Bundu (also Bondu, Bondou and Boundou) was a state in West Africa existing from the late 17th century until it became a French protectorate dependent on the colony of Senegal.
He and his followers may have been fleeing persection in the aftermath of the Char Bouba war or simply seeking a place where Sy could enforce his interpretation of sharia law.
[6] Sy settled the lands with relatives from his native Futa Toro and Muslim immigrants from as far west as the Kingdom of Jolof and as far east as Nioro du Sahel.
[11] When he in turn died between 1718 and 1727, an interregnum ensued that threatened both Sisibe (the descendants of Malick Sy) control over the state and the integrity of its central authority.
[12] Maka Jiba died in 1764 and was succeeded by his son Amadi Gai, who adopted the title of almamy and introduced a legal system based on sharia.
The royal residence was then at Fatteconda;[14] but when Major William Gray, a British officer who attempted to solve the Niger problem, visited Bondu in 1818 it had been moved to Bulibani (Boolibany), a village with a population of 1500–1800, surrounded by a strong clay wall.
Almamy Saada Amadi Aissata Sy, trying to promote trade, agreed to allow a permanent fort built at Senudebou in 1845, though this became a source of contention within the Sisibe ruling class.
[16] He also hoped to gain French support for the alliance he was building with the Imamate of Futa Toro and Bambuk against Kaarta, the only state on the upper Senegal that could rival Bundu at this time.
During this period warfare and famine devastated the economy, and Tall's call for Muslims to emigrate eastwards to his domain dramatically reduced the population, particularly among the Fulbe.
This, as well as the presence of large numbers of non-Fulbe and/or non-Muslim inhabitants, meant that Bundu was more secular than other Fula states of the period, though Islam was a source of prestige and legitimacy as well as causus belli for slaving raids and conquest.
[26] Bundu benefited from a position athwart major trade routes in gold, ivory, kola nuts, salt, cloth, cotton, gum arabic, and cattle.