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Fula people

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"Fulani" redirects here. For other uses, see Fulani (disambiguation).
Fula, Fulani, Pulo, Fulɓe

Fula women.
Regions with significant populations
Guinea, Nigeria, Cameroon, Senegal, Mali, Sierra Leone, Central African Republic, Burkina Faso, Benin, Niger, The Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Ghana, Chad, Mauritania, Sudan, Egypt, Togo, Côte d'Ivoire.
Languages
Fula language
Religion
Islam, Christianity, African traditional religion
Related ethnic groups
Wolof and Serer
PersonPullo
PeopleFulɓe
LanguagePulaar (west), Fulfulde (east)

Fula people or Fulani (Fula: Fulɓe; French: Peul; Hausa: Fulan; Wolof: Pël; Bambara: Fulaw) are an ethnic group of people spread over many countries, predominantly in West Africa, but found also in Central Africa and Sudanese North Africa. The countries in Africa where they are present include Mauritania, Senegal, Guinea, The Gambia, Mali, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Benin, Burkina Faso, Guinea Bissau, Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Niger, Chad, Togo, the Central African Republic, Ghana, Liberia, and as far as Sudan in the east. Fula people form a minority in every country they inhabit, but in Guinea they represent a plurality of the population (40%).[2] Total population approximates 27,000,000.

Terminology

Men from the Wodaabe subgroup performing Yaake dance

There are also many names (and spellings of the names) used in other languages to refer to the Fulɓe. Fulani in English is borrowed from the Hausa term, and it is also used by the Manding peoples, being the diminutive form of the word "Fula" in their language, essentially meaning "little Fula". Fula, from Manding languages is also used in English, and sometimes spelled Fulah or Foulah. Fula and Fulani are commonly used in English, including within Africa. The French borrowed the Wolof term Pël, which is variously spelled: Peul, Peulh, and even Peuhl. More recently the Fulfulde / Pulaar term Fulɓe, which is a plural noun (singular, Pullo) has been Anglicised as Fulbe,[3] which some people use. In Portuguese it's Fula or Futafula.

A closely related group is the Tukolor (Toucouleur) in the central Senegal River valley. These people are often referred to together with Fulɓe of the region as Halpulaar (Fula: Haalpulaar'en, literally "Pulaar-speakers"). Fula society in some parts of West Africa features the "caste" divisions typical of the region. In Mali, for instance, those who are not ethnically Fula have been referred to as yimɓe pulaaku (people of the Fula culture).[citation needed]

The Wodaabe (Fula: Woɗaaɓe), also known as the Bororo, are a subgroup of the Fula people.

Traditional livelihood

The Fulani are traditionally a nomadic, pastoralist, trading people, herding cattle, goats and sheep across the vast dry hinterlands of their domain, keeping somewhat separate from the local agricultural populations.

Young Fulani cattle herders circa 1967

History

Fula woman from Mali

Origins and spread

The people who are known to the English speakers as Fulani, Peulh or Toucouleur for French speakers, refer to themselves as Haal Pulaar or Fulbe (Pullo, singular). The British have adopted the Hausa`s name for them because they first came into contact with them in Hausaland (Northern Nigeria). The French on the other hand, have adopted the name used by the early Arab Historians “Takruri” meaning the inhabitants of Tekrur in reference to their kingdom in the middle Senegal valley.

While their origins is a subject to many theses, the Pullo Historian Aboubacry Moussa Lam Ph.D of the University of Cheikh Anta Diop in Dakar, one of the leading Egyptologists in Africa, favored the Nile theses. In his well documented book De L`Origine Egyptienne des Peuls, Professor Lam developed a theory supporting a migration from East to West (Egypt, Ethiopia, along the Sahara), and then a second migration to the opposite direction (Eastward).[4]

In a book entitled The desert shore: literatures of the Sahel, Volume 3, Dr. Charles Kingsley Meek states, "...The physical resemblance between the pure Fulani and representations of the Proto-Egyptians is remarkable ... The Fulani, according to tradition, are heirs of the Egyptian pharaohs, evident in their artistic way of braiding their hair as well as their traditional costume that distinguishes them ... Chartre and Broca, for physical reasons, connect the Fulani of the Fellah to the Nile Valley." [5]

Rise to political dominance

Main article: Fula jihads

Beginning as early as the 17th and 18th centuries, but mainly in the 19th century, Fulas and others took control of various states in West Africa.

