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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Mauritania
Index
Ancient mosque in Chinguetti
Courtesy Mary Pecaut
Before the nineteenth century, the European powers in West
Africa were interested only in coastal trading; they attempted no
important inland exploration and established no permanent
settlements (except Saint Louis). The European mercantile
companies on the coast were charged with making the highest
possible profit. Four such French companies enjoyed an official
French-government monopoly of the Senegal River trade from 1659
to 1798. Contact with the Maures and the black inhabitants of the
valley came about only in the course of trade. From the
beginning, French influence, competing with traditional trading
partners north and east of Mauritania, came through Senegal.
In 1825 the new amir of Trarza, Muhammad al Habib, sought to
reassert his sovereignty over the French-protected Oualo Kingdom
to the south of the Senegal River by marrying the heiress to the
kingdom. This action, which French authorities viewed as a
hostile threat, combined with the amir's efforts to sell gum
arabic to the British, brought a strong French reaction. Although
the Maures were able to lay siege to Saint Louis, a large French
expeditionary force defeated the amir's forces. The French
concluded that to secure the continuing profitability of the gum
arabic trade, they would have to forcibly occupy the northern
bank of the Senegal River.
Implementing this new policy was Louis Faidherbe, the French
governor of Senegal from 1854 to 1861 and from 1863 to 1865. In
1840 a French ordinance had established Senegal as a permanent
French possession with a government whose jurisdiction extended
over all settlements then effectively under French control,
including those in Mauritania. By undertaking the governance of
these Mauritanian settlements, French rulers directly challenged
Maure claims of sovereignty. Under orders from the new government
of Louis Napoleon to end the coutume, to secure the gum
arabic trade, and to protect the sedentary populations of the
southern bank from Maure raids, Faidherbe conquered the Oualo
Kingdom. He then turned his attention to the amirates of Trarza
and Brakna that had united against him. The Maures attacked Saint
Louis in 1855 and almost succeeded in reclaiming the settlement,
but they were repulsed and defeated a year later, north of the
Senegal River. The treaties ending the war extended a French
protectorate over Trarza and Brakna, replaced the coutume
with a 3 percent annual rebate on the value of gum arabic
delivered, and recognized French sovereignty over the northern
bank of the Senegal River.
In addition to his military ventures, Faidherbe sponsored an
active program to undertake geographic studies and establish
political and commercial ties. In 1859 and 1860, Faidherbe
sponsored five expeditions, including one that mapped the Adrar,
to all areas of western and southern Mauritania.
Faidherbe's successors were content to maintain his gains and
did not embark on further military ventures. French colonial
policy at this time can best be characterized by the warning
given by the Colonial Ministry to the governor of Senegal in the
late 1870s, "Let us not hear from you." With France's virtual
abandonment of Senegal, the relative calm created in the
Chemama (see Glossary)
and southern Mauritania through Faidherbe's
efforts came to an end. The Maures resumed their traditional
practices of internecine warfare and pillaging villages in the
Chemama. In virtual control of the colonial administration, the
commercial companies of Saint Louis sold arms to the Maures,
while at the same time outfitting French punitive missions.
Scientific expeditions into Mauritania became increasingly
subject to attack, and their European leaders were killed or held
for ransom. The obvious weakness of the French and their
distraction with events elsewhere in the region emboldened the
amirs to demand and secure the reinstatement of the
coutume.
At the beginning of the twentieth century, after 250 years of
French presence in Mauritania, the situation was little changed.
The endemic warfare between different Maure groups may even have
increased as French merchants made arms readily available, and
colonial forces defended camps north of the Senegal River against
Maure pillagers. Though formally under the "protection" of the
French, the Maures were as fiercely independent as ever.
Data as of June 1988
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