From TheBestLinks.com
The Kingdom of Biffeche has been located on the lower Senegal River in West Africa, now on the border between Mauritania and Senegal near Saint-Louis, Senegal, from before the 17th Century up to the present time. The ancient kingdom was independent but the present kingdom, with non-resident American kings, is not diplomatically independent, and is normally included within Senegal except for a part in Mauritania. Its foreign affairs are generally conducted by those countries. Biffeche denotes the whole area occupied by the kingdom during its various phases, extending along the Senegal River from Ronque, Senegal in the northeast to Dios, Mauritania in the southwest, excluding a few towns.
Sandy, low-lying, largely flat, and laced with waterways, Biffeche has Fulfulde (Fula or Peulh), Serer-Ndut, Wolof and Moor ethnic groups engaged in pasturing animals (mainly the Fulfulde) and irrigation-based agriculture. A tomato-paste factory, SOCAS, imports and dilutes tomato paste for reshipment within Senegal. The population is mostly Muslim, but there is a Catholic community and traditional animists. There is a National Bird Park, the Parc du Djoudj, on Biffeche's northern borders.
In the 17th Century the king was called the "Petit Brak" or "Little King", with his capital at Maka (now in Senegal; as opposed to the "Grand Brak" or "Big King" of the former kingdom of Waalo with capital at NDer). The Royal family Djeuss was descended from the Serer tribe. In the 18th Century and 19th Century, Biffeche was nearly depopulated by repeated slaving raids by Moors from the north. At times Biffeche was tributary to Waalo, at other times allied with Bethio. In 1963, after a group of Serer people were transported to Biffeche from central Senegal, the people took the unusual step of choosing a foreign white American, Edward Schafer, as King Edward I of Biffeche. In 1998, he was succeeded by another, Ronald I of Biffeche, still reigning. Any king of Biffeche is automatically also the titular king of the Kingdom of Axim in Ghana under an arrangement made between them in 1971.
The royal capital of Biffeche was moved to MBoubene-Peulh before 1960. The chief towns are Savoigne and Ngad Ngourene on the Senegal side of the river.
References
- Barry, Boubacar. Le royaume du Waalo - Le Senegal avant la conquete. Karthala, Paris, 1985.
- Labat, Jean-Baptiste. Nouvelle Relation de l’Afrique occidentale. Paris: Cavelier, 1727. t. 2, p. 174.
- Thomas Fowell Buxton, Esq.,The African Slave Trade and its Remedy John Murray Publishers, London, 1840, p. 193 [1] (http://books.google.com/books?id=nloSAAAAIAAJ&pg=RA1-PA195&lpg=RA1-PA195&dq=biffeche&source=web&ots=i_bqu2z8xn&sig=5sg79LjQ6A8_-Zmp7pTzfsQMuAw)
- Mail Order Monarch, Robert Goddard, Christian Science Monitor, Boston, November 17, 1964.
- All Hail the King of Biffeche, Esquire, March, 1975.
- Edward C. Schafer, PR Man, Was Made Tribal King St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 4, 1998 [2] (http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_action=list&p_topdoc=11)
Satellite maps
Historical maps
- Cours de la rivière de Sanaga ou Sénégal depuis son embouchure jusqu'à l'île de Bilbas / Suite du cours de la rivière de Sénégal depuis l'isle de Bilbas jusqu'au sault du Rocherde Govina / levé par un ingénieur francois, 1718. Online at BNF (http://visualiseur.bnf.fr/CadresFenetre?O=IFN-7759789&M=notice&Y=ImagesFixes)
- Carte de la rivière du Sénégal depuis la Barre jusqu'au Panier Foule des petites rivières et marigots qui en dérivent avec les noms des villages qui sont au bord, fait au Sénégal, 1720. Online at BNF (http://visualiseur.bnf.fr/CadresFenetre?O=IFN-7759451&M=notice&Y=ImagesFixes)
- Anville, Jean-Baptiste Bourguignon, Carte manuscrite de la côte d'Afrique aux environs de Gorée et de la rivière du Sénégal depuis Cagneux jusqu'à son embouchure. 1724. Online at BNF (http://visualiseur.bnf.fr/CadresFenetre?O=IFN-7759788&M=notice&Y=ImagesFixes)
External links
fr:Biffeche
zh:比法市王國
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