Dinguiraye (

N’ko N'Ko () is a script devised by Solomana Kante in 1949, as a modern writing system for the Mandé languages of West Africa. The term ''N'Ko'', which means ''I say'' in all Mandé languages, is also used for the Mandé literary standard written i ...

: ߘߌ߲ߞߌߙߊߦߌ߫ ) is a small town in northern

Guinea Guinea ( ),, fuf, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫, italic=no, Gine, wo, Gine, nqo, ߖߌ߬ߣߍ߫, bm, Gine officially the Republic of Guinea (french: République de Guinée), is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the we ...

, known for its large

mosque A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...

which until recently was

thatched Thatching is the craft of building a roof with dry vegetation such as straw, water reed, sedge (''Cladium mariscus''), rushes, heather, or palm branches, layering the vegetation so as to shed water away from the inner roof. Since the bulk of ...

. As of 2014 it had a population of 47,250 people.

History

The town and its mosque hold special historical importance;

El Hadj Umar 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 Toucouleur ...

founded the

Toucouleur Empire The Tidjaniya Caliphate ( ar, الخلافة التجانية; also known as the Tijaniyya Jihad state or the Segu Tukulor or the Toucouleur Empire) (1861–1890) was founded in the mid-nineteenth century by Elhadj Oumar Foutiyou Tall of the To ...

in the city and initially made it his capital. Al-Hadj Umar also built the city's large mosque at this time and the city served as a staging ground for his 1850 jihad.Histoire d'Afrique: les enjeux de mémoire, Jean-Pierre Chrétien, Jean-Louis Triaud KARTHALA Editions, 1. jan. 1999, pg.73

Notable people

* Saïdou Bokoum (1945-) - writer

References

Sub-prefectures of the Faranah Region Toucouleur Empire {{Africa-hist-stub