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Bakel is a town of approximately 15,000 inhabitants located in the eastern part of
Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 ...
,
West Africa West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Maurit ...
. The town is located on the left bank of the
Sénégal River ,french: Fleuve Sénégal) , name_etymology = , image = Senegal River Saint Louis.jpg , image_size = , image_caption = Fishermen on the bank of the Senegal River estuary at the outskirts of Saint-Louis, Senegal ...
, from the Malian border and linked by canoe ferry to the village of Gouraye in
Mauritania Mauritania (; ar, موريتانيا, ', french: Mauritanie; Berber: ''Agawej'' or ''Cengit''; Pulaar: ''Moritani''; Wolof: ''Gànnaar''; Soninke:), officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania ( ar, الجمهورية الإسلامية ...
. Bakel is one of the four eponymous departmental capitals in the region of
Tambacounda Tambacounda ( ar, تامباكوندا; Wolof: Tambaakundaa ) is the largest city in eastern Senegal, southeast of Dakar, and is the regional capital of the province of the same name. Its estimated population in 2007 was 78,800. Geography Tamb ...
, the other three being
Tambacounda Tambacounda ( ar, تامباكوندا; Wolof: Tambaakundaa ) is the largest city in eastern Senegal, southeast of Dakar, and is the regional capital of the province of the same name. Its estimated population in 2007 was 78,800. Geography Tamb ...
,
Goudiry Goudiry is the chief town and commune of the department of Goudiry in the region of Tambacounda in the east of Senegal. The town itself has a population of approximately 7000. Transport It lies on the N1 road linking the capital Dakar to Mal ...
and
Koumpentoum Koumpentoum is a town and commune in the Tambacounda Region of central Senegal. In 2013 it had a population of some 10,000 Transport It is served by a station on the national railway network. See also * Railway stations in Senegal List of R ...
. Bakel is known for its French fort (Fort Bakel), which
René Caillié Auguste René Caillié (; 19 November 1799 – 17 May 1838) was a French explorer and the first European to return alive from the town of Timbuktu. Caillié had been preceded at Timbuktu by a British officer, Major Gordon Laing, who was murdere ...
visited in 1819. It was also the area where the Mauritanian crisis occurred, a dispute over grazing rights that led to a war between Senegal and Mauritania in 1989. As a result of this conflict, many people around the area moved abroad or emigrated to Senegal.


People and Culture

The majority of the population belong to the Soninke-speaking ethnic group, a dialect of the larger
Mande Languages The Mande languages are spoken in several countries in West Africa by the Mandé peoples and include Maninka, Mandinka, Soninke, Bambara, Kpelle, Dioula, Bozo, Mende, Susu, and Vai. There are "60 to 75 languages spoken by 30 to 40 million ...
language family. There is also a substantial Pulaar (
Fula Fula may refer to: *Fula people (or Fulani, Fulɓe) *Fula language (or Pulaar, Fulfulde, Fulani) **The Fula variety known as the Pulaar language **The Fula variety known as the Pular language **The Fula variety known as Maasina Fulfulde *Al-Fula ...
) speaking minority as well as a significant amount of Bambara and
Wolof Wolof or Wollof may refer to: * Wolof people, an ethnic group found in Senegal, Gambia, and Mauritania * Wolof language, a language spoken in Senegal, Gambia, and Mauritania * The Wolof or Jolof Empire, a medieval West African successor of the Mal ...
(or Oulof) speakers, while most people learn some French in school. A large permanent market serves the department's inhabitants along with a weekly "Lumo" (similar to a flea market). Most inhabitants are subsistence farmers and herders, while the people in town are employed in informal businesses that range from carpentry, masonry and transportation of goods to selling fruit and produce on the street. Due to its location in the
Sahel The Sahel (; ar, ساحل ' , "coast, shore") is a region in North Africa. It is defined as the ecoclimatic and biogeographic realm of transition between the Sahara to the north and the Sudanian savanna to the south. Having a hot semi-arid c ...
, the area is semi-arid with little vegetation outside of the rainy season. Various hills surround the town, which are known locally as "little mountains." Bakel served as fodder for Bakel City Gang, a song by French rapper
Booba Élie Yaffa (; born 9 December 1976), better known under his stage name Booba, is a French rapper. After a brief stint as a break dancer in the early 1990s, Booba partnered with his friend Ali to form Lunatic. The duo released a critically ac ...
whose father is from the town.


