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Takrur, Tekrur or Tekrour ( 500 – c. 1456) was a state based in the Senegal River in modern day
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 ...
which was at its height in the 11th and 12th centuries, roughly parallel to the Ghana Empire. It lasted in some form into the 18th century.


History


Origin

There are a number of conflicting theories about the deep past of the Senegal river valley, where the Kingdom of Takrur would take root. The formation of the state may have taken place as an influx of Fulani from the east settled in the Senegal valley. John Donnelly Fage suggests that Takrur was formed through the interaction of
Berbers Berbers, or the Berber peoples, also known as Amazigh or Imazighen, are a diverse grouping of distinct ethnic groups indigenous to North Africa who predate the arrival of Arab migrations to the Maghreb, Arabs in the Maghreb. Their main connec ...
from the
Sahara The Sahara (, ) is a desert spanning across North Africa. With an area of , it is the largest hot desert in the world and the list of deserts by area, third-largest desert overall, smaller only than the deserts of Antarctica and the northern Ar ...
and "Negro agricultural peoples" who were "essentially Serer". The outsiders may, however, have been Soninke rather than Berber, and the native population may have already spoken Fula. Regardless, the region has been an ethnic melting pot from the earliest traceable periods up to the present, although Fula have come to dominate in more recent centuries. The founding dynasty was called Dya'ogo. Traditional historians disagree on their origin and ethnic background (assuming a relationship can be drawn at all with ethnic labels as understood today). They were blacksmith-kings, and supposedly introduced iron-working and ore extraction to the region.


Manna Dynasty

A Soninke clan under Mamadu Sumaare, originally from Wagadu, conquered Takrur in the 9th or 10th century, establishing the Manna dynasty and gradually melding into the local culture. They may have been Nyakhates from Diarra, Soumares from Guidimakha, or Jaabis. Takrur was first mentioned in Arab sources in the 10th century. In 1035 king War Jabi introduced
Sharia law Sharia, Sharī'ah, Shari'a, or Shariah () is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on scriptures of Islam, particularly the Qur'an and hadith. In Islamic terminology ''sharīʿah'' refers to immutable, inta ...
, becoming the first ruler to officially adopt Islamic orthodoxy in the Sahel.Colvin, Lucie Gallistel, ''Historical dictionary of Senegal'', Scare Crow Press Inc. (1981), p. 18, During his reign he launched a Holy War against the King of Silla, subjugating them and converting the people to Islam. He died in 1041 and was succeeded by his son, Lebi ibn War Jabi, who would go on to start an alliance with the newly established Almoravid Dynasty to counter the power of the Ghana Empire. The first action between this alliance came in 1054 with a combined attack on the berber city of Awdaghust, for recognizing the authority of the ruler of
Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...
. Having fought alongside Yahya ibn Umar al-Lamtuni at the battle of Tabfarilla, Lebi also provided military help, and financial aid to the Almoravids, helping conquer up to Morocco and
Al-Andalus Al-Andalus () was the Muslim-ruled area of the Iberian Peninsula. The name refers to the different Muslim states that controlled these territories at various times between 711 and 1492. At its greatest geographical extent, it occupied most o ...
. 4,000 cavalrymen from Takrur were critical to the Almoravid victory at the 1086 Battle of Sagrajas in
Al-Andalus Al-Andalus () was the Muslim-ruled area of the Iberian Peninsula. The name refers to the different Muslim states that controlled these territories at various times between 711 and 1492. At its greatest geographical extent, it occupied most o ...
which was crucial to halting the
Reconquista The ''Reconquista'' (Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese for ) or the fall of al-Andalus was a series of military and cultural campaigns that European Christian Reconquista#Northern Christian realms, kingdoms waged ag ...
. This alliance was maintained for most of the next 200 years. During this period Takrur held a dominant position in regional trade, controlling a series of trading posts and cities linking the salt mines of Awlil on the coast north of the mouth of the Senegal to the interior. In the 12th century,
Silla Silla (; Old Korean: wikt:徐羅伐#Old Korean, 徐羅伐, Yale romanization of Korean, Yale: Syerapel, Revised Romanization of Korean, RR: ''Seorabeol''; International Phonetic Alphabet, IPA: ) was a Korean kingdom that existed between ...
, allied with Takrur, went to war against Wagadu. Its decline meant that Takrur was able to exert more control over the trade routes moving gold from Bambouk to desert-side markets.


