The Wolof are an ethnic group found in Senegal, the Gambia, and Mauritania.
In Senegal, the Wolof form an ethnic plurality with about 43.3% of the population are Wolofs.[3]
In the Gambia, about 16% of the population are Wolof. Here, they are a minority, where the Mandinka are the plurality with 42% of the population, yet Wolof language and culture have a disproportionate influence because of their prevalence in Banjul, the Gambian capital, where a majority of the population is Wolof.[4]
In Mauritania, about 8% of the population are Wolof. They live largely in the southern coastal region of the country.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolof_people

According to historians and scientists, such as Cheikh Anta Diop,Aboubacry Moussa Lam or Theophilus Obenga , Wolof ( like most ethnic groups in Africa ) would come from the Nile Valley ( Egypt today ) .

According to them, the oldest traces of a culture , especially with regard to language , religious and cultural principles Wolof inherited , date back to the time of the Egyptian pharaohs , both in Lower Egypt and Upper Egypt .
Research work by these historians seek to demonstrate by cultural , anthropological and linguistic comparisons between ancient Egyptian and Wolof.
Wolof oral tradition relates that the Wolof come from the Nile Valley , as evidenced in Boli Yoro Diaw's "Cahiers" that brought together various Wolof oral traditions, describing the six migrations between the Nile and the Senegal river valley. Wolofs initially cohabited with the Berbers in the south- eastern Mauritania , along with the Fulani , Mande groups, Soninkes and Sereres . All these groups were called Black Bafours by Berbers . At the time of the Ghana empire , the Wolof were animists . They lived the Tekrur, a vassal kingdom of Ghana located in the Senegal River Valley and birthplace of ethnicity toucouleur . The oral tradition confirms that the cradle of the Wolof culture was the Senegal River delta, called "waalo" where Ndiadiane Ndiaye, the mythical ancestor of Wolof reigned .
Ndiadiane Ndiaye founded the Djolof kingdom and reigned as Bourba Djolof , from 1200 to 1249, but the compared chronologies of his reign diverge . According to experts , the man who put an end to the reign of Ndiadiane Ndiaye was Tiramakan Traoré, one of the generals of Sundiata Keita's army, the founder of the Mandinka empire.

According to the specialists of the period , to include the empire of Mali griots , Sundiata Keita sent an army led by Tiramakan Traore to kill Diolofin Mansa (which in Mandinka means Djolof emperor ) .

The oral tradition attributes to Ndiadiane Ndiaye Almoravid origins of Lemtuna group by his father,a Moor , named Abu Bakr ben Omar , who died before his birth , killed by the arrow of a Soninke Archer , his mother being a Tukulor princess named Fatoumata Sall, daughter of the Lamtoro (Head of Toro province ) . Despite his Almoravid origins Ndiadiane Ndiaye was a great animist . Iniatialement he was named Ahmedou Abubakar Umar Ibn Al Lemtouni , he later received the name Ndiadiane Ndiaye from the sereres .

Elected leader of what will become the kingdom of Walo , he gradually brought together all the Wolof ethnic populations. The clan Ndiaye leaded the empire. The Wolof surname still exists today.

In the eleventh century , the Almoravids , Muslim berber warriors began to want to convert the animist groups . Toucouleurs and Soninkes were already Muslims for most of them converted by the Dioula themselves initiated by Arab-Berber traders from the seventh century to the ninth century. However Serer , Fulani and Wolof - to escape the the Almoravids pressure , but especially because of the drought - undertook several migrations that lead them into the regions they inhabit today, especially in the if the Wolof , the northwest and central Senegal .

In the early thirteenth century , the Wolof based Djolof empire which includes at its peak kingdoms of waalo , Cayor , Baol , Sine Saloum , the Fouta -Toro and Bambouk . The oral traditions even sing that the djolof Bourba have dominated all the current Senegal .

After 1549, the Djolof's vassal state regained their independence until the late nineteenth century when the French colonization came . The Wolof are close Serer and Peul ethnic groups , especially linguistically , but also culturally . Many experts consider a common origin of these peoples. Wolof and Sarakhollés also have long-standing ties .

