Toucouleur Empire الخلافة التجانية Al-khilafat al-tijania | |||||||||||||||||
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| 1852–1893 | |||||||||||||||||
 The greatest extent of theToucouleur Empire at the time of Omar Tall's death in 1864 | |||||||||||||||||
| Capital | Segou | ||||||||||||||||
| Common languages | Arabic (official) Fula | ||||||||||||||||
| Religion | Sunni Islam | ||||||||||||||||
| Government | Monarchy | ||||||||||||||||
| Caliph | |||||||||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||||||||
• Omar Tall declaresjihad against Tamba | September 1852 | ||||||||||||||||
• Disestablished | 1893 | ||||||||||||||||
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TheTukulor Empire (Arabic:الخلافة التجانية;Fula:Laamateeri Tukuleer;French:Empire toucouleur; also known as theTijaniyya Jihad state or theSegu Tukulor or theTidjaniya Caliphate or theUmarian State[1]) (1861–1890) was an Islamic state in the mid-nineteenth century founded byElhadj Oumar Foutiyou Tall of theToucouleur people ofSenegal.
Omar Tall returned from theHajj in 1836 with the titles of El Hadj andcaliph of theTijaniyya brotherhood of theSudan. After a long stay inSokoto, he moved to theFouta Djallon region (in present-dayGuinea) 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.[2]
Omar Tall's message appealed to a large cross-section of the Sahelian population in the mid 19th century, includingFula,Soninke, Moors, and others. Many lowerclass people had grievances against local religious or military elites. Slaves aspired to gain freedom fighting for Islam. Rootless individuals of mixed ethnic background found new social identity and opportunities. Communities under the power of Europeans looked to Tall to drive off the foreigners.Marabout families hoped to gain political power in addition to their religious influence.[3][4]
His growing power and number of followers caused tension with the leaders of the Imamate.[4] In 1851 he moved his community to found the city ofDinguiraye in what was then theKingdom of Tamba. The king, Yambi, granted him the land in return for a yearly payment.[5]: 107 Soon, however, Tall's continued stockpiling of weapons began to worry the Tamba leaders as well. After a series of emissaries to Tall were rebuffed, and one prominent griot even converted to Islam, Yambi pre-emptively attacked the community but was defeated in September 1852.[5]: 103 : 108
After conquering Tamba, Tall launched hisjihad. His first moves were to the north, with the Jallonke general Modi Mamadu Jam leading the conquests of Makhana andGuidimakha.[5]: 103 Tall built atata near the city ofKayes that is today a populartourist destination.[6] He conqueredBambouk, then seizedNioro du Sahel, the capital ofKaarta, in April 1855, which became his capital.[7] In 1855 and 56, his newly conqueredBambara subjects rebelled against the imposition of Islam.[5]: 104
After restoring control, Omar Tall turned west towardsFuta Toro,Gajaaga andBundu. This brought him into conflict with the French who were attempting to establish their commercial supremacy along theSenegal river. Tall besieged the Frenchcolonial army atMedina Fort. The siege failed on July 18, 1857, whenLouis Faidherbe, French governor of Senegal, arrived with relief forces. In 1860 Omar Tall made a treaty with the French that recognized his, and his followers', sphere of influence in Futa Toro and assigned them theBambara states ofKaarta andSegu.[4]
With his western flank secure, Tall turned towards theBamana Empire. He formally enthroned his sonAhmadu Tall as his successor andAmir al-Mu'minin during the campaign.[5]: 105 The Toucouleur forces capturedNyamina without a fight on May 25, 1860, then won the battle of Witala in September, during which the cannon captured from the French were decisive.[8]: 413 Amadu III of Masina lent aid to Bina 'Alī, thefaama ofSegou, on condition that he accept Islam.[9] In January 1861 the Massina army was mobilized under the leadership ofBa Lobbo with 8,000 cavalry, 5,000 infantry and 1,000 musketeers and was joined at Tio, on the right bank of the Niger oppositeSansanding, by what was left of the Bamana forces.[10] In mid-February two fleets of canoes clashed in mid-stream. About 500 of Umar's troops attacked a village near Tio on their own initiative, and were caught and destroyed. The next day, however, Umar split his army into two wings, which crossed the river at night and crushed the allied forces.[11]
After a decisive victory in theBattle of Segou on March 10, 1861, Tall made the city the capital of his Toucouleur Empire. Another Bambara revolt broke out, instigated by Massina.[5]: 105 Installing Ahmadu asfaama of Segou, Tall marched down theNiger to put an end to the threat of Hamdullahi once and for all.[2] This was controversial, as attacking a fellow Muslim power was forbidden.[7] More than 70,000 died in the battles that followed. The most decisive was atCayawal, whereAmadu III was wounded, then captured and beheaded.[5]: 105 [11]Djenné fell quickly followed byHamdullahi in May 1862.[12]
Despite this victory, the region remained deeply unsettled.Tonjon warlords commanding remnants of the Bamana armies resisted in pockets, and raiding was endemic on all sides.[8]: 414 Soon, a major rebellion broke out in the Massina lands led byBa Lobbo. While suppressing the revolt in the spring of 1863, Omar Tall reoccupied the city of Hamdullahi, but in June the rebel forces besieged his army there. They captured the city in February 1864. Omar Tall fled, but was killed soon after.[13]
At his death, Omar Tall's nephewTidiani Tall contested the succession with Ahmadu Tall, continuing the war in Massina and installing his capital at Bandiagara. At Segou, Ahmadu continued to reign, fighting to centralize the empire against the resistance of theFula aristocracy. To that end he cultivated a base of support among theBambara natives of Segou.[14] Still,Torodbe from Futa Toro dominated the upper ranks of the empire.[5]: 109
Ahmadu's brothers Aguibou and Mokhtar, who had been left in Dinguiraye during the wars against Segou and Massina, attempted to take power themselves in Nioro andKoniakary during the 1870s, but were both defeated and imprisoned. Ahmadu replaced them with another brother,Muntaga. He in turn rebelled in 1884, pushing Ahmadu to move his court to Nioro.[5]: 105–6
The French, meanwhile, continued to expand. They captured Nioro in 1891 and drove Ahmadu to Bandiagara.[7] In 1893 the French took final control, ending the empire and sending Ahmadu into exile inSokoto.
One of the main aims of governance under the Toucouleur Empire was to unify the population of the state under the banner ofIslam. To that end, justice and islamization were handled by a corps of qadis andmarabouts. The state was funded by direct religious and secular taxes, as well as customs duties on trade.[15]
Omar Tall's conquest of the Bamana Empire was facilitated by internal instability and decentralization, but this made rule of the middle Niger difficult. In the 1860s inflation was rampant, and troops raided widely to obtain supplies, since the state did not have a firm enough grip on the country to tax the people and pay or feed soldiers.[8]: 415 Insecurity and the arms trade with the coast helped shift trade away from the north-south Niger routes towards an east–west axis linking Nioro to Segou.[8]: 417
At least by the reign of Ahmadu, the government of the Empire was highly structured, with governors of the various provinces seconded by cadis, military commanders and tax collectors, all appointed by theKhalifa. Ministers based in Segou managed various portfolios such as justice, theNiger river fleet, the public treasury, relations with Europeans and other foreign powers, commerce, etc. The army was professionalized and hierarchichal, with a core ofsofas bodyguards, and commanded most of the state's budget.[16]
A large swath of theSahel territory that once encompassed the Toucouleur Empire is now today Muslim due to the campaigns of Omar Tall.[2]
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