The Two Banks of the Senegal River: A Shared History and Social Ties That Defy Borders

Journalistic Report – Prepared by:
Mohamed Abdelrahman Ould Abdallah
Social and Human Rights Journalist

Nouakcott – Mauritania

Along the Senegal River, the two banks have never been merely a geographical divide between two opposing worlds. Rather, throughout history, they have formed a single space of social, cultural, and political interaction. Since the nineteenth century, the destinies of the Bidhan and the southern populations have been deeply intertwined through relationships shaped by resistance, refuge, and intermarriage—ties that colonial policies later sought to dismantle through administrative decisions and artificial borders.

▪︎ The Fall of Waalo and the Beginning of a Historical Shift

The year 1854 marked a pivotal moment in the region’s history with the fall of the Kingdom of Waalo following a French attack led by Colonel Louis Faidherbe. The king was killed, while the queen refused to surrender; her palace was burned with all those inside, and only a small number of members of the ruling family and their close associates survived the massacre. Among them was Princess Sambouli, who was forced to flee northward to the land of the Bidhan.

Oral traditions circulating in the Dar El Barka area indicate that a significant number of its current inhabitants trace their origins to the descendants and relatives of Princess Sambouli, who rebuilt their lives on the right bank of the river after losing their political homeland in Waalo.

▪︎ The Emirate of Trarza: Protection Beyond Politics

The reception of refugees was not a mere act of political courtesy, but a clear sovereign stance taken by Prince Mohamed Lahbib, the Emir of Trarza at the time. After Faidherbe issued a decree prohibiting Black populations from crossing to the right bank—considered “the land of the Bidhan”—the Emir responded with a counter-decree, pledging protection to anyone who crossed the river in search of safety.

This position was further reinforced by direct kinship ties: Princess Sambouli was the sister of Jembet, the wife of Emir Mohamed Lahbib, the mother of Emir A‘al, and the grandmother of Emir Bayda. Thus, political protection evolved into a strong social bond that firmly integrated the refugees into the tribal and social structure of the Bidhan.

▪︎ A Sociological Reading: The River as a Bridge, Not a Border

From a sociological perspective, this episode reveals the nature of society in the Senegal River basin before colonialism, where identity was not built on rigid racial categories or narrow regional belonging, but on networks of alliances, intermarriage, and political loyalty. The river functioned as a bridge for communication, not a barrier of separation.

The report also highlights how the colonial administration sought to redefine the social landscape by dividing populations into “Blacks” and “Bidhan,” and by restricting movement between the two banks, in an attempt to produce opposing and conflicting identities. The response of the Emirate of Trarza, however, reflects local resistance to this imposed classification and a steadfast commitment to the historical model of coexistence.

▪︎ From History to the Present: An Incomplete Memory

Despite the passage of more than a century and a half, the impact of these events remains present in the collective memory of the populations on both banks. In areas such as Dar El Barka, historical narrative coexists with social reality, as shared lineages and customs testify to the depth of interconnection among the population groups.

Yet this memory, according to social researchers, has remained marginalized in official national narratives, which often focus on the modern state and its borders while overlooking the shared social history that preceded them.

▪︎ Conclusion

The history of relations between the two banks of the Senegal River reveals that what unites the populations is far greater than what later divided them. Before colonial maps drew their borders, the region was a single space governed by values of solidarity, protection, and shared belonging. Re-reading this history today, through a journalistic and analytical lens, is not merely an act of recalling the past, but a gateway to understanding present-day tensions and the possibility of overcoming them through recognition of common social and cultural roots.