The Epic of Samba Gueladio is a Fula legend based on the power struggle of Samba Gueladio Djegui, an 18th-century king of the Denianke dynasty of Futa Tooro (modern-day Senegal and Mauritania). The story is about Samba's exile and his heroic actions such as slaying a monster before his return to the throne. Widely known across the Fula region, it is considered the national epic of Senegal and is listed as UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage for Mauritania.
The epic's hero, Samba, is the son of a king who dies before his birth, leading Samba's uncle, Konko Bou Moussa, to take power. Samba goes into exile and is granted power from a djinn. He goes to the kingdom of the Moors, where he kills a water monster and performs a cattle raid under orders of the Moorish king. He is granted an army to return home, where he reclaims the throne before being killed by his female cousin. The hero is portrayed as courageous, determined, and morally ambiguous, and his intense violence reflects the ethos of the ceddo warrior class.
There are at least fourteen distinct written versions of the Epic of Samba Gueladio. The first was by in 1856, written in a European literary style, which influenced adaptations by writers including . François-Victor Équilbecq, an early scholar of African epics, wrote a study about the versions of the epic as well as his own version, published in 1913. The epic saw a wave of attention beginning in the 1970s, with historian composing a reconstructed version. Written versions began to be directly based on performances, transcribed by writers including Amadou Ly and Issagha Correra.
Background
The legend of Samba Gueladio, sometimes described as an epic, is from the Fula peoples, particularly the Haalpulaar and Toucouleur of Senegal and Mauritania, respectively. It is part of the oral tradition of Futa Tooro, a Fula-speaking region centered on the Senegal River. However, the precise geographic origin of the story is unknown. The legend is conveyed through the spoken word along with music during performances by griots or community gatherings such as birthdays and weddings. It is classified as a hoddu, a Fula performance genre named for the instrument that accompanies it.
The epic identifies its hero, Samba Gueladio Djegui, as a leader of the Denianke dynasty of Futa Tooro. This dynasty ruled from around the 16th century, succeeding the kingdom of Takrur. Records from the early 18th century indicate that the region experienced a civil war as well as trade with France, both having parallels with events in the epic. The dynasty was conquered by an Islamic imamate, circa 1776. As the Denianke dynasty was the predecessor of an Islamic state, it became symbolic of the pre-Islamic era, and griots developed stories such as Samba Gueladio to praise the Denianke era, particularly its warrior class of ceddo. The Islamic era was the start of written history in Futa Tooro, weakening the importance of the oral tradition. The imamate ruled until French colonization in 1861, and independence in 1960 divided the region between the republics of Senegal and Mauritania, where the Fula are minorities.
Samba Gueladio's reign has been placed in multiple timespans. Early-20th-century scholars noted similar names that appear on various versions of the Denianke king list: identifies him with Samba Lamu ( circa 1640), while François-Victor Équilbecq identifies him with Sambaboe (r. 1690s). Scholars from the 1960s onward have placed the story's setting in the 18th century, based on king lists and commercial records. The accepted chronology states that Samba Gueladio ruled initially from 1725 to 1730, and again from 1738 until his death around 1741, both times being succeeded by Konko Abou Moussa. The historical Samba Gueladio fought to regain his throne but might not have maintained power. This chronology places him as one of the last leaders of the Denianke dynasty.
Virtually all historians have agreed that Samba Gueladio existed. However, the epic is only loosely based on a historical era, and it may be mostly legendary. According to literary scholar Stephen Belcher, the story may have evolved over time to include elements from later parts of history.
Summary The hero of the epic is Samba Gueladio Djegui, the heir to the throne of the Denianke dynasty, depicted as a Muslim. His uncle, Konko Bou Moussa, has claimed the throne, and the story is about Samba's exile and attempt to become king. Samba is portrayed as cunning, courageous, independent, and morally ambiguous. Either Samba or the antagonist may have braided hair in some versions. The story is often violent, with Samba fighting monsters, domestic animals, and humans, including his own relatives. Samba represents the ceddo warriors, with his violence reflecting the ceddo ethos. Other characters that generally appear include Samba's horse, Oumoulatouma.
The story begins with Samba's birth after the death of his father, Gueladio Djegui, by which time Konko has usurped the throne. In some versions, he orders to kill the infant Samba, who is saved by being disguised as either a girl or a servant.
Early scenes contain similar elements across many versions, conveying Samba's courage and determination, as well as his competition with a cousin. Once he is an adolescent, Samba demands inheritance from his uncle. In some versions, Samba receives only a horse, depicting him as foolish; in others, he receives several false gifts, including sleep, but he responds by being so loud that the entire village cannot sleep until he receives what he is owed. Other sources of conflict include an encounter with a European trader, as well as attempts to kill Samba during events such as a circumcision ceremony. Samba goes into exile after fighting one of Konko's sons. In some versions, upon his exile, an unspoken message between Samba and his uncle is communicated using a gift.
