Update french-expansion-in-the-senegal-river-valley.mdx

Author: rshereikis

content/essays/french-expansion-in-the-senegal-river-valley.mdx

@@ -17,27 +17,27 @@ [email protected]
 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL, USA  
 [email protected]  
 
-The author of this letter[^1], Louis L. C. Faidherbe (d. 1889), was a key figure in the history of French colonial conquest in West Africa.[^2] The letter is addressed to Sīdiyyā b. al-Mukhtār b. al-Hayba (d. 1868), also known as Shaykh Sīdiyyā, an influential scholar of the Brākna region of contemporary Mauritania and it was likely written between 1857 and 1858. Stamped with the imperial seal of the French Navy, Faidherbe's letter documents his investment in expanding French interests into the Senegal River valley during the 1850s. It also bears witness to Faidherbe's method, which involved threats and promises. It reminds the recipient of the terrible fate reserved for the enemies of France and, conversely, the favors granted to her friends.
+The author of this letter[^1], Louis L. C. Faidherbe (d. 1889), was a key figure in the history of French colonial conquest in West Africa.[^2] The letter is addressed to Sīdiyyā b. al-Mukhtār b. al-Hayba (d. 1868), also known as Shaykh Sīdiyyā, an influential scholar of the Brākna region of contemporary Mauritania, and it was likely written between 1857 and 1858. Stamped with the imperial seal of the French Navy, Faidherbe's letter documents his investment in expanding French interests into the Senegal River valley during the 1850s. It also bears witness to Faidherbe's method, which involved threats and promises. It reminds the recipient of the terrible fate reserved for the enemies of France and, conversely, the favors granted to her friends.
 
 By the time this letter was penned in the mid-nineteenth century, French sailors and traders, along with Portuguese, Dutch, and English, had been present on Senegambian coasts for two centuries, ever since the foundation of the commercial settlement of Saint-Louis in 1637. Locally known as "Ndar," the island of Saint-Louis occupied a strategic location where the Senegal River entered the Atlantic Ocean.[^3] France eventually edged out other European powers and became the major imperial actor in the region; prior to the nineteenth century, however, French agents did not attempt to expand into the interior. French traders remained satisfied with their role as unrivalled controllers of the trade over the river valley, especially after the conquest of Gorée in 1677 and the foundation of the fort of Saint-Joseph near Bakel in the Upper Senegal region in 1699.
 
 The early 1800s, however, saw substantial transformations caused by the abolition of the slave trade and the emergence of a new commercial order referred to as "legitimate commerce."[^4] Within this context, gum Arabic became central to French economic interests due to its use in European textile and pharmaceutical industries.[^5] Controlling this important commodity--the trade in which was handled by desert and riverine middlemen--required a stronger French presence in the region.[^6] This is when Faidherbe came onto the scene.
 
-Fresh from his experience in French wars of conquest in Algeria in the 1840s, Faidherbe served as Governor of Senegal two times: from 1854 to 1861 and again from 1863 to 1865. During his two long tenures, Faidherbe set in motion the first massive campaign to push French territorial control into the Senegal River valley and eastward towards the Middle Niger. His first task was to establish firm French control over the lower Senegal River valley, which led to the occupation of the Wolof kingdom of Walo and battles with the Trārza emirate to reduce the influence of these two powers over the region. He also battled with al-Ḥājj 'Umar Tāl (d. 1864), the influential Fulani Muslim scholar and Sufi *shaykh* (religious leader), who was building an expanding community centered in Dinguiraye, located between the eastern edge of Futa Jallon and the basin of the Niger River.[^7]
+Fresh from his experience in French wars of conquest in Algeria in the 1840s, Faidherbe served as Governor of Senegal two times: from 1854 to 1861 and again from 1863 to 1865. During his two long tenures, Faidherbe set in motion the first massive campaign to push French territorial control into the Senegal River valley and eastward towards the Middle Niger. His first task was to establish firm French control over the lower Senegal River valley, which led to the occupation of the Wolof kingdom of Walo and battles with the Trārza emirate to reduce the influence of these two powers over the region. He also battled with al-Ḥājj ʿUmar Tāl (d. 1864), the influential Fulani Muslim scholar and Sufi *shaykh* (religious leader), who was building an expanding community centered in Dinguiraye, located between the eastern edge of Futa Jallon and the basin of the Niger River.[^7]
 
-By the end of Faidherbe's tenures, France's possessions in West Africa had "been transformed from a collection of scattered and precarious trading posts into a powerful and vigorous colony dominating the lower reaches of the river."[^8] Such regional "preponderance"[^9]--to use David Robinson's definition, emphasizing that in this phase formal French colonial institutions were not yet in place--was achieved through a diverse strategy. Faidherbe used both military means (for example, expeditions and campaigns against certain Saharan chiefs) and diplomatic methods (treaties with local authorities to ensure peace and free circulation of goods). In this way, Faidherbe's policies oscillated between tensions with the various polities in the region (Trārza, Brākna, Adrār, and the Fulani led by al-Ḥājj 'Umar Tāl) and attempts at reconciliation with them.
+By the end of Faidherbe's tenures, France's possessions in West Africa had "been transformed from a collection of scattered and precarious trading posts into a powerful and vigorous colony dominating the lower reaches of the river."[^8] Such regional "preponderance"[^9]--to use David Robinson's definition, emphasizing that in this phase formal French colonial institutions were not yet in place--was achieved through a diverse strategy. Faidherbe used both military means (for example, expeditions and campaigns against certain Saharan chiefs) and diplomatic methods (treaties with local authorities to ensure peace and free circulation of goods). In this way, Faidherbe's policies oscillated between tensions with the various polities in the region (Trārza, Brākna, Adrār, and the Fulani led by al-Ḥājj ʿUmar Tāl) and attempts at reconciliation with them.
 
