The Kingdoms of Waalo and Biffeche were labelled as 'Brak' or 'Braque' on some French maps of the area, not to be confused with the moorish realm of Brakna[?] north of the Senegal River. Waalo was conquered by the French in the mid-19th Century.
The Braks of Waalo were chosen from three leading families of Dyoos, Teedyo and Logar, and ruled through a council consisting of varoius officials with specific delegated functions. It has been claimed that the Brak of Waalo ruled through a local kind of African traditional democracy, but the rulership had definite patrilineal and matrilineal hereditary restrictions. They claimed descent from the legendary first Brak of Waalo and Jolof[?], Njajan Njay[?].
The word 'Brak' may derive from the Arabic word for 'high'.
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