Takrur

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.{{cite book|last=Hrbek|first=I.|title=General History of Africa volume 3: Africa from the 7th to the 11th Century: Africa from the Seventh to the Eleventh Century v. 3 (Unesco General History of Africa (abridged))|year=1992|publisher=James Carey|isbn=978-0852550939|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qDFcD0BuekQC&pg=PA67|page=67}}{{cite journal|last=Creevey|first=Lucy|title=Islam, Women and the Role of the State in Senegal|journal=Journal of Religion in Africa|date=August 1996|volume=26|issue=3|pages=268–307|jstor=1581646|doi=10.1163/157006696x00299}}{{sfn|Kane|2004|p=56}} John Donnelly Fage suggests that Takrur was formed through the interaction of Berbers from the Sahara and "Negro agricultural peoples" who were "essentially Serer".Fage, John Donnelly; Oliver, Roland (1975). "Upper and Lower Guinea". (Fage, John Donnelly; Oliver, Roland (editors)). The Cambridge History of Africa, Volume 3. Cambridge University Press. p. 484 {{ISBN|978-0521209816}} [https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=GWjxR61xAe0C&pg=PA484#v=onepage&q&f=false] The outsiders may, however, have been Soninke rather than Berber, and the native population may have already spoken Fula.{{sfn|Brooks|1985|p=36}} 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.{{sfn|Kane|2004|p=55}}{{sfn|Thiaw|2013|p=96}}{{sfn|Ba|2017|p=135}}

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).{{sfn|Ba|2017|p=133}} They were blacksmith-kings, and supposedly introduced iron-working and ore extraction to the region.{{sfn|Kane|2004|p=27}}

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.{{sfn|Ba|2017|p=136}}{{sfn|Kane|2004|p=64}}{{sfn|Brooks|1985|p=36}}

Takrur was first mentioned in Arab sources in the 10th century.{{cite book |editor1-last=Davis |editor1-first=R. Hunt |title=Encyclopedia Of African History And Culture, Vol. 2 |publisher=The Learning Source |page=129 |edition=E-book |access-date=18 May 2023|url=https://pdfdrive.to/download/encyclopedia-of-african-history-and-culture}} In 1035 king War Jabi introduced Sharia law, 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, {{ISBN|0-8108-1369-6}} During his reign he launched a Holy War against the King of Silla, subjugating them and converting the people to Islam.{{Cite book |last=al-Naqar |first=Umar |title=Takrur the History of a Name. |date=1969 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |pages=367}} 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.{{Cite book |last1=Levtsiyon |first1=Neḥemyah |title=Ancient Ghana and Mali |last2=Levtsiyon |first2=Neḥemyah |date=1973 |publisher=Methuen |isbn=978-0-416-75830-6 |edition=1. publ |series=Studies in African history |location=London |pages=44}} 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.{{Cite book |last=McDougall |first=EA |title=The View from Awdaghust: War, Trade and Social Change in the Southwestern Sahara, from the Eighth to the Fifteenth Century |date=1985 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |pages=8}} Having fought alongside Yahya ibn Umar al-Lamtuni at the battle of Tabfarilla, {{sfn|Kane|2004|p=65}} Lebi also provided military help, and financial aid to the Almoravids, helping conquer up to Morocco and Al-Andalus.{{Cite book |title=Africa from the Seventh to the Eleventh Century |date=1992 |publisher=J. Currey ; University of California Press ; UNESCO |isbn=978-0-85255-093-9 |editor-last=Hrbek |editor-first=Ivan |edition=Vol. 3 |series=General history of Africa |location=London : Berkeley, Calif., U.S.A. : Paris |pages=356 |editor-last2=Unesco}} 4,000 cavalrymen from Takrur were critical to the Almoravid victory at the 1086 Battle of Sagrajas in Al-Andalus which was crucial to halting the Reconquista.{{sfn|Ba|2017|p=140}}{{cite book |editor1-last=Cuoq |editor1-first=Joseph |title=Recueil des sources arabes concernant l'Afrique occidentale du VIIIeme au XVIeme siècle (Bilād Al-Sūdān) |work=Sources d'histoire médiévale |date=1985 |volume=7 |issue=1 |publisher=Éditions du Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique |location=Paris |url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/sohim_0398-3811_1985_edc_7_1 |access-date=30 September 2024 |language=French | page = 197}} This alliance was maintained for most of the next 200 years.{{sfn|Ba|2017|p=144}}

