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Namandirou (also spelled Nammandiru), also known as Njarmeew or Geremeo, was a kingdom in what is now eastern Senegal.

Etymology

The name 'Namandirou' means 'country of abundance'.^[1] It is the more ancient name, while 'Njarmeew' or 'Geremeo' was the name commonly used in the 15-16th centuries.^[2]

History

The early history of Namandirou is murky. Oumar Kane, citing oral histories, proposes that the Jaaogo dynasty of Takrur originated there, ruling until roughly 1000CE.^[3] After the conquest of Takrur by the Soninke Manna dynasty, Namandirou became their vassal, and was devastated by the Almoravids between 1072 and 1087.^[2] Rokhaya Fall argues that it was likely a part of the Kingdom of Wuli during a period when Wuli controlled the entire area between the Ferlo desert and the Faleme river.^[1]

In the 13th century, Namandirou reappeared under the name Njarmeew, ruled by the Serer Ndaw family who had originated north of the Senegal river.^[2]

In approximately 1460 (according to Portuguese writer Andre Donelha), Namandirou was invaded by the Jolof Buurba Cukli Njiklaan, although some scholars argue that another Buurba was responsible. After a long war, the Bëlëp (also Ber-lab, or king) of Namandirou was killed in a pitched battle, and the kingdom was conquered and given to a member of the royal family as a fief.^[4][2][5] Yoro Dyao records that, in the early 16th century, Koli Tengella defeated Ber-lab Wali Mberu Mbacke and drove the remaining population out, but he may be conflating Koli's attack on the eastern Jolof Empire with the destruction of the independent kingdom half a century earlier.^[6] This attack, among other things, helped weaken Jolof and set the stage for its disintegration at the Battle of Danki.^[7]

References

Sources

• Boulegue, Jean (2013). Les royaumes wolof dans l'espace sénégambien (XIIIe-XVIIIe siècle) (in French). Paris: Karthala Editions.
• Fall, Rokhaya (2013). "De la nécessité de réactualiser le recours à la « tradition orale » dans l'écriture du passé africain". In Fauvelle-Aymar, François-Xavier; Hirsch, Bertrand (eds.). Les ruses de l'historien. Essais d'Afrique et d'ailleurs en hommage à Jean Boulègue. Hommes et sociétés (in French). Paris: Karthala. pp. 15–29. doi:10.3917/kart.fauve.2013.01.0015. ISBN 978-2-8111-0939-4. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
• Kane, Oumar (2004). La première hégémonie peule. Le Fuuta Tooro de Koli Teηella à Almaami Abdul. Paris: Karthala. ISBN 978-2-84586-521-1. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
• Kane, Oumar (2021). "La Formation du Royaume Jaalalo du Kingi par Tenghella". In Fall, Mamadou; Fall, Rokhaya; Mane, Mamadou (eds.). Bipolarisation du Senegal du XVIe - XVIIe siecle (in French). Dakar: HGS Editions. pp. 42–92.