The word "wolof" comes from the wolof " Wa laf". Djolof Mbengue , the founder of the first Wolof village stood , with several groups Wolof , in what was then called laf country,(the senegal riverside). Wolof word "wa" means "those from " so wa - laf means those from the riverside. This laf country later became the waalo kingdom. Cheikh Anta Diop, Senegalese scientist and Egyptologist , used the word walaf in his research on the origin of the Wolof

Wolof kingdoms

Ndiadiane Ndiaye is known as the 1st wolof king. Based on the Wolof oral traditions , it is estimated that Ndiadiane Ndiaye was the son of Abu Bakr Ibn Umar an almoravid and Fatoumata Sall a toucouleur princess .
Serere and Wolof oral tradition agree that , after the death Ndiadiane Ndiaye' father Fatoumata Sall remarried and from that marriage, she had a son named Barka Bo or Mbarka MBodj who was a half-brother Ndiadiane Ndiaye and paternal ancestor of the MBodj waalo dynasty . Barka MBodj was the first waalo Brak and fathered the Mbodi patrilineal lineage . According to the Wolof , the father of Barka MBodj named Mbarik Bo was a Abu Bakr's slave and was bambara. The bambara name Bo was wolofized into " MBodj " .

The waalo (or Oualo) is a historical region of Senegal, centered on the Senegal River delta in the north-west of the country, around St. Louis.
One of the ancient kingdoms from the collapse of the e Wolof Djolof empire in the sixteenth century, the kingdom of Walo was located in northern Senegal and southern Mauritania and occupied a strategic position between the Arab-Berber world and black africa. Its capital, Njurbel capital was located in the south of the current Mauritania.
The inhabitants are called waalo-waalo.

Waalo king bore the title of brak . This kingdom experienced many wars between different dynasties wanting to rule the kingdom. Three dynasties vied for power: Loggar of Moor origin, the Dyoos of Serer origin , and Tedyek of Fulani origin . The majority of the waalo people are Wolof,there are also Fulanis , Toucouleurs ,Soninkes and Trarza Moors . The waalo is considered in the Wolof oral tradition, as the birthplace of the Wolof language and culture on the cultural mix of the various peoples of the region. Ndiadiane Ndiaye , mythical ancestor of Wolof , well before the empire Djolof which he is the founder , was elected leader in that place after the population was amazed by his wisdom and miraculous apparitions . The word brak , name of the sovereign , is derived from Barka Bo Mbooc ( MBodj ) name of the first successor of Ndiadiane Ndiaye .
The kingdom has longly fought against the Trarza moors of northern Mauritania , and Toucouleurs wanting to islamize the kingdom which was very refractory to Islam , although Muslims have always lived with those practicing traditional religion. In waalo women were known for their courage. In the oral tradition waalo are often mentioned the bravery of women against the enemies of the kingdom. The largest mass suicide of women in the village Nder waalo in 1820 was an act of resistance against the Moors. Queen waalo Ndjeumbeut MBodj , who ruled until his sister Ndaté Yalla MBodj , was married to Dagana in June 18, 1833 with the king of trarza moors , Mohamed El- Habib , to restore peace between the kingdom and Trarza kingdom . Their son Ely Ndjeumbeut ruled the Trarza between 1878 and 1886.

Wolof man from waalo

Walo queen Ndatte Yalle Mbodj

Another good thread

The Waalo brak was elected by the "seb ak baor" a meeting of electors , cosntitued of the diogomay master of waters, diawdin master of the earth , the Kangams or provinces leaders , and the kingdom's treasurer called maalo. The brak was selected from the three dynasties of the kingdom, he should belong matrilineally to one of the three lines . The throne heir was selected among the sons of the brak's sister and not among the sons of brak himself, the waalo society was matrilineal . The capital was the city of Ndiourbel currently in town of Rosso in Mauritania. In 1702 , the brak Yerim Mbagnick , transferred the capital to Ndiani . In 1783 the capital was Khouma then finally Nder . Provinces and sub- provinces of the kingdom were Riket , Maanga , Gammalo , Marwayal , Tungeen , njaw , Njuwar and Nalewu , all directed by different dynasties, and various members of the aristocracy . The waalo was bounded by the emirate Trarza in the north , the Fouta -Toro in the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, south Kayor and Djolof in the southeast .
The French succeeded in 1859 to annex the kingdom with the last great queen of Walo , Ndaté Yalla who fought hard against the Europeans and the Moors. This is the battle of Diouboulou , the army led by Faidherbe defeated the army led by Ndaté Yalla . It was February 22, 1855 , start date of french settlement in waalo and Senegal.

