France Returns Islamic Scholar’s Sword to Senegal

The French government recently restored and returned a sword belonging to a prominent Islamic scholar to Senegal.

The gesture forms part of its commitment to return antiques and artifacts of cultural heritage to its former West African colonies.

The sword originally belonged to Omar Saidou Tall, a respected political leader and military commander who led an anti-colonial struggle against the French in the 19th century.

He mysteriously disappeared in 1864, but his son, Ahmadou, took up his sword and continued the struggle. He was defeated by French forces in April 1893, and this is how the weapon was looted.

Senegal’s President Macky Sall received the sabre from French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe in a ceremony held in Dakar, which the former called a “historic day”.

Minister Philippe acknowledged that it was the “first step” towards restoring relics – several French museums hold as many as 90 000 objects from sub-Saharan Africa – to their rightful owners.

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