Kingdoms and Empires with Fulani Presence
Ghana Empire (c~700-1240) Kaya Magnan
Ghana (Wagadu), the earliest known empire of the western Sudan, first entered the historical consciousness of North Africa near the end of the eighth century but probably originated long before. The empire's legacy is still celebrated in the name of the Republic of Ghana; apart from this, however, modern-day and ancient Ghana share no direct historical connections. Despite early texts that discuss ancient Ghana, such as The Book of Routes and Kingdoms by the eleventh-century Andalusian geographer Abu cUbayd al-Bakri, it remains very much an enigma. Famous to North Africans
as the "Land of Gold," Ghana was said to possess sophisticated methods of administration and taxation, large armies, and a monopoly over notoriously well-concealed gold mines. The king of the Soninke people who founded Ghana never fully embraced Islam, but good relations with Muslim traders were fostered. Ghana's preeminence faded toward the end of the eleventh century, when its power was broken by a long struggle with the Almoravids led by Abdullah ibn Yasin. Ghana subsequently fell to the expanding Soso kingdom.
Tekruur (850ad), Dia Ogo, Warjabi Ibn Rabis
Islam was accepted as early as 850 AD in the Kingdom of Tekruur, situated on both banks of the Senegal, by the Dia Ogo dynasty. This dynasty was the first West African people who accepted Islam . It was for this reason that Arab Muslim historians referred to Bilâd al-Tekruur as The land of the Black Muslims. Warjabî ibn Rabis, was the first ruler of Tekruur, in whose reign Islam was firmly established and the Islam ic shariah system enforced. This gave a uniform Muslim law to the people of the region. By the time the Al-MurabiÏûn or Almoravids began their attack on Tekruur in 1042 A.C., Islam had made a deep impact on the people of that area. Al-Idrissa in 1511 A.C. described the Tekruur country as secure, peaceful and tranquil. The capital town of Tekruur was also called Tekruur which had become a centre of commerce and merchants used to bring wool to sell there from Maghrib, taking away with them gold and beads in exchange.When the Kingdom of Tekruur fully converted to Islam in the mid-11th century, it participated in establishing the Almoravid state, centered in Morocco. After 1087 the Almoravids kingdom began disintegrating, the Tekruur kingdom started to strenghten on the banks of the Senegal river . Tekruur's people were the first of the West African kingdoms to have a strict interpretation of the Islamic faith and to wage wars against people who weren't Muslim. Tekruurian soldiers were allied with the Almoravids and in 1056-1057 they waged wars against pagan Ghanaians. At the end of the 10th century War Diabi took power and converted to Islam. Tekruur, situated on the Senegal River and the Transsahara roads, was a powerful a rich kingdom whose principal activity was trade of gold and beads. It came under the domination of the Ghana Empire in the 11th century, of the Mali Empire in the 13th century and of the Djolof Empire in the 14th century. At the end of the 15th century the Tekruur was conquered by Koli Tenguela, a Fulani from the south who gave it its independence and created a new dynasty, the Denianke and a new kingdom the Fuuta Tooro.In the 16th century the Fuuta Tooro conquered the neighboring states of Djolof and Cayor. The Denianke dynasty was replaced by Muslim clerics led by Thierno Sileyman Baal in 1770. Islam became the guiding principal of the civil society. Almamy Abdul Kader was selected the 1st Almamy (Leader of the Believers) See also Halpulaar.
The Almoravids (1090-1147)
History1039: The Almoravid leader Abdallah bni Yasin declares holy war against the Sanhaja Berbers.1054: The Almoravids start their conquest of Maghreb.1062: The Almoravids establish their capital in
Marrakech (today's
Morocco).
1082: The Almoravids take control over
Algiers.1085: The Almoravid leader Yusuf bni Tashufin sets over to Spain, and establishes himself in Cordoba.1102: Valencia falls to the Almoravids1147: Marrakech falls to the Almohads, and the Almoravid leaders move to first Spain and then the Balearic Isles.