Wolof warriors of Waalo:

Fulaman198: Another good thread

Thank you

Waalo lived of production of indigo , millet , cotton, melons, sugar cane , arabic gum , and fish. Fishing was very profitable : waalo has a coastline that touches the Atlantic Ocean. The Atlantic trade made ​​its appearance with the installation of the first Europeans in the seventeenth century.

Sidya Diop was the son of Queen Ndaté Yalla Mbodji and the Bethio (Governor of Western Walo ) Sakoura Diop . He was , as well as Lat Dior, El Hadji Oumar Tall or Alboury Ndiaye , one of the greatest resistants against colonization in Senegal , particularly in waalo . Despite this he is much less known than the other resistants .
Sidya Ndatte Yalla Diop was born in 1848 , in Nder, where took place on Tuesday, March 7, 1820 , the largest mass suicide of women , in which his grandmother , Fatim Yamar Khouryaye MBodj , participated . He was born two years after the accession to the throne of his mother in 1846, after the death of queen Ndjeumbeut Mbodj, his mother's older sister. Sidya Diop belonged to the maternal lineage Tedyek .
At the age of ten , Sidya Diop became the heir of the waalo throne, but too young to rule, it was ruled by the French , and it is the prince of Loggar dynasty Fara Peinda Madiaw Khor Diaw who was installed as Brak .
Between 1858 and 1859 , when the waalo was completely conquered , the French began a great repression, several villages were burned and several local leaders and resistance fighters who led the guerrilla as Yuga Faly or Birane Gaye, were killed or sent into exile in Gabon . Sidya Diop will be sent to St. Louis at the School of Hostage's sons in order to be assimilated into the French culture. Out there, governor Faidherbe adopted him. Sidya after being in Algiers at Imperial High School in 1861 , returned to St. Louis, where Faidherbe enrolled him in the Brothers school. Faidherbe renamed him Leon Diop. Good student Sidya Leon Diop was noticed by his intelligence, his ability to military strategies . Indeed he was appointed lieutenant in 1868 at the age of 20 years.
Installed as head of Nder canton Sidya realized the reason why Faidherbe enrolled him in ​​the hostage's school in was to kill in him any will to resist against the colonists. From this awareness , he refused to collect taxes , very high among residents of the township, organized a mass schooling in waalo . He also began to build relationships with more resistants in the community. But one day the princes of Waalo gathered for a royal ceremony in Mbilor . Sidya who was part of the nobility went there . Arrived at the ceremony, the griot Madiartel Dégueune Mbaye from the royal court refused to sing the praises of Sidya Diop, because for them, he had betrayed his people , became assimilated to Western culture and was wearing Western clothes . This event aroused forever Sidya Diop , who went to the river where Braks take their royal bath , before the inauguration . He braided his hair in the tiedo's style and gave up the French colonial administration , and everything linked to it , including the French language. After that he was recognized by all his fellow as Brak of waalo , and promised he would do everything to free his kingdom. He joined the struggle of Lat- Dior in Cayor and Cheikhou Amadou Ba, a toucouleur marabout of Fouta . He organized himself with his Tiedos a great insurrection . With other resistants resistants , they fought so very hard the settlers . He managed to recover the annexed provinces . The french eventually accepted to recognize Sidya Diop as Top Chef of waalo because the fight was very challenging for them.
Sidya Diop was now at the head of a powerful army , recognized by the french in their writings as powerful and effective . Only the cities of Richard- Toll, Dagana Lampsar refused to submit to the new Brak , and stay on the French side . Yamar Mbodji a member of the royal family organized a campaign against Sidya Diop, and managed to organize a coup against Sydia , who ,deposed by force, fled to Mauritania where his cousin Ely Ndjombött was king of Trarza . From the Trarza Sidya sent letters to call for help to Alboury Ndiaye King Djolof and to Lat- Dior king of waalo .
Lat- Dior Ngoné Latyr Diop was now an ally of the French , especially Colonel Briere de l'Isle , answered Sidya's call, and sent troops to Bangoye , but it was actually a trap. Sidya Diop went there alone with his staff . Once there, the troops sent by Lat- Dior killed 12 of its officers . They captured Sidya captured , wounded him and took him to St. Louis to the governor's. Betrayed by Lat- Dior, Sidya will be judged by a colonial court on January 17, 1877 . In February he will be deported to Gabon in an asylum on an island called Neuge Neuge in the equatorial forest, at the age of 28 years. There Sidya won the sympathy of the officers who decided to return him to Senegal , under the pretext that he suffered from mental illness. He boarded to Dakar , but once arrived in Dakar , Governor Brière de l'Isle refused him to land and demanded his immediate return to Gabon . Bruised , knowing that he could no longer return to Senegal , his native Sidya Ndaté Yalla Diop committed suicide shooting himself in the heart , on the evening of June 26, 1877 .

