Kingdom of Sine

The Kingdom of Sine (or Siin in Serer, variations: Sin or Siine) was a post-classical Serer kingdom along the north bank of the Saloum River delta in modern Senegal. The inhabitants are called Siin-Siin or Sine-Sine (a Serer plural form or Serer-demonym, e.g. Bawol-Bawol and Saloum-Saloum / Saluum-Saluum, inhabitants of Baol and Saloum respectively).

History
The history of Sine, which has been inhabited by the Serer people for centuries, can be divided into three main Serer historic periods (see below). For the Timeline of Serer history and Serer ancient history, see those articles.
 * The Lamanic Era
 * The Wagadou Era
 * The Guelowar Era

At the time of the Serer lamans, Sine was not called Sine. Instead, the Sine was divided into seven lamanic states ruled by lamans, namely: Njafaj; Ña-UI; Joral; Ngohe-Pofin; Hiréna (west of Sine at the Petite Côte); and Singandum — which covers the two banks of the Sine valley. Charles Becker and Victor Martin's paper on the settlement of Sine prior to the Guelowar period (c. 1350 – 3 August 1969, and from 8 February 2019 – present, following the coronation of the current King of Sine Niokhobaye Fatou Diène Diouf  ), posits that, Sine had about sixty villages and all these villages were governed by the lamans. Niokhobaye Diouf notes that, just before the Guelowar's arrival in Sine, there were three notable rulers using the Serer title laman (Seereer proper: laamaan, abbreviated to the Serer vocable lam — meaning to inherit ). They were: These leaders had successors after Maissa Wali (the first Guelowar king) ascended the throne. However, their power and influence waned.
 * Lam Sango, sometimes called Diarno Diouala (or Jarno Jouala), residing in Palmarin
 * Lam Diémé Fadial (or Lamaan Jame Faajaal), residing in Fadial (Faajaal in Serer)
 * Lam Wal Satim Ndok, residing in Ndok (east of current Sine)

The Wagadous were a 9th century maternal dynasty of Soninke origin, and offshoots of the Ghana Empire that ruled much of Senegal including Takrur by marrying into Serer lamanic families, notably the Joof,  Ngom,  and later the Njie family, especially in Baol,   amongst other notable families and long before the Faal dynasty of Cayor and Baol in the 16th century—who succeeded the Joof, Ngom and Njie patriclans. The patriarch of the Faal paternal dynasty of Cayor and Baol, Damel–Teigne Amari Ngoneh Sobel Faal was the maternal grandson of Lingeer Sobel Joof (mother of Lingeer Ngoneh Sobel Njie, Amari's mother). The Princess Sobel Joof originated from the Joof royal family of Lambaye (the precolonial capital of Baol), and was of Wagadou matrilineage, and so was her grandson Amari. She was a descendant of Maad Ndaah Njemeh Joof via the Yungari Ndaah Joof branch. The Faal family simply continued the old dynasty through marriage. The collapse of the Lamanic Era, and to a greater extent the Wagadou Era, coincided with the arrival of the Guelowars in the 14th century (c. 1335). The Wagadous continued to rule in Baol as the reigning maternal dynasty in that country, although they did receive competition from other emerging matriclans vying for power, and by the time the Damel-Teigne Lat Sukabe Ngoneh Jaye Faal came on the throne in the 18th century, they completely lost power. Lat Sukabe enforced his own matriclan (Geej). In the Sine (and later in Saloum), their demise was a result of the Guelowar's arrival where Serer lamanic families formed marriage alliance with the Guelowars.

The Wagadous are still found in Serer country, though they have lost their power and dominance post-Guelowar. They now tend to form alliances with the matriclans Jafun, as well as the Cegandum and Kagaw, two of the oldest Serer matriclans. The Cengandum (or Jegandoum) are linked to the Serer Mbosseh (or Mboosé) tradition and pangool. The Mbosseh is one of the Serer holy festivals. The Serer community Kaolack, what was historically part of the Kingdom of Saloum, have their own way of celebrating the Mbosseh, and believed it to be the mythical protector of their town. The Wagadous have close ties to the Cengandum and Kagaw. A type of serpent called cocom in Serer, is one of the totems of the Cengandum. The totem of the Wagadous is the mbose tree (gardenia ternifolia) whose genesis is found in the Serer creation narrative and Ndut classical teachings. For more on that, see Serer maternal clans and Serer creation myth.

