Kingdom of Sine

The Kingdom of Sine, Siin in Serer, was the Serer kingdom along the north bank of the Saloum River delta in what is now Senegal, founded about 1350 and holding its kingship into the twentieth century. During the Guelowar era the land took its name from Sine-o-Meo Manneh, and the alliance of Serer lineages with the Guelowar built a state whose capital stood at Diakhao and whose king bore the title Maad a Sinig. The kingdom kept its courts, its priesthood and its diocese apart from greater neighbours, gave asylum freely, and survived thewolof wars, the Marabout wars and the French arrival with its throne intact. The rulers kept their title through the whole colonial period and lost official recognition only in 1969, on the death of Maad a Sinig Mahecor Joof. In 2019 the Serer crowned Niokhobaye Diouf at Diakhao as a ceremonial king, and the old kingdom lives on in cousinship, wrestling festivals and the Sine-Sine name.