In exile, Samba brings his horse and his griot. The defining events of the story are mostly consistent across versions, beginning with Samba's encounter with a djinn, during which he receives his musical theme. The djinn grants Samba magical protection and weapons, with which he then kills the djinn. He and his griot continue to the kingdom of the Moors. In some versions, Samba and his griot had been travelling with their mothers before departing for the Moorish kingdom, entrusting a nearby ruler, the Tunka of Tiyabu, to take care of them; later, when the two return from exile, they punish the Tunka for poor treatment of their mothers.
The most important event is Samba's slaying of a water monster, establishing his heroism. The monster controls the Moorish city's water supply, and Samba arrives the day before the scheduled sacrifice for it to grant access. Samba takes his horse to water, but the monster attacks, so Samba kills it. Samba is recognized for this action by the Moorish king.
The Moorish king begins sending Samba on missions, fighting monsters and kings. In many versions, Samba and the Moorish king do not trust each other. Some of the missions are meant to kill Samba. An event included in most versions of the story is a cattle raid under orders of the Moorish king; he raids the cattle of a rebel king, Birama Ngourori, leaving a few behind as a courtesy. The Moors grant Samba a strong army to return home.
The day Samba returns to his village, he either joins a dance or encounters Konko. The next day, Samba wins the battle of Bilbassi before fighting Konko. He takes the throne and kills his male cousins. He is ultimately betrayed and killed by a female cousin, who is also his wife; she gives him a poison, which he knowingly accepts to avoid dishonor. After Samba dies, his head kills a man.
Written versions and scholarship
Since 1856, at least fourteen versions of the Epic of Samba Gueladio have been published, excluding reprints and adaptations. At least nine were recorded during the colonial era. European scholars analyzed the work as they became interested in the concept of the African epic. François-Victor Équilbecq, one of the first commentators on African epics, wrote a study of the Epic of Samba Gueladio, written in 1913–1914 and published posthumously, which described several written versions.
Raffenel and derived versions The first thorough description of the epic was in French by as a supplement to his 1856 travel report, the . His version, the "", was not credited to a storyteller and was likely an original version, not a transcription. It describes Samba's exile, his slaying of the monster Niabardidalo, and his cattle raid against Birama Ngourori, for which el-Kebrir grants him troops to return home. Many paragraphs begin with the refrain "" ("He has left"). The use of a refrain is not found in performances of West African epics; according to Belcher, it may instead be influenced by the gumbala musical tradition or may be an adaptation of the use of praise names.
Raffenel's work followed the European literary style and the tastes of his era, contributing to its influence and appropriation. Though Raffenel did not use the word epic, he compared Samba Gueladio to the epic hero Ulysses. According to Belcher, Raffenel's publication was possibly the first version of a West African epic in written literature.
The 1885 work by included a version titled "Ballade de Samba Foul". As noted in Équilbecq's study, Bérenger-Féraud's version was a shortened version of Raffenel's. Although the texts are different, the plot and the refrain are the same. Bérenger-Féraud's version became popular.
Bérenger-Féraud's version was reprinted in the second issue of the magazine in 1947. The issue compiled works of traditional literature from Sub-Saharan Africa; its versions of both this epic and the were directly taken from Bérenger Féraud. Both of these became falsely attributed to Senegalese poet Léopold Sédar Senghor and appeared in his collected works, (1964), stating that they were published in . According to Belcher, Senghor may have been the editor who selected these texts for the magazine, where they appeared without Bérenger-Féraud's name, leading to the mistaken attribution.
Other versions of the epic resemble Raffenel's. A 1907 publication by Henri Lanrezac included some phrases taken from either Raffenel or Bérenger-Féraud; Équilbecq considered it similar to, but distinct from, Raffenel's version. Lanrezac described the story as an epic, which he considered more prestigious than other forms of oral tradition. An anthology of African epics published by the Ministry of Education of Cameroon in the 1970s included the epic, which it stated was "collected in Senegal by M. Lagrave", but it was an abridgement of Raffenel's version.
Équilbecq Équilbecq's posthumously published study included a version of the epic he received from Faama Mademba Sy, ruler of Sansanding, as well as a reprint of Raffenel's version. It also summarized versions recorded by Gaden and as well as a manuscript received by colonial administrator Capitaine Steff.
Équilbecq published a new version of the epic in his 1913 collection of West African folktales. His study included his initial transcript of the story, as told by his informant Boubacar Mahmadou in non-standard French and transcribed using stenography. Équilbecq's final version was a play, influenced by the German Romantic genre of . He used the term or , which referred to heroic tales in Medieval European literature, and he associated the story with the "chivalrous mentality" of this genre. His European framing distanced the story from the Black population of Senegal. Équilbecq's version was reprinted in Blaise Cendrar's 1927 compilation of African folklore, .
Other versions