To talk about Queen Ndate Yalla Mbodj of Senegal, one must go back a little further in history. Senegal was a different society from what we know of today. As close back as the early 19th century, Senegal was a matriarchal society. Women played great roles in not only keeping the family together but also in shaping the social and political dispensations of the time.
So great was the influence of women in the society that those of royal blood were the ones who had the legitimacy of power. As a matter of fact, they chose and crowned the king (Brak). And when you think that women in some European societies were not allowed to vote right up till the 1940s, it’s really laughable.
These women of royal blood in Senegal at the timer were called Lingeer and Ndate Yalla Mbodj was the last one of them. Lingeer translates as “queen.” Lingeers were the wives, sisters, and mothers of the king (Brak)
In the 14th century, the Wolof Empire of Djolof was born in what is today present-day Senegal. This empire, after some political turmoil, broke down into 4 kingdoms; Djolof, Waalo, Baol, and Cayor.
Ndate Yalla Mbodj was Lingeer of Waalo. According to the stories passed on by the strong oral tradition of the griots in Senegal, Queen Ndate was a tall, beautiful woman with imposing stature. She was a fierce and proud warrior and was at the head of an immense army of dedicated soldiers. Amongst its ranks were many women.
The story of how she ascended to power is a captivating one. Remember I mentioned earlier that Senegal, right up the mid-19th century was a matriarchal society with women having great political and social power? Not only was it so, but these women also were trained in combat and many of them were fierce warriors.
The Moors that came from Northern Africa learned a bitter lesson when they decided to take advantage of the absence of the king to attack the Waalo capital. This was in March of 1820. There they met an army of women who dealt them a severe blow. The Moors had to retreat and attack again. This time they were successful.
The leading lady of the Waalo people was called Fatim Yammar. Seeing that the city was falling and that they were outnumbered, she along with the other Lingeers decided to burn themselves to death rather than to be captured. But before she did, she planned the escape of her two daughters; one of whom was Queen Ndate Yalla Mbodj.
By the way, this capital is what is today the famous city of St-Louis. Then, it was known as Ndar.
But back to the story.
On October 1st, 1846 at the age of 36, she succeeded her elder sister as the ruling Lingeer. Unfortunately, I could not find what happened to said sister. We would assume at this point that the sister passed away.
She ascended to the throne at the time when the French were trying to colonise the Senegambia area and so her reign was marked by an open rebellion and war against the French. The French began their incursion into her land in 1850, just four years after she became Lingeer.
Almost 10 years into her reign in 1855, she encountered the Colonialist and Frenchman Louis Faidherbe. Faidherbe later became the governor of St Louis. He came with an army of 15,000 fully armed men who were ready to fight and dethrone her, and colonize Waalo and the rest of Senegal.
Faidherbe with his superior weapons, defeated her army in many bloody battles, before finally capturing Saint-Louis in February 1855. While Faidherbe’s troops were entering the Waalo for the final battle, Queen Ndate gathered her dignitaries and said:
“Today, we are invaded by the conquerors. Our army is in disarray. The tiedos of the Waalo, as brave warriors as they are, have almost all fallen under the enemy’s bullets. The invader is stronger than us, I know, but should we abandon the Waalo to foreign hands?”
She lost that battle, unfortunately, but the war she had started became a war of resistance, stretching almost a hundred years right into the 20th century and having a great effect in the geopolitics of the Senegambian region which encompasses Senegal, The Gambia, Mauritania, Mali, and Guinea.
She bore a son called Sidya Leon Dion. Her son was captured after the fall of the Waalo Kingdom and held hostage by the French; who later sent him to school in Algiers in 1861. He returned to Senegal two years later and was enlisted as a soldier in the French colonial army; the first African to hold this position.
But the blood of his mother was coursing through his veins and he refused to fight on the side of the French against his own people. He ran away and joined the anti-colonial movement and fought with them until he was captured again and exiled to Gabon where he died in 1878.
As for Queen Ndate Yalla Mbodj, she went into self-exile in Ndimb, in the northern part of her kingdom and then to later on Dagana where she died in 1860 at the age of 50. She is buried in Dagana where a statue was erected in her honour.
When they speak of the Amazons, they speak of strong, brave, fearless women like Lingeer Ndate Yalla Mbodj.
Long may her memory live.
- Wandji Wilfred.