Heroine of the fight against colonization, Ndaté Yalla Mbodj (1810 – 1860) was a great sovereign of Waalo, the historic region of present-day Senegal.
Linguists
Daughter of Fatim Yamar Khouriaye Mbodj and Amar Fatim Borso, Ndaté Yalla Mbodj was born in 1810 in the kingdom of Waalo, resulting from the bursting of the Wolof empire of Djolof and located on the delta of the Senegal River. It belongs to the Tédiek family, which built its fortune and its power on trade and exchanges with French counters, already well established in Africa.
In 1816, the Brack (sovereign) Kouly MBaba Diop died and the linguist (mothers, sisters, cousins of sovereigns) Fatim Yamar, his cousin, succeeded him. Her husband, Amar Fatim Borso becomes the Brack of the Waalo. Trained to lead the people, both militarily and politically, the lingueres are adept at taking care of the kingdom.
Thus, when in March 1820, Moorish warriors took advantage of the absence of the Brack to attack the capital, Fatim Yatar led a troop of women to chase them away. They manage to repel a first assault but are defeated during the second; Fatim Yamar and many other women then prefer to kill themselves rather than be taken. Before dying, the linguist made her two daughters, Ndjeumbeut Mbodj and Ndaté Yalla, escape.
Sovereign of the Waalo
Eldest of Ndaté Yalla Mbodj, Ndjeumbeut came to power around 1831. To seal the peace, she married the Emir of Trazar, ruler of the Moors of Trazar, Mohamed El Habib. This alliance of two kingdoms worries France, which launches the first military actions against the Waalo. The reign of Ndjeumbeut, reputed to be a wise sovereign, was marked by tensions with France. When she died in 1846, her sister Ndaté Yalla succeeded her; she was officially crowned sovereign of the Waalo in October 1846.
From 1847, Ndaté Yalla defied the French authorities by demanding the free passage of herds, led by the Soninkés, to the city of Saint-Louis, and by asserting his rights over the territories of the kingdom of Waalo. In 1848, she gave birth to a son, Sidya Ndaté Yalla Diop. A pugnacious and assertive queen, she became the main interlocutor of the French within the Wolof kingdoms. Relentlessly standing up to the French, she plundered and forbade trade with the French.
The French military expedition
At the end of 1854, Louis Faidherbe was appointed colonial administrator of Senegal and a military expedition was decided. In February 1855, 15,000 men landed at Waalo, armed with rifles that the warriors of Waalo did not possess. To the dignitaries of the kingdom, Ndaté Yalla Mbodj confesses:
“Today we are invaded by conquerors. Our army is in disarray. The tiedos (warriors) of the Walo, however valiant warriors, have almost all fallen to the enemy's bullets. The invader is stronger than us, I know that, but should we leave the Walo to the foreigners? »
Ndaté Yalla takes the lead of a large army and confronts the French troops, but she is quickly defeated.
Ndate Yalla Mbodj died in 1860, last sovereign of the Kingdom of Waalo. His son, Sidya Ndaté Yalla Diop, will succeed him in the revolt against the French colonists.