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Concept
Takrur
Summary
Takrur, Tekrur or Tekrour ( 800 – c. 1285) was a state based in the Senegal River valley in West Africa which was at its height in the 10th and 11th centuries, roughly parallel to the Ghana Empire, but lasted in some form into the 18th century.
There are a number of conflicting theories about the origin of the Kingdom of Takrur. It was first mentioned in Arab sources only in the 10th century, but was already well established by that time. The formation of the state may have taken place as an influx of Fulani from the east settled in the Senegal valley. John Donnelly Fage suggests that Takrur was formed through the interaction of Berbers from the Sahara and "Negro agricultural peoples" who were "essentially Serer". The outsiders may, however, have been Soninke rather than Berber, and the native population may have already spoken Fula.
The founding dynasty was called Dya'ogo. They were later overthown by the Manna, a family from the Soninke Kingdom of Diarra to the east.
Located in the Senegal valley, along the border of present-day Senegal and Mauritania, it was a trading centre, where gold from the Bambuk region, salt from the Awlil, and Sahel grain were exchanged for wool, copper, beads, and jewely. It was rival of the Ghana Empire, and the two states clashed from occasionally with the Soninké, usually winning. Despite these clashes, Takrur prospered throughout the 9th and 10th centuries.
The domestication of the cotton tree and the manufacture of cotton cloth were first reported in Takrur, and the kingdom's cloth was among its most renowned exports.
The kings of Takrur eventually adopted Islam. Sometime in the 1030s during the reign of king War Jabi, the first to officially pronounce orthodoxy in the Sahel, the court converted to Islam, establishing the faith in the region for centuries to come. In 1035 War Jabi introduced Sharia law.
This adoption of Islam greatly benefited the state economically and promoted closer political ties that would be important during conflicts with the traditionalist state of Ghana and its northern neighbours.
Official source
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