West Africa, Senegal Marabout,1797

West Africa, Senegal Marabout,1797

Prêtre Sacrificateur du Sénégal. Priest sacrificer of Senegal. Senegal is a country in West Africa. In the mid-15th century, the Portuguese landed on the Senegal coastline, followed by traders representing other countries, including the French. Various European powers - Portugal, the Netherlands, and Great Britain - competed for trade in the area from the 15th century onward. In 1677, France gained control of what had become a minor departure point in the Atlantic slave trade, the island of Gorée next to modern Dakar, used as a base to purchase slaves from the warring chiefdoms on the mainland. The Mandinka people live primarily in West Africa in Mali, The Gambia, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Liberia, Guinea-Bissau, Niger, Mauritania and Ivory Coast. Some Mandinka syncretize Islam and traditional African religions. Among these syncretists spirits can be controlled mainly through the power of a marabout, who knows the protective formulas. In most cases, no important decision is made without first consulting a marabout. Marabouts, who have Islamic training, write Qur'anic verses on slips of paper and sew them into leather pouches (talisman); these are worn as protective amulets. Costumes of Different Countries, hand-tinted engraving by Labrousse, published by Jacques Grasset de Saint-Sauveur, 1797.

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27.2 x 40.6 cm | 10.7 x 16.0 in (300 dpi)