The Empire of Great Fulo, also known as the Denanke Kingdom or Denianke Kingdom, was a

Pulaar Pulaar (in Adlam: , in Ajami: ) is a Fula language spoken primarily as a first language by the Fula and Toucouleur peoples in the Senegal River valley area traditionally known as Futa Tooro and further south and east. Pulaar speakers, known ...

kingdom of

Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 � ...

, which dominated the

Futa Tooro 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 ...

region. Its population dominated its neighbors through use of cavalry and fought wars against the

Mali Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mali ...

and Songhai empires.

Tenguella (1490–1512)

The state began as a violent migration of Fula nomads from

Futa Djallon Fouta Djallon ( ff, 𞤊𞤵𞥅𞤼𞤢 𞤔𞤢𞤤𞤮𞥅, Fuuta Jaloo; ar, فوتا جالون) is a highland region in the center of Guinea, roughly corresponding with Middle Guinea, in West Africa. Etymology The Fulani people call the r ...

into the Gambia led by

Tenguella Tenguella (also known as Temelá) was the founder of the Empire of Great Fulo. He was responsible, along with his son, for the Fula migration to the Gambia. He was named Great Fulo or Great king of the Fulos in Portuguese documents of the time. ...

, their first king or mansa, in 1490. His attack was directed against the remaining Atlantic provinces of the

Mali Empire The Mali Empire ( Manding: ''Mandé''Ki-Zerbo, Joseph: ''UNESCO General History of Africa, Vol. IV, Abridged Edition: Africa from the Twelfth to the Sixteenth Century'', p. 57. University of California Press, 1997. or Manden; ar, مالي, Māl ...

. Though without a fixed headquarters, Tenguella's following grew so large that he was referred to as the "Great king of the Fulos" or the "Great Fulo" in Portuguese documents of the same period. From the Gambia he led his forces northeast against the growing

Songhai Empire The Songhai Empire (also transliterated as Songhay) was a state that dominated the western Sahel/Sudan in the 15th and 16th century. At its peak, it was one of the largest states in African history. The state is known by its historiographical ...

where he was defeated and killed in 1512. Afterwards, power was passed to his son, Koli Tenguella.

Koli Tenguella (1512–1537)

Koli Tenguella Koli Tenguella (or Koli Tenguella Bâ/Bah or Koli Tengella Jaaje Baa alias Koli Pullo) (1512–1537) was a Fulani warrior. In the sixteenth century, after nine attempts, he conquered Futa Toro, a kingdom located in the northeast of the current Sene ...

redirected the fledgling state's military away from Songhai towards 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 ...

with great success. The growth of the empire of Great Fulo would hasten the breakup of the Jolof state into several warring kingdoms. This was followed by attacks on Mali's

Bambuk Bambouk (sometimes Bambuk or Bambuhu) is a traditional name for the territory in eastern Senegal and western Mali, encompassing the Bambouk Mountains on its eastern edge, the valley of the Faleme River and the hilly country to the east of the riv ...

goldfields, which resulted in another serious defeat for the Fula. Koli died in 1537. By then, a fixed capital had been settled in Anyam-Godo in what is today Senegal's Futa Toro region.

Denanke successors

The mangas that followed Koli Tengella were all descended from him and given the name Denyanke or Deny Kobe. The Denianke dynasty (or Denyanke dynasty) continued to be a major power in the region ruling as animist monarchs over an increasingly Islamic populace from the 16th century into the late 18th century. Their dynasty was overthrown through conflict with the increasingly Muslim subjects of the realm, leading to the

Imamate of Futa Toro The Imamate of Futa Toro () (1776-1861) was a West African theocratic monarchy of the Fula-speaking people (''Fulɓe'' and Toucouleurs) in the middle valley of the Senegal River. The region is known as Futa Toro. Origins Futa Toro is a strip ...

led by Abd-el-Kadr Toorodi in 1776, ushering in a near continuous era of Muslim Fula rule over the region. The Sila Tigi or Manga of the Denianke dynasty were: * Dengella Koli I (1513–1535) * Dengella Koli II (1535–1538) * 15 rulers unknown by name (1538–1765) * Sule-Budu (1765–1776)

Sources

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References

External links