Jeleen Yatta Ntanye, more commonly known as Jelen, Jeléen, or Bemoim, was a
buumi
Buumi (many variations : Buumy, Bumy, Bumi, etc.) was a Serer royal title in the Serer pre-colonial
Kingdoms of Sine, Saloum and previously Baol. Diouf, Niokhobaye. ''Chronique du royaume du Sine''. Suivie de notes sur les traditions orales et ...
of 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 ...
who attempted to take control of the state with help from the
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
in the late 15th century.
Background
Jeleen was a member of the
Ndiaye dynasty, the ruling family of the Jolof Empire. Oral sources do not all agree, but he was likely the son of the Buurba
Tase Daagulen. Succession disputes were common at the time. The title of Buumi had been created in part to share power and attempt to reduce these conflicts.
Rule as Buumi
Jeleen ruled over
Waalo
Walo ( wo, Waalo) was a kingdom on the lower Senegal River in West Africa, in what are now Senegal and Mauritania. It included parts of the valley proper and areas north and south, extending to the Atlantic Ocean. To the north were Moorish emira ...
, near the mouth of the
Senegal 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 ...
.
[ He played an important role in governing the empire, with the Buurba occupied with personal pleasures, and is credited in oral history as the first to establish a system of 'alkaldes' who served as customs agents.]
Alliance with the Portuguese
Portuguese accounts of Jelen begin when merchants said he did not pay for items he had bought from them. Bemoim, a term coming from his title 'Bumi' in 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 ...
, received an envoy from Portugal sent to address the dispute. No money changed hands, but Jelen gave the Portuguese monarch 100 slaves.
In 1487, Jelen asked the Portuguese for help in a military campaign against his rivals, but this was denied. Jelen eventually had to withdraw to Arguin
Arguin ( ar, أرغين, pt, Arguim) is an island off the western coast of Mauritania in the Bay of Arguin. It is approximately in size, with extensive and dangerous reefs around it. The island is now part of the Banc d'Arguin National Park.
H ...
, a Portuguese colonial garrison. From there, he went to Portugal and had an audience with John II of Portugal
John II ( pt, João II; ; 3 March 1455 – 25 October 1495), called the Perfect Prince ( pt, o Príncipe Perfeito, link=no), was King of Portugal from 1481 until his death in 1495, and also for a brief time in 1477. He is known for re-establishi ...
, likely in September or October 1488. He was treated as a visiting European monarch would have been.
Jelen was baptized during the visit, on 3 November 1488, and given the baptismal name
A Christian name, sometimes referred to as a baptismal name, is a religious personal name given on the occasion of a Christian baptism, though now most often assigned by parents at birth. In English-speaking cultures, a person's Christian name ...
João. Peter Russell argues that John II had in fact been trying to get Jelen to convert for a while, perhaps because John was interested in spreading Christianity in the area known to the Portuguese as 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 ...
. They agreed that the Portuguese would send a force to Jolof to set up a fort and trading post at the mouth of the Senegal 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 ...
and restore Jelen to power.[
Jelen was murdered on the way back to West Africa by the Portuguese commander Pero Vaz da Cunha, who alleged Jelen had betrayed them.
]
See also
*History of Senegal
The history of Senegal is commonly divided into a number of periods, encompassing the prehistoric era, the precolonial period, colonialism, and the contemporary era.
Paleolithic
The earliest evidence of human life is found in the valley of the ...
*History of The Gambia
The first written records of the region come from Arab traders in the 9th and 10th centuries. In medieval times, the region was dominated by the Trans-Saharan trade and was ruled by the Mali Empire. In the 16th century, the region came to be rul ...
Notes
Sources
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Further reading
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{{Serer topics, state=collapsed
Portuguese colonisation in Africa
1489 deaths