Serer Exodus

When Islam and Sharia was introduced to the Kingdom by War Jabi, it led to the persecution of the local Serers.Chavane, Bruno A., "Villages de l’ancien Tekrour", Vol. 2, Hommes et sociétés. Archéologies africaines, KARTHALA Editions (1985), p. 38, The lamanic class, whose role also included the safeguarding of their traditional Serer spirituality, are believed to have been at the forefront of resisting Islamization, partly to preserve their religion, but also their power and wealth as landowners. It was common for early Arab writers such as Al Bakri to refer to "non-believers" of Islam in their works as ''lamlam, lemlem,'' or ''damdam'' which may be a corruption of the Serer title '' lamaan.'' The persecution of the Serers in the 11th century led to their first generally accepted exodus from Tekrur, moving southwards. During the 13th century, a civil war broke out. The descendants of the Serers who chose to remain decided to migrate southwest, first to the Ferlo, and then to Siin and Saloum rather than be converted to Islam. Ibrahima Thiaw advanced the claim that this was the process by which a distinct 'Serer' identity first emerged, separate from the rest of the Takruri population. Professor Issa Laye Thiaw, Professor Cheikh Anta Diop, the 18th century French archaeologist Paul Pierret, and Professor
Molefi Kete Asante Molefi Kete Asante ( ; born Arthur Lee Smith Jr.; August 14, 1942) is an American philosopher who is a leading figure in the fields of African-American studies, African studies, and communication studies. He is currently a professor in the Dep ...
''et al''... amongst other historians posits that the name 'Serer' is sacred and pre-Islamic, leading Asante et al. to conclude that, "they are an ancient people whose history reaches deep into the past..." and that would be consistent with their "strong connection to their ancient religious past". Professor Trimingham notes that, in the region, Takrur became the first to adopt Islam, but in so doing, completely lost its Serer identity.


Vassalage and Decline

The 13th century was a period of political crisis in Takrur. The last Manna king, Cengaan Sumaare, is remembered as a bloodthirsty tyrant who was overthrown by his own people. The western parts of the kingdom became independent. Around 1286, the
Mali Empire The Mali Empire (Manding languages, Manding: ''Mandé''Ki-Zerbo, Joseph: ''UNESCO General History of Africa, Vol. IV, Abridged Edition: Africa from the Twelfth to the Sixteenth Century'', p. 57. University of California Press, 1997. or ''Manden ...
conquered Takrur and put it under a military dictatorship ruled by ''farba'' (governors), remembered locally as the Tonjon dynasty. Mali's power in the region diminished in the 14th century, however, and the Fula Lam Termess and Lam Taaga dynasties were able to take power. The region may also have been controlled by the
Kingdom of Diarra Diarra, also referred to as Kingui, Diafunu, or Kaniaga, was a Soninke state in what is now northwestern Mali, centered around the town of Diarra. Founded in the 11th century, it was occasionally independent but frequently under the domination o ...
. Takrur was conquered by the Jolof emperor Tyukuli N'Diklam in the 15th century, who split the region between multiple ''farba''. By 1506, however, the '' Burbas authority was weakening, and the ''farba'' fell to fighting amongst themselves. Koli Tengella, a Fula warlord native to Takrur but coming from Futa Jallon, conquered the area in 1521 and set up the Denanke dynasty. This would last until 1776 when the Fouta Revolution, led by Muslim clerics, took over the kingdom and the house of Denanke was brought down.


Timeline

Dates are approximate and often disputed by different sources or authors.


Economy

Takrur was a trading centre, where
gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...
from the Bambuk region,
salt In common usage, salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl). When used in food, especially in granulated form, it is more formally called table salt. In the form of a natural crystalline mineral, salt is also known as r ...
from the Awlil, and Sahel grain were exchanged for wool, copper, beads, and jewelry. The kingdom's cotton cloth was among its most renowned exports.


Territory

At the height of its power, Takrur controlled the north bank of the Senegal as far as the Tagant plateau and Aleg. The Gorgol river valley was the heartland of the kingdom, and was the site of the Dya'ogo capital Tumbere Jiinge. They also controlled, or at least had significant influence over, the area downstream that would become Waalo.


Takrur as a toponym

Takruri was a term, like Bilad el-Sudan, that was used to refer to all people of West African ancestry, and is still in use as such in the
Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...
, with some corruption, as in ''Takruni'', pl. ''Takarna'' تكروني in
Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...
, and in Ethiopia and Eritrea, in the form Tukrir. The district of ''Bulaq Al-Dakrur'' بولاق الدكرور in
Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...
is named after an ascetic from West Africa. In the
Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...
Toucouleurs are still referred to as '' Tukrir'' to this day. Takrur was the term used by the region's inhabitants up until the 15th century. During the 16th and 17th centuries, however, it was gradually replaced by Futa Toro.