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.{{cite book |last1=Gomez |first1=Michael |title=African dominion : a new history of empire in early and medieval West Africa |date=2018 |publisher=Princeton University Press |location=Princeton, NJ |page=37 |isbn=9780691177427}}{{sfn|Ba|2017|p=140}} In the 12th century, Silla, allied with Takrur, went to war against Wagadu.{{sfn|Ba|2017|p=103}} Its decline meant that Takrur was able to exert more control over the trade routes moving gold from Bambouk to desert-side markets.{{sfn|Brooks|1985|p=111}}

{{See also|Serer medieval history|Serer ancient history|Persecution of Serers}}

{{Serer religion}}

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|quote = "Today, the Serer retain much of their old culture, customs and traditions. In fact, it's not uncommon to hear how Serer culture has survived through the centuries in spite of all the forces which tried to destroy it."

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|source = Godfrey Mwakikagile,Mwakikagile, Godfrey, "Ethnic Diversity and Integration in The Gambia: The Land, The People and The Culture," (2010), p 231, {{ISBN|9987932223}}

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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, {{ISBN|2-86537-143-3}}Mwakikagile, Godfrey, "Ethnic Diversity and Integration in The Gambia: The Land, The People and The Culture," (2010), p. 11, {{ISBN|9987-9322-2-3}} 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.{{sfn|Thiaw|2013|p=107}} 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.Diop, Abdoulaye Bara, "Le tenure foncière en milieu rural Wolof (Sénégal): Historique et actualité." Notes Africaines, no. 118, (April 1968), IFAN, Dakar, pp. 48–52 The persecution of the Serers in the 11th century led to their first generally accepted exodus from Tekrur, moving southwards.Mwakikagile, Godfrey, Ethnic Diversity and Integration in the Gambia:, p. 224 Mwakikagile, Godfrey, The Gambia and Its People:, p 138Klein, Martin A., Islam and Imperialism in Senegal Sine-Saloum, 1847–1914, pp 7 & 63Gravrand, Henry, La Civilisation sereer: Cossan, vol. 1. pp 115–18Gravrand, Henry, La civilisation Sereer: Pangool, vol. 2, p. 13

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.{{sfn|Kane|2004|p=76}} 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.{{sfn|Thiaw|2013|p=97}}

Professor Issa Laye Thiaw, Professor Cheikh Anta Diop, the 18th century French archaeologist Paul Pierret, and Professor Molefi Kete Asante 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".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. 198-199Pierret, Paul, "Dictionnaire d'archéologie égyptienne", Imprimerie nationale 1875, p. 198-199 [in] Diop, Cheikh Anta, Precolonial Black Africa., (translated by Harold Salemson), Chicago Review Press (1988), p. 65Asante, Molefi Kete; Mazama, Ama; Encyclopedia of African Religion, SAGE Publications (2008), pp. 606-7, {{ISBN|9781506317861}} [https://sk.sagepub.com/ency/edvol/africanreligion/chpt/serer] (retrieved 2 March 2025)

Professor Trimingham notes that, in the region, Takrur became the first to adopt Islam, but in so doing, completely lost its Serer identity.Trimingham, John Spencer, A history of Islam in West Africa, pp. 174, 176 & 234, Oxford University Press, USA (1970)

