“Le loup dans la bergerie”: Narrations et identités des Bijaa, sujets conquéreurs de l’ancien royaume de Kasa en Sénégambie. Hommage à Stephan Bühnen (1950-2015)

Abstract This article presents bijaa (balanta mané) narratives on settlement, identities and territorial divisions of the ajaa country on the southern shore of the Cacheu river (Guinea-Bissau) and in Balantakunda (Senegal). Both oral sources and primary written documents can be integrated to show continuity in traditions since the 17th century, beginning with Lemos Coelho (1669), a merchant and direct observer, as was Bertrand-Bocandé who travelled and studied the area 200 years later (1837-1848), the data collected by the military commander of Farim and cartographer Graça-Falcão (1894-189...