The Senegal River ( or "Senegal" - compound of the
Serer term "Seen" or "Sene" or "Sen" (from
Roog Seen, Supreme Deity in
Serer religion
The Serer religion or Serer spirituality (''Serer language, Serer:'' A ƭat Roog, meaning "the way of the Divine", "path of God", or "religious life"Kalis, Simone, ''Médecine traditionnelle, religion et divination chez les Seereer Siin du Sén� ...
) and "O Gal" (meaning "body of water")); , , , ) is a
river
A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...
in
West Africa
West Africa, also known as Western Africa, is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations geoscheme for Africa#Western Africa, United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Gha ...
; much of its length marks part of the
border between
Senegal
Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...
and
Mauritania
Mauritania, officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, is a sovereign country in Maghreb, Northwest Africa. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Western Sahara to Mauritania–Western Sahara border, the north and northwest, ...
. It has a
drainage basin
A drainage basin is an area of land in which all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...
of , a mean flow of , and an annual discharge of . Important
tributaries
A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream ('' main stem'' or ''"parent"''), river, or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries, and the main stem river into which the ...
are the
Falémé River
The Falémé River ( French: ''Rivière Falémé'') is a river in West Africa. The Falémé arises in northern Guinea and flows in a north-northeast direction to Mali, forming a short portion of the border between Guinea and Senegal. It turns nor ...
,
Karakoro River, and the
Gorgol River. The river divides into two branches once it passes
Kaédi
Kaédi () is the largest city and administrative center of the Gorgol Region of Southern Mauritania, located on the Mauritania–Senegal border, border with Senegal. It is approximately 435 km from Mauritania's capital, Nouakchott.
Overview
Th ...
. The left branch, called the
Doué, runs parallel to the main river to the north. After the two branches rejoin a few kilometers downstream of
Podor
Podor ( Wolof: Podoor) is the northernmost town in Senegal, lying on Morfil Island between the Sénégal River and Doué River on the border with Mauritania. It was the location of the ancient state Takrur. It is home to a ruined French colon ...
.
In 1972
Mali
Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...
, Mauritania and Senegal founded the
Organisation pour la mise en valeur du fleuve Sénégal (OMVS) to manage the river basin.
Guinea
Guinea, officially the Republic of Guinea, is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Guinea-Bissau to the northwest, Senegal to the north, Mali to the northeast, Côte d'Ivoire to the southeast, and Sier ...
joined in 2005. , only very limited use was made of the river for the transportation of goods and passengers. The OMVS have looked at the feasibility of creating a navigable channel in width between the small town of
Ambidédi
Ambidédi is a small town and principal settlement (''chef-lieu'') of the commune of Kéméné Tambo in the Cercle of Kayes in the Kayes Region of south-western Mali
Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Af ...
in
Mali
Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...
and
Saint-Louis, a distance of . It would give landlocked Mali a direct route to the
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...
.
The aquatic fauna in the Senegal River basin is closely associated with that of the
Gambia River
The Gambia River (formerly known as the River Gambra, French language, French: ''Fleuve Gambie'', Portuguese language, Portuguese: ''Rio Gâmbia'') is a major river in West Africa, running from the Fouta Djallon plateau in north Guinea westward ...
basin, and the two are usually combined under a single
ecoregion
An ecoregion (ecological region) is an ecological and geographic area that exists on multiple different levels, defined by type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and c ...
known as the
Senegal-Gambia Catchments. Only three species of frogs and one fish are
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...
to this ecoregion.
The river has two large
dam
A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, aqua ...
s along its course, the
Manantali Dam in
Mali
Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...
and the
Maka-Diama Dam downstream on the Mauritania-Senegal border. In between is the
Félou Hydroelectric Plant, built in 1927, but replaced in 2014. The construction of the
Gouina Hydroelectric Plant upstream of Felou at
Gouina Falls began in 2013.
Geography

The Senegal's
headwater
The headwater of a river or stream is the geographical point of its beginning, specifically where surface runoff water begins to accumulate into a flowing channel of water. A river or stream into which one or many tributary rivers or streams flo ...
s are the
Semefé (Bakoye) and
Bafing rivers which both originate in
Guinea
Guinea, officially the Republic of Guinea, is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Guinea-Bissau to the northwest, Senegal to the north, Mali to the northeast, Côte d'Ivoire to the southeast, and Sier ...
; they form a small part of the
Guinea–Mali border
The Guinea–Mali border is 1,062 km (660 m) in length and runs from the tripoint with Senegal in the north to the tripoint with Ivory Coast in the south.
Description
The border begins in the north at the tripoint with Senegal on the Balinko ...
before coming together at
Bafoulabé in Mali. From there, the Senegal river flows west and then north through
Talari Gorges near
Galougo and over the
Gouina Falls, then flows more gently past
Kayes
Kayes ( Bambara: ߞߊߦߌ tr. ''Kayi'', Soninké: ''Xaayi'') is a city in western Mali on the Sénégal River with a population of 127,368 at the 2009 census. Kayes is the capital of the administrative region of the same name. The city is loc ...
, where it receives the
Kolimbiné. After flowing together with the
Karakoro, it prolongs the former's course along the
Mali–Mauritania border
The Mali–Mauritania border is 2,236 km (1,389 m) in length and runs from the tripoint with Algeria in the north to the tripoint with Senegal in the south-west.
Description
The border starts in the north at the tripoint with Algeria, and th ...
for some tens of kilometers till
Bakel where it flows together with the
Falémé River
The Falémé River ( French: ''Rivière Falémé'') is a river in West Africa. The Falémé arises in northern Guinea and flows in a north-northeast direction to Mali, forming a short portion of the border between Guinea and Senegal. It turns nor ...
, which also has its source in Guinea, subsequently runs along a small part of the Guinea-Mali frontier to then trace most of the Senegal-Mali border up to Bakel. The Senegal further flows through semi-arid land in the north of Senegal, forming the border with Mauritania and into the
Atlantic
The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...
. In
Kaedi it accepts the
Gorgol from Mauritania. Flowing through
Boghé it reaches
Richard Toll where it is joined by the
Ferlo coming from inland Senegal's
Lac de Guiers. It passes through
Rosso
Rosso is the major city of south-western Mauritania and capital of Trarza Region, Trarza region. It is situated on the Senegal River at the head of the river zone allowing year-round navigation.
The town is 204 km south of the capital Nouakc ...
and, approaching its mouth, around the Senegalese island on which the city of
Saint-Louis is located, to then turn south. It is separated from the Atlantic Ocean by a thin strip of sand called the
Langue de Barbarie before it pours into the ocean itself.
