Kahone ( Serer proper: Ka-Woon (variations: KawoonDione, Salif, "L'appel du ndut, ou, L'initiation des garçons seereer." IFAN, 2004, p. 85. or Kawon)–meaning the ancestor, "the one who was" in Serer)) is a town and urban commune near

Kaolack Kaolack (; ) is a town with a population of 298,904 (2023 census) on the north bank of the Saloum River about from its mouth and the N1 road in Senegal. It is the capital of the Kaolack Region, which borders The Gambia to the south. Kaolack ...

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 ...

. It was the capital of the pre-colonial Kingdom of

Saloum The Kingdom of Saloum ( Serer: ''Saluum'' or ''Saalum'') was a Serer kingdom in present-day Senegal and parts of Gambia. The precolonial capital was the city of Kahone. Re-established in 2017, Saloum is now a non-sovereign traditional monarch ...

and is a center of Serer culture and

history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

Toponymy and ancient history

Kahone takes its name from a Serer religious site and place of worship known in Serer as "Ka-Woon", which means the ancestor, "the one who was".Diouf, Marcel Mahawa, "Lances mâles: Léopold Sédar Senghor et les traditions sérères." Centre d'études linguistiques et historiques par tradition orale, 1996, p. 165, 172 The Serers venerated this founding Serer ancestor, and the name was given to the future capital of the Serer

Kingdom of Saloum The Kingdom of Saloum (Serer language, Serer: ''Saluum'' or ''Saalum'') was a Serer people, Serer monarchy, kingdom in present-day Senegal and parts of Gambia. The precolonial capital was the city of Kahone. Re-established in 2017, Saloum is now ...

. The name predates the

Guelwar Guelowar (or Gelwaar in Serer), also spelled Gelwar, Guelwar, Guelware, Gueleware or Gueloware, was a maternal dynasty in the pre-colonial Serer kingdoms of Sine and Saloum (in the Senegambia, but mainly in the western area of present-day Seneg ...

maternal dynasty and Mbegane Ndour, a member of that matriclan and founder of the Kingdom of Saloum, and takes its name from the Serer sacred site Ka-Woon.

Medieval history

In the 14th century, the

Mandinka Mandinka, Mandika, Mandinkha, Mandinko, or Mandingo may refer to: Media * Mandingo (novel), ''Mandingo'' (novel), a bestselling novel published in 1957 * Mandingo (film), ''Mandingo'' (film), a 1975 film based on the eponymous 1957 novel * ''Man ...

Guelowar Guelowar (or Gelwaar in Serer language, Serer), also spelled Gelwar, Guelwar, Guelware, Gueleware or Gueloware, was a maternal dynasty in the pre-colonial Serer people, Serer kingdoms of Kingdom of Sine, Sine and Kingdom of Saloum, Saloum (in the ...

clan migrated from Kaabu northwards after losing a succession dispute.Ngom, Biram: ''La question Gelwaar et l’histoire du Siin'', Dakar, Université de Dakar, 1987 " This matriclan, according to the claim advanced by Rokhaya Fall, founded a number of small chiefdoms in the area north of the

Gambia river The Gambia River (formerly known as the River Gambra, French language, French: ''Fleuve Gambie'', Portuguese language, Portuguese: ''Rio Gâmbia'') is a major river in West Africa, running from the Fouta Djallon plateau in north Guinea westward ...

. Fall went on to write that, the home of Kéno Mbèye, one of the Guelowar leaders, was chosen as the meeting place where any problems could be discussed, and so it was called "Filagui diobé", meaning meeting place in the

Mandinka language The Mandinka language (; Ajami: ), or Mandingo, is a Mande language spoken by the Mandinka people of northern Guinea-Bissau, the Casamance region of Senegal, and The Gambia where it is one of the principal languages. Mandinka belongs to ...

. This eventually became Njoob, capital of a state called Mbey. Rokhaya Fall didn't realise that the tradition she was reporting is actually of Kina/Kin/Kon O Mev/Meo Mane (Manneh), who was a royal princess and sister of Sino-Méou and Kulaar/Koular-o-Méou Mane (and

Maad a Sinig Maad a Sinig (variations : Mad a Sinig, 'Maad Sine, Maat Sine, Bour Sine, Bur Sine, etc.) means king of Sine. The ancient Kingdom of Sine, now part of Senegal, was a pre-colonial Serer kingdom . Their kings were titled ''Maad'' or ''Maad'' (als ...

