as a symbol of the clan's unity. Many societie ...

s, the Hassane, supposed descendants of the Beni Hassan Arab conquerors (cf. Oulad Delim) maintained supremacy and comprised the

aristocratic Aristocracy (; ) is a form of government that places power in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class, the aristocrats. Across Europe, the aristocracy exercised immense economic, political, and social influence. In Western Christian co ...

upper ranks. Below them were ranked the "scholarly" or "clerical" lineages, who preserved and taught Islam. These were called ''

marabout In the Muslim world, the marabout () is a Sayyid, descendant of Muhammad (Arabic: سـيّد, Romanization of Arabic, romanized: ''sayyid'' and ''sidi'' in the Maghreb) and a Islam, Muslim religious leader and teacher who historically had the f ...

'' (by the French) or '' zawiya'' tribes (cf. Oulad Tidrarine). The zawiya tribes were protected by Hassane overlords in exchange for their religious services and payment of the '' horma,'' a tributary tax of

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, bovid ungulates widely kept as livestock. They are prominent modern members of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Mature female cattle are calle ...

or goods. While the zawiya were exploited in a sense, the relationship was often more or less symbiotic. Under both these groups, but still part of the Western Sahara society, were the '' znaga'' tribes, people who worked in lower caste occupations, such as fishermen (cf. Imraguen), as well as peripheral semi-tribal groups working in the same fields (among them the "professional" castes, '' mallemin'' and '' igawen''). All these groups were considered to be among the ''bidan'', or Arab whites. Below them were ranked groups known as Haratin, a "black" population (ethnic sub-Saharan). They are generally considered descendants of freed slaves of

sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lie south of the Sahara. These include Central Africa, East Africa, Southern Africa, and West Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the list of sovereign states and ...

n origins; some sources suggest they were descendants of the first inhabitants of the Sahara. (Note that ''Haratin'', a term of obscure origin, has a different meaning in the Berber regions of Morocco.) The Haratin often lived serving affiliated ''bidan'' (white) families; in this role, they were considered part of the bidan tribe, and not having tribes of their own. Below them were enslaved persons. These were owned individually or in family groups. At most they could hope to be freed and rise to the status of Haratin. Rich bidan families generally held a few slaves for domestic use. Nomadic societies have less use of slave labor than do sedentary societies. In some cases, the bidan used slaves to work on

oasis In ecology, an oasis (; : oases ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environmentdates, digging

well A well is an excavation or structure created on the earth by digging, driving, or drilling to access liquid resources, usually water. The oldest and most common kind of well is a water well, to access groundwater in underground aquifers. The ...

s, etc. These interrelated tribes controlled distinct territories: the Emirates of Trarza, Brakna, and Tagant were the political reflection of Hassane-caste tribes in southern Mauritania. At the beginning of the 20th century, the French used tensions within this system to overthrow the rulers of Trarza and its neighbors and establish colonial administration.

Interactions with the South and Europeans: 18th century

In the 17th century, the French had established a trading post at the island Saint-Louis in the mouth of the Senegal River. The Bedouins of Mauritania came to control much of the trade from the interior that reached the French post. Trarza and other emirates profited from their raids against non-Muslims to their south by the seizure of slaves for sale and by the taxes they levied on Muslim states of the area. From the mid-18th to the 19th centuries, Trarza became involved deeply in the internal politics of the south bank of the Senegal. It raided and briefly conquered or backed political factions in the kingdoms of Cayor, Djolof, and Waalo.

Trade and war: early 19th century

As the

Atlantic Slave Trade The Atlantic slave trade or transatlantic slave trade involved the transportation by slave traders of Slavery in Africa, enslaved African people to the Americas. European slave ships regularly used the triangular trade route and its Middle Pass ...

was banned by

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in 1808, Trarza and its neighbors' collected taxes on trade, especially acacia gum (''Gum Arabic''), which the French purchased in increasing quantities for its use in industrial fabric production. West Africa had become the sole supplier of world Gum Arabic by the 18th century. Its export at Saint-Louis doubled in amount in the decade of the 1830s alone. Trarza's collection of taxes and its threat to bypass Saint-Louis by sending gum to the British traders at Portendick, eventually brought the Emirate into direct conflict with the French. A new emir, Muhammad al-Habib, had signed an agreement with the Waalo Kingdom, directly to the south of the river. In return for his promise of an end to raids in Waalo territory, the Emir took the heiress of Waalo as a bride. The prospect that Trarza might inherit control of both banks of the Senegal struck at the security of French traders. The French initiated the Franco-Trarzan War of 1825 with a large expeditionary force that crushed Muhammad's army. As a result, the French expanded their influence to the north of the Senegal River.

Second Franco-Trarza War

In the 1840s and 1850s, the French in Saint-Louis implemented expansion along the Senegal river valley by building fortified trading posts and militarily enforcing protectorate treaties with the smaller states in the territory of today's

Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

. Governor Protet began this policy, but it reached a climax under Louis Faidherbe. "The Plan of 1854" was a series of interior ministerial orders given to Governor Protet; it was developed after petitions from the powerful

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

-based Maurel and Prom company, the largest shipping interest in St. Louis. It required the construction of forts upriver in order to command more territory and end African control of the acacia gum trade from the interior. Trarza had renewed its alliance with Waalo, and Muhammed's son Ely was enthroned in Waalo as '' brak'' (king). Trarza had also formed a pact with former rival and neighbor, the Emirate of Brakna, to resist French expansion. They almost took Saint-Louis in a raid in 1855, but the French punitive expedition was swift and decisive. At the Battle of Jubuldu on 25 February 1855, the French defeated a combined Waalo and Moorish force; they formally assimilated (the then depopulated) Waalo territory into the French colony. By 1860, Faidherbe had built a series of inland forts up the Senegal River, to Médine just below the Félou waterfall. He forced Trarza and their neighbors to accept the Senegal river as a formal boundary to their influence. But with the French defeat in the

Franco-Prussian War The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 Janua ...

of the 1870s, colonial expansion slowed. The Emirate of Trarza was undisturbed so long as it kept north the French possessions and did not interfere in trade. During the next thirty years, Trarza fell into internecine conflict with neighboring states over control of the Chemama, the area of agricultural settlements just north of the river. Traders in Saint-Louis profited by buying goods from Mauritania and selling the various Moorish forces weapons, and the French rarely interfered.

