The Bafour or Bafur may have inhabited…

The Bafour or Bafur may have inhabited present-day Mauritania and the Western Sahara before the arrival of Islamic peoples.

They are at times referred to as the descendants of local pre-Berber peoples.

French art historian Jean Laude wrote, "In the pre-Islamic period (before the ninth century), according to oral tradition, Mauritania was occupied by the Bafur, a population of mixed origin from whom the eastern Songhai, the central Gangara, and the western Serer are derived.”

The Hassane, the traditionally dominant warrior tribes of the Saharan-Moorish areas of present-day Mauritania, southern Morocco and Western Sahara, are considered descendants of the Arab Maqil tribe Beni Hassan (hence the name), and hold power over Sanhadja Berber-descended zawiya (religious) and znaga (servant) tribes, extracting from these the horma tax in exchange for armed protection.

They dominate the gum arabic trade, as well as shipment of grain from the Wolof region to the Bidan (white North Africans), and a slave trade of Wolof people to the Maghreb for horses for their military campaigns.

Prince Henry the Navigator had set up a fortified trading post in 1445 on the island of Arguin, which acquires gum arabic and slaves for Portugal.

By 1455, eight hundred slaves are shipped from Arguin to Portugal every year.