The Almoravids were a group of Muslims, originating in southern Mauritania/ Northern Senegal of mixed Berber and Fulani people that built an empire in Maghreb and Spain in the 11th and 12th centuries. Their Muslim orientation was one of simple and basic rules. Their theological foundation had been formed by Ahdallah Abdallah bni Yasin.The Almoravids were based on military commanders who also were administrators, called themselves jurists (fuqaha). Their theology was based on a strict Malikite version of Sharia (Islamic law).Architecture from the Almoravid period is characterized by simplicity, and with little decoration.
Kanem-Bornu (1097-1150)
At about 800 CE, the Kanuri people of the Lake Chad region, under the leadership of their legendary king Dugu, formed the beginnings of the trading empire of Kanem, and later Bornu. At about 1085, with the influence of Islam having entered the region some time before, the first Muslim ruler, Houme of the Sefawa dynasty, came to the throne. And, under Mai (king) Salma (1194-1221) Islam became the state religion. Under the reign of Idris Alooma (1580-1603), the now merged Empire of Bornu-Kanem regained much of its influence with its borders encompassing Murzuk to the north and Darfar in the east. In the 1800's the Kanuri were faced with invasion from the Fulani armies that had already conquered Hausaland.
Mali (1238-1468)
In the early thirteenth century, the exiled prince Sundiata Keita ("the hungering lion") led a Mande revolt against the powerful Soso king Sumanguru Kante that marked the ascension of the Mali empire. After Sundiata, the most famous ruler of the Mali empire is Mansa Kankan Musa I, who came to power several decades after the death of his legendary predecessor. Musa's hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca) of 1324-25 drew the attention of both the Islamic world and Europeans. Accompanied by an enormous entourage, Musa apparently dispensed so much gold in Cairo that the
precious metal's value plummeted and did not recover for several years thereafter. The image of Mansa Musa bearing nuggets of gold was subsequently commemorated in maps of the African continent.The fourteenth-century traveler Ibn Battuta visited ancient Mali a few decades after Musa's death. north and Darfar in the east. In the 1800's, the Kanuri were faced with invasion from the Fulani armies that had already conquered Hausaland.
It was from one of Mali's former conquests, the kingdom of Gao, that the last major empire of the western Sudan emerged. Although the city of Gao had been occupied by a Songhai dynasty prior to being conquered by Mansa Musa's forces in 1325, it was not until much later that the Songhai empire emerged. It began to rise in 1464 when Sonni cAli Ber came to power. Sonni cAli conquered much of the weakening Mali empire's territory as well as Timbuktu, famous for its Islamic universities and the pivotal trading city of Jenne. Following Sonni cAli's death, Muslim factions rebelled against his
successor and installed Askia Muhammad (formerly Muhammad Ture) as the first ruler of the Askia dynasty (1492-1592). Under the Askias, the Songhai empire reached its zenith, Timbuktu and Jenne flourished as centers of Islamic learning, and Islam was actively promoted.
Fuuta-Jalon (1727)
Fuuta Jalon is a highland region, in central Guinea, W Africa. Largely rolling grassland the region is inhabited by the Fulani. The Niger, Senegal, and Gambia rivers rise there. Since the 18th cent. It has been a stronghold of Islam until the arrival of the French colonizers.About 1727, the Fulani of Fuuta Jalon were led by Karamoko Alpha who established the Almamya (Leader of the Believers). The Almamy was selected between two families, The Alfaya Family and The Soriya Family. See table of The Almamies of Fuuta-Jalonbelow.Muhammad (formerly Muhammad Ture) as the first ruler of the Askia dynasty (1492-1592). Under the Askias, the Songhai empire reached its zenith, Timbuktu and Jenne flourished as centers of Islamic learning, and Islam was actively promoted.
Fuuta Jalon is a highland region, in central Guinea, W Africa. Largely rolling grassland the region is inhabited by the Fulani. The Niger, Senegal, and Gambia rivers rise there. Since the 18th cent. It has been a stronghold of Islam until the arrival of the French colonizers.About 1727, the Fulani of Fuuta Jalon were led by Karamoko Alpha who established the Almamya (Leader of the Believers). The Almamy was selected between two families, The Alfaya Family and The Soriya Family. See table of The Almamies of Fuuta-Jalonbelow.Muhammad (formerly Muhammad Ture) as the first ruler of the Askia dynasty (1492-1592). Under the Askias, the Songhai empire reached its zenith, Timbuktu and Jenne flourished as centers of Islamic learning, and Islam was actively promoted.