See also

*
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 ...
*
Fula people The Fula, Fulani, or Fulɓe people are an ethnic group in Sahara, Sahel and West Africa, widely dispersed across the region. Inhabiting many countries, they live mainly in West Africa and northern parts of Central Africa, South Sudan, Darfur, ...
* Toucouleur people * Serer ancient history * States headed by Serer Lamanes * Timeline of Serer history


Notes


Sources

* * * * * * *al-Naqar, Umar (1969). "Takrur the History of a Name. Cambridge University Press. pp. 367 *Levtsiyon, Neḥemyah; Levtsiyon, Neḥemyah (1973). Ancient Ghana and Mali. Studies in African history (1. publ ed.). London: Methuen. p. 44. ISBN 978-0-416-75830-6. *McDougall, EA (1985). The View from Awdaghust: War, Trade and Social Change in the Southwestern Sahara, from the Eighth to the Fifteenth Century. Cambridge University Press. p. 8. *Hrbek, Ivan; Unesco, eds. (1992). Africa from the Seventh to the Eleventh Century. General history of Africa (Vol. 3 ed.). London : Berkeley, Calif., U.S.A. : Paris: J. Currey ; University of California Press ; UNESCO. p. 356. ISBN 978-0-85255-093-9. * Mwakikagile, Godfrey, "Ethnic Diversity and Integration in The Gambia: The Land, The People and The Culture," (2010), pp. 11, 224, 231, *Mwakikagile, Godfrey, ''The Gambia and Its People: Ethnic Identities and Cultural Integration in Africa.'' (2010), p. 138, *Chavane, Bruno A., "Villages de l’ancien Tekrour", Vol. 2, Hommes et sociétés. Archéologies africaines, KARTHALA Editions (1985), p. 38, * Klein, Martin A., "Islam and Imperialism in Senegal
Sine-Saloum Sine-Saloum is a region in Senegal located north of the Gambia and south of the Petite Côte. It encompasses an area of 24,000 square kilometers, about 12% of Senegal, with a population in the 1990s of 1,060,000. The western portion contains the ...
, 1847-1914", Edinburgh University Press (1968), pp 7 & 63, * Gravrand, Henry, "La Civilisation sereer, Cossan – les origines", vol. 1, Nouvelles Editions africaines (1983), pp 115–18, *Gravrand, Henry, "La civilisation Sereer, Pangool", Nouvelles Editions africaines du Sénégal (1990), p. 13, * Thiaw, Issa Laye, ''La Religiosité des Sereer, avant et pendant leur Islamisation.'' Éthiopiques, No: 54, Revue Semestrielle de Culture Négro-Africaine. Nouvelle Série, Volume 7, 2e Semestre (1991). *Pierret, Paul, "Dictionnaire d'archéologie égyptienne", Imprimerie nationale 1875, p. 198-199 *Pierret, Paul, "Dictionnaire d'archéologie égyptienne", Imprimerie nationale 1875, p. 198-199 n Diop, Cheikh Anta, ''Precolonial Black Africa.'', (translated by Harold Salemson), Chicago Review Press (1988), p. 65 * Asante, Molefi Kete; Mazama, Ama; ''Encyclopedia of African Religion'',
SAGE Publications Sage Publishing, formerly SAGE Publications, is an American independent academic publishing company, founded in 1965 in New York City by Sara Miller McCune and now based in the Newbury Park neighborhood of Thousand Oaks, California. Sage ...
(2008)

(retrieved 2 March 2025) *Trimingham, John Spencer, ''A history of Islam in West Africa'', pp. 174, 176 & 234, Oxford University Press, USA (1970)


Further reading

*J. F. Ade Ajayi, Michael Crowder (eds.). ''History of West Africa''. Columbia University (1972) * J. Hunwick
"Takrur"
''Encyclopaedia of Islam'', Leiden 2000, X, 142–3. *Mary Antin, Nehemia Levtzion. ''Medieval West Africa Before 1400: Ghana, Takrur, Gao (Songhay) and Mali''. Translated by Nehemia Levtzion. J. F. Hopkins: Contributor. Markus Wiener Publishing, New Jersey (1998). *J. D. Fage (ed.). ''The Cambridge History of Africa'', vol. II, Cambridge University Press (1978), 675–7. * * H. T. Norris. "The Wind of Change in the Western Sahara". ''The Geographical Journal'', Vol. 130, No. 1 (Mar., 1964), pp. 1–14 *D.W. Phillipson. ''African Archaeology'', Cambridge University Press (Revised Edition 2005). *Leyti, Oumar Ndiaye. ''Le Djoloff et ses Bourba.'' Nouvelles Editions Africaines, 1981. *Ogot, Bethwell A. ''General history of Africa: Africa from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century.'' University of California Press, 1999, , p 146. *Oliver, Roland. ''The Cambridge history of Africa: From c. 1600 to c. 1790.'' Cambridge University Press, 1982. , p484


External links





{{Authority control 13th-century disestablishments in Africa Kingdoms of Senegal Countries in medieval Africa Political history of Mauritania Medieval Islamic world States and territories established in the 9th century Serer history Serer precolonial kingdoms Successor states to the Ghana Empire Persecution of Serers