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|official_name          = Kahone
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'''Kahone''' ([[Serer language|Serer proper]]: '''Ka-Woon'''<ref name="Diouf Marcel"/> (variations: '''Kawoon'''<ref name="S. Dione - Ndut">Dione, Salif, "L'appel du ndut, ou, L'initiation des garçons seereer." IFAN, 2004, p. 85. {{ISBN|9789291300471}}</ref> or Kawon)–meaning the ancestor, "the one who was" in Serer<ref name="Diouf Marcel"/>)) is a town and urban commune near [[Kaolack]], [[Senegal]]. It was the capital of the pre-colonial Kingdom of [[Saloum]] and is a center of [[Serer people|Serer]] culture and [[Serer ancient history|history]].

==Toponymy and ancient history==
{{See|Pangool|Serer religion|Serer ancient history}}
Kahone takes its name from a [[Serer religion|Serer religious]] site and place of worship known in Serer as "Ka-Woon", which means the ancestor, "the one who was".<ref name="Diouf Marcel">Diouf, Marcel Mahawa, "Lances mâles: Léopold Sédar Senghor et les traditions sérères." Centre d'études linguistiques et historiques par tradition orale, 1996, p. 165, 172</ref> The Serers venerated this [[pangool|founding Serer ancestor]], and the name was given to the future capital of the  Serer [[Kingdom of Saloum]].<ref name="Diouf Marcel"/> The name predates the [[Guelwar]] maternal dynasty and [[Mbegane Ndour]], a member of that matriclan and founder of the Kingdom of Saloum, and takes its name from the Serer sacred site Ka-Woon.<ref name="Diouf Marcel"/> 

==Medieval history==
{{see|Serer medieval history}}
In the 14th century, the [[Mandinka people|Mandinka]] [[Guelowar]] clan migrated from Kaabu northwards after losing a succession dispute.<ref name=" Ngom, Biram ">Ngom, Biram: ''La question Gelwaar et l’histoire du Siin'', Dakar, Université de Dakar, 1987 "</ref> This matriclan, according to the claim advanced by Rokhaya Fall, founded a number of small chiefdoms in the area north of the [[Gambia river]]. Fall went on to write that, the home of Kéno Mbèye, one of the Guelowar leaders, was chosen as the meeting place where any problems could be discussed, and so it was called "Filagui diobé", meaning meeting place in the [[Mandinka language]]. This eventually became '''Njoob''',{{dubious|date=April 2025}} capital of a state called Mbey.{{sfn|Fall|2022|p=288}}

Rokhaya Fall didn't realise that the tradition she was reporting is actually of Kina/Kin/Kon O Mev/Meo Mane (Manneh), who was a royal princess and sister of Sino-Méou and Kulaar/Koular-o-Méou Mane (and [[Maad a Sinig]] [[Maysa Wali Jaxateh Manneh]]<ref name="GRAVR"/><ref>Mbaye, Abdoulaye, "Essai sur l'histoire de Sokone-Djinguily de 1860 à 2013." L'Harmattan, 2020, p. 22, {{ISBN|9782140140686}}</ref><ref name="CHEIK">[[Université Cheikh Anta Diop]], Faculté des Lettres et Sciences Humaines, Département d'Histoire, 2001. "Ñirohmol, un village déserté du Diokoul (Saloum) (XIVe-XXes): histoire et archéologie." p. 10</ref>)– the three sisters and maternal ancestors of the three [[Guelowar|Guelouar]] families of Saloum.<ref>[[Institut Fondamental d'Afrique Noire]].  "Bulletin de L'Institut Fondamental D'Afrique Noire: Sciences humaines, Volume 34."  IFAN, 1972, p. 746</ref><ref name="GRAVR">[[Henry Gravrand|Gravrand, Henry]], "La civilisation Sereer: Cosaan (Les Origines)." Nouvelles Editions africaines, 1983, p. 260-262, {{ISBN|9782723608770}}</ref><ref name="CHEIK"/> The Serer country "Mbey" existed before the Guelowar's arrival. Kéno Mbèye (or any of its spelling variations including Kena Mbey) takes her name from the Serer country she settled in. It is only a nickname which does not mean anything in Serer other than "she who stays in Saalum (= Mbey)."<ref>Institut fondamental d'Afrique noire, Institut français d'Afrique noire. "Bulletin de l'Institut fondamental d'Afrique noire. Série B: Sciences humaines, Volume 46, Issues 3-4." IFAN, 1986, p. 241.
:Quote: "Kena Mbey n'est qu'un sobriquet signifiant « celle qui séjourne au Saalum ( = Mbey ) ».</ref>