These included the Fulani Empire, also known as the Sokoto Caliphate, founded by Usman dan Fodio (which itself included smaller states), Fouta Djallon, Massina and others.

Culture and language

The language of Fulas is called Pulaar or Fulfulde depending on the region, or variants thereof. It is also the language of the Tukulor. All Senegalese who speak the language natively are known as the Halpulaar or Haalpulaar'en, which stands for "speakers of Pulaar" ("hal" is the root of the Pulaar verb haalugol, meaning "to speak"). In some areas, e.g. in northern Cameroon, Fulfulde is a local lingua franca.

With the exception of Guinea (where the Fula make up a ~40% plurality of the population), Fulas are minorities in every country they live in (most countries of West And East Africa). So some also speak other languages.

Fulani women with traditional facial tattoos

Clothing

Fulani Herder from Mali

The traditional dress of the Fula consists of long colourful flowing robes, modestly embroidered or otherwise decorated. Also characteristic Fula tradition is that of women using henna around the mouth, resulting in a blackening around the lips. Fula ethics are strictly governed by the notion of pulaaku. Men wear long robes to the lower calves with trousers of cotton. Herdsmen wear the distinctive conical straw hat and a turban. Women wear long robes and turbans. They decorate themselves with necklaces, earrings, nose rings and anklets.[6]

Herding

Fula are primarily known to be pastoralists, but are also traders in some areas. Most Fula in the countryside spend long times alone on foot, moving their herds; they were the only major migrating people of West Africa, though most Fula now live in towns or villages. Wealth is counted by how large the herd of cattle is and how many cattle.Long ago fulani tribes used to fight over cattle.

Music

The Fula have a rich musical culture and play a variety of traditional instruments including drums, hoddu (a plucked skin-covered lute similar to a banjo) and riti or riiti (a one-string bowed instrument similar to a violin), in addition to vocal music. The well known Senegalese Fula popular musician Baaba Maal sings in Pulaar on his recordings. "Zaghareet" or ululation is a popular form of vocal music formed by rapidly moving the tongue sideways and making a sharp, high sound.

Food

The Fulani traditionally eat millet, milk and meat such as staples. Millet is eaten in the morning, noon and night as a porridge with a sauce or stew which usually contains tomatoes, peppers, bone, meat, onion and water and other vegies. On special occasions meat such as goat and beef is usually eaten. A thick beverage similar to the tuareg beverage eghajira is made by pounding goat cheese, milk, dates and millet.

Houses

Traditionally, Fula live in domed houses during the dry season. The domed house is supported by compact millet stalk pillars. During the wet season the house is covered by reed mats. However many Fula now live in mud or concrete block houses.

Notable Fulani people by country

Nigeria

Senegal

Guinea

Mali

Sierra Leone

Main article: Fula people of Sierra Leone

Burkina Faso

Cameroon

The Gambia

See also

References

  1. ^ Ndukwe 16 (1996) gives a figure of 20 million; Gordon, "Adamawa Fulfulde", says 23 million speakers of all forms of Fulfulde.
  2. ^ "Guinea". The World Factbook (2024 ed.). Central Intelligence Agency.
  3. ^ The letter "ɓ" is an implosive b sound, which does not exist in English. In the orthography for languages of Guinea (pre-1985), this sound was represented by bh, so one would have written Fulbhe instead of Fulɓe or Fulbe.
  4. ^ http://pulaarspeaking.net/whoarethefulani.aspx
  5. ^ http://books.google.com/books?id=8fls3x1xcmUC&pg=PA22&dq=fulani+egypt&hl=en&ei=ooG_TLWAA5KOnwec552JDg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CDEQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=fulani%20egypt&f=false
  6. ^ Pulaaku Ethics
  • Almanach de Bruxelles (now a paying site)
  • Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (ed.) (2005): "Adamawa Fulfulde". Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 15th ed. Dallas: SIL International. Accessed 25 June 2006.
  • Ndukwe, Pat I., Ph.D. (1996). Fulani. New York: The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc.
  • Christiane Seydou, (ed.) (1976). Bibliographie générale du monde peul. Niamey, Institut de Recherche en Sciences Humaines du Niger

Further reading

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