Toucoulaure, Grand Marabout du Foula
"Tukulor, Chief Marabout of the Fula" (caption translation). The Tukulor people (Toucouleur, Haalpulaar, among other variations) are a West African ethnic group native from the Futa Tooro highlands of the Senegambia region. There are smaller communities in the Western Savanna region. According to Boilat, this chief marabout "is shown seated on a chair in front of his thatched roof house; the door is so low that one must bend over to enter. The man is wearing a cloth over his shoulder, while holding a key to his (storage) chest; his nafa (a small, flat leather purse or pouch used for carrying small goods, including money) is also hanging from his hand" (pp. 26-27). David Boilat (1814-1901) was one of the first Catholic priests in the Senegambia region. His father was French and his mother a Signare, which was a term from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries used to describe a mixed-race, French-African woman. Boilat spoke Wolof and Serer; and made his drawings from life. The 24 plates based on these drawings are explained in an accompanying text. Boilat left Senegal around the age of 13, was educated in France and he returned to Senegal in 1842 where he lived for ten years working as a teacher. He returned to France where he completed his Esquisses sénégalaises in 1853. He also published a Wolof dictionary in 1858.
Image Title
Toucoulaure, Grand Marabout du Foula
RegID
SI-OB-995
Date
1850s
Title
Toucoulaure, Grand Marabout du Foula
Source
David Boilat, Esquisses sénégalaises: physionomie du pays, peuplades, commerce, religions, passé et avenir, récits et légendes (Paris: P. Bertrand, 1853), plate 19.
Language
French
Item sets
Pre-Colonial Africa: Society, Polity, Culture
Spatial Coverage
Africa--Western Savanna
Reproduced In
David Boilat, Esquisses sénégalaises: physionomie du pays, peuplades, commerce, religions, passé et avenir, récits et légendes (Paris: P. Bertrand, 1853).
Researchers
Handler, Jerome; Tuite, Michael; Randall Ericson; Henry B. Lovejoy Graduate Research Assistants: Tiffany Beebe; Travis May
Last Updated
5-Apr-16
Identifier
Boilat11