Introduction

Ahmad al-Kabir faced a daunting challenge as he sought to preside over the vast Umarian conquests in the early 1860s. Not only had his father perished in the revolt of the Masinanke in 1863-4, but also most of the thousands of disciple soldiers, including the main leaders.  A whole generation, embued with the mission of the pilgrim, mujahid and Tijaniyya leader, had disappeared. Ahmad had been installed as successor in a brief ceremony before the conquest of Segu, and then again in two ceremonies in Hamdullahi in 1862-3.  In these installations Umar affirmed Ahmad both as leader of the Tijaniyya and the Commander of the Faithful - the most universal title for the head of an Islamic state.

But these belated efforts did not ensure a secure reign. Ahmad was only slightly older than his surviving brothers, and he had no obvious authority over them nor any training in the arts of war, diplomacy or government. He was victim of the complete absorption in constant warfare during the previous decade, and the absence of planning for governance or spreading the faith. The indigenous inhabitants of the vast region, from the Upper Senegal to the Middle Niger to Timbuktu, had no love lost for their new rulers. Ahmad’s reign from Segu was marked by constant rebellions from his so-called subjects.

The "Tokolor Empire" consisted of a series of garrison towns separated by large areas over which he had no control. His cousin Tijani re-established dominance of much of the old Hamdullahi Caliphate in the decades that followed the defeat of the Umarian forces in 1863-4, but he did not recognize Ahmad’s supremacy. Meanwhile Ahmad’s half-brothers reigned over areas in the west - the old homestead of Dingiray, the area of Karta and its capital of Nioro, and a few other towns, but they only reluctantly recognized their older brother’s succession. Nioro was the most critical city, the nerve center of the west and the base for recruitment missions back in Senegambia - and a center of several conspiracies against Ahmad. We give an estimate of the Umarian empire and its areas of control about 1881 - a dramatic illustration of the dilemma of Ahmad al-Kabir (see embedded map).

Ahmad nonetheless managed to survive for 30 years, until Archinard and the French drove him from one garrison capital to another: Segu (captured in 1890), Nioro (1891) and Bandiagara (1893). With about a thousand followers he fled Bandiagara, in a movement which Umarians call hijra or emigration. He died near Sokoto and the home village of his mother in 1897.  His image and reputation have grown since his death. During his reign he received praise when he won battles against the Bambara, recalling the glory days of the "destruction of paganism," or when he occasionally organized resistance against the French.

We get a good image of Ahmad (above) from a sketch made by a French explorer. Eugene Mage was commissioned to travel to the Middle Niger and assess the Umarian state by Governor Faidherbe. He arrived in Segu, Ahmad’s capital, just as Umar and most of his army were being destroyed by the Masinanke forces. Mage was confined essentially to the capital. He made good use of his time, however, by interviewing people in the palace and town about the Umarian jihad and the local societies. He made sketches which artists in France translated into woodcuts and the illustrations which appear in his book, published in 1868. We also give here the sketch he made of the entrance to Ahmad’s palace in Segu (left).

The third image (right) shows an Umarian or "Tokolor" horseman with musket. It is included because it suggests the superiority that Umarian forces often enjoyed in terms of mounts and firearms. Note that the musket is decorated with a number of amulets, another "spiritual" weapon of protection for these reform-minded Muslims. The image comes from another French traveler, Joseph Gallieni, who made his sketches in the late 1880s as the French were advancing into the domain of the "Tokolor Empire." Another Gallieni sketch is Dingiray, the first Umarian capital, in the section on Umar Tal.

Triumph and the Second Fitna

As the inheritor of the Umarian mantle and a survivor in extremely difficult conditions, Ahmad enjoyed great prestige,  but some of the positive memory came after his death and in the light of the "infidel" conquest and colonial rule. During his reign little distinguished him from other monarchs, often "pagan" and "traditional," of the Western Sudan. He spent considerable time subduing the indigenous subjects of his realm, especially the Bambara who would not accept the conquests of Karta and Segu or the yoke of Umarian rule. In addition, Ahmad faced critical challenges from his brothers, and we have grouped two of these as the second and third fitna of the Umarian movement. The other sons of Umar had grown up in Dingiray and learned, often from their mothers, to build constituencies for exercising power in the future. They often recited alternative stories of Umar’s plans for succession and contested the authority of the Commander of the Faithful. If they accepted Ahmad’s succession, it was as a first among equals, as one who should accept the autonomy of his brothers in their respective garrisons. They were not prepared to travel to Segu and swear allegiance. The two challenges - from the indigenous subjects, especially the Bambara, and from the other Tal - marked his whole reign.

Ahmad's first tests started  in the late 1860s.  He achieved victory over a Bambara threat, whereupon he encountered a challenge from two of his brothers.  It originated in  Dingiray, which had remained the principal home of Umar's wives and children. From there Mokhtar and Habib, sons of Umar by his prestigious Sokoto wife, maintained that they were more appropriate successors than their slightly older brother. They took some garrison towns in the western dominions and were threatening Nioro. Ahmad set out in 1869, mobilized the loyalists in and around Nioro, and eventually captured his rivals. In 1874 he took Habib and Mokhtar back to Segu, where they spent the rest of their lives in prison.

During this trial Ahmad sought ideological support for his action. He turned to one of his most prestigious counselors for advice about the struggle against his brothers. The author was Seydu An, pilgrim, veteran of earlier military campaigns in Sokoto, the author of a history of Sokoto, and a "convert" to the Tijaniyya from the time of Umar’s visit to the caliphate. He apparently went on the pilgrimage in the 1850s and came to Segu in the 1860s. Seydu knew his Islamic history, and he was able to put the challenge to Ahmad into the context of the seventh century, when the world of the practitioners of the new faith was shaken to its very core. He also knew the full history of Umar’s efforts to demonstrate that he had chosen Ahmad as his successor or khalifa. All this was ample justification for the capture and imprisonment of the brothers.

Before and during this test, the indigenous subjects put constant pressure on the ability of Segu to exercise effective authority over its vast domains. The Bambara gathered in a town called Gemukura, in southern Karta, in the early 