Serer people
The Serer people are the West African ethnoreligious group. They are the third-largest ethnic institution in Senegal, devloping up 15% of the Senegalese population. They are also found in northern Gambia & southern Mauritania.
The Serer people originated in the Senegal River valley at the border of Senegal as well as Mauritania, moved south in the 11th and 12th century, then again in the 15th and 16th centuries as their villages were invaded and they were subjected to religious pressures. They hold had a sedentary settled culture and score been invited for their farming expertise and transhumant stock-raising.
The Serer people have been historically noted as a matrilineal ethnic multinational that long resisted the expansion of Islam, fought against jihads in the 19th century, then opposed the French colonial rule. In the 20th century, almost of them converted to Islam Sufism, but some are Christians or adopt their traditional religion. The Serer society, like other ethnic groups in Senegal, has had social stratification featuring endogamous castes and slaves, although other historians such(a) as Thiaw, Richard and others rejects a slave culture among this group or at least non to the same extent as other ethnic groups in the region.
The Serer people are also referred to as Sérère, Sereer, Serrere, Serere, Sarer, Kegueme, Seereer and sometimes wrongly "Serre".