Toucouleur Empire

The Tidjaniya Caliphate (Arabic: الخلافة التجانية; also known as the Tijaniyya Jihad state or the Segu Tukulor or the Toucouleur Empire) (1861–1890) was founded in the mid-nineteenth century by Elhadj Oumar Foutiyou Tall of the Toucouleur people of Senegal.

Toucouleur Empire
الخلافة التجانية
Tidjaniya Caliphate
1861–1893
The greatest extent of the Toucouleur Empire at the time of Omar Tall's death in 1864
The greatest extent of the Toucouleur Empire at the time of Omar Tall's death in 1864
CapitalSegou
Common languagesArabic (official)
Fula
Religion
Sunni Islam
GovernmentMonarchy
Caliph 
History 
• Established
1861
• Disestablished
1893
Preceded by		Succeeded by
Segu Empire
Kaarta
Massina Empire
Imamate of Futa Jallon
French West Africa

History

Omar Tall's Conquests
A contemporary German map showing states prior to the rise of Omar Tall, coloured to represent his empire in 1861. Conquered capitals in green, French forts in blue. The unoccupied region in the center is the waste of Hodh.

Omar Tall returned from the Hajj in 1836 with the titles of El Hadj and caliph of the Tijaniyya brotherhood of the Sudan. After a long stay in Sokoto, he moved to the Fouta Djallon region (in present-day Guinea) in the 1840s. Here, he completed a major work on Tijaniyya scholarship; after this he started to focus on military struggle. Omar Tall planned to conquer new pagan territory for Islam.[1]

Omar Tall managed to bring together a large army of Fulbe and Toucouleur followers and he defeated the states of Tamba (1852), Kaarta Kingdom (1855), Bamana Empire (1861), Massina Empire (1862) and Timbuktu (1863).[1]

He conquered a number of cities and built a tata (fortification) near the city of Kayes that is today a popular tourist destination.[2] He conquered Bambouk, then seized Nioro du Sahel, the capital of Kaarta, in April 1855, which became his capital.[3]

Next, Omar Tall turned west towards Futa Toro, Gajaaga and Bundu. This brought him into conflict with the French who were attempting to establish their commercial supremacy along the Senegal river. In 1860 he made a treaty with the French that recognized his sphere of influence in Futa Toro and assigned them the Bambara states of Kaarta and Segu.[4]

After the decisive victory in the Battle of Segou on March 10, 1861, he made the city of Segou the capital of his Toucouleur Empire. Installing his son Ahmadu Tall as faama of Segu, Tall marched down the Niger to attack the Massina Empire of Hamdullahi.[1] This was controversial, as attacking a fellow Muslim power was forbidden.[3]

More than 70,000 died in the battles that followed. The most decisive was at Cayawel, where Amadu III, the Masina king, was wounded.[5] Djenné fell quickly followed by the final fall of Hamdullahi in May 1862.[5][6][7]

Soon, a rebellion broke out in the Massina lands led by Ba Lobbo. In suppressing the revolt, In the Spring of 1863, Omar Tall reoccupied the city of Hamdullahi, and in June Balobo's combined force besieged Omar Tall's army there.[8] They captured the city in February 1864. Omar Tall fled, but was killed soon after.[8]

Ahmadu Tall and Decline

At his death, Omar Tall's nephew Tidiani Tall contested the succession with Ahmadu Tall, continuing the war in Massina and installing his capital at Bandiagara. At Segou, Ahmadu Tall continued to reign, with his rule consisting largely of suppressing rebellions in neighboring cities, quarrelling with his brothers, and fighting to centralize the empire against the resistance of the Fula aristocracy. To that end he cultivated a base of support among the Bambara natives of Segou.[9]

The French continued to expand. They captured Nioro in 1891 and drove Ahmadu to Bandiagara.[3] In 1893 the French took final control, ending the empire and sending Ahmadu into exile in Sokoto.

Government

At least by the reign of Ahmadu, the government of the Toucouleur Empire was highly structured, with governors of the various provinces seconded by cadis, military commanders and tax collectors, all appointed by the Khalifa. Ministers based in Segou managed various portfolios such as justice, the Niger river fleet, the public treasury, relations with Europeans and other foreign powers, commerce, etc. The army was professionalized and hierarchichal, with a core of sofas bodyguards, and commanded most of the state's budget.[10]

One of the main aims of governance was to unify the population of the state under the banner of Islam. To that end, justice and islamization were handled by a corps of qadis and marabouts. The state was funded by direct religious and secular taxes, as well as customs duties on trade.[11]

Legacy

A large swath of the Sahel territory that once encompassed the Toucouleur Empire is now today Muslim due to the campaigns of Omar Tall.[1]

See also

References
  1. Meredith, Martin (2014). The Fortunes of Africa: A 5000 Year History of Wealth, Greed and Endeavour. New York: Public Affairs. pp. 168–169. ISBN 978-1-61039-459-8.
  2. "El-Hadj Umar Tall (1797-1864) Islamic scholar and empire builder". Standard News From The Gambia. 2019-05-31. Retrieved 2022-05-15.
  3. Boilley, Pierre (2005). "Tukolor Empire of al-Hajj Umar". In Shillington, Kevin (ed.). Encyclopedia of African History. New York: Fitzroy Dearborn. pp. 1591–2.
  4. Lapidus, Ira M. (2014) A History of Islamic Societies. 3rd edition, New York: Cambridge University Press, pages 472-473.
  5. Roberts, Richard L. (1987). Warriors, Merchants, and Slaves: The State and the Economy in the Middle Niger Valley, 1700-1914. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press. p. 83. hdl:2027/heb.02662. ISBN 978-0-8047-1378-8.
  6. Stapleton, Timothy J. (2013). A Military History of Africa. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO. p. 84. ISBN 978-0-313-39570-3.
  7. Tall, Hadja (2006). "Al Hajj Umar Tall: The Biography of a Controversial Leader". Ufahamu: A Journal of African Studies. 32 (1/2): 73–90, page 85. doi:10.5070/F7321-2016514.
  8. Tall 2006, p. 86
  9. Cissoko 1982, p. 68.
  10. Cissoko 1982, pp. 69–70.
  11. Cissoko 1982, p. 70.

Sources

Further reading
  • Davidson, Basil. Africa in History. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1995.
  • Klien, Martin. Slavery and Colonial Rule in French West Africa. Cambridge University Press, 1998. ISBN 0-521-59678-5
  • Oloruntimeehin, B.O. The Segu Tukulor Empire. New York: Humanities Press, 1972. ISBN 978-0-391-00206-7
  • Roberts, Richard L. Warriors, Merchants. and Slaves: The State and the Economy in the Middle Niger Valley, 1700-1914, Stanford University Press, 1987. ISBN 0-8047-1378-2
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