Waalo women were reputed to be very brave and strong. It was the only kingdom that women were allowed to rule.
In the 19th century all Nder women, then the Kingdom's capital preferred to kill themselves rather than being caught as slaves.

Walo was a prosperous kingdom located in the north of Senegal , at the mouth of the Senegal River. Only the river separated the Walo of Mauritania. In the 19th century, the Moorish wanting control Walo , perpetrated raids , in order to prevent the region from falling under European domination.
 Thus in 1818 , in a town called Nder , a Tuesday , a tragedy occurred . The Brak (the king) was in St. Louis to treat a wound received in a battle against the Moors precisely . He took the dignitaries and the cavalry with him.
While the men were in the fields, or fishing , miles of homes,a troop of Moors and Toucouleurs led by chief Mokhtar Ould Amar decided to invade the village , knowing that there were only women and children . Women warned of the arrival of these troops by one of them who drew water near the village immediately decided to organize resistance .
Hastily , they despatched children to hide in nearby fields . Then they rushed into their cabins to emerge dressed as men, with weapons : machetes , spears, clubs and even guns they were going to handle for the first time .
One day amazons, these women fought with the energy of despair . Faced with the grim determination of the survivors , the leader Mokhtar Ould Amar gave the order to disperse his troops .
 Held in check by women, however, the Moorish leader knew they would not survive long. Not wanting to risk damaging the "merchandise" , he had come back later to take them alive to get a better price on the slave markets .
Walo women knew they could undergo a second attack.
So Mbarka Dia Linguere ( Queen ) Faty Yamar's confident harangued his companions amidst wailing and cries of pain :
" Nder women ! Worthy Walo girls ! Straighten up ! Let us prepare to die! Nder women , our men are away , they do not hear our cries . Our children are safe. But we poor women, what can we against these ruthless enemies who will soon resume the attack? "
"We will be captured as were our mothers and grandmothers before us. We will be dragged across the river and sold as slaves. Is this a fate worthy of us ? "
" Would you rather later tell our grandchildren and their descendants : Your grandmother left the village as captives ? Or: Your ancestors were brave to the death! "
"Let those who agree follow me in the big house of the of Elders . We will all enter and we will fire ... This is the smoke from our ashes that will host our enemies. "
Mbarka Dia closed the door. On a specific gesture, she kindled a torch and without a tremor, launched it against one of the walls of branches. Inside the box , women standing tight against each other , sang , as if to give courage , lullabies and old songs.

Before islamisation, Wolof people were thieddo animist religion. Most men had their hair braided, or styled in locks as said today. They wore large amounts of bracelets and necklaces in gold or silver. The women tattooed their mouths areas , their lips and gums black to enhance facial beauty, and the whiteness of the teeth, with a handkerchief on their head, and large amounts of jewelry in gold, silver, copper. All wore the robe, while the men wore baggy pants .

"indigenous ironer"

"Dakar, african village"

"Dakar negroes family"

Young circumcised


" A christian in St louis, with her sister" , there used to be wolof christians in St Louis, Goree and Dakar, called "gourmettes" but all Wolof are muslim now

thiendella: Before islamisation, Wolof people were thieddo animist religion. Most men had their hair braided, or styled in locks as said today. They wore large amounts of bracelets and necklaces in gold or silver. The women tattooed their mouths areas , their lips and gums black to enhance facial beauty, and the whiteness of the teeth, with a handkerchief on their head, and large amounts of jewelry in gold, silver, copper. All wore the robe, while the men wore baggy pants .

Wow a lot like us Fulbe (Fulani), Women paint their lips and gums black to enhance beauty for Pulaagu. In some Mbororo'en societies, men also paint their lips with henna black.

Fulaman198:

Wow a lot like us Fulbe (Fulani), Women paint their lips and gums black to enhance beauty for Pulaagu. In some Mbororo'en societies, men also paint their lips with henna black.

Yeah in Senegal, the wolof, fulanis and seder have pretty much the same customs

thiendella:
Yeah in Senegal, the wolof, fulanis and seder have pretty much the same customs

That is fantastic

Unique tribe

I've seen pics of their men during their traditional 'dating' ceremony when they look their best, to get the best wife material. Their teeth are exceptionally white!

