Futa Tooro refers to the region on the Senegal River

Sénégal River

The Sénégal River is a long river in West Africa that forms the border between Senegal and Mauritania.The Sénégal's headwaters are the Semefé and Bafing rivers which both originate in Guinea; they form a small part of the Guinean-Malian border before coming together at Bafoulabé in Mali...

 in what is now northern Senegal

Senegal

Senegal , officially the Republic of Senegal , is a country in western Africa. It owes its name to the Sénégal River that borders it to the east and north...

 and southern Mauritania

Mauritania

Mauritania is a country in the Maghreb and West Africa. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean in the west, by Western Sahara in the north, by Algeria in the northeast, by Mali in the east and southeast, and by Senegal in the southwest...

.

The word Fuuta was a general name the Fulbe gave to any area they lived in, while Tooro was the actual identity of the region for its inhabitants. The people of the kingdom spoke Pulaar, a dialect of the greater Fula

Fula language

The Fula or Fulani language is a language of West Africa. It is spoken as a first language by the and related groups from Senegambia and Guinea to Cameroon and Sudan...

 languages spanning West Africa from Senegal

Senegal

Senegal , officially the Republic of Senegal , is a country in western Africa. It owes its name to the Sénégal River that borders it to the east and north...

 to Nigeria

Nigeria

Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...

. They identified themselves by the language giving rise to the name Haalpulaar'en meaning those who speak Pulaar. The Haalpulaar'en are also known as Toucouleur

Toucouleur

The Toucouleurs are a Fula agricultural people who live primarily in West Africa: the north of Senegal in the Senegal River valley, Mauritania, and Mali.-History:...

s (var. Tukolor), a name derived from the ancient state of Tekrur.

The state of Denanke

Denanke

The Empire of Great Fulo, also known as the Denanke Kingdom or Denianke Kingdom was a pre-Islamic Pulaar kingdom of Senegal, which dominated the Futa Tooro region...

 (1495/1514-1776) saw the origin of the modern Tukolor people. Migrations of the Fulbe left states in Fouta Tooro and Fouta Djallon

Fouta Djallon

Fouta Djallon is a highland region in the centre of Guinea, West Africa. The indigenous name is Fuuta-Jaloo...

 to the south. In Fouta Tooro, the population became a unique mixture of Fula and Manding peoples who are today the Toucouleur

Toucouleur

The Toucouleurs are a Fula agricultural people who live primarily in West Africa: the north of Senegal in the Senegal River valley, Mauritania, and Mali.-History:...

s.

The region converted to Islam

Islam

Islam . The most common are and .   : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...

 in the early eighteenth century. The rise of the Kingdom of Fouta Tooro

Kingdom of Fouta Tooro

The Kingdom of Fouta Tooro or the Kingdom of Fuua Tooro was a pre-colonial West African state of the Fula-speaking people centered around the middle valley of the Senegal River...

 in 1776 sparked a series of Islamic reform movements where small clans of educated Fula Sufi Muslims (the Toorobe) seized power in states across West Africa.

In the 1780s Abdul Kader became almaami (religious leader or imam) but his forces were unable to spread revolution to the surrounding states.

The Kingdom of Fouta Tooro

Kingdom of Fouta Tooro

The Kingdom of Fouta Tooro or the Kingdom of Fuua Tooro was a pre-colonial West African state of the Fula-speaking people centered around the middle valley of the Senegal River...

 later became the inspiration and the prime recruiting ground for the jihad

Jihad

Jihad , an Islamic term, is a religious duty of Muslims. In Arabic, the word jihād translates as a noun meaning "struggle". Jihad appears 41 times in the Quran and frequently in the idiomatic expression "striving in the way of God ". A person engaged in jihad is called a mujahid; the plural is...

s of Toucouleur

Toucouleur

The Toucouleurs are a Fula agricultural people who live primarily in West Africa: the north of Senegal in the Senegal River valley, Mauritania, and Mali.-History:...

 conqueror al-Hajj Umar Tall

Umar Tall

El Hadj Umar ibn Sa'id Tall , , born in what is now actual Senegal was a West African political leader, Islamic scholar, and Toucouleur military commander who founded a brief empire encompassing much of what is now Guinea, Senegal, and Mali.-Name:Umar Tall's name is spelled variously: in...

 and anti-colonial rebel al-Hajj Mahmadu Lamine

Mahmadu Lamine

al-Hajj Mahmadu Lamine was a nineteenth-century Senegalese marabout who led an unsuccessful rebellion against the French colonial government....

. Despite resistance, the Futa Tooro was firmly in the hands of French Colonial forces

French West Africa

French West Africa was a federation of eight French colonial territories in Africa: Mauritania, Senegal, French Sudan , French Guinea , Côte d'Ivoire , Upper Volta , Dahomey and Niger...

 moving from modern Senegal

Senegal

Senegal , officially the Republic of Senegal , is a country in western Africa. It owes its name to the Sénégal River that borders it to the east and north...

 by 1900. Upon independence, the region's heart, the southern bank of the Senegal River was retained by Senegal. The north bank became part of Mauritania

Mauritania

Mauritania is a country in the Maghreb and West Africa. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean in the west, by Western Sahara in the north, by Algeria in the northeast, by Mali in the east and southeast, and by Senegal in the southwest...

.

The great modern Senegal

Senegal

Senegal , officially the Republic of Senegal , is a country in western Africa. It owes its name to the Sénégal River that borders it to the east and north...

ese musician and worldbeat

Worldbeat

Worldbeat is a music genre that primarily refers to a blending of Western pop music with traditional/folk or world music influences...

 star Baaba Maal

Baaba Maal

Baaba Maal is a Senegalese singer and guitarist born in Podor, on the Senegal River. In addition to acoustic guitar, he also plays percussion. He has released several albums, both for independent and major labels. In July 2003, he was made a UNDP Youth Emissary.-Biography:Born 12 November 1953...

 comes from the town of Podor

Podor

Podor is the northernmost town in Senegal, Africa, lying on Morfil Island between the Sénégal River and Doué River. It is home to a ruined French fort, built in 1854 as a centre for gold trading, and is the birthplace of fashion designer Oumou Sy, and musicians Baaba Maal and Mansour Seck....

in the Futa Tooro.