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.{{sfn|Kane|2004|p=64–6}} The western parts of the kingdom became independent.{{sfn|Ba|2017|p=147}} Around 1286, the Mali Empire conquered Takrur and put it under a military dictatorship ruled by farba (governors), remembered locally as the Tonjon dynasty.{{sfn|Kane|2004|p=72}}{{sfn|Ba|2017|p=148}} 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.{{sfn|Ba|2017|p=124}} The region may also have been controlled by the Kingdom of Diarra.{{sfn|Boulegue|2013|p=29}}

Takrur was conquered by the Jolof emperor Tyukuli N'Diklam in the 15th century, who split the region between multiple farba.Leyti, Oumar Ndiaye. Le Djoloff et ses Bourba. Nouvelles Editions Africaines, 1981. {{ISBN|2-7236-0817-4}}{{sfn|Kane|2004|p=72}} By 1506, however, the Burba's authority was weakening, and the farba fell to fighting amongst themselves.{{sfn|Kane|2004|p=67}} 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.Ogot, Bethwell A. General history of Africa: Africa from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century. University of California Press, 1999, {{ISBN|0-520-06700-2}}, p 146 [https://books.google.com/books?id=Fw-1DOCXUgsC&pg=PA146]

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

Takrur was a trading centre, where gold from the Bambuk region,{{cite book|authorlink=Nehemia Levtzion| last1= Levtzion|first1=Nehemia|title=Ancient Ghana and Mali |date= 1973| publisher= Methuen & Co Ltd |location= New York| isbn= 0841904316}}{{rp|44}} salt from the Awlil,{{cite book |last1= Shillington |first1=Kevin |title= History of Africa |date=2012 |publisher= Palgrave Macmillan |location=London |isbn= 9780230308473 |pages=94}} and Sahel grain were exchanged for wool, copper, beads, and jewelry. The kingdom's cotton cloth was among its most renowned exports.

At the height of its power, Takrur controlled the north bank of the Senegal as far as the Tagant plateau and Aleg.{{sfn|Kane|2004|p=27}} The Gorgol river valley was the heartland of the kingdom, and was the site of the Dya'ogo capital Tumbere Jiinge.{{sfn|Kane|2004|p=38}} They also controlled, or at least had significant influence over, the area downstream that would become Waalo.{{sfn|Boulegue|2013|p=39}}

Takruri was a term, like Bilad el-Sudan, that was used to refer to all people of West African ancestry,{{cite journal |title= Takrur the History of a Name |author= 'Umar Al-Naqar |journal=The Journal of African History |volume=10 |issue=3 |date=1969 |pages=365–374 |jstor= 179671 |doi= 10.1017/s002185370003632x}} and is still in use as such in the Middle East, with some corruption, as in Takruni, pl. Takarna تكروني in Saudi Arabia, and in Ethiopia and Eritrea, in the form Tukrir. The district of Bulaq Al-Dakrur بولاق الدكرور in Cairo is named after an ascetic from West Africa. In the Middle East Toucouleurs are still referred to as Tukrir to this day.{{sfn|Smidt|2010|p=998}}

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.{{sfn|Boulegue|2013|p=29}}

• Serer people
• Fula people
• Toucouleur people
• Serer ancient history
• States headed by Serer Lamanes
• Timeline of Serer history