 In this letter, Faidherbe addresses Shaykh Sīdiyyā, referring to him as Sīdiyyā b. al-Mukhtār.[^10] Shaykh Sīdiyyā belonged to the Awlād Abyayrī tribe, a clerical lineage (*Zawāyā*) with a base in Boutilimit. After having returned to his homeland in the 1820s after a lengthy period of studies with the renowned Kunta scholars of Timbuktu, he established himself as one of the most influential personalities of the region despite his distance from political power, which was firmly in the hands of warrior lineages (*Ḥassānī*). He consolidated his participation in the production and trade of salt, slaves, and gum Arabic. In addition, Shaykh Sīdiyyā became the head of the Sufi brotherhood known as the Qādiriyya in the Trārza region[^11] and one of the most sought-after jurists of the desert who issued judicial opinions (*fatāwā*). As a result of his knowledge and spiritual authority, he ultimately became a respected mediator of conflict and advisor to rulers.
 
 A figure like Shaykh Sīdiyyā was potentially thus crucial for French military diplomacy, which sought to identify and strengthen relationships with strategically important personalities. As such, this letter reveals the importance of African intermediaries who acted as brokers between the expanding French military (and, later, the colonial administration) and local communities, although such intermediaries often disappear from the historical records and even their names are hard to find.[^12]
 
-The wording of Faidherbe's letter reflects Shaykh Sīdiyyā's strategic importance to the French in this era. For instance, Faidherbe refers to him with "respect and reverence" as "our *shaykh*," the "*shaykh* of *shaykh*s," and ‟the pious and pure *shaykh.*" He reminds him of and informs him about several military and diplomatic events (the defeat of al-Ḥājj 'Umar Tāl, the alliance with the Idawaʿīsh, the ambiguous relations with the Brākna, and the solid relationship with Sīdi A'li) in order to place him at the center of events and request that he play an important role and "do everything he can to clean up the situation." However, it is not clear whether Shaykh Sīdiyyā truly accepted to play the role of intermediary with the French. His correspondence with Faidherbe suggests otherwise. In response to this letter from Faidherbe, for example, Shaykh Sīdiyyā penned a fiery missive, castigating Faidherbe for ignoring how little power the clerical lineages actually had over the warrior chiefs.[^13]
+The wording of Faidherbe's letter reflects Shaykh Sīdiyyā's strategic importance to the French in this era. For instance, Faidherbe refers to him with "respect and reverence" as "our *shaykh*," the "*shaykh* of *shaykh*s," and ‟the pious and pure *shaykh.*" He reminds him of and informs him about several military and diplomatic events (the defeat of al-Ḥājj ʿUmar Tāl, the alliance with the Idawaʿīsh, the ambiguous relations with the Brākna, and the solid relationship with Sīdi Aʿli) in order to place him at the center of events and request that he play an important role and "do everything he can to clean up the situation." However, it is not clear whether Shaykh Sīdiyyā truly accepted to play the role of intermediary with the French. His correspondence with Faidherbe suggests otherwise. In response to this letter from Faidherbe, for example, Shaykh Sīdiyyā penned a fiery missive, castigating Faidherbe for ignoring how little power the clerical lineages actually had over the warrior chiefs.[^13]
 
 The letter presented here represents the early stage of French attempts and pressures to establish positive alliance and relationships with the Sīdiyyā family and provides a window into the complex and shifting alliances and tensions between polities and power brokers that the French did not hesitate to exploit during this period of encroachment into West Africa. Eventually, Shaykh Sīdiyyā's grandson, Sīdiyyā Bābā (d. 1924), became a key figure in the expansion of French colonialism in Mauritania and, with Xavier Coppolani (d. 1905), was one of the main actors in the so-called pacification of the Sahara; in so doing, he elevated the authority of his own lineage to an unprecedented level given how important the alliance with the French would become as they expanded their control over the entirety of the Mauritanian territory beginning between 1904 and 1909 and continuing for the next six decades.[^14] This letter shows that a long process undertaken by the French to secure support from clerical groups eager to curb the power of their rival warrior counterparts ultimately paid off.
 
 [^1]: *Letter to Shaykh Sīdiyyā b. al-Mukhtār from Louis Faidherbe* (title of the work assigned by the *Maktaba* project) MS 102/8/1669, Charles C. Stewart Papers, University of Illinois Archives.
 
-[^2]: Leland C. Barrows, "General Faidherbe, the Maurel and Prom Company and French Expansion in Senegal" (PhD dissertation, University of California, Los Angeles, 1974).
+[^2]: Leland C. Barrows, "General Faidherbe, the Maurel and Prom Company and French Expansion in Senegal" (PhD diss., University of California, Los Angeles, 1974).
 
 [^3]: On the pre-colonial history of Senegambia and early French conquests in the region, see Boubacar Barry, *Senegambia and the Atlantic Slave Trade* (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998).