The lamanic families did maintain their lands, wealth and titles, though they did lose power with the establishment of a new order. There is a difference between lamans pre-Guelowar and lamans post Guelowar. The former had real powers and wealth, were heads of their states, and were the guardians custodians of Serer spirituality (A ƭat Roog). The latter kept their wealth and titles but were merely provincial chiefs. However, due to their connection to Serer religion, they did maintain some power, and could dethrone a reigning monarch if threatened. Some of the notable Serer lamanic families included the Sarr family, the Joof family, the Ngom family, etc. These lamanic families formed a great council (the Great Council of Lamans  ) to settle disputes. It was similar to a higher court where the lamans sat to hear or disputes brought in front of them so they could pass judgement. It was the last resort if a laman from another part of Serer country could not decide on a case brought before him or the complainant was not satisfied with the judgment and needed their dispute to be decided by the Great Council of Lamans. This Council would elect one of their own as head of the Council. During the Guelowars' arrival in Sine, it was Lamaan Jame Ngom of Faajaal, a member of the Ngom family who was the figure head. He was the one who crowned Maysa Wali, the first Guelowar to rule in Serer country, and spoke the proclamation words or crowning speech to him so he could repeat it during his coronation ceremony. Lamaan Jame Ngom was renowned for organising Serer wrestling tournaments in his country (Faajaal). It was through those tournaments that the patriarch of the Faye family, the "great Serer wrestler" Boukar Djillakh Faye demonstrated his skills and was given the hand of a princess in marriage.

It was during the Guelowar Era when Sine was named "Sine", named after Sine-o-Méo Manneh (Serer proper: Siin o Meo Maane), sister of Maysa Wali Manneh (the one who named it after his sister ).

Serer of Takrur Migration
The Serer ethnic group are very diverse, and include the Serer Seex (pronounced Seh or Seeh); subgroups of the Seex with their various dialects of Serer proper; and the Cangin speaking Serers; who as a group in precolonial times, saw the entire Senegambia region as their home, as noted by the Tanzanian historian and author Godfrey Mwakikagile, who writes:
 * ...the Serer traversed vast expanses of territory during pre-colonial times and saw the entire region [the Senegambia region] as their home, as their history of migration in the area clearly shows.

In the 11th century, the native Serers of ancient Takrur (successor of the Ghana Empire) were persecuted by the Muslims for refusing to abandon Serer religion in favour of Islam. In 1030, the usurper War Jabi invited the Muslim Almoravid Abdullah ibn Yasin to Takrur and converted to Islam. By 1035, he forced the natives of Takrur to convert to Islam but the Serer natives refused to submit to Islam. The Serer lamans in particular, who were the guardians of Serer spirituality, leaders and the landowning class, put up a strong resistance against the allied Muslim forces (the Black African tribes who converted to Islam and their Arabo-Berber allies) partly to preserve their religion, but also to preserve their assets and power. They were defeated by the Muslims. The introduction of Islam in Takrur led to "the Serer exodus" from Takrur, later the region of Fouta. In the writings of early Arab sources such as Al Bakri–relating to Takrur, the terms lamlam, lemlem, or damdam became associated with "non-believers" of Islam in the region. According to historians and authors Ibrahima Thiaw (2013) and Abdoulaye Bara Diop (1968), these words may have been a corruption of the Serer title "Lamaan, which was the term used for the heads of lineages and communal territories", and suggests that the Serer lamans were probably at the forefront of resisting Islamization. Following their persecution, the Serers of Takrur who were Seex (or Seh) speaking people, a Serer language which the Fula language is most closely related to, headed south to join their Serer relatives in the south. The Serer exodus from Takrur only affected the Serers of Takrur, not the entire Serer group which is very diverse and spread throughout the region. Ancient Takrur was part of Serer country. Although Takrur (later the Fouta region) became Islamic, it losts its Serer identity following the Serer exodus. In summarizing the influence of Serer culture, history, religion and tradition on the Senegambia region in his paper "Vestiges historiques, trémoins matériels du passé clans les pays Sereer" (1993), historian and author Professor Charles Becker writes that:
 * Finally we should remember the important relic call Sereer in Fouta, but also in the former countries of the Ferlo, Jolof and Kajoor, which marked the migration of proto-Sereer, whose imprint on the Fouta was so significant and remains in the memory of the Halpulaareen [speakers of the Pulaar language such as Fula and Toucouleur people].

