The wooded plateau round Thies and the coast from Kayar to Mbour belong to small peoples speaking the Cangin languages: the Ndut, Safen, Palor, Lehar and Noon.
They lived in villages without chiefs above the lineage, kept their own religion longer than their neighbours and defended their forests. The Cap-Vert peninsula beyond is placed with them for want of evidence on who lived there in 1200.
Who holds it
- Title
- Village elders and lineage heads
- Since
- Not known
- Confidence
- low
These small peoples speak the Cangin languages, distinct from Serer proper though they are often called Serer; they had no kings. Who held the Cap-Vert peninsula in 1200 is not known: the Lebu who later held it are thought to have come in the fifteenth century or later.
How things stand that morning
Self-governing, so far as anything is known.
Customs
Lineage and village government; their own religion and initiations (later evidence).
Assemblies
Village councils (later evidence).
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Linguistic and later ethnographic evidence only.
On the map: Rough limits from the later distribution of the Cangin languages.
Sources and studies
- Researcher's knowledge of the Cangin languages and peoples (no web source read for this record)
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.