Boubou (clothing)

The grand boubou/bubu is one of the names for a flowing wide sleeved robe worn by men in much of West Africa, and to a lesser extent in North Africa, related to the dashiki suit. The name boubou derives from the Wolof word mbubb. It is known by various names, depending on the ethnic group wearing them: agbada (Yoruba, Dagomba), babban riga (Hausa), mbubb (Wolof) , k'sa or gandora (Tuareg), darra'a Maghrebi Arabic, grand boubou (in various Francophone West African countries) and the English term of gown. The Senegalese boubou, a variation on the grand boubou described below, is also known as the Senegalese kaftan. The female version worn in some communities is also known as a m'boubou or kaftan.

Its origin lies with the clothing worn by the Islamic Tukulor, Mandé and Songhai peoples of the 8th-century Takrur and Ghana Empires, and 13th-century Mali and Songhai Empires. (See Bisht and kaftan for information on these.)

The use of the grand boubou as clothing became widespread throughout the West African region with the migration of semi-nomadic groups such as the Fulani, and traders such as the Dyula and Hausa. Comparing the grand boubou to the various styles of Arabic Thawb suggests the grand boubou follows an archaic template to the contemporary male clothing of the Middle East and North Africa.

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