According to historian David Galvan, "The oral historical record, written accounts by early Arab and European explorers, and physical anthropological evidence suggest that the various Serer peoples migrated south from the Futa Tooro region (Senegal River valley) beginning around the eleventh century, when Islam first came across the Sahara." Over generations these people, possibly Pulaar speaking herders originally, migrated through Wolof areas and entered the Siin and Saluum river valleys. This lengthy period of Wolof-Serer contact has left us unsure of the origins of shared "terminology, institutions, political structures, and practices."

Founding of Sine and the Jolof Empire
The actual foundation of the Kingdom of Sine is unclear, but in the 13th or 14th century Mandinka migrants entered the area from the southeast. They were led by a matrilinial clan known as the Gelwar. Near Niakhar they encountered the Serer, who had already established a system of lamanic authorities, and joined to create a Gelwaar-led state with its capital at or near a Serer lamanic estate at Mbissel.

Father Henry Gravrand reports an oral tradition that one Maad a Sinig Maysa Wali Jaxateh Manneh fleeing with his family from Kaabu following a battle in 1335 which he calls the Battle of Troubang.

The Senegalese historians and authors Babacar Sedikh Diouf and Biram Ngom notes that, the Guelowar dynasty who originated from Kaabu, offshoots of the Ñaanco dynasty of Kaabu, had a form of dynastic struggle in Kaabu, culminating in the Guelowars' migration to Serer territory—seeking refuge in Sine. The Serer, who had suffered religious and ethnic persecution several centuries earlier (and long after that), resulting in the Serer exodus from the north (Takrur) in the 11th century, agreed to grant them asylum, an asylum sanctioned by the Council of Great Lamans (the Serer landowning class). Through marriage, the Serer–Guelowar alliance was born—where Serer men from the noble families of Sine and later Saloum, married Guelowar women and the offsprings of those unions ruled as kings, and the children of such unions and their descendants identifying themselves as Serer, spoke the Serer language, followed Serer religion and customs, and saw themselves as Serer. On the subject of Maysa Wali, the first Guelowar to rule in Serer country, Diouf writes:
 * "Maysa Waly was first appointed legal adviser to the Council of the Great Lamans after his famous judgment. Gradually, he strengthened his power and authority and ended up being recognized as king."

Charles Becker notes that Gravrand had not recognised that this is actually a description of the 1867 (or 1865) Battle of Kansala although he agrees that the migration of the Guelowar can probably be explained by a war or a conflict of succession. The Mandinka term "troubang" mean "genocide" ; "to wipe out"; or "to annihilate" a family, clan, or people. In essence, alluding to the defeat (whether through war or conflict) of the Guelowars by the reigning Ñaanco dynasty of Kaabu and/or were forced to leave—which historians pretty much agree on, culminating in the refuge status of the former. Serer oral history says that after Maysa Wali assimilated into Serer culture and served as legal advisor to the laman council of electors. He was chosen by the lamans and people to rule. He served as King of Sine from c. 1350-1370.