The river has two large
dam
A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, aqua ...
s along its course, the multi-purpose
Manantali Dam in Mali and the
Maka-Diama Dam downstream on the Mauritania-Senegal border, near the outlet to the sea, preventing access of
salt water upstream. In between Manantali and Maka-Diama is the
Félou Hydroelectric Plant which was originally completed in 1927 and uses a
weir
A weir or low-head dam is a barrier across the width of a river that alters the flow characteristics of water and usually results in a change in the height of the water level. Weirs are also used to control the flow of water for outlets of l ...
. The power station was replaced in 2014. In 2013, construction of the
Gouina Hydroelectric Plant upstream of Felou at
Gouina Falls began.
The Senegal River has a
drainage basin
A drainage basin is an area of land in which all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...
of , a mean flow of , and an annual discharge of .
[.] Important
tributaries
A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream ('' main stem'' or ''"parent"''), river, or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries, and the main stem river into which the ...
are the
Falémé River
The Falémé River ( French: ''Rivière Falémé'') is a river in West Africa. The Falémé arises in northern Guinea and flows in a north-northeast direction to Mali, forming a short portion of the border between Guinea and Senegal. It turns nor ...
,
Karakoro River, and the
Gorgol River.
Downstream of
Kaédi
Kaédi () is the largest city and administrative center of the Gorgol Region of Southern Mauritania, located on the Mauritania–Senegal border, border with Senegal. It is approximately 435 km from Mauritania's capital, Nouakchott.
Overview
Th ...
the river divides into two branches. The left branch called the
Doué runs parallel to the main river to the north. After the two branches rejoin a few kilometres downstream of
Pondor. The long strip of land between the two branches is called the
Île á Morfil.
[
In 1972 Mali, Mauritania and Senegal founded the Organisation pour la mise en valeur du fleuve Sénégal (OMVS) to manage the river basin. ]Guinea
Guinea, officially the Republic of Guinea, is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Guinea-Bissau to the northwest, Senegal to the north, Mali to the northeast, Côte d'Ivoire to the southeast, and Sier ...
joined in 2005.
At the present time, only very limited use is made of the river for the transport of goods and passengers. The OMVS have looked at the feasibility of creating a navigable channel in width between the small town of Ambidédi
Ambidédi is a small town and principal settlement (''chef-lieu'') of the commune of Kéméné Tambo in the Cercle of Kayes in the Kayes Region of south-western Mali
Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Af ...
in Mali and Saint-Louis, a distance of . It would give landlocked Mali a direct route to the Atlantic Ocean.[
The aquatic fauna in the Senegal River basin is closely associated with that of the ]Gambia River
The Gambia River (formerly known as the River Gambra, French language, French: ''Fleuve Gambie'', Portuguese language, Portuguese: ''Rio Gâmbia'') is a major river in West Africa, running from the Fouta Djallon plateau in north Guinea westward ...
basin, and the two are usually combined under a single ecoregion
An ecoregion (ecological region) is an ecological and geographic area that exists on multiple different levels, defined by type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and c ...
known as the Senegal-Gambia Catchments. Although the species richness
Species richness is the number of different species represented in an community (ecology), ecological community, landscape or region. Species richness is simply a count of species, and it does not take into account the Abundance (ecology), abunda ...
is moderately high, only three species of frogs and one fish are endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...
to this ecoregion.
History
The area was previously occupied by the Serer people
The Serer people (''Serer language, Serer proper'': Seereer or Sereer) are a West African ethnoreligious groupGastellu, Jean-Marc, ''Petit traité de matrilinarité. L'accumulation dans deux sociétés rurales d'Afrique de l'Ouest'', Cahiers ORST ...
, who following their religious and ethnic persecution by Islamic forces in the 11th century, resulted in the Serer exodus to the south.[, Quote: "Serer oral tradition recounts the group's origins in the Senegal River valley, where it was part of, or closely related to, the same group as the ancestors of today's Tukulor."]
The existence of the Senegal River was known to the early Mediterranean civilizations. It or some other river was called ''Bambotus'' by Pliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/24 79), known in English as Pliny the Elder ( ), was a Roman Empire, Roman author, Natural history, naturalist, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the Roman emperor, emperor Vesp ...
(possibly from Phoenician "behemoth
Behemoth (; , ''bəhēmōṯ'') is a beast from the biblical Book of Job, and is a form of the primeval chaos-monster created by God at the beginning of creation. Metaphorically, the name has come to be used for any extremely large or powerful ...
" for hippopotamus
The hippopotamus (''Hippopotamus amphibius;'' ; : hippopotamuses), often shortened to hippo (: hippos), further qualified as the common hippopotamus, Nile hippopotamus and river hippopotamus, is a large semiaquatic mammal native to sub-Sahar ...
) and ''Nias'' by Claudius Ptolemy
Claudius Ptolemy (; , ; ; – 160s/170s AD) was a Greco-Roman mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were important to later Byzantine, Islamic, and ...
. It was visited by Hanno the Carthaginian around 450 BCE at his navigation from Carthage
Carthage was an ancient city in Northern Africa, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now Tunisia. Carthage was one of the most important trading hubs of the Ancient Mediterranean and one of the most affluent cities of the classic ...
through the pillars of Herakles to Theon Ochema (Mount Cameroon
Mount Cameroon is an active volcano in the Southwest Region of Cameroon next to the city of Buea near the Gulf of Guinea. Mount Cameroon is also known as Cameroon Mountain or Fako (the name of the higher of its two peaks) or by its indigenous ...
) in the Gulf of Guinea
The Gulf of Guinea (French language, French: ''Golfe de Guinée''; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Golfo de Guinea''; Portuguese language, Portuguese: ''Golfo da Guiné'') is the northeasternmost part of the tropical Atlantic Ocean from Cape Lopez i ...
. There was trade from here to the Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...
World, until the destruction of Carthage
The siege of Carthage was the main engagement of the Third Punic War fought between Ancient Carthage, Carthage and Roman Republic, Rome. It consisted of the nearly three-year siege of the Carthaginian capital, Carthage (a little northeast ...
and its west Africa
West Africa, also known as Western Africa, is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations geoscheme for Africa#Western Africa, United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Gha ...
n trade net in 146 BCE.
Arab sources
In the Early Middle Ages (c. 800 CE), the Senegal River restored contact with the Mediterranean world with the establishment of the Trans-Saharan trade route between Morocco
Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...
and the Ghana Empire
The Ghana Empire (), also known as simply Ghana, Ghanata, or Wagadu, was an ancient western-Sahelian empire based in the modern-day southeast of Mauritania and western Mali.
It is uncertain among historians when Ghana's ruling dynasty began. T ...
. Arab geographers, like al-Masudi
al-Masʿūdī (full name , ), –956, was a historian, geographer and traveler. He is sometimes referred to as the "Herodotus of the Arabs". A polymath and prolific author of over twenty works on theology, history (Islamic and universal), geo ...
of Baghdad (957), al-Bakri
Abū ʿUbayd ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Muḥammad ibn Ayyūb ibn ʿAmr al-Bakrī (), or simply al-Bakrī (c. 1040–1094) was an Arab Andalusian historian and a geographer of the Muslim West.
