The Kingdoms of Waalo and Biffeche were labelled as 'Brak' or 'Braque' on some French maps of the area, not to be confused with the moorish realm of Brakna north of the Senegal River. Waalo was conquered by the French in the mid-19th Century.
The Braks of Waalo were chosen from three leading families of Dyoos, Teedyo and Logar, and ruled through a council consisting of varoius officials with specific delegated functions. It has been claimed that the Brak of Waalo ruled through a local kind of African traditional democracy, but the rulership had definite patrilineal and matrilineal hereditary restrictions. They claimed descent from the legendary first Brak of Waalo and Jolof, Njajan Njay.
The word 'Brak' may derive from the Arabic word for 'high'.