Further information: Lamane and Timeline of Serer history

The Guelowar (many variations: Guelwaar, Guelwar, Gelwar etc) was the last maternal dynasty in the Serer pre-colonial kingdoms of Sine and Saloum (in the Senegambia, but mainly in the western area of ​​present-day Senegal). They were from the Mandinka ethnic group who married in the old Serer paternal noble clans (the Serer paternal dynasties of Sine and Saloum). The offsprings of these Mandinka women and Serer men were the kings of Sine and Saloum. The dynasty lasted from the mid-14th century to 1969, the year both the king of Sine and Saloum died.[1][2][3][4][5]

Contents

History [link]

Origin [link]

The Guelowar family originated from Kaabu (now modern day Guinea Bissau) in the 14th century. Their oral tradition says that they were descended from Mansa Tiramakan Traore (13th century cousin and general of Mansa Sundiata Keita of Mali. Mansa Tiramakan Traore (many variations: Tiramakan Trawally, Tiramakhan Traore, etc.) who had conquered the Bainuk people and killed the last Great Bainuk King (King Kikikor), then renamed the country Kaabu in the 13th century before his death in 1265 was the founder and Mansa (king of kings) Kaabu. Their oral tradition also says that they were the descendants of Mansa Bala Diakha and Maisata Yembe Kame Guélaware (king and queen of a of province of Kaabu). Others say they are descended from the royal branch of Princess Tenemba. The Mandinkas who conquered the Kaabu married into the noble Bainuk families. The Mandinka also changed their own name and adopted Bainuk surnames.[6]

Kaabu was governed by the noble paternal clans of "Sanneh" and "Manneh" (variations : Sane and Mane - both Bainuk and Jola surnames in origin, not Mandinka), with the noble maternal clans of Ñaanco and Guelowar. However, almost all the kings of Kaabu came from the Ñaanco maternal clan. The Guelowars were extended maternal relatives of the Ñaanco and one of their greatest threat to the throne.[6]

The Battle of Troubang and their arrival to Serer Kingdoms [link]

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Serers and Serer religion
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Further information: Serer history (medieval era to present)

The Battle of Troubang 1335 (many variations: Turubang, etc.) was a dynastic war between the Ñaanco maternal dynasty of Kaabu and the Guelowar maternal dynasty of Kaabu. The war took place in Kaabu.[7] In the Mandinka language, Troubang means to eliminate a clan or family (ethnic cleansing). In that war, the powerful Ñaanco clan defeated the Guelowar family. The Guelowars who escaped to the Serer kingdom of Sine were granted asylum by a Council of Serer nobles generally called the Great Council of Lamanes. The Great Council of Lamanes were kings and landowners, who ruled verse territories. Members of this Great Council bore the Serer surnames Sarr, Sène Joof (or Diouf French spelling in Senegal), Ngom, etc.[6][8][9] The Council was the highest court in Serer country and was equivalent to a court of appeal.[9] After their defeat at Troubang, it was this great Council that granted the Guelowar family asylum. Maad a Sinig Maysa Wali Jaxateh Manneh, also known as Maïssa Wali Dione, who escaped with few family members (the Guelowars) served as legal advisor to the noble Council for 15 years. After 15 years of loyalty and service, he earned the trust of the Serer nobles and the general population. He was nominated and crowned king of Sine around 1350, making him the first Guelowar to rule in the Serer kingdom of Sine. He gave his sisters and nieces in marriage to the Serer nobility. That sealed the union between Serer - Guelowar.[7][10]

It was previously assumed that the Mandinka Guelowars of Kaabu conqured and subjugated the Serer people. Such assumption has been challenged and refuted. Serer oral tradition speaks of no military conquest, but a union based on marriage. A marriage between the noble Guelowar maternal clan and the noble Serer paternal clans, the descendants of the old Serer Lamanic class. Almost all the kings of Sine and Saloum bore Serer surnames not Mandinka. Maysa Wali's paternal descendants did not rule in Sine neither did they rule in Saloum. It was the paternal descendants of the ancient Serer Lamanic class who ruled. Serer language, culture, religion and tradition also prevailed in Sine and Saloum not Mandinka. The Guelowars were incoroporated into Serer society and they saw themselves as Serers (see : Timeline of Serer history).[7][10]

Although the Wolof culture is also very strong in Saloum, just as the Serer culture, Wolof people were migrants to the Serer Kingdom of Saloum. The Kingdom of Sine was ethnically Serer. The Kingdom of Saloum was mixed, but the non-Serer population were migrants.[11][12]

Senegambian kings from the Guelowar maternal clan [link]

Some of the Senegambian kings belonging to the Guelowar maternal clan can be found below. Maad means king in Serer-Sine language. Maad a Sinig and Maad Saloum means "king of Sine" and "king of Saloum" respectively. There are many variations in the spelling of Maad. Sometimes it is spelled Mad, Maat, etc. Maad is is also sometimes used interchangeably to refer to the ancient Serer kings, the Lamanes - who were the kings and landed gentry.[13]

Kingdom of Sine [link]

Kingdom of Saloum [link]

  • Maad Saloum Mbegan Ndour, king of Saloum (Reigned: 1493)[16]
  • Maad Saloum Malaotan Joof, king of Saloum (Reigned: 1567)[16]
  • Maad Saloum Balleh Njugou Ndaw (Ballé Khordia Ndao), king of Saloum (Reigned: 1825 - 1853)[15]
  • Maad Saloum Bala Adam Njie, king of Saloum (Reigned: 1853 - 1856)[15]
  • Maad Saloum Kumba N'Dama Mbodj, king of Saloum (Reigned: 1856 - 1859)[15]
  • Maad Saloum Samba Laobeh Latsouka Faal, king of Saloum (Reigned: 1859 - 1864)[15]

Kingdom of Cayor and Baol [link]

  • Damel Makodu Yandeh Mbarou Joof Faal, king of Baol (Teign) and of Cayor (Damel). Reigned: 1832 in Baol, 1860 - 1861 in Cayor. Died in June 1863 at Saloum (the ancestral land of his mother).[17][13]..

