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| French conquest of Senegal | |||||
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| Belligerents | |||||
Kingdom ofWaalo |  France | ||||
TheFrench conquest of Senegal started in 1659 with the establishment ofSaint-Louis, Senegal, followed by the French capture of the island ofGorée from theDutch in 1677, but would only become a full-scale campaign in the 19th century.
According to some historians[who?], French merchants from theNormandy cities ofDieppe andRouen traded with theGambia andSenegal coasts, and with theIvory Coast and theGold Coast, between 1364 and 1413.[1][2] Probably, as a result, an ivory-carving industry developed in Dieppe after 1364.[3] These travels, however, were soon forgotten with the advent of theHundred Years' War in France.[3]
Various European powers, such asPortugal, theNetherlands, and England then competed for trade in the area of Senegal from the 16th century onward. The island was captured by the Dutch in 1588, where they established defensive forts and developed trade further.[4]
In 1659, France established the trading post ofSaint-Louis, Senegal. The European powers continued contending for the island of Gorée, until in 1677,France led byJean II d'Estrées during theFranco-Dutch War (1672–1678) ended up in possession of the island, which it would keep for the next 300 years.[4] In 1758 the French settlementwas captured by a British expedition as part of theSeven Years' War, but was later returned to France in 1783, following French victory in theAmerican Revolutionary War.
The states of theWolof andSereer, neighbouring the two colonial outposts, were particularly involved with the slave trade, having strong military organizations geared to supplying slaves to the Europeans.[5] According to historians such as Professor François G. Richard and ProfessorMartin A. Klein, the Serer states such as Sine and Saloum were not heavily involved in the slave trade. François G. Richard posits that:
TheKingdom of Sine remained a modest participant in the Atlantic system, secondary to the larger Wolof, Halpulaar [speakers of thePulaar language i.e. theFula andToucouleur people] orMandinka polities surrounding it on all sides... As practices of enslavement intensified among other ethnic groups during the 18th century, fueling a lucrative commerce in captives and the rise of internal slavery, the Siin may have been demoted to the rank of second player, in so far as the kingdom was never a major supplier of captives.
— François G. Richard[6]
In his 1968 publication:Islam and Imperialism in Senegal: Sine-Saloum, 1947-1914, Professor Martin A. Klein notes that, although slavery had existed in Wolof and Serer culture, as well that of their neighbors, the institution of slavery did not exist among theSerer Noon, Serer N'Diéghem, and theJola people, "who hadegalitarian social structures and simple political institutions."[7] Klein also notes that: "In times of peace, the Kingdom of Siin more readily supplied grain, cattle and other basic necessities to the French." According to Professor Mamadou Diouf and Professor Mara Leichtman (2009), theSerer Saafi were also purely egalitarian and rejected all forms of centralised government, the caste system, Islam and slavery.[8]
Conflicts erupted with the Muslims to the north, as whenMaraboutNasr al Din attackedMauritania and the Wolof across the border in 1673, but he was defeated through an alliance between local forces and the French.[5]
During theNapoleonic Wars,Great Britain captured Gorée in 1803 and Saint-Louis in 1809, and proclaimed the abolition of the slave trade in 1807, to which the French had to agree upon recovering the two posts.[5] The 19th century thus saw a decline in the slave trade, and the rise of commodity production instead.[5] The trade ofacacia gum, used for dyes for high-quality textiles and for medicine production, became paramount.[5] Peanut cultivation also proved to be a valuable resource for the area.[9]
In theFranco-Trarzan War of 1825, the French started to assert control of the mouth of the Senegal river against the rival state ofTrarza.
In the 1850s the French, under the governorLouis Faidherbe, began to expand their foothold onto the Senegalese mainland at the expense of the native kingdoms. From 1854 Faidherbe started to establish a series of inland forts up theSenegal River. In 1855 he conquered theKingdom of Waalo defeating QueenNdaté Yalla Mbodj (the reigningLingeer of Waalo at the time) and her husband Marosso Tassé Diop (commander of her army[10]). A counter-attack by theToucouleur in 1857 led to theSiege of Medina Fort in which the Toucouleur failed. In 1859, theSerers ofSine, led bytheir king -Maad a Sinig Kumba Ndoffene Famak Joof launched an attack against the French and their ally forces, resulting in theBattle of Logandème. Although defeated at Logandème inFatick, and one of his principalities (Fatick) burned to the ground under the orders of Faidherb, Kumba Ndoffene spent the next few years of his life destroying French infrastructure and their economic base in Senegal, as well as defending his country from another threat - Islamic jihad by the Muslimmarabouts ofSenegambia.[11][12] In 1871 he was assassinated by the French.[13] The precolonial monarchies of Sine and Saloum continued up to 1969 without interruption, despite the French conquest of Senegal.
By 1860, the forts built between Médine and St. Louis allowed Faidherbe to launch missions against theTrarzaMoors inWaalo (north of the Senegal river), who had previously collected taxes on goods coming to Saint-Louis from the interior. Faidherbe also started the westernization of the area by developing banks, civil administration, and also established an accord with Senegal's religion, Islam.[14]
Expansion continued under GovernorLouis Brière de l'Isle from 1876 to 1881. Through diplomatic and military efforts, Briere reinforced French control on the Senegal river, the "Peanut Basin" and theGuinea Coast in favour of the development ofmillet, peanut and cotton trade.[15] He also developed railroad projects that would facilitate further expansion as far asFrench Sudan (modernMali).[15]
From 1880, France endeavoured to build a railway system, centered around theSaint-Louis–Dakar line that involved taking military control of the surrounding areas, leading to the military occupation of mainland Senegal.[16] The construction of theDakar-Niger Railway also began at the end of the 19th century under the direction of the French officerGallieni. However, there was much opposition of the railroads being built from the natives. This was especially true with Muslim leaderLat Jor and his following.[17]
The first Governor General of Senegal was named in 1895, overseeing most of the territorial conquests of Western Africa, and in 1904, the territories were formally namedFrench West Africa (French:AOF: Afrique Occidentale Française), of which Senegal was a part and Dakar its capital.