Lat Jor


Lat Jor Ngone Latir Jop, son of Sahewer Sohna Mbay and the Linguère royal Ngone Latir Fal, was a nineteenth-century damel of Cayor, a Wolof state that is today in south central Sénégal. Lat Jor belonged to the Geej or Guedj maternal dynasty that have ruled Baol and Cayor for two centuries. The matriach of that matriclan was Lingeer Ngoné Dièye, a Serer noble of Saloum. Lat Jor was a direct maternal descendant of Lingeer Ngoné Dièye.

Conversion

He converted to Islam around 1861, and made common cause with other Wolof and Fulani states to resist French colonialism. Instrumental in his conversion was the Almamy of Rip, Maba Diakhou Bâ. An ally of the Toucouleur empire's El Hadj Umar Tall, Maba convinced Lat-Dior both to convert, and to aid non-Wolof Islamic states of the region against their common foes.

Conquests

Lat Jor led his troops beside Maba in the battle of Rip on 30 November 1865, at the battle of Pathé Badiane in 1864 and Ngol Ngol in 1865. With Lat Jor, Maba took part in the conquests of the states of Baol and Djolof. They however couldn't conquer the Serer kingdom of Sine and were defeated at The Battle of Fandane-Thiouthioune by Maad a Sinig Kumba Ndoffene Famak Joof.

Facing the French

At Kaolack in 1865, they combined forces with soldiers from Waalo, Ndiambour and Ndiander to face the French fortifications of governor Émile Pinet-Laprade but were repulsed.
After the French conquered Waalo, governor Louis Faidherbe invaded Cayor in 1865 in order to stop the Damel's opposition to the construction of the Dakar to Saint-Louis railway. Dior is reported to have told the later French Governor Servatius:
"As long as I live, be assured, I shall oppose, with all my might the construction of this railway."
But the French defeated Lat Jor's forces at the battle of Dekheule on 26 October 1868, after Faidherbe's retirement. Lat Jor struck a deal for limited autonomy and re-installment in 1871. In response to further French expansion, Cayor rose up again with Dior at their head, only to be defeated and be annexed again in 1879.
The Cayor kingdom was extinguished in its entirety October 6, 1886.

The Legend of Lat Jor

Faidherbe is reputed to have said of Lat Jor's troops: "Ceux-là, on les tue on ne les déshonore pas.". This has been adapted as the motto of the Senegalese Army: "On nous tue, on ne nous déshonore pas".
In Dakar there is a giant statue of Maalaw, the legendary horse of Lat Jor, near the great mosque.

Ancestry Chart of Lat Jor

Fiction