Beer Dun

Beer Dun lies in Cayor, the broad, grassy country of northern and central Senegal. The kingdom occupied land south-east of Waalo, west of Jolof, and north of Baol and Sine. Its Wolof inhabitants called themselves Waadyor, “people of the joor,” after the fertile soil found in northern Cayor. That name distinguished them from neighbouring communities, who often identified themselves by repeating the name of their home region. In Beer Dun, open pasture and routes toward the Atlantic made the land part of a larger political economy rather than an isolated cell.

Cayor already existed when it entered the Jolof Empire. Under Jolof hegemony, a Great Lamane led a large annual delegation to pay tribute to the Buurba. The Battle of Danki ended that overlordship, and Amary Ngone became the first ruler called both Damel of Cayor and Teigne of Baol. He issued a new constitution and founded the more centrally placed capital of Mboul. Repeated Jolof attempts to restore its authority failed, and Amary reigned for forty-four years.

From 1549, Cayor was the largest and most powerful kingdom to break away from Jolof. During the eighteenth century it again annexed Baol, which regained independence in 1756. Wars against Waalo and Jolof continued through the 1750s and 1760s. Social order was highly stratified, with the Damel and nobles at the top, followed by free villagers and marabouts, hereditary craft castes, and enslaved people.

The later city of Dakar lies here.