Takrur

Takrur, Tekrur or Tekrour (c. 800 – c. 1285) was a state based in the Senegal River valley in West Africa which was at its height in the 10th and 11th centuries, roughly parallel to the Ghana Empire, but lasted in some form into the 18th century.

Takrur
800s–1285
Capital	Settlement on Morfil
Common languages	Serer,^[1]^[2] Fula, Arabic
Religion	Islam (Official) Traditional African religions (Serer religion^[3]^[4])
Government	Monarchy
• 1030s	War Jabi
Historical era	Middle Ages
• Established	800s
• Islam	1030s
• Conquered by Mali Empire	1285
Preceded by Succeeded by Serer people Fula people Toucouleur people Kaniaga Mali Empire

Origin

There are a number of conflicting theories about the origin of the Kingdom of Takrur. It was first mentioned in Arab sources only in the 10th century, but was already well established by that time.^[5] The formation of the state may have taken place as an influx of Fulani from the east settled in the Senegal valley.^[6][7] John Donnelly Fage suggests that Takrur was formed through the interaction of Berbers from the Sahara and "Negro agricultural peoples" who were "essentially Serer".^[8] The outsiders may, however, have been Soninke rather than Berber, and the native population may have already spoken Fula.^[9]

The founding dynasty was called Dya'ogo. They were later overthown by the Manna, a family from the Soninke Kingdom of Diarra to the east.^[10]

Centre of trade

Located in the Senegal valley, along the border of present-day Senegal and Mauritania, it was a trading centre, where gold from the Bambuk region,^[11] salt from the Awlil,^[12] and Sahel grain were exchanged for wool, copper, beads, and jewely.^[13] It was rival of the Ghana Empire, and the two states clashed from occasionally with the Soninké, usually winning. Despite these clashes, Takrur prospered throughout the 9th and 10th centuries.

The domestication of the cotton tree and the manufacture of cotton cloth were first reported in Takrur, ^[14] and the kingdom's cloth was among its most renowned exports.^[15]

Adoption of Islam

The kings of Takrur eventually adopted Islam. Sometime in the 1030s during the reign of king War Jabi, the first to officially pronounce orthodoxy in the Sahel, the court converted to Islam, establishing the faith in the region for centuries to come. In 1035 War Jabi introduced Sharia law.

This adoption of Islam greatly benefited the state economically and promoted closer political ties that would be important during conflicts with the traditionalist state of Ghana and its northern neighbours.^{[16][page needed]}

Conflict with the Ghana Empire

By the 11th century, Ghana had incorporated Takrur as a semi-independent client state. In 1076, however, they allied with the Islamic Almoravid empire to sack the Ghanaian capital, Kumbi Saleh.

As Ghanaian power faded, the Fulani moved into Takrur and merged with the local population to create the Toucouleur people.^[17] Takrur in turn set out to conquer the Kingdom of Diara, which was a Ghanaian province before. Then in 1203, Susu leader Sumanguru took control of Kumbi Saleh, ending the Ghana empire.

Downfall

The fall of Ghana precipitated a new era of political change in the region. The Susu carved out the sizeable, though short-lived, Kaniaga kingdom. Waalo, the first Wolof state, emerged to Takrur's south and west. By the time the Mandinka tribes united to form the Mali Empire in 1235, Takrur was in a steep decline. The state was finally conquered and vassalized by the usurper emperor Sabakoura of Mali in the 1280s.^{[citation needed]}

Tekrur was ultimately supplanted by the Jolof Empire in the 15th century.^[18] However, Koli (a Fula rebel) did finally manage to regain Takrur, and named it Fouta Toro in the 15th century, thereby setting up the first Fula dynasty (Denanke). This dynasty lasted until 1776 when the Fouta Revolution, led by Muslim clerics, took over the kingdom and the house of Denanke was brought down.^[19]

Takrur as a toponym

Takruri was a term, like Bilad-ul-Sudan, that was used to refer to all people of West African ancestry,^[20][21] 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.^[22]

See also

• Serer people
• Fula people
• Toucouleur people

•  Senegal portal
•  Gambia portal

Notes

1. Charles Becker et Victor Martin, « Rites de sépultures préislamiques au Sénégal et vestiges protohistoriques », Archives Suisses d'Anthropologie Générale, Imprimerie du Journal de Genève, Genève, 1982, tome 46, no 2, p. 261-293
2. Trimingham, John Spencer, "A history of Islam in West Africa", pp 174, 176 & 234, Oxford University Press, USA (1970)
3. Becker
4. Gravrand, "Pangool", pp 9, 20-77
5. Davis, R. Hunt (ed.). Encyclopedia Of African History And Culture, Vol. 2 (E-book ed.). The Learning Source. p. 129. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
6. Hrbek, I. (1992). 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)). James Carey. p. 67. ISBN 978-0852550939.
7. Creevey, Lucy (August 1996). "Islam, Women and the Role of the State in Senegal". Journal of Religion in Africa. 26 (3): 268–307. doi:10.1163/157006696x00299. JSTOR 1581646.
8. Fage, John Donnelly (1997). "Upper and Lower Guinea". In Roland Oliver (ed.). The Cambridge History of Africa, Volume 3. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0521209816.
9. Brooke, George E. (August 1985). "WESTERN AFRICA TO c1860 A.D. A PROVISIONAL HISTORICAL SCHW BASED ON CLIMATE PERIODS". Indiana University African Studies Program: 36.
10. Brooks, 36.
11. Levtzion, Nehemia (1973). Ancient Ghana and Mali. New York: Methuen & Co Ltd. p. 44. ISBN 0841904316.
12. Shillington, Kevin (2012). History of Africa. London: Palgrave Macmillan. p. 94. ISBN 9780230308473.
13. Encyclopedia Of African History And Culture, Vol. 2, 129.
14. Levtzion, 179.
15. Encyclopedia Of African History And Culture, Vol. 2, 129.
16. Robinson, David (12 January 2004). Muslim Societies in African History. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-53366-9. Retrieved 14 October 2015.
17. Encyclopedia Of African History And Culture, Vol. 2, 78.
18. Leyti, Oumar Ndiaye. Le Djoloff et ses Bourba. Nouvelles Editions Africaines, 1981. ISBN 2-7236-0817-4
19. 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 [1]
20. 'Umar Al-Naqar (1969). "Takrur the History of a Name". The Journal of African History. 10 (3): 365–374. doi:10.1017/s002185370003632x. JSTOR 179671.
21. Ibn Khalikan, op. cit. vi, 14.
22. Smidt 2010, p. 998.

Sources

• J. F. Ade Ajayi, Michael Crowder (eds.). History of West Africa. Columbia University (1972) ISBN 0-231-03628-0
• 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). ISBN 1-55876-165-9
• 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). 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
• Smidt, Wolbert (2010). "Tukrir". In Siegbert Uhlig, Alessandro Bausi (ed.). Encyclopedia Aethiopica. Vol. 4. Harrassowitz. pp. 998–1000. ISBN 9783447062466.

Further reading

• McIntosh, Roderick J.; McIntosh, Susan Keech; Bocoum, Hamady (2016). The Search for Takrur: Archaeological Excavations and Reconnaissance Along the Middle Senegal Valley. The Yale Peabody Museum.

External links

• African Kingdoms
• Takrur — webPulaaku.