Anyway, do we have any of them in Nigeria? I mean as residing indigenous settlers?

Efemena_xy: Unique tribe

I've seen pics of their men during their traditional 'dating' ceremony when they look their best, to get the best wife material. Their teeth are exceptionally white!

Anyway, do we have any of them in Nigeria? I mean as residing indigenous settlers?

Not really, the only Senegambian people we have in Nigeria are Fulbe (us Fulani people).

Djolof (or Jolof) was an empire in what is now Senegal, which according to tradition was founded by Ndiadiane Ndiaye first Bourba (buurba = king) djolof.
He had been elected as a leader in what would become the kingdom of Walo, northwest of present-day Senegal in the river region. From there, he gathered all the Wolof ethnic populations to build an empire in the thirteenth century. Then, he left the walo kingdom to his step brother "Barka Mbodj" who became the 1st walo Brack and moved further in the south to found the Jolof kingdom. The inhabitants are called jolof jolof.

Efemena_xy: Unique tribe

I've seen pics of their men during their traditional 'dating' ceremony when they look their best, to get the best wife material. Their teeth are exceptionally white!

Anyway, do we have any of them in Nigeria? I mean as residing indigenous settlers?

Fulaman198:


Not really, the only Senegambian people we have in Nigeria are Fulbe (us Fulani people).

I thing he's speaking about the Mbororos

thiendella:
I thing he's speaking about the Mbororos

Yeah Mbororo Fulani of Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon, Niger and Central African republic

Fulaman198:

Not really, the only Senegambian people we have in Nigeria are Fulbe (us Fulani people).

thiendella:
I thing he's speaking about the Mbororos

No...no... these are the people I'm referring to:

Woodabe:

Wodaabe are Mbororo Fulani

PAGAN 9JA:
Woodabe:

Yep, exactly!

Are these tribes the same as the ones being discussed by the thread starter? And do we have any of these tribes in Northern Nigeria? Are they completely different to the Fulanis?

Efemena_xy:



No...no... these are the people I'm referring to:

Those are Fulani

The Jolof empire encompassed Wolof States Cayor Baol Walo, Sine Saloum, as well as the Fouta-Toro and also the Bambouk. All of these regions correspond to the Senegambia and also included a part of the current Mauritania.
After having radiated and encompassed almost the entire north and center of Senegambia , the empire collapsed in 1549, with the death of the last Jolof emperor Lele Fuli Fak Ndiaye , who was killed at the Battle of Danki , which took place near Diourbel, in the ancient region of Baol . He was killed by Amari Ngoné Sobel Fall, the son of the head of Kayor at the time , Déthié Fu Ndiogu Fall, who would become the first damel (king) of Kayor . From there ,the other states would take their independence to reduce the large Jolof empire to the size of a kingdom in the central part of the country . In the second half of the nineteenth century, French settlers gradually annexed all the senegalese kingdoms . Djolof was the last kingdom annexed to the last djolof Bourba , Alboury Bouna Ndiaye, under the leadership of Louis Faidherbe .
The capital of the empire was originally in the City of Thieng , then after the collapse of the empire, the capital was moved to Yang- Yang . From an economic point of view, the empire Jolof lived on the trans-Saharan trade . One of the causes of the outbreak is due to the fact that the coastal kingdoms and Jolof vassals Kayor , Waalo , Baol , Sine and Saloum , enjoying the transatlantic trade which was more profitable , had become more economically powerful , and therefore freed themselves from the grip of Jolof with greater ease .
Futa Toro , a former Jolof vassal , was able to recover its land taken from Jolof through the character Koli Tenguella . Djolof also after bursting faced Toucouleur jihad , especially during the nineteenth century, with the Toucouleur marabout from Nioro du Rip in Saloum Maba Diakhou Ba, and also one of Omar Foutihou Tall's followers , Ahmadou Cheikhou , who managed to impose his domination to Jolof for four years . Jolof also suffered from the Moors raids. The kingdom was also very often over the centuries in conflict with Kayor .

Efemena_xy: ^^ Yep, exactly!

Are these tribes the same as the ones being discussed by the thread starter? And do we have any of these tribes in Northern Nigeria? Are they completely different to the Fulanis?

No they are one of the several Mbororo Fulani groups found in Niger, Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, etc. I'm Mbororo too