The Jolof Empire, also known as Great Jolof, or the Wolof Empire, was a Wolof and Sereer confederacy state that ruled parts of West Africa, most precisely modern-day Senegal, Mali, Gambia and Mauritania from around the 12th century to 1549. Following the 1549 battle of Danki, its vassal states were fully or de facto independent; in this period it is known as the Jolof Kingdom.
"Death of the Joloff Prince", in an 1892 book.
Jolof kingdom after its disintegration
The Wolof people are a West African ethnic group found in northwestern Senegal, the Gambia, and southwestern coastal Mauritania. In Senegal, the Wolof are the largest ethnic group (~39.7%), while elsewhere they are a minority. They refer to themselves as Wolof and speak the Wolof language, in the West Atlantic branch of the Niger–Congo family of languages.
A Wolof man in the Gambia
A Wolof Waalo in war costume in the mid 19th century
Image: Boilat 05 Reine du Walo, woloffe
Image: Boilat 04 Mari de la reine du Walo, wolof