Bafour

The Bafours and some of the Serer people^{[1][2] [3][4]} were the original inhabitants of Mauritania and the Western Sahara^[4][1][5]. The Bafours were the ancestors of the Imraguen and Soninke peoples of Western Africa^{[citation needed]}. They were primarily agriculturalist and agro-pastoralists, and were relatively stationary. At the time they lived in Mauritania, it was far more fertile than it is today. Later they emigrated south to more fertile areas.^{[citation needed]}

History

The old Black tribes of Mauritania and the Western Sahara included the Bafours, the Serer people and the Gangara (commonly known as the Soninke Wangara or Wangara).^[3] They were settled people at the time of the Neolithic Era, about 10,000 years ago^[3], and left their mark on the Tassili n'Ajjer.^[1][6] By c.1st century BC, there was a wave of Berber immigrants moving south from North Africa. The desiccation of the Sahara as well as a probable defeat of the old Black tribes by the Northern migrants, spearheaded their southward migrations. The Gangara are the ancestors of the Soninke people who later founded the Ghana Empire. The Serers are still the Serer people of the Senegambia Region, ancestors of the Toucouleurs, Wolofs and Lebous^[7][8]. They later founded the Serer Kingdoms of Sine, Saloum and previously Baol. The Bafours did not survive. At their time in Mauritania, the old Black tribes probably mixed with each other. These Berber immigrants who migrated southwards to present-day Mauritania should not be confused with the later Berber immigrants. Arabo-Beber migration is long and gradual. The Almoravid movement in the Medieval Era was one of the last phases of their southward migration.^{[4][1][3][2][9][5][10]} According to some, the Bafours were Black people who practiced Judaism and were later incorporated in the Almoravid movement and linked to the Ghana Empire.^[11] Though probable they may have been Blacks who practiced elements of Judaism, their religious beliefs was probably closer to Serer religion (the religion of their neighbours), and there is no consensus as to their survival by the time of the Almoravid southward advance. Those who claim to trace descent from them are merely remnants of the Bafours (the ancient Black tribe).^[12]

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Notes

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