In the late 15th century, Mbey and its prosperous salt works fell under the influence of a [[Toucouleur people|Toucouleur]] [[marabout]] named Elibana.{{sfn|Sakho|2021|p=112}} The [[Kingdom of Sine|Siin-Siin]] leader [[Mbegane Ndour]] attacked and killed him, establishing the [[Serer people|Serer]] kingdom of [[Saloum]] and renaming the capital '''Kahone''', meaning 'this is the one' in [[Serer language|Serer]].{{sfn|Fall|2022}}{{sfn|Sakho|2021|p=113}} The city remained the political and religious center of Saloum for the next several centuries.

Kahone was originally a far more important town than neighboring [[Kaolack]], but the roles have been reversed in the 20th century as Kaolack developed into a port and railroad hub.<ref>{{cite book |author=Clark, Andrew F. and Lucie Colvin Phillip |title=Historical Dictionary of Senegal: Second Edition |location=Metuchen, New Jersey |publisher=The Scarecrow Press |date=1994 |page=234}}</ref> Kahone has been reduced to a sub-prefecture of Kaolack. 

==Culture and Economy==
It is primarily agricultural, but it is participating in industrial development plans.  Also, the town is pursuing increased tourism based on its history and culture. An annual royal festival is celebrated in which the [[Maad Saloum|O Maad]] (Serer king), Djaraaf (Serer prime minister) and other dignitaries meet to decide kingdom issues and hold pageants celebrating the history of Saloum and the [[Serer people]]. There is a [[mosque]] and a [[Catholic missions]] in Kahone.  There are numerous ancient tombs, stone circles and megaliths in the vicinity as well as large burial mounds implanted with [[Adansonia digitata|baobab]] trees.

Kahone is routinely involved in many administrative territorial disputes with neighboring communes, always emphasizing its earlier importance.

In 2007, according to official estimates, Kahone had 5,852 inhabitants.

== See also ==
* [[Kingdom of Saloum]]
* [[Kingdom of Sine]]
* [[Serer people]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

===Sources===
* [[Henry Gravrand]], ''La civilisation sereer'', I. Coosan, Dakar, Nouvelles Editions Africaines (1983). In French.
* [[Martin A. Klein]], ''Islam and Imperialism in Senegal Sine-Saloum, 1847–1914'', Edinburgh At the University Press (1968)
* Alioune Sarr, ''Histoire du Sine-Saloum. Introduction, bibliographie et Notes par Charles Becker'', BIFAN, Tome 46, Serie B, n° 3–4, 1986-1987. In French.
*{{cite book |last1=Fall |first1=Rokhaya |title=Un espace de rencontre en Sénégambie : le Saalum (XVIe – XIXe siècle) |date=2022 |publisher=Harmattan}}
*{{cite book |last1=Sakho |first1=Oumar Malle |editor1-last=Fall |editor1-first=Mamadou |editor2-last=Fall |editor2-first=Rokhaya |editor3-last=Mane |editor3-first=Mamadou |title=Bipolarisation du Senegal du XVIe - XVIIe siecle |date=2021 |publisher=HGS Editions |location=Dakar |pages=101–117 |language=French |chapter=Le sel dans la formation de l'espace du Saloum: XVIeme=XVII siecle}}

{{Coord|14|09|41|N|16|01|51|W|region:SN_type:city(5763)|display=title}}

[[Category:Populated places in Kaolack region]]
[[Category:Kaolack region]]
[[Category:Communes of Senegal]]
[[Category:Serer holy places]]