Life
Al-Bakri was born in Huelva, the ...
of Spain (1068) and al-Idrisi
Abu Abdullah Muhammad al-Idrisi al-Qurtubi al-Hasani as-Sabti, or simply al-Idrisi (; ; 1100–1165), was an Arab Muslim geographer and cartographer who served in the court of King Roger II at Palermo, Sicily. Muhammad al-Idrisi was born in C ...
of Sicily (1154), provided some of the earliest descriptions of the Senegal River. Early Arab geographers believed the upper Senegal River and the upper Niger River
The Niger River ( ; ) is the main river of West Africa, extending about . Its drainage basin is in area. Its source is in the Guinea Highlands in south-eastern Guinea near the Sierra Leone border. It runs in a crescent shape through Mali, Nige ...
were connected to each other, and formed a single river flowing from east to west, which they called the "Western Nile". (In fact, some of the headwaters of the Senegal River are near the Niger River in Mali and Guinea.) It was believed to be either a western branch of the Egyptian Nile River
The Nile (also known as the Nile River or River Nile) is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa. It has historically been considered the longest river i ...
or drawn from the same source (variously conjectured to some great internal lakes of the Mountains of the Moon, or Ptolemy
Claudius Ptolemy (; , ; ; – 160s/170s AD) was a Greco-Roman mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were important to later Byzantine science, Byzant ...
's Gir (Γειρ) or the Biblical Gihon
Gihon is the name of the second river mentioned in the second chapter of the biblical Book of Genesis. The Gihon is mentioned as one of four rivers (along with the Tigris, Euphrates, and Pishon) issuing out of Eden, branching from a single river ...
stream).
Arab geographers Abd al-Hassan Ali ibn Omar (1230), Ibn Said al-Maghribi (1274) and Abulfeda (1331), label the Senegal as the "Nile of Ghana
Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...
" (Nil Gana or Nili Ganah).
As the Senegal River reached into the heart of the gold-producing Ghana Empire
The Ghana Empire (), also known as simply Ghana, Ghanata, or Wagadu, was an ancient western-Sahelian empire based in the modern-day southeast of Mauritania and western Mali.
It is uncertain among historians when Ghana's ruling dynasty began. T ...
and later the Mali Empire
The Mali Empire (Manding languages, 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 ...
, Trans-Saharan traders gave the Senegal its famous nickname as the "River of Gold". The Trans-Saharan stories about the "River of Gold" reached the ears of Sub-Alpine European merchants that frequented the ports of Morocco and the lure proved irresistible. Arab historians report at least three separate Arab maritime expeditions - the last one organized by a group of eight ''mughrarin'' ("wanderers") of Lisbon
Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...
(before 1147) - that tried to sail down the Atlantic coast, possibly in an effort find the mouth of the Senegal.
Cartographic representation
Drawing from Classical legend and Arab sources, the "River of Gold" found its way into European maps in the 14th century. In the Hereford Mappa Mundi
The Hereford Mappa Mundi (, map of the world) is the largest medieval map still known to exist, depicting the known world. It is a religious rather than literal depiction, featuring heaven, hell and the path to salvation. Dating from AD, the m ...
(c. 1300), there is a river labelled "Nilus Fluvius" drawn ''parallel'' to the coast of Africa, albeit without communication with Atlantic (it ends in a lake). It depicts some giant ant
Ants are Eusociality, eusocial insects of the Family (biology), family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the Taxonomy (biology), order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from Vespoidea, vespoid wasp ancestors in the Cre ...
s digging up gold dust from its sands, with the note "''Hic grandes formice auream serican r servantarenas''" ("Here great ants guard gold sands"). In the mappa mundi made by Pietro Vesconte for the c. 1320 atlas of Marino Sanuto, there is an unnamed river stemming from the African interior and opening in the Atlantic ocean. The 1351 Medici-Laurentian Atlas shows both the Egyptian Nile and the western Nile stemming from the same internal mountain range, with the note that "''Ilic coligitur aureaum''". The portolan chart
Portolan charts are nautical charts, first made in the 13th century in the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean basin and later expanded to include other regions. The word ''portolan'' comes from the Italian language, Italian ''portolano'', meaning " ...
of Giovanni da Carignano (1310s-20s) has the river with the label, ''iste fluuis exit de nilo ubi multum aurum repperitur''.
In the more accurately-drawn portolan chart
Portolan charts are nautical charts, first made in the 13th century in the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean basin and later expanded to include other regions. The word ''portolan'' comes from the Italian language, Italian ''portolano'', meaning " ...
s, starting with the 1367 chart of Domenico and Francesco Pizzigano
Domenico and Francesco Pizzigano, known as the Pizzigani brothers, were 14th-century Venetian cartographers. Their surname is sometimes given as Pizigano (only one 'z') in older sources.
1367 chart
]
The Pizzigani brothers are principally kno ...
and carried on in the 1375 Catalan Atlas
The Catalan Atlas (, ) is a medieval world map, or mappa mundi, probably created in the late 1370s or the early 1380s (often conventionally dated 1375), that has been described as the most important map of the Middle Ages in the Catalan language, ...
, the 1413 chart of the Catalan ''converso
A ''converso'' (; ; feminine form ''conversa''), "convert" (), was a Jew who converted to Catholicism in Spain or Portugal, particularly during the 14th and 15th centuries, or one of their descendants.
To safeguard the Old Christian popula ...
'' Mecia de Viladestes, etc. the "River of Gold" is depicted (if only speculatively), draining into the Atlantic Ocean somewhere just south of Cape Bojador
Cape Bojador (, Arabic transliteration, trans. ''Rā's Būjādūr''; , ''Bujdur''; Spanish language, Spanish and ; ) is a headland on the west coast of Western Sahara, at 26° 07' 37"N, 14° 29' 57"W (various sources give various locations: this ...
. The legend of Cape Bojador as a terrifying obstacle, the 'cape of no return' to European sailors, emerged around the same time (possibly encouraged by Trans-Saharan traders who did not want to see their land route sidestepped by sea).
The river is frequently depicted with a great river island midway, the "Island of Gold", first mentioned by al-Masudi, and famously called "''Wangara''" by al-Idrisi and "''Palolus''" in the 1367 Pizzigani brothers chart. It is conjectured that this riverine "island" is in fact just the Bambuk-Buré goldfield district, which is practically surrounded on all sides by rivers - the Senegal river to the north, the Falémé River
The Falémé River ( French: ''Rivière Falémé'') is a river in West Africa. The Falémé arises in northern Guinea and flows in a north-northeast direction to Mali, forming a short portion of the border between Guinea and Senegal. It turns nor ...
to the west, the Bakhoy to the east and the Niger
Niger, officially the Republic of the Niger, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is a unitary state Geography of Niger#Political geography, bordered by Libya to the Libya–Niger border, north-east, Chad to the Chad–Niger border, east ...
and Tinkisso to the south.
