FULANI, a long-headed white race of pastoralists of disputed origin with considerable intermixture of other blood, calling themselves Fulbe (sing. Polio), distributed from the upper Nile to Senegal. They have regular features and narrow nose, wavy hair, light complexion ; are long-limbed, highly strung. They live independently, or near cultivators whose cattle they herd, and in certain districts constitute the ruling class, as in the theocratic States of Fouta Jalon, French Guinea. They conquered the Hausa States of Nigeria about 1804; and maintained precarious power up to the establishment of the British Protectorates Some have taken up cultivation. They are usually Muslims and observe the Koranic code; a small proportion are Animists (Sen egal, French Sudan and on the Niger).
See Arcin, La Guinee Francaise (19o7) ; Delafosse, Haut Senegal Niger (1912) ; Meek, The Northern Tribes of Nigeria (1925).