Biffeche orBifeche is an area ofSenegal centred on the town of Savoigne, around 30 kilometres north-east of the major coastal city ofSaint-Louis.
Low-lying and largely flat, the region is populated byFula,[a],Serer-Ndut,Wolof andMoor ethnic groups. The inhabitants' primary economic activities include animal herding and irrigation-based farming. Savoigne is the region's largest town, twinned withLa Ferté Macé; its SOCAS tomato-paste factory imports and dilutes tomato paste for re-shipment within Senegal. The population is primarilyMuslim, but also containsCatholics andanimists. TheDjoudj National Bird Sanctuary is located to the north.
Early European accounts described a medium-sized island (Isle de Bifeche) in the delta of theSenegal River, some two miles upstream from the island of N'Dar on which Saint-Louis was founded.The Penny Cyclopædia of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge described the island in 1843 as being "entirely covered with wood, and in the wet season a great portion of them is laid under water."[7]
In the 17th century a chief known as thePetitBrak orLittle King ruled over a region known variously as Biffeche or Gangueul with its capital at Maka. TheGrand Brak orBig King ruled the kingdom ofWaalo, whose capital was originally at Ndiourbel on the north bank of the river. The area was nearly depopulated by repeated slaving raids by Moors from the north. At times, the Petit Brak was tributary to Waalo, at other times allied withBethio. In the 1720s, the Brak of Waalo was Erim M'Bagnick and Béquio Malicouri, king of theRoyaume d'Oral (Bethio), was his vassal.
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Carte de la rivière du Sénégal depuis la Barre jusqu'au Panier Foule des petites rivières et marigots qui en dérivent avec les noms des villages qui sont au bord, fait au Sénégal, 1720.Online at BNF
Anville, Jean-Baptiste Bourguignon,Carte manuscrite de la côte d'Afrique aux environs de Gorée et de la rivière du Sénégal depuis Cagneux jusqu'à son embouchure. 1724.Online at BNF
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