The 1413 portolan chart of Mecia de Viladestes gives perhaps the most detailed depiction of the early state of European knowledge about the Senegal River prior to the 1440s. Viladestes labels it "River of Gold" ("''riu del or''") and locates it a considerable distance south of Cape Bojador
Cape Bojador (, Arabic transliteration, trans. ''Rā's Būjādūr''; , ''Bujdur''; Spanish language, Spanish and ; ) is a headland on the west coast of Western Sahara, at 26° 07' 37"N, 14° 29' 57"W (various sources give various locations: this ...
(''buyeter'') - indeed, south of a mysterious "''cap de abach''" (possibly Cape Timris). There are extensive notes about the plentifulness of ivory and gold in the area, including a note that reads
The galley of Jaume Ferrer
Jaume Ferrer (, fl. 1346) was a Majorcan sailor and explorer. He sailed from Majorca on 10 August 1346 to find the legendary "River of Gold," but the outcome of his quest and his fate are unknown. He is memorialized in his native city of Palma, ...
is depicted off the coast on the left, with a quick note about his 1346 voyage. The golden round island at the mouth of the Senegal River is the indication (customary on portolan charts) of river mouth bars or islands - in this case, probably a reference to the Langue de Barbarie or the island of Saint-Louis). The first town, by the mouth of the Senegal, is called "''isingan''" (arguably the etymological source of the term "Senegal"). East of that, the Senegal forms a riverine island called "''insula de bronch''" ( Île à Morfil). By its shores lies the city of "''tocoror''" (Takrur
Takrur, Tekrur or Tekrour ( 500 – c. 1456) was a state based in the Senegal River in modern day Senegal which was at its height in the 11th and 12th centuries, roughly parallel to the Ghana Empire. It lasted in some form into the 18th ...
). Above it is a depiction of the Almoravid general Abu Bakr ibn Umar
Abu Bakr ibn Umar ibn Ibrahim ibn Turgut, sometimes suffixed al-Sanhaji or al-Lamtuni (died 1087; ) was a chieftain of the Lamtuna Berber Tribe and Amir of the Almoravids from 1056 until his death. He is credited to have founded the Moroccan c ...
("''Rex Bubecar''") on a camel. Further east, along the river, is the seated emperor ( mansa) of Mali
Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...
("''Rex Musa Meli''", prob. Mansa Musa
Mansa Musa (reigned ) was the ninth '' Mansa'' of the Mali Empire, which reached its territorial peak during his reign. Musa's reign is often regarded as the zenith of Mali's power and prestige, although he features less in Mandinka oral tradit ...
), holding a gold nugget. His capital, "''civitat musa meli''" is shown on the shores of the river, and the range of the Emperor of Mali's sway is suggested by all the black banners (an inscription notes "This lord of the blacks is called Musa Melli, Lord of Guinea, the greatest noble lord of these parts for the abundance of the gold which is collected in his lands". Curiously, there is a defiant gold-bannered town south of the river, labelled "''tegezeut''" (probably the Ta'adjast of al-Idrisi), and might be an ichoate reference to Djenné
Djenné (; also known as Djénné, Jenné, and Jenne) is a Songhai people, Songhai town and Communes of Mali, urban commune in the Inland Niger Delta region of central Mali. The town is the administrative centre of the Djenné Cercle, one of the ...
.
East of Mali, the river forms a lake or "Island of Gold" shown here studded with river-washed gold nuggets (this is what the Pizzigani brothers called the island of "''Palolus''", and most commentators take to indicate the Bambuk-Buré goldfields). It is connected by many streams to the southerly "mountains of gold" (labelled "''montanies del lor''", the Futa Djallon/ Bambouk Mountains and Loma Mountains
The Loma Mountains are the highest mountain range in Sierra Leone. The highest peak is Mount Bintumani which rises to a height of . The area has been designated a non-hunting forest reserve since 1952. The reserve covers an area of 33,201 hect ...
of Sierra Leone). It is evident the Senegal river morphs east, unbroken, into the Niger River
The Niger River ( ; ) is the main river of West Africa, extending about . Its drainage basin is in area. Its source is in the Guinea Highlands in south-eastern Guinea near the Sierra Leone border. It runs in a crescent shape through Mali, Nige ...
- the cities of "''tenbuch''" (Timbuktu
Timbuktu ( ; ; Koyra Chiini: ; ) is an ancient city in Mali, situated north of the Niger River. It is the capital of the Tombouctou Region, one of the eight administrative regions of Mali, having a population of 32,460 in the 2018 census.
...
), "''geugeu''" (Gao
Gao (or Gawgaw/Kawkaw) is a city in Mali and the capital of the Gao Region. The city is located on the River Niger, east-southeast of Timbuktu on the left bank at the junction with the Tilemsi valley.
For much of its history Gao was an imp ...
) and "''mayna''" (Niamey
Niamey () is the capital and largest city of Niger. As the Niamey Urban Community (, CUN), it is a Regions of Niger, first-level division of Niger, surrounded by the Tillabéri Region, in the western part of the country. Niamey lies on the Nige ...
? or a misplaced Niani?) are denoted along the same single river. South of them (barely visible) are what seem like the towns of Kukiya
Kukiya (, also Romanized as Kūkīyā and Kūkīā; in ) is a village in Baranduzchay-ye Jonubi Rural District, in the Central District of Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI ...
(on the eastern shore of the Island of Gold), and east of that, probably Sokoto
Sokoto (Hausa language, Hausa: ; Fulfulde, Fula: , ''Leydi Sokoto'') is one of the 36 states of Nigeria, located in the extreme northwest of the country. It is bounded by Niger, Republic of the Niger to the north and west for 363 km (226 m ...
(called "Zogde" in the Catalan Atlas) and much further southeast, probably Kano.
North of the Senegal-Niger are the various oases and stations of the trans-Saharan route ("''Tutega''" = Tijigja, "''Anzica''" = In-Zize, "''Tegaza''" = Taghaza, etc.) towards the Mediterranean coast. There is an unlabeled depiction of a black African man on a camel traveling from "''Uuegar''" (prob. Hoggar) to the town of "Organa" ("''ciutat organa''", variously identified as Kanem or Ouargla
Ouargla (Berber: Wargrən, ) is the capital city of Ouargla Province in the Sahara Desert in southern Algeria. It has a flourishing petroleum industry and hosts one of Algeria's universities, the University of Ouargla. The commune of Ouargla had ...
or possibly even a misplaced depiction of Ghana
Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...