Maysa Wali Jaxateh Manneh Maad a Sinig Maysa Wali Jaxateh Manneh ( Serer proper : Maysa Waali Maane, many variations : Maysa Waaly Dione, Gravrand, Henry, "La Civilisation Sereer – ''Pangool''", vol.2, Les Nouvelles Editions Africaines du Senegal, (1990), P 344, ...

Université Cheikh Anta Diop Cheikh Anta Diop University (), also known as the Cheikh Anta Diop University of Dakar, is a university in Dakar, Senegal. It is named after the Senegalese physicist, historian and anthropologist Cheikh Anta Diop and has an enrollment of over 60, ...

, Faculté des Lettres et Sciences Humaines, Département d'Histoire, 2001. "Ñirohmol, un village déserté du Diokoul (Saloum) (XIVe-XXes): histoire et archéologie." p. 10)– the three sisters and maternal ancestors of the three Guelouar families of Saloum. Gravrand, Henry, "La civilisation Sereer: Cosaan (Les Origines)." Nouvelles Editions africaines, 1983, p. 260-262, The Serer country "Mbey" existed before the Guelowar's arrival. Kéno Mbèye (or any of its spelling variations including Kena Mbey) takes her name from the Serer country she settled in. It is only a nickname which does not mean anything in Serer other than "she who stays in Saalum (= Mbey)." In the late 15th century, Mbey and its prosperous salt works fell under the influence of a Toucouleur

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 ...

named Elibana. The Siin-Siin leader Mbegane Ndour attacked and killed him, establishing the Serer kingdom of

and renaming the capital Kahone, meaning 'this is the one' in Serer. The city remained the political and religious center of Saloum for the next several centuries. Kahone was originally a far more important town than neighboring

, but the roles have been reversed in the 20th century as Kaolack developed into a port and railroad hub. Kahone has been reduced to a sub-prefecture of Kaolack.

Culture and Economy

It is primarily agricultural, but it is participating in industrial development plans. Also, the town is pursuing increased tourism based on its history and culture. An annual royal festival is celebrated in which the O Maad (Serer king), Djaraaf (Serer prime minister) and other dignitaries meet to decide kingdom issues and hold pageants celebrating the history of Saloum and the

Serer people The Serer people (''Serer language, Serer proper'': Seereer or Sereer) are a West African ethnoreligious groupGastellu, Jean-Marc, ''Petit traité de matrilinarité. L'accumulation dans deux sociétés rurales d'Afrique de l'Ouest'', Cahiers ORST ...

. There is a

mosque A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...

and a

Catholic missions Missionary work of the Catholic Church has often been undertaken outside the geographically defined parishes and dioceses by religious orders who have people and material resources to spare, and some of which specialized in missions. Eventually, p ...

in Kahone. There are numerous ancient tombs, stone circles and megaliths in the vicinity as well as large burial mounds implanted with

baobab ''Adansonia'' is a genus of medium-to-large deciduous trees known as baobabs ( or ). The eight species of ''Adansonia'' are native to Africa, Australia, and Madagascar but have also been introduced to other regions of the world, including Barb ...

trees. Kahone is routinely involved in many administrative territorial disputes with neighboring communes, always emphasizing its earlier importance. In 2007, according to official estimates, Kahone had 5,852 inhabitants.

References

Sources

Henry Gravrand Father Henry Gravrand (France, 1921 – Abbey of Latrun, Palestine, 11 July 2003) was a French Catholic missionary to Africa and an anthropologist who has written extensively on Serer religion and culture. He was one of the leading pioneers of ...

, ''La civilisation sereer'', I. Coosan, Dakar, Nouvelles Editions Africaines (1983). In French. * Martin A. Klein, ''Islam and Imperialism in Senegal Sine-Saloum, 1847–1914'', Edinburgh At the University Press (1968) * Alioune Sarr, ''Histoire du Sine-Saloum. Introduction, bibliographie et Notes par Charles Becker'', BIFAN, Tome 46, Serie B, n° 3–4, 1986-1987. In French. * * {{Coord, 14, 09, 41, N, 16, 01, 51, W, region:SN_type:city(5763), display=title Populated places in Kaolack region Kaolack region Communes of Senegal Serer holy places

Toponymy and ancient history

Medieval history

Culture and Economy

See also

References

Sources