Bundu, Senegal
Bondu ( different spelling Bundu, Bondoo or Bondou ) was a historical kingdom in the east of present-day West African country of Senegal.
Geography
The little kingdom was bounded by the river Falémé from eastern Bambouk. The southern boundary was the headwaters of the Gambia River. The headwaters of the Sandougou Bolong excluded from the kingdom to the west of the kingdom Wuli.
The region between 13 ° and 15 ° north latitude and 12 ° and 13 ° east longitude is now as then, from a plateau with hills in the southern and central part. The hills are not very fertile and covered with stunted trees. In contrast, the lower land is fertile and covered with baobab trees, tamarind trees and various fruit trees. The region is crossed by numerous rivers that flow very quickly but in the dry season for the most part dry in the rainy season. In the realm of cotton, tobacco and indigo were grown, also iron ore and gold were found.
History
End of the 19th century there was a population of approximately 30,000 inhabitants, predominantly of the ethnicity of the Fulani, also from the Mandinka, Wolof and Soninke. The inhabitants built millet, rice, indigo, cotton on, cotton fabrics produced and carried on a very considerable trade, as Bondu was an important crossing point from the interior of West Africa to the coast. The kingdom, which was founded by Malik Sy in the late 17th century, was a monarchical elective monarchy under a Almamy, ruled theocratic.
According to reports of Major W. Gray, a British officer of the Royal African Company, which was in Bondu 1818 Bulibani was (or Bulebane ) surrounded with around 3000 inhabitants, of a strong Lehmwall, the capital of the empire. End of the 19th century, the population of data is provided with 2000 inhabitants. Although the clergy of the Fulani, who ruled the Empire, the spread of Islam were required, they were to other faiths for the sake of internal stability. The foreign policy is determined primarily by the agricultural trade, enforce Islam military was not Bondus policy.
In August 1845 the King of Bondu signed a contract that recognizes the French dominion over his land. The contract was initially ignored by the people, but in 1858 came Bondu definitely under French control. 1905 Bondu was annexed by France and incorporated as a protectorate in the French colony of Senegal.
European discovery
The African explorer Daniel Houghton was probably the first European who traveled the country in 1790. However, he died in Ludamar further inland, so that it has no records exist. It was not until 1795 Mungo Park traversed the kingdom, some descriptions Bondus to the European public became public in his travelogue Travels in the Interior of Africa. According to his travelogue that time the place Fatteconda the seat of the ruler.