- long defunct, but, on the other hand, contemporaneous with the depicted Abu Bakr). Nearby sits its Arab-looking king ("''Rex Organa''") holding a scimitar. The River of Gold is sourced at a circular island, what seem like the Mountains of the Moon (albeit unlabeled here). From this same source also flows north the White Nile
The White Nile ( ') is a river in Africa, the minor of the two main tributaries of the Nile, the larger being the Blue Nile. The name "White" comes from the clay sediment carried in the water that changes the water to a pale color.
In the stri ...
towards Egypt, which forms the frontier between the Muslim "king of Nubia
Nubia (, Nobiin language, Nobiin: , ) is a region along the Nile river encompassing the area between the confluence of the Blue Nile, Blue and White Nile, White Niles (in Khartoum in central Sudan), and the Cataracts of the Nile, first cataract ...
" ("''Rex Onubia''", his range depicted by crescent-on-gold banners) and the Christian Prester John
Prester John () was a mythical Christian patriarch, presbyter, and king. Stories popular in Europe in the 12th to the 17th centuries told of a Church of the East, Nestorian patriarch and king who was said to rule over a Christian state, Christian ...
("''Preste Joha''"), i.e. the emperor of Ethiopia
Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...
in the garb of a Christian bishop (coincidentally, this is the first visual depiction of Prester John on a portolan chart).
Uniquely, the Viladestes map shows another river, south of the Senegal, which it labels the "''flumen gelica''" (poss. ''angelica''), which some have taken to depict the Gambia River
The Gambia River (formerly known as the River Gambra, French language, French: ''Fleuve Gambie'', Portuguese language, Portuguese: ''Rio Gâmbia'') is a major river in West Africa, running from the Fouta Djallon plateau in north Guinea westward ...
. In the 1459 mappa mundi
A ''mappa mundi'' (Latin ; plural = ''mappae mundi''; ; ) is any medieval European map of the world. Such maps range in size and complexity from simple schematic maps or less across to elaborate wall maps, the largest of which to survive to ...
of Fra Mauro
Fra Mauro, O.S.B. Cam., (c.1400–1464) was an Italian ( Venetian) cartographer who lived in the Republic of Venice. He created the most detailed and accurate map of the world up until that time, the Fra Mauro map.
Mauro was a monk of the Ca ...
, drawn a half-century later, after the Portuguese had already visited the Senegal (albeit still trying to respect Classical sources), shows ''two'' parallel rivers running east to west, both of them sourced from the same great internal lake (which, Fra Mauro asserts, is also the same source as the Egyptian Nile). Mauro names the two parallel rivers differently,calling one "''flumen Mas'' ("Mas River"), the other the "''canal dal oro''" ("Channel of Gold"), and makes the note that "''Inne larena de questi do fiume se trova oro de paiola''" ("In the sands of both these rivers gold of 'palola' may be found"), and nearer to the sea, "''Qui se racoce oro''" ("Here gold is collected"), and finally, on the coast, "''Terra de Palmear''" ("Land of Palms"). It is notable that Fra Mauro knew of the error of Henry the Navigator's captains about the Daklha inlet, which Mauro carefully labels "''Reodor''" ("Rio do Ouro", Western Sahara), distinctly from the "Canal del Oro" (Senegal River).
European contact
Christian Europeans soon began attempting to find the sea route to the mouth of the Senegal. The first known effort may have been by the Genoese brothers Vandino and Ugolino Vivaldi, who set out down the coast in 1291 in a pair of ships (nothing more is heard of them). In 1346, the Majorcan sailor, Jaume Ferrer
Jaume Ferrer (, fl. 1346) was a Majorcan sailor and explorer. He sailed from Majorca on 10 August 1346 to find the legendary "River of Gold," but the outcome of his quest and his fate are unknown. He is memorialized in his native city of Palma, ...
set out on a galley with the explicit objective of finding the "River of Gold" (''Riu de l'Or''), where he heard that most people along its shores were engaged in the collection of gold and that the river was wide and deep enough for the largest ships. Nothing more is heard of him either. In 1402, after establishing the first European colony on the Canary Islands
The Canary Islands (; ) or Canaries are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean and the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, Autonomous Community of Spain. They are located in the northwest of Africa, with the closest point to the cont ...
, the French Norman adventurers Jean de Béthencourt
Jean de Béthencourt (; 1362–1425) was a French explorer who in 1402 led an expedition to the Canary Islands, landing first on the north side of Lanzarote. From there he conquered for Castile the islands of Fuerteventura (1405) and El H ...
and Gadifer de la Salle
Gadifer de La Salle (Sainte-Radegonde, 1340 –1415) was a French knight and crusader of Poitevine origin who, with Jean de Béthencourt, conquered and explored the Canary Islands for the Kingdom of Castile.
Life
Gadifer de La Salle was bo ...
set about immediately probing the African coast, looking for directions to the mouth of Senegal.
The project of finding the Senegal was taken up in the 1420s by the Portuguese Prince Henry the Navigator
Princy Henry of Portugal, Duke of Viseu ( Portuguese: ''Infante Dom Henrique''; 4 March 1394 – 13 November 1460), better known as Prince Henry the Navigator (), was a Portuguese prince and a central figure in the early days of the Portuguese ...
, who invested heavily to reach it. In 1434, one of Henry's captains, Gil Eanes, finally surpassed Cape Bojador and returned to tell about it. Henry immediately dispatched a follow-up mission in 1435, under Gil Eanes and Afonso Gonçalves Baldaia
Afonso Gonçalves Baldaia was a 15th-century Portuguese nautical explorer. He explored much of the coast of Western Sahara in 1435–1436 on behalf of the Portuguese prince Henry the Navigator. He would later become one of the first colonists ...
. Going down the coast, they turned around the al-Dakhla peninsula in the Western Sahara
Western Sahara is a territorial dispute, disputed territory in Maghreb, North-western Africa. It has a surface area of . Approximately 30% of the territory () is controlled by the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR); the remaining 70% is ...
and emerged into an inlet, which they excitedly believed to be the mouth of the Senegal River. The name they mistakenly bestowed upon the inlet - "Rio do Ouro" - is a name it would remain stuck with down to the 20th century.
Realizing the mistake, Henry kept pressing his captains further down the coast, and in 1445, the Portuguese captain Nuno Tristão finally reached the Langue de Barbarie, where he noticed the desert end and the treeline begin, and the population change from 'tawny' Sanhaja
The Sanhaja (, or زناگة ''Znāga''; , pl. Iẓnagen, and also Aẓnaj, pl. Iẓnajen) were once one of the largest Berbers, Berber tribal confederations, along with the Zenata, Zanata and Masmuda confederations. Many tribes in Algeria, Libya ...