Table of the Fuuta-Jalon Almamya
Sovereign Almamies of Fuuta Jalon
Ibrahima Sambeegu, called
Karamoko Alfa mo Timbo18 years
Ibrahima Sori Yero Poore, called
Ibrahima Sori Mawdho(1730-1764),
34 years
Alfaya
Soriya
3th. Alfa Saalihu (son of Karamoko Alfa)(1764-1770)
4 years
4th. Saadu(son of Sori Mawdho)(1784-1791/95)
6 years
5th. Abdullaahi Baademba(1796/97-1813)
16 years
6th. Abdul Qaadirison of Sori Mawdho, Pathe d'
Umaru1805-1813/25)
13 years
7th. Bubakar Zikru(1813-1814)
9 months
8th. Yaya (1825-1833/37)
8 years
9th. Bubakar Mawdhoson of Abdullaahi Baademba(1814-1839/42)
25 years
10th. Umaruson of Abdul Qaadiri(1837/42-1871)
29 years
11th.
Ibrahima Sori Daara son of Bubakar Mawdho(1843-1873)
30 years
12th.
Ibrahima Sori Donhol Fella (1871-887/88)
19 years
13th.
Ahmadu Daara (1873-1894/95)
18 years
14th. Bubakar called
Bokar Biro (1889-1896)
6years
Source: Laing, Hecquard, Lambert, Bayol, Noirot, Madrolle, Arcin, Saint-Pere, Marty, Tauxier, Vieillard, Sow, Diallo
Non-Sovereign Almamies of Fuuta Jalon
In 1912, the French administration officially cancelled the functions of Almamy. The Almamies of the period are:
Almamy Sori Yilili. Soriya (1896-1897)
Almamy Umaru Bademba. Alfaya, (1896-1912)
Almamy Baba Alimou. Soriya (1897-1906)
Almamy Bokar Biro II (1906-1912)
Almamy Aguibou. Soriya,
Masina (1818-1853) Sheik Ahmadu
The Masina is a region located in central Mali and northern Burkina Faso.Following the collapse of Songhai Empire in 1591 by the armies of al-Mansur of Morocco number of small kingdoms Masina, Gonja, Segou, Kaarta strove to dominate the western Mali, but continual strife and economic decline were the only results. In 1818 Seku Ahmadu, a Fulani Muslim introduced a theocratic state in Macina. During his rule an empire embracing the whole of the Niger River region, from Jenne to Timbuktu, was created. Upon his death in 1844 his son took power, but in 1862 Macina fell to another Muslim reformer, al-Hajj Umar.
Bhundu (1690)
About 1690, Malick Sy, a Fulani religious scholar from Fuuta Tooro, obtained from the Tunka(King) of Goye at territory between the Faleme River and The Gambia River, he called Bhundu. He proclaimed the Holy war opposed the kingdom of Goye and grew his kingdom. Bhundu prospered under Malick Sy reign and his descendants, the Sissibe.Sokoto (1809-)
The Fulani Empire of Sokoto was the last of the five great empires that rose and fell in the Sudan between the eighth and twentieth centuries. It was founded by three men of the same family, probably the most remarkable triumvirate that Africa has yet produced, and it
developed a society which, in its heyday, was perhaps better governed and more highly civilized than any other that Africans had until then evolved. The late author, who for over twenty years was an Administrative Officer in Northern Nigeria, the core of the Sokoto Empire, was an accomplished Hausa scholar who also published a volume of translations. He was therefore able to supplement the established English and Arabic authorities by introducing new information gathered from Fulani and Hausa sources, much of which he collected himself in the course of his service. More important still, every chapter of his history is illuminated by an intimate knowledge of the country and genuine sympathy with its people
