page_title: Carabane
section_title: French colonization
hierarchical_section_title: Carabane / History / French colonization
caption_attribution_description: Factorerie n° 1 de la Compagnie de la Casamance à Carabane (Casamance, Sénégal)
context_page_description: Carabane, also known as Karabane, is an island and a village located in the extreme south-west of Senegal, in the mouth of the Casamance River. This relatively recent geological formation consists of a shoal and alluvium to which soil is added by accumulation in the branches and roots of the mangrove trees which cover most of the island. Along with the rest of Ziguinchor Region, Carabane has a tropical climate, cycling between a dry season and a wet season. The island was once considered an arid location where no useful plants were likely to grow, but it now supports several types of fruit tree, the most common of which are mangos and oranges. Although the nearby Basse Casamance National Park and Kalissaye Avifaunal Reserve have been closed for years because of the Casamance Conflict, Carabane has continued to attract ornithologists interested in its wide variety of birds. Various species of fish are plentiful around the island, but there are very few mammals.
  The earliest known inhabitants of the island were the Jola, the ethnic group which is still the most populous on the island.
context_section_description: On January 22, 1836, the island was ceded to France by the village leader of Kagnout at an annual cost of 196 francs. Still, another treaty made Sédhiou the primary trading post of Casamance, and the exploitation of Carabane was left for some time in the hands of the Baudin family, first Pierre then his brother Jean. Each successively took on the title of Resident. With this official but ambiguous title, they were permitted to continue their trading operation so long as they regularly reported to France.
  When Jean Baudin fell into disgrace due to a serious incident involving an English ship, he was replaced as Resident in October 1849 by Emmanuel Bertrand-Bocandé. This multilingual, enterprising businessman and entomologist from Nantes transformed "his" island, sparking a resurgence of commercial and political activity. In 1852, the population surpassed 1,000 inhabitants. A cadastral map assigned tracts of 30 square metres (320 sq ft) to traders and contractors. Other tracts of 15 square metres (160 sq ft) were allotted for housing. Provisional concessions were granted to residents of Saint-Louis and Gorée. Other than settlers, the island was mainly inhabited by animist Jola farmers, whose practices were disconcerting to the settlers. Coexistence was not always easy. Christianity was practiced by the Europeans and some of the residents of Gorée, although the island did not yet have a church. Missionaries tried but were not permitted to settle on the island.
  The construction of a wharf 116 metres (381 ft) long allowed the berthing of larger vessels coming in from Casamance. A railed pier was built along the river in order to facilitate the transfer of goods. Carabane exported rice, but also cotton, considered to be of poor quality, which was ginned in a factory built by Bertrand-Bocandé in 1840, owned first by Maurel & Prom and then by the Casamance Company. The factory also produced almonds and crabwood (Carapa procera).
  Bertrand-Bocandé became involved in local African politics during his time as Resident. When an intertribal conflict led to an armed raid of Carabane, he mediated the conflict. In 1850, the island's economic growth was disturbed because of an extensive livestock raid which precipitated further incidents the following year. In response to this conflict with the former owners of Carabane, the residents of Kagnout, Bertrand-Bocandé convinced the governor of Senegal to send a warship to Carabane to frighten off the raiders. This single ship failed to faze the island's opponents, therefore Bertrand-Bocandé requested a detachment of soldiers and several other ships from the governor. When these reinforcements arrived from Gorée, the conflict was successfully ended. A treaty was signed on March 25, establishing the sovereignty of France not only in Casamance, but also in Kagnout and Samatit. For his involvement in the conflict, Bertrand-Bocandé was accepted into the Légion d'honneur and was given a land concession. Bertrand-Bocandé left the island in 1857 for a leave of absence, but he abandoned his post as Resident in 1860. His tireless activity had a lasting effect on the island.
  Meanwhile, the inhabitants of the new French territory did not recognize the authority of the treaties imposed upon them. For this reason, rice farmers in Carabane experienced lootings and abductions by the Karoninka people. Troops led by Émile Pinet-Laprade attacked the Karoninka villages in March 1860, forcing them to submission. A period of calm ensued. While the Mandinka Muslims continued, illegally, to practice slavery and trade, non-Muslim villages tended to come together, accepting the Resident of Carabane as the arbitrator of their disagreements.
  In 1869, Carabane became autonomous, but it merged with Sédhiou in 1886. Its garrison of a dozen men was regularly stricken with tropical diseases such as malaria. In 1877, 527 people were counted on the island, mostly Jola, but also some Wolofs, Muslims, and a few Manjacks from Portuguese Guinea.
  The first Catholic mission in Sédhiou was founded in 1875 and the first baptisms were c
caption: The Casamance Company's first factory (1893 engraving)
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