Berbers
Berbers, or the Berber peoples, also known as Amazigh or Imazighen, are a diverse grouping of distinct ethnic groups indigenous to North Africa who predate the arrival of Arab migrations to the Maghreb, Arabs in the Maghreb. Their main connec ...
to 'black' Wolof people
The Wolof people () are a Niger-Congo peoples, Niger-Congo ethnic group native to the Senegambia, Senegambia region of West Africa. Senegambia is today split between western Senegal, northwestern the Gambia, Gambia and coastal Mauritania; the Wo ...
. Bad weather or lack of supplies prevented Tristão from actually reaching the mouth of the Senegal River, but he rushed back to Portugal to report he had finally found the "Land of the Blacks" (''Terra dos Negros''), and that the "Nile" was surely nearby. Shortly after (possibly still within that same year) another captain, Dinis Dias (sometimes given as Dinis Fernandes) was the first known European since antiquity to finally reach the mouth of the Senegal River. However, Dias did not sail upriver, but instead kept sailing down the Grande Côte
The Grande Côte is a stretch of coastline in Senegal, running north from the Cap-Vert peninsula of Dakar to the border with Mauritania at Saint-Louis, Senegal, St-Louis.
A sandy beach runs along the entire coast, which, unlike the Petite Côte, ...
to the bay of Dakar
Dakar ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Senegal, largest city of Senegal. The Departments of Senegal, department of Dakar has a population of 1,278,469, and the population of the Dakar metropolitan area was at 4.0 mill ...
.
The very next year, in 1446, the Portuguese slave
Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...
-raiding fleet of Lançarote de Freitas arrived at the mouth of the Senegal. One of its captains, Estêvão Afonso, volunteered to take a launch to explore upriver for settlements, thus becoming the first European to actually enter the Senegal river. He didn't get very far. Venturing ashore at one point along the river bank, Afonso tried to kidnap two Wolof children from a woodsman's hut. But he ran into their father, who proceeded to chase the Portuguese back to their launch and gave them such a beating that the explorers gave up on going any further, and turned back to the waiting caravels.
Sometime between 1448 and 1455, the Portuguese captain Lourenço Dias opened regular trade contact on the Senegal River, with the 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 ...
statelets of Waalo
Waalo () was a kingdom on the lower Senegal River in West Africa, in what is 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 emirates; to the ...
(near the mouth of the Senegal River) and Cayor
The Cayor Kingdom (; ) was from 1549 to 1876 the largest and most powerful kingdom that split off from the Jolof Empire in what is now Senegal. The Cayor Kingdom was located in northern and central Senegal, southeast of Waalo, west of the kingdom ...
(a little below that), drumming up a profitable business exchanging Mediterranean goods (notably, horses) for gold and slaves. Chronicler Gomes Eanes de Zurara, writing in 1453, still called it the "Nile River", but Alvise Cadamosto
Alvise Cadamosto (surname cf. ''Ca' da Mosto, da Cadamosto, da Ca' da Mosto''; also known in Portuguese as ''Luís Cadamosto''; mononymously ''Cadamosto'') (; ) (c. 1432 – 16 July 1483) was a Venetian explorer and slave trader, who was hired by ...
, writing in the 1460s, was already calling it the "Senega" , and it is denoted as ''Rio do Çanagà'' on most subsequent Portuguese maps of the age. Cadamosto relates the legend that both the Senegal and the Egyptian Nile were branches of the Biblical Gihon
Gihon is the name of the second river mentioned in the second chapter of the biblical Book of Genesis. The Gihon is mentioned as one of four rivers (along with the Tigris, Euphrates, and Pishon) issuing out of Eden, branching from a single river ...
River that stems from the Garden of Eden
In Abrahamic religions, the Garden of Eden (; ; ) or Garden of God ( and ), also called the Terrestrial Paradise, is the biblical paradise described in Genesis 2–3 and Ezekiel 28 and 31..
The location of Eden is described in the Book of Ge ...
and flows through Ethiopia
Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...
. He also notes that the Senegal was called "the Niger" by the ancients - probably a reference to Ptolemy
Claudius Ptolemy (; , ; ; – 160s/170s AD) was a Greco-Roman mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were important to later Byzantine science, Byzant ...
's legendary 'Nigir' (Νιγειρ) (below the Gir), which would be later identified by Leo Africanus
Johannes Leo Africanus (born al-Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad al-Wazzān al-Zayyātī al-Fasī, ; – ) was an Andalusi diplomat and author who is best known for his 1526 book '' Cosmographia et geographia de Affrica'', later publish ...
with the modern Niger River
The Niger River ( ; ) is the main river of West Africa, extending about . Its drainage basin is in area. Its source is in the Guinea Highlands in south-eastern Guinea near the Sierra Leone border. It runs in a crescent shape through Mali, Nige ...
. Much the same story is repeated by Marmol in 1573, with the additional note that both the Senegal River and Gambia River
The Gambia River (formerly known as the River Gambra, French language, French: ''Fleuve Gambie'', Portuguese language, Portuguese: ''Rio Gâmbia'') is a major river in West Africa, running from the Fouta Djallon plateau in north Guinea westward ...
were tributaries of the Niger River
The Niger River ( ; ) is the main river of West Africa, extending about . Its drainage basin is in area. Its source is in the Guinea Highlands in south-eastern Guinea near the Sierra Leone border. It runs in a crescent shape through Mali, Nige ...
. However, the contemporary African atlas of Venetian cartographer Livio Sanuto, published in 1588, sketches the Senegal, the Niger and the Gambia as three separate, parallel rivers.
Portuguese chronicler João de Barros
João de Barros (; 1496 – 20 October 1570), nicknamed the "Portuguese Livy", is one of the first great Portuguese historians, most famous for his (''Decades of Asia''), a history of the Portuguese in India, Asia, and southeast Africa.
Early y ...
(writing in 1552) says the river's original local 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 ...
name was ''Ovedech'' (which according to one source, comes from "vi-dekh", Wolof for "this river"). His contemporary, Damião de Góis
Damião de Góis (; February 2, 1502January 30, 1574), born in Alenquer, Portugal, was an important Portuguese humanist philosopher. He was a friend and student of Erasmus. He was appointed secretary to the Portuguese factory in Antwerp in 152 ...
(1567) records it as ''Sonedech'' (from "sunu dekh", Wolof for "our river"). Writing in 1573, the Spanish geographer Luis del Marmol Carvajal
Luis is a given name. It is the Spanish form of the originally Germanic name or . Other Iberian Romance languages have comparable forms: (with an accent mark on the i) in Portuguese and Galician, in Aragonese and Catalan, while is archai ...
asserts that the Portuguese called it ''Zenega'', the 'Zeneges' (Berber Zenaga) called it the ''Zenedec'', the 'Gelofes' ( Wolofs) call it ''Dengueh'', the 'Tucorones' ( Fula Toucouleur) called it ''Mayo'', the 'Çaragoles' ( Soninke Sarakole of Ngalam) called it ''Colle'' and further along (again, Marmol assuming Senegal was connected to the Niger), the people of Bagamo' ( Bambara of Bamako
Bamako is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Mali, with a 2022 population of 4,227,569. It is located on the Niger River, near the rapids that divide the upper and middle Niger valleys in the southwestern part of the country.
