The Fulani People

The Fulani people call themselves Fulbe (Pullo, in singuler).They were originally nomadic herders, traders and farming people living throughout West Africa. While their origins are disputed, Arab writers recorded their existence over 1000 years ago. However experts believe that they originated from a region that occupied the present day Northern Senegal. Over the centuries, they migrated with their cattle to occupy vast areas in the Sahel and Savannah regions of West Africa and evolved into many subgroups with a variety of designations including Fulbe, Fellata, Fula, Fulakunda, Bororos, Wodaabe, Peul, Pulaar, Halpulaar, liptaako, and Toucouleur. Presently, they live in communities throughout much of the West-Africa, from Senegal to Cameroon and as far east as Sudaan and Ethiopia. While most commonly called Fulani in current literature, they prefer to be called Fulbe.

Some believe that they are from a Semitic origin. According to the tradition, the ancestors of Fulani is Jacob son of Israel, son of Issac, son of Abraham When Jacob left Canaan and went to Egypt where Joseph was established. The Israelites prospered and grew in population while living in Egypt. Fulani people descended from them. After a long time a new Pharaoh who did not
know about Joseph's fame in Egypt, came to power. He made the Israelites work hard at slave labor. The Pharaoh oppressed the people, including Fulanis who were rich in cattle. They emigrated from Egypt, some of them went back to Palestine and Syria under Moses guidance and the other crossed the Nile with their cattle and headed west. They took the name of fouth or foudh meaning those who left. A group from the latter moved along the edges of the Sahara to Touat-Air and then to West-Africa.
Those who came to Masina (in present day Mali) spread to the neighboring regions where they were rejoined by Fulani groups from Morocco. It has established that about 700AD, Fulani groups from Morocco, moved southward, and invaded the regions of Tagout, Adrar, Mauritania, and Fuuta Tooro. The cradle of the Fulani group is situated in the Senegal River valley, where Fulanis established kingdoms. Until the beginning of the IX th Century..Around that period they continued their migration in the regions of Bundu, Bambouk, Diomboko, Kaarta, and Bagana
Finally those who where concentrated in the Ferlo from the XI to the XIV century moved in various groups to the Fuuta Jalon, to the Volta river basin , to the Gurma, to the Haussa land, and to the Adamawa, Boghirme,Ouadai
Other versions of the Fulani origin include:
a- The mixing between the proto-Berber from North Africa, and the Bafur (the people who populated the Sahara)
b- Issued from Asiatic pastoral tribes that invaded Africa, crossed the Sahara and dispersed through all the West-Africa Sahalian zone
c- The Anthropologists declare that the study of many Fulbe cranian structure has indicated that they are intimately linked to the Ethiopians and that both types are very similar to the Egyptian crane structure. According to the eminent Anthropologist Mr. Verneau, the Fulbe origin has to closely link the Egypt.





Historically, the Fulani played a significant role in the rise and fall of ancient African empires such as Ghana, Mali, Songhai and the Mossi states. They greatly contributed to the spread of Islam throughout Western Africa. More recently, slavery and colonialism dispersed Fulani throughout the Middle East, the Americas and Europe. American history books are full of individuals of Fulani origin who have distinguished themselves in North and South America and the Caribbean.

Fulbe have rich traditions and fascinating way of life. They have had a significant social, religious and political impact in West Africa. As minorities in most of the West African countries

where they reside, the Fulani are steadily mixing with local dominant cultures. The phenomenon of local integration, combined with the impact of colonization and westernization, has slowly eroded the Fulani language and traditions.