Thilas (or tjilas, Djilas Tilas, etc.) was an ancient title of nobility used in the Serer pre-colonial Kingdoms of

Sine In mathematics, sine and cosine are trigonometric functions of an angle. The sine and cosine of an acute angle are defined in the context of a right triangle: for the specified angle, its sine is the ratio of the length of the side opposite th ...

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 previously the Kingdom of Baol, which are all now part of 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 ...

. The ''Thilas'' was the second in the order of succession to the throne after the ''

Buumi Buumi (many variations : Buumy, Bumy, Bumi, etc.) was a royal title in the pre-colonial Serer Kingdoms of Sine, Saloum and Baol, as well as in the Jolof Empire. Among the Serer In the Serer kingdoms, the Buumi was the first in line to inherit ...

'' Diouf, Niokhobaye, « ''Chronique du royaume du Sine''. Suivie de notes sur les traditions orales et les sources écrites concernant le royaume du Sine par Charles Becker et Victor Martin », ''Bulletin de l'Institut fondamental d'Afrique noire'', tome 34, série B, numéro 4, 1972, p. 777 who was the

heir apparent An heir apparent is a person who is first in the order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person. A person who is first in the current order of succession but could be displaced by the birth of a more e ...

. Only members of the royal family could hold this title. When a Maad a Sinig (King of Sine) dies without a ''Buumi'', the Thilas could ascend the throne at the discretion of the Great Jaraff and his Noble Council of Electors responsible for electing the kings from the royal family. In the history of Sine to its 20th century history, such an incident is only known to have occurred once, at the succession of Maad a Sinig Kumba Ndoffene Fa Ndeb Joof (reigned c.. 1898 to 1924) whose predecessor died without a Buumi. Before the abolition of the Serer monarchies in 1969,1969 was the year both the King of Sine and Saloum ( Maad a Sinig Mahecor Joof and Maad Saloum Fode N'Goye Joof respectively) died. See Klein, p xv, see also Serer history (medieval era to present) the Thilas always took residence at Djilas in the Sine.

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Bibliography

*Diouf, Niokhobaye, « ''Chronique du royaume du Sine''. Suivie de notes sur les traditions orales et les sources écrites concernant le royaume du Sine par Charles Becker et Victor Martin », ''Bulletin de l'IFAN'', tome 34, série B, n° 4, 1972 *Klein, Martin A. ''Islam and Imperialism in Senegal Sine-Saloum, 1847–1914'', Edinburgh University Press, 1968 {{Serer topics, state=collapsed Serer royalty Serer history

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