Almost a decade after his coronation, Maysa Wali elected the legendary Ndiadiane Ndiaye (Serer proper: Njaajaan Njaay) in c. 1360 as first Emperor of the Jolof Empire. He was the first king of modern Senegal to voluntarily gave his allegiance to Ndiadiane Ndiaye and asked others to do so, thereby making Sine a vassal of the Jolof Empire. It is for this reason that scholars agree that the Jolof Empire was not an empire founded by conquest, but through a voluntary confederacy of states. Serer oral tradition says that Sine never paid tribute to Ndiadiane Ndiaye nor any of his descendants, that the Jolof Empire never subjugated the kingdom, and Ndiadiane Ndiaye himself (a Serer ) received his name from the mouth of Maysa Waly. The historian Sylviane Diouf states that "Each vassal kingdom—Walo, Takrur, Kayor, Baol, Sine, Salum, Wuli, and Niani—recognized the hegemony of Jolof and paid tribute." The Serer Kingdoms of Sine and Saloum were the first to leave the Jolof Empire, at least twenty-nine years before the famous Battle of Danki in 1549, the battle which saw the other kingdoms gained their independence from Jolof. The Serer Kingdoms of Sine and Saloum also survived up to 1969 whilst the other Kingdoms such as Waalo, Jolof, Cayor, Baol, etc., fell in the 19th century. Futa Toro collapsed following the Futa Revolution of 1776 caused by Islamist who ousted their Animist Denianke dynasty. Although Futa tried to re-establish itself post 1776 under the banner of Islamism and Islamic jihads, it collapsed again when it was incorporated into the French colonial empire in the second half of the 19th century.

Middle Ages
Mbegane Ndour was the king of Sine around the turn of the 16th century (approx. 1495-1514 ). Lilyan Kesteloot and Anja Veirman advanced the claim that, Mbegane defeated the Takruri marabout Moussa Eli Bana Sall, who at that time reigned over Saloum, by poisoning him with a viper. The authors then went on to claim that, Mbegane Ndour was born of the matrilineal royal clan, but out of wedlock and with a relatively unimportant father. His marriage, they claim, with a princess and priestess of Baol propped up his legitimacy as well as helping him conquer Saloum.

The precolonial kingdoms of modern Senegal, whether they are Serer Kingdoms, Wolof, Fula, Mandinka, Jola, Toucouleur, etc., do not have a history of producing kings or queens born out of wedlock. The reverse is true amongst many of Europe's royal families, which have produced many "royal bastards" throughout European dynastic history.

Portuguese explorers in the 15th century referred to Sine as the kingdom of Barbaçim, a corruption of 'Bur-ba-Sine' (Wolof for 'King of Sine'), and its people as Barbacins (a term frequently extended by early writers to Serer people generally, while others insisted that Serreos and Barbacins were completely distinct peoples.) Old European maps frequently denote the Saloum River as the "River of Barbacins/Barbecins". Alvise Cadamosto, a 15th-century Venetian navigator, slave trader, and chronicler, mistakenly distinguished between the "Sereri" (Serer people) and the "Barbacini", which seems to indicate that he was referring to two different people when in fact, the Kingdom of Sine was a Serer Kingdom where the "King of Sine" ("Barbacini") i.e., Maad a Sinig took residence. Alvise Cadamosto never set foot in Serer country. Everything he wrote about the Serer actually came from his Wolof interpreters.

19th Century and Colonialism
Like most of their subjects in the 19th century, the Serer Kings of Sine and Saloum continued to follow Serer religion. On 18 July 1867, the prolific 19th century Sengalese Muslim cleric, jihadist, and slave trader  Maba Diakhou Bâ was defeated at The Battle of Fandane-Thiouthioune fighting against the King of Sine Maad a Sinig Kumba Ndoffene fa Maak Joof—when he tried to launch jihad in Sine, but failed. Maba and his allied forces namely Jolof and Cayor suffered a severe defeat, and he was killed in that battle.

The rulers of Sine retained their title (Maad a Sinig) throughout the colonial period and did not lose official recognition until 1969 after the death of Maad a Sinig Mahecor Joof (the last absolute monarch of Sine, reigned: 1924 – 1969).

