In Senegal, sometime after the establishment of a European presence in the area but before the imposition of direct French colonial administration, the Ceddo (the outsiders, or non-Muslims) try to preserve their traditional culture against the onslaught of Islam, Christianity, and the slave trade. When local king Demba War sides with the Muslims, the Ceddo abduct his daughter, Dior Yacine, to protest their forced conversion to Islam. Two members of the tribe try and fail to recapture the princess.