History

The area that would become Bakel was first settled by a
marabout A marabout ( ar, مُرابِط, murābiṭ, lit=one who is attached/garrisoned) is a Muslim religious leader and teacher who historically had the function of a chaplain serving as a part of an Islamic army, notably in North Africa and the Saha ...
named Abdoulaye Wane from
Fouta Toro Futa Toro (Wolof and ff, Fuuta Tooro ''𞤆𞤵𞥄𞤼𞤢 𞤚𞤮𞥄𞤪𞤮''; ar, فوتا تورو), often simply the Futa, is a semidesert region around the middle run of the Senegal River. This region is along the border of Senegal and M ...
, along with his students, known as ''talibes''. At the beginning of the 17th century, members of the Ndiaye family fleeing succession disputes in the
Jolof Empire Jolof (french: Djolof or ') may refer to either of * Jolof Empire, a West African successor state to the Mali Empire in modern Senegal from the 14th to 16th centuries * Kingdom of Jolof, a rump survival of the earlier empire from the 16th to the 19t ...
moved to the area, then part of the Kingdom of Galam, also called Gajaaga, (see: '' Royaume de Galam''), eventually integrating into the local Soninke population. The French began to penetrate the region in the 18th century, purchasing slaves from the Gajaaga monarchs to export from Saint Louis at the mouth of the river. In 1818, after the restoration of France's West Africa territories (which at the time consisted only in Saint-Louis and
Gorée (; "Gorée Island"; Wolof: Beer Dun) is one of the 19 (i.e. districts) of the city of Dakar, Senegal. It is an island located at sea from the main harbour of Dakar (), famous as a destination for people interested in the Atlantic slave trade ...
) in the 1815
Treaty of Paris Treaty of Paris may refer to one of many treaties signed in Paris, France: Treaties 1200s and 1300s * Treaty of Paris (1229), which ended the Albigensian Crusade * Treaty of Paris (1259), between Henry III of England and Louis IX of France * Trea ...
,
Auguste Jacques Nicolas Peureux de Mélay Auguste Jacques Nicolas Peureux de Mélay was Governor General for Inde française in the Second French Colonial Empire The French colonial empire () comprised the overseas colonies, protectorates and mandate territories that came under French ...
led a small flotilla up the Senegal . Blocked from going past Bakel by the seasonal drop in water level, they chose the spot to build a fort. The fort was established to counter growing British penetration of the West African market, attracting trade in
gum arabic Gum arabic, also known as gum sudani, acacia gum, Arabic gum, gum acacia, acacia, Senegal gum, Indian gum, and by other names, is a natural gum originally consisting of the hardened sap of two species of the '' Acacia'' tree, ''Senegalia sen ...
, gold, leather, and ivory that might otherwise have made for
Fattatenda Fattatenda is a small village in eastern Gambia on the Gambia River. It is located in Wuli District in the Upper River Division, a few kilometers southwest of the much larger village of Baja Kunda. As of 2009, it has an estimated population of ...
in
The Gambia The Gambia,, ff, Gammbi, ar, غامبيا officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. It is the smallest country within mainland AfricaHoare, Ben. (2002) ''The Kingfisher A-Z Encyclopedia'', Kingfisher Publicatio ...
. It also served to establish closer relations with the powerful, gold-rich Kingdom of
Bundu Bundu may refer to: * Bundu (state), a former state in what is now Senegal * Also known as the place where Aditya Kumar (BE/10023/12) was born and brought up * Bundu, India, a town in Jharkhand, India ** Bundu block, the larger administrative u ...
further south. The fort became a base for promoting French influence, playing local leaders off of each other.
Liberalization Liberalization or liberalisation (British English) is a broad term that refers to the practice of making laws, systems, or opinions less severe, usually in the sense of eliminating certain government regulations or restrictions. The term is used m ...
of trade after 1848 intensified the competition between native chiefs and groups vying for access to markets and imported goods. In the 1850's, the Bakel garrison was strengthened as
Omar Saidou Tall Hadji Oumarûl Foutiyou Tall (Umar ibn Sa'id al-Futi Tal, ar, حاج عمر بن سعيد طعل), ( – 1864 CE), born in Futa Tooro, present day Senegal, was a West African political leader, Islamic scholar, Tijani Sufi and Toucouleu ...
's jihad gained strength in the region and presented over-matched local tribes with a way to undermine French power. In 1855, the fort was officially annexed, following pressure from Saint Louisian merchants. In 1858, upper Gajaaga, between Bakel and the Faleme river, was annexed to the French colony. Bakel is also the site of a study of annual flow volumes of the Senegal river from 1904 to 1990 which showed a dramatic reduction in the river's volume especially in the past twenty years."A water resources planning response to climate change in the Senegal River Basin". Venema, Schiller, Adamowska, Thizzy. January 1997


References


External links


Bakel Senegal
{{Commons category, Bakel (Senegal) Populated places in Tambacounda Region Communes of Senegal