Bamak ...
?) called it ''Zimbala'' (Jimbala?) and the people of Timbuktu
Timbuktu ( ; ; Koyra Chiini: ; ) is an ancient city in Mali, situated north of the Niger River. It is the capital of the Tombouctou Region, one of the eight administrative regions of Mali, having a population of 32,460 in the 2018 census.
...
called it the ''Yça''.
Etymology
The 16th-century chronicler João de Barros
João de Barros (; 1496 – 20 October 1570), nicknamed the "Portuguese Livy", is one of the first great Portuguese historians, most famous for his (''Decades of Asia''), a history of the Portuguese in India, Asia, and southeast Africa.
Early y ...
asserts the Portuguese renamed it "Senegal" because that was the personal name of a local Wolof chieftain who frequently conducted business with the Portuguese traders. But this etymology is doubtful (e.g. the ruler of Senegalese river state of Waalo
Waalo () was a kingdom on the lower Senegal River in West Africa, in what is 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 emirates; to the ...
bears the title ' Brak', and Cadamosto gives the personal name of the Senegal river chieftain as "Zucholin"). The confusion may have arisen because Cadamosto says the Portuguese interacted frequently with a certain Wolof chieftain south of the river, somewhere on the Grande Côte
The Grande Côte is a stretch of coastline in Senegal, running north from the Cap-Vert peninsula of Dakar to the border with Mauritania at Saint-Louis, Senegal, St-Louis.
A sandy beach runs along the entire coast, which, unlike the Petite Côte, ...
, which he refers to as ''Budomel''. "Budomel" is almost certainly a reference to the ruler of Cayor
The Cayor Kingdom (; ) was from 1549 to 1876 the largest and most powerful kingdom that split off from the Jolof Empire in what is now Senegal. The Cayor Kingdom was located in northern and central Senegal, southeast of Waalo, west of the kingdom ...
, a combination of his formal title (" Damel"), prefixed by the generic 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 ...
term ''bor'' ("lord"). Curiously, Budomel is reminiscent of ''Vedamel'' already used by the Genoese back in the 14th century as an alternative name of the Senegal River. It is almost certain that the Genoese "Vedamel" are corruptions from the Arabic, either ''Wad al-mal'' ("River of Treasure", i.e. Gold) or, alternatively, ''Wad al-Melli'' ("River of Mali") or even, by transcription error, ''Wad al-Nill'' ("River of Nile").
Other etymological theories for "Senegal" abound. A popular one, first proposed by Fr. David Boilat (1853), was that "Senegal" comes from the 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 ...
phrase ''sunu gaal'', meaning "our canoe" (more precisely, "our pirogue
A pirogue ( or ), also called a piragua or piraga, is any of various small boats, particularly dugouts and canoes. The word is French and is derived from Spanish ''piragua'' , which comes from the Carib '.
Description
The term 'pirogue' ...
"). Bailot speculates the name probably arose as a misunderstanding, that when a Portuguese captain came across some Wolof fishermen and asked them what the name of the river was, they believed he was asking who their fishing boat belonged to, and replied simply "it is our canoe" (''sunu gaal''). The "our canoe" theory has been popularly embraced in modern Senegal
Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...
for its charm and appeal to national solidarity ("we're all in one canoe", etc.).
More recent historians suggest the name "Senegal" is probably a derivation of ''Azenegue'', the Portuguese term for the Saharan Berber Zenaga people that lived north of it.
A strong challenge to this theory is that "Senegal" is much older, and might derive from "Sanghana" (also given as Isenghan, Asengan, Singhanah), a city described by the Arab historian al-Bakri
Abū ʿUbayd ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Muḥammad ibn Ayyūb ibn ʿAmr al-Bakrī (), or simply al-Bakrī (c. 1040–1094) was an Arab Andalusian historian and a geographer of the Muslim West.
Life
Al-Bakri was born in Huelva, the ...
in 1068 as located by the mouth of the Senegal River (straddling both banks) and the capital of a local kingdom. The location ''Senegany'' is depicted in 1351 Genoese map known as the Medici Atlas
The Medici-Laurentian Atlas, also known simply as the Medici Atlas (and other variants, e.g. "Laurenziano Gaddiano", "Laurentian Portolano", "Atlante Mediceo" or "Laurentian Atlas"), is an anonymous 14th-century set of maps, probably composed by a ...
(Laurentian Gaddiano portolan).[Delafosse "Senegal River", in ''First encyclopaedia of Islam'', 1913-1936, Leiden: E.J. Brill. vol. 7]
pp. 223–24
This town ("Isingan") is fantastically depicted in the 1413 portolan map of Majorcan cartographer Mecia de Viladestes .[Monteil, 1964: p. 91] The name itself might be of Berber Zenaga origin, speculatively related to 'Ismegh' ('black slave', analogous to the Arabic 'abd) or 'sagui nughal' ('border'). Some sources claim 'Isinghan' remained the usual Berber term to refer to the Wolof kingdom of Cayor
The Cayor Kingdom (; ) was from 1549 to 1876 the largest and most powerful kingdom that split off from the Jolof Empire in what is now Senegal. The Cayor Kingdom was located in northern and central Senegal, southeast of Waalo, west of the kingdom ...
.
Some Serer people
The Serer people (''Serer language, Serer proper'': Seereer or Sereer) are a West African ethnoreligious groupGastellu, Jean-Marc, ''Petit traité de matrilinarité. L'accumulation dans deux sociétés rurales d'Afrique de l'Ouest'', Cahiers ORST ...
from the south have advanced the claim that the river's name is originally derived from the compound of the Serer term "Sene" (from Rog Sene, Supreme Deity in Serer religion
The Serer religion or Serer spirituality (''Serer language, Serer:'' A ƭat Roog, meaning "the way of the Divine", "path of God", or "religious life"Kalis, Simone, ''Médecine traditionnelle, religion et divination chez les Seereer Siin du Sén� ...
) and "O Gal" (meaning "body of water").
See also
* Futa Toro
Futa Toro (Wolof language, Wolof and , , ; ), often simply the Futa, is a semidesert region around the middle run of the Senegal River. This region, along the border of Senegal and Mauritania, is historically significant as the center of several F ...
References
Sources
*
* João de Barros
João de Barros (; 1496 – 20 October 1570), nicknamed the "Portuguese Livy", is one of the first great Portuguese historians, most famous for his (''Decades of Asia''), a history of the Portuguese in India, Asia, and southeast Africa.
Early y ...
