Galleries

The history and culture of Futa Toro, Senegal and Mauritania

Introduction

Ceerno Daahiru Aan
The Toorobbe

Ceerno Daahiru Aan gave this interview at his home in the village of Ngijilon on 11 April 1968. Aan comes from the Ceerno Tillere lineage, an important family and title which go back to the 18th century and the founding of the toorobbe as a corporate group. He speaks from the perspective of his village, his family tradition and the ruling class of the Almamate. Ngijilon was a large village located on the south bank of eastern Fuuta at a critical ford across the river. Before the revolution it contained some of the Deeniyanke soldiers; after the revolution it served as one of the most important centers of the eastern region.

Ceerno Daahiru is one of the younger informants in this collection, but at the time of the interview he had already secured a solid Islamic education, traveled widely through the middle valley, and was very knowledgeable about the realities of colonial and independent Senegal. His education in Arabic and Islam is reflected in his choice of vocabulary and pronunciation. He uses more Arabic words, and he uses them in forms closer to their Arabic roots, than most of the informants in this collection. While he has never studied French, French vocabulary has obviously crept into his Pulaar.

Aan's account is interesting for its representation of widely held views of the emergence of the toorobbe. He uses stereotypes for the spread of Islam. He polarizes the old ruling class, with their sebbe warriors and courtiers, and the toorobbe. The first are ignorant "pagans," the second are literate, shrewd and humanitarian Muslims. His description of the Islamic "hearth" of education (see section 10) resembles the images evoked by Cheikh Hamidou Kane in the historical novel, Ambiguous Adventure. Ceerno Daahiru provides insight into the nature and quality of instruction of the early Muslims and their sense of solidarity with one another.