Kingdom of Jolof [link]

  • Bourba Mbagne Pateh Penda Kumba Ngouille Joof Njie - (Mbagne Paaté Coumba N'Gouye Diouf Ndiaye), king of Jolof (Reigned: 1846). Killed at the Battle of Diakhabour (1846).[13][18]
  • Bourba Biram Penda Kumba Ngouille Joof Njie - (Birame Penda Coumba N'Gouye Diouf Ndiaye), king of Jolof (Reigned: 1846). Assassinated in 1846.[13][18]

Rest of Senegambia [link]

  • Mama Tamba Jammeh, king of Yilliyassa (in the Gambia), descendant of Lingeer Kaasa Mengeh (Kaasa Menge) of Saloum.[13]

Around the 17th century, there were three main branches of the Guelowar maternal clan in the Serer kingdoms. They were founded by three sisters. They were Lingeers (queens or princesses) whose names are used to refer to their maternal descendants. They include:

1. The Keway Begay clan (English spelling in Gambia or Keve Bigui - French spelling in Senegal)
2. The Horaja Begay clan (Khoredia Bigui in Senegal)
3. The Jogop Begay clan (Diogop Bigui in Senegal)

The princes who belonged to these three maternal clans were engaged in several wars in Senegambia, in order to ensure the succession of their maternal clan. The Serer princes belonging to the clans Keway Begay and Jogop Begay were engaged in constant battles.[19]

See also [link]

Portal icon Senegal portal
Portal icon Gambia portal
Portal icon Guinea Bissau portal
Portal icon Serer portal
Portal icon Monarchy portal

Filmography [link]

Notes [link]

  1. ^ Sarr, Alioune, "Histoire du Sine-Saloum (Sénégal)." Introduction, bibliographie et notes par Charles Becker. Version légèrement remaniée par rapport à celle qui est parue en 1986-87. p21
  2. ^ Guy Thilmans, Cyr Descamps, Abdoulaye Camara, Senegalia, études sur le patrimoine ouest-africain : hommage à Guy Thilmans, Sépia (2006). ISBN 2-84280-122-9. pp 220-221
  3. ^ Martin A. Klein. Islam and Imperialism in Senegal Sine-Saloum, 1847-1914, Edinburgh University Press (1968). p XV
  4. ^ Michael J. Sheridan, Celia Nyamweru. African sacred groves: ecological dynamics & social change. James Currey, 2008. ISBN 0-8214-1789-4. p 141
  5. ^ (French) Parcours [1]
  6. ^ a b c Ngom, Biram: " La question Gelwaar et l’histoire du Siin, Dakar, Université de Dakar, 1987 "
  7. ^ a b c Sarr, Alioune: "Histoire du Sine-Saloum (Sénégal) . Introduction, bibliographie et notes par Charles Becker. Version légèrement remaniée par rapport à celle qui est parue en 1986-87. p 19"
  8. ^ Galvan, Dennis Charles, The State Must Be Our Master of Fire: How Peasants Craft Culturally Sustainable Development in Senegal. Berkeley, University of California Press, 2004. ISBN 978-0-520-23591-5. pp 2-281
  9. ^ a b Ndiaye,Fata. La Saga du peuple Serere et L'Histoire du Sine. Ethiopiques n°54 revue semestrielle de culture négro-africaine Nouvelle série volume 7 2e semestre 1991
  10. ^ a b Ngom, Biram (Babacar Sédikh Diouf): " La question Gelwaar et l’histoire du Siin, Dakar, Université de Dakar, 1987, p 69"
  11. ^ Klein, Martin A: " Islam and Imperialism in Senegal Sine-Saloum, 1847-1914." Edinburgh University Press (1968), p 7
  12. ^ ,Diange, Pathé. Les Royaumes Sérères, Présence Africaines, No. 54. (1965). pp 142-172
  13. ^ a b c d e f g h i Ndiaye,Fata: " La Saga du peuple Serere et L'Histoire du Sine. Ethiopiques n°54 revue semestrielle de culture négro-africaine Nouvelle série volume 7 2e semestre 1991
  14. ^ a b Niokhobaye Diouf: " Chronique du royaume du Sine. suivie de Notes sur les traditions orales et les sources écrites concernant le royaume du Sine. p 712-733
  15. ^ a b c d e f Klein, Martin A: " Islam and Imperialism in Senegal Sine-Saloum, 1847-1914." Edinburgh University Press (1968), p XV"
  16. ^ a b Ba, Abdou Bouri. Essai sur l’histoire du Saloum et du Rip. Avant-propos par Charles Becker et Victor Martin. Publié dans le Bulletin de l’Institut Fondamental d’Afrique Noire. pp 10-27
  17. ^ Klein, Martin A: "Islam and Imperialism in Senegal Sine-Saloum, 1847-1914." Edinburgh University Press (1968), pp 74-77
  18. ^ a b Ndiaye Leyti, Oumar . "Le Djoloff et ses Bourba". (1966)
  19. ^ Klein, Martin A: "Islam and Imperialism in Senegal Sine-Saloum, 1847-1914." Edinburgh University Press (1968), pp 45, 75, 105, 157, 173

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