(1552–59) ''Décadas da Ásia: Dos feitos, que os Portuguezes fizeram no descubrimento, e conquista, dos mares, e terras do Oriente.''
Vol. 1 (Dec I, Lib.1-5)
* Beazley, C.R. (1899) "Introduction" to vol. 2 of C.R. Beazley and E. Prestage, editors, Zurara's ''The Chronicle of the Discovery and Conquest of Guinea''. London: Haklyut
*
* Alvise Cadamosto
Alvise Cadamosto (surname cf. ''Ca' da Mosto, da Cadamosto, da Ca' da Mosto''; also known in Portuguese as ''Luís Cadamosto''; mononymously ''Cadamosto'') (; ) (c. 1432 – 16 July 1483) was a Venetian explorer and slave trader, who was hired by ...
(1460s) "Il Libro di Messer Alvise Ca da Mosto Gentilhuomo Venetiano" & "Navigatione del Capitano Pietro di Sintra Portoghese scritta per il medesimo M. Alvise da Ca da Mosto", as printed in Venice (1550), by Giovanni Battista Ramusio
Giovanni Battista Ramusio (; July 20, 1485 – July 10, 1557) was an Italian geographer and travel writer.
Born in Treviso, Italy, at that time in the Republic of Venice, Ramusio was the son of Paolo Ramusio, a magistrate of the Venetian ...
, ed., ''Primo volume delle navigationi et viaggi nel qua si contine la descrittione dell'Africa, et del paese del Prete Ianni, on varii viaggi, dal mar Rosso a Calicut,& infin all'isole Molucche, dove nascono le Spetierie et la navigatione attorno il mondo.''
online
(English translation: "Original Journals of the Voyages of Cada Mosto and Piedro de Cintra to the Coast of Africa, the former in the years 1455 and 1456, and the latter soon afterwards", in R. Kerr, 1811, ''A General History of Voyages and Travels to the end of the 18th century'', vol. 2, Edinburgh: Blackwood.
online
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* Delafosse, M. (1912) ''Haut-Sénégal-Niger''. 3 vols, Paris: Emil Larose.
* Hrbek, I. (1992) ''Africa from the Seventh to the Eleventh century''. University of California Press.
* Levtzion, N. (1973) ''Ancient Ghana and Mali'' London: Methuen
* Levtzion, N. and J.F.P. Hopkins, editors, (2000) ''Corpus of early Arabic sources for West African history'', Princeton, NJ: Markus Wiener.
* Leo Africanus
Johannes Leo Africanus (born al-Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad al-Wazzān al-Zayyātī al-Fasī, ; – ) was an Andalusi diplomat and author who is best known for his 1526 book '' Cosmographia et geographia de Affrica'', later publish ...
(1526) ''Descrittione dell' Africa, & delle cose notabili che lui sono, per Giovan Lioni Africano'' "Descrittione dell’Africa", as printed in Venice (1550), by Giovanni Battista Ramusio
Giovanni Battista Ramusio (; July 20, 1485 – July 10, 1557) was an Italian geographer and travel writer.
Born in Treviso, Italy, at that time in the Republic of Venice, Ramusio was the son of Paolo Ramusio, a magistrate of the Venetian ...
, ed., ''Primo volume delle navigationi et viaggi nel qua si contine la descrittione dell'Africa, et del paese del Prete Ianni, on varii viaggi, dal mar Rosso a Calicut,& infin all'isole Molucche, dove nascono le Spetierie et la navigatione attorno il mondo.''. English trans. 1896, as ''The History and Description of Africa, and of the notable things therein contained''. London: Haklyut
vol. 1
*
* Luis de Marmol Carvajal (1573) ''Primera Parte de la Descripción General de Áffrica, con todos los successos de guerras que a auido entre los infieles, ye el pueblo Christiano, y entre ellos mesmos, desde que Mahoma inueto su secta, hasta el año del señor 1571.'' Granada: Rabut.
*
*
*
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* A Phérotée de La Croix (1688) ''Relation universelle de l'Afrique, ancienne et moderne'' Alyon: Amaulry
* Pliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/24 79), known in English as Pliny the Elder ( ), was a Roman Empire, Roman author, Natural history, naturalist, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the Roman emperor, emperor Vesp ...
(c. 30 AD) ''Naturalis Historiae''. John Bostock and Henry Thomas Riley">John_Bostock_(physician).html" ;"title="855 edition, John Bostock (physician)">John Bostock and Henry Thomas Riley transl. ''The Natural History of Pliny''. London: H.G. Bohn
vol 1.
(Bks I - V)
*
* Livio Sanuto (1588) ''Geografia di M. Livio Sanvto distinta in XII libri. Ne' quali, oltra l'esplicatione di molti luoghi di Tolomeo e della Bussola, e dell' Aguglia; si dichiarano le Provincie, Popoli, Regni, Città; Porti, Monti, Fiumi, Laghi, e Costumi dell' Africa. Con XII tavole di essa Africa in dissegno di rame. Aggiuntivi de piu tre Indici da M. Giovan Carlo Saraceni'', Venice: Damiano Zenaro.
*
* Gomes Eanes de Zurara (1453) ''Crónica dos feitos notáveis que se passaram na Conquista da Guiné por mandado do Infante D. Henrique'' or ''Chronica do descobrimento e conquista da Guiné''. [Trans. 1896-99 by C.R. Beazley and E. Prestage, ''The Chronicle of the Discovery and Conquest of Guinea'', London: Haklyut
v.1
v.2
*, Quote: "Serer oral tradition recounts the group's origins in the Senegal River valley, where it was part of, or closely related to, the same group as the ancestors of today's Tukulor."
*Galvan, Dennis Charles, ''The State Must Be Our Master of Fire: How Peasants Craft Culturally Sustainable Development in Senegal,'' Berkeley: University of California Press, 2004, p. 5
*Berg, Elizabeth; Wan, Ruth; and Lau, Ruth (2009). ''Senegal''. Marshall Cavendish. , p. 63
*Page, Willie F., ''Encyclopedia of African history and culture: African kingdoms (500 to 1500)'', pp. 209, 676. Vol.2, Facts on File (2001),
*Streissguth, Thomas, "Senegal in Pictures, Visual Geography", Second Series, p. 23, Twenty-First Century Books (2009),
*Oliver, Roland Anthony; & Fage, J. D.; "Journal of African history", Volume 10, p. 367. Cambridge University Press (1969)
*Mwakikagile, Godfrey, "Ethnic Diversity and Integration in The Gambia: The Land, The People and The Culture," (2010), p. 11,
Further reading
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External links
The Hydrology of Senegal
(PowerPoint presentation)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Senegal River
Senegal River,
Rivers of Senegal
Rivers of Mauritania
International rivers of Africa
Mauritania–Senegal border
Rivers of Mali
Lowest points of countries
Serer history