Post Colonialism
In 2019, the Serer people of Sine decided to reinstate their monarchy, and Maad a Sinig Niokhobaye Fatou Diène Diouf (commonly known as Maa Sinig Niokhobaye Diouf Fat Diène or Niokhobaye Fat Diéne Diouf) was crowned King of Sine (Maad a Sinig) on 8 February 2019 at Diakhao, the precolonial capital of Sine. He belongs the Royal House of Semou Njekeh Joof via the branch of Maad a Sinig Semou Maak Joof, and a member of the Guelowar matrilineage through his mother Lingeer Fatou Diène. On 8 February 2020, fifty-one years after the death of the former King, Mahecor Joof, Niokhobaye Diouf celebrated his first anniversary on the throne. Since Sine is now part of independent Senegal, Niokhobaye Diouf is a constitutional monarch with no official powers, compared to his predecessors. His role is simply ceremonial and diplomatic. He does however, have great influence in the and has been able utilise his influence on the President of Senegal (notably Macky Sall), and the old pleasant cousinship between the Serer and Jola people by liaising with the King of Oussouye (Maan Sibiloumbaye Diédhiou) to help effect economic and cultural development, as well as bring about peace in Casamance, following decades long of the Casamance conflict—which has plagued the Gambia, Senegal, and Guinea-Bissau since 1982. Since 2023, he has been vocal in calling for a peaceful transition of political power in preparation for Senegal's 2024 Presidential Elections.

The Serer Kingdom of Saloum also reinstated their monarchy in 2017 culminating in the contentious coronation of King of Saloum Thierno Coumba Daga Ndao on 21 May 2017 at Kahone (the precolonial capital of Saloum). He is the maternal uncle of the current King of Sine Niokhobaye Fatou Diène Diouf.

Economy
The economic base of Sine was agriculture and fishing. Millet and other crops were grown. Sine was very reluctant to grow groundnut for the French market, in spite of French colonial directives. It was less dependent on groundnut than other states. Deeply rooted in Serer conservatism and Serer religion, for several decades during the 19th century, the Serer farmers refused to grow it or when they did, they ensured that their farming cycle was not only limited to groundnut production. Their religious philosophy of preserving the ecosystem affected groundnut production in Sine. Even after mass production was later adopted, succession struggles in the late 19th century between the royal houses hampered production. However, the Kingdom of Sine was less susceptible to hunger and indebtedness, a legacy which continued right up to the last absolute monarch of Sine – Maad a Sinig Mahecor Joof. It was very common for people from other states to migrate to the Serer kingdoms of Sine and Saloum in search of a better life. The inhabitants of Sine (the "Sine-Sine") rarely migrated.

Social organisation
Some of the king's government (or the political structure of Sine) include: the Lamanes (provincial chiefs and title holders, not to be confused with the ancient Serer Lamanes); the heir apparents such as the Buumi, Thilas and Loul (in that order); the Great Farba Kaba (chief of the army); the Farba Binda (minister of finance, the police and the royal palace) and the Great Jaraff (the king's advisor and head of the noble council of electors responsible for electing the kings from the royal family).

Political structure of Sine
The following list gives a condensed version of the political structure of Sine:

Maad a Sinig (king of Sine)
 * Heir apparent
 * Buumi
 * Thilas
 * Loul
 * Central hierarchy
 * Great Jaraaf (head of the noble council responsible for electing kings; he is the equivalent of prime minister)
 * Great Farba Kaba (chief commander of the army)
 * Farba mbinda (minister of finance)
 * Lingeer (queen regnant/queen mother, head of the female court)—equivalent of minister for women, also judge cases relating to women))
 * Royal entourage
 * Paar no Maad (the chief griot of the king, who was very powerful and influential, usually very rich/financially well off due to their profession, knowledge, and master of speech), in Wolof kingdoms, they are referred to as buur geweel))
 * Family
 * Territorial command (the title holders)
 * Lamane (holders of noble title and land)—they are the descendants of the ancient Serer lamaans (the lamanic families))