Pacification: 1900-1905

In 1901, French administrator Xavier Coppolani began a plan of "peaceful penetration" into the territories of Trarza and its fellow emirates. This consisted of a divide-and-conquer strategy in which the French promised the Zawiya tribes and, by extension the Haratin, greater independence and protection from the Hassane. In the space of four years (1901–1905), Coppolani traveled the area signing

protectorate A protectorate, in the context of international relations, is a State (polity), state that is under protection by another state for defence against aggression and other violations of law. It is a dependent territory that enjoys autonomy over ...

s over much of what is now

, and beginning the expansion of French forces. The Zawiya tribes, descendants of the earlier Berber-led tribes conquered in the 17th century, remained a religious caste within Moorish society. They produced leaders whom the French called (perhaps erroneously) ''

s.'' Having been disarmed for centuries, they relied upon the Hassane rulers for protection. Their leaders' grievances with Trarza's rulers were skillfully exploited by the French. During this period, three noted marabouts had great influence in Mauritania: Shaykh Sidiya Baba, whose authority was strongest in Trarza, Brakna, and Tagant; Shaykh Saad Bu, whose importance extended to Tagant and northeast

; and Shaykh Ma al Aynin, who exerted leadership in Adrar and the north, as well as in Spanish Sahara and southern

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

. By enlisting the support of Shaykhs Sidiya and Saad against the depredations of the warrior clans and in favor of a ''Pax Gallica'', Coppolani was able to exploit the fundamental conflicts in Maure society. He was opposed by both the French colonial administration in Senegal, which saw no value in the wastelands north of the Senegal River, and by the Saint-Louis commercial companies, to whom pacification meant the end of the lucrative arms trade. But, by 1904 Coppolani had peacefully subdued Trarza, Brakna, and Tagant; he also had established French military posts across the central region of southern Mauritania. As Faidherbe had suggested fifty years earlier, the key to the pacification of Mauritania lay in the Adrar. There, Shaykh Ma al Aynin had begun a campaign to counteract the influence of his two rivals—the southern marabouts, Shaykhs Sidiya and Saad—and to stop the advance of the French. Because Shaykh Ma al Aynin enjoyed military as well as moral support from Morocco, the French policy of peaceful pacification gave way to active conquest. In return for support, Shaykh Ma al Aynin recognized the Moroccan sultan's claims to sovereignty over Mauritania. This action has since been the basis in the late 20th century for much of Morocco's claim to Mauritania. In May 1905, before the French column could set out for Adrar, Coppolani was killed in Tidjikdja.

Resistance and occupation: 1905-1934

With the death of Coppolani, the tide turned in favor of Shaykh Ma al Aynin, who rallied many of the Maures with promises of Moroccan help. The French government hesitated for three years while Shaykh Ma al Aynin urged a Jihad to drive the French back across the Senegal River. In 1908 Colonel Gouraud, who had defeated a Tuareg resistance movement in the French Sudan (present day

Mali Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...

), took command of French forces as the government Commissioner of the new Civil Territory of

(created in 1904). He captured Atar, and received the submission of all the Adrar peoples the following year. By 1912, the French had put down all resistance in Adrar and southern Mauritania. As a result of the conquest of Adrar, the French established their military ability and assured the ascendancy of the French-supported marabouts over the warrior clans within Maure society. The fighting took a large toll on the animal herds of the nomadic Maures, who sought to replenish their herds in the traditional manner—by raiding other camps. From 1912 to 1934, French security forces repeatedly thwarted such raids. The last raid by the particularly effective and far-ranging northern nomads, the Reguibat, occurred in 1934 and covered a distance of 6,000 kilometers. They netted 800 head of cattle, 270 camels, and 10 slaves. Yet, except for minor raids and occasional attacks, the Maures generally acquiesced to French authority. They did attack Port-Etienne (present-day Nouadhibou) in 1924 and 1927. With pacification, the French took on administering the vast territory of Mauritania.

Important dates

c.1640 Trarza confederation founded.
15 Dec 1902 French protectorate.

List of rulers

Information in the table below is taken from John Stewart's ''African States and Rulers'' (Third edition, 2006).

References

Bibliography

* M. Th. Houtsma, E. van Donzel. E. J. (1993 ed.) ''Brill's First Encyclopaedia of Islam, 1913-1936'', BRILL: New York City. . * Boubacar B. 1998) ''Senegambia and the Atlantic Slave Trade'', Cambridge University Press: Cambridge. .
Ruler list at worldstatesmen.org
* Muhammed Al Muhtar W. As-sa'd, « Émirats et espace émiral maure : le cas du Trârza aux XVIIIe-XIXe siècles », ''Mauritanie, entre arabité et africanité'', ''Revue des mondes musulmans et de la Méditerranée'', n° 54, juillet 1990, p. 53-82) {{DEFAULTSORT:Trarza, Emirate of Berbers in Mauritania Berbers in Senegal Political history of Mauritania Kingdoms of Senegal Former emirates French West Africa States and territories established in the 17th century Mauritanian Moors 1640 establishments in Africa