{{Portal|Senegal}}

{{Reflist|30em}}

• {{cite book |last1=Ba |first1=Abdourahmane |editor1-last=Villasante Cervello |editor1-first=Mariella |editor2-last=Taylor |editor2-first=Raymond |title=Histoire et politique dans la vallée du fleuve Sénégal: Mauritanie. Hiérarchies, échanges, colonisation et violences politiques, VIIIe-XXIe siècle |date=2017 |publisher=Harmattan |pages=96–161 |language=French |chapter=Chapitre 1, Le Takrur Historique Et l'Héritage Du Fuuta Tooro}}
• {{cite book |last1=Boulegue |first1=Jean |title=Les royaumes wolof dans l'espace sénégambien (XIIIe-XVIIIe siècle) |date=2013 |publisher=Karthala Editions |location=Paris |language=French}}
• {{cite journal |last1=Brooks |first1=George E. |title=Western African to c. 1860 A.D.: a Provisional Historical Schema based on Climate Periods |journal=Indiana University African Studies Program |date=August 1985}}
• {{cite book |last1=Kane |first1=Oumar |title=La première hégémonie peule. Le Fuuta Tooro de Koli Teηella à Almaami Abdul |date=2004 |publisher=Karthala |location=Paris |url=https://www.cairn.info/la-premiere-hegemonie-peule--9782845865211-page-114.htm |access-date=12 July 2023}}
• {{cite book |last1=Thiaw |first1=Ibrahima |editor1-last=Bosma |editor1-first=Ulbe |editor2-last=Kessler |editor2-first=Gijs |editor3-last=Lucassen |editor3-first=Leo |title=Migration and Membership Regimes in Global and Historical Perspective: An Introduction Studies in Global Migration History |date=2013 |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-9004241831 |chapter=From the Senegal River to Siin: The Archaeology of Sereer Migrations in North-Western Senegambia.}}
• {{cite book |first=Wolbert |last=Smidt |chapter=Tukrir |title=Encyclopedia Aethiopica |volume=4 |pages=998–1000 |publisher=Harrassowitz |year=2010 |editor=Siegbert Uhlig, Alessandro Bausi |isbn= 9783447062466 |url=https://www.academia.edu/31192096 }}
• 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.
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• 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, {{ISBN|9987932223}}
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• Chavane, Bruno A., "Villages de l’ancien Tekrour", Vol. 2, Hommes et sociétés. Archéologies africaines, KARTHALA Editions (1985), p. 38, {{ISBN|2-86537-143-3}}
• Klein, Martin A., "Islam and Imperialism in Senegal Sine-Saloum, 1847-1914", Edinburgh University Press (1968), pp 7 & 63, {{ISBN|0-85224-029-5}}
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• Gravrand, Henry, "La civilisation Sereer, Pangool", Nouvelles Editions africaines du Sénégal (1990), p. 13, {{ISBN|2-7236-1055-1}}
• 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).
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• Pierret, Paul, "Dictionnaire d'archéologie égyptienne", Imprimerie nationale 1875, p. 198-199 [in] 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 (2008) {{ISBN|9781506317861}} [https://sk.sagepub.com/ency/edvol/africanreligion/chpt/serer] (retrieved 2 March 2025)
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• {{cite book |last1=McIntosh |first1=Roderick J. |last2=McIntosh |first2=Susan Keech |last3=Bocoum |first3=Hamady |title=The Search for Takrur: Archaeological Excavations and Reconnaissance Along the Middle Senegal Valley |year=2016 |publisher=The Yale Peabody Museum }}
• 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). {{ISBN|978-0-521-83236-6}}
• Leyti, Oumar Ndiaye. Le Djoloff et ses Bourba. Nouvelles Editions Africaines, 1981. {{ISBN|2-7236-0817-4}}
• Ogot, Bethwell A. General history of Africa: Africa from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century. University of California Press, 1999, {{ISBN|0-520-06700-2}}, p 146.
• Oliver, Roland. The Cambridge history of Africa: From c. 1600 to c. 1790. Cambridge University Press, 1982. {{ISBN|0-521-20981-1}}, p484

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20101010091854/http://archaeology.about.com/od/tterms/g/takrur.htm About – Takrur Empire]
• [http://www.webpulaaku.net/takrur/takrur-history-name.html Takrur — webPulaaku].

{{Serer topics|state=collapsed}}

{{Sahelian kingdoms}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:13th-century disestablishments in Africa

Category:Kingdoms of Senegal

Category:Countries in medieval Africa

Category:Political history of Mauritania

Category:Medieval Islamic world

Category:States and territories established in the 9th century

Category:Serer history

Category:Serer precolonial kingdoms

Category:Successor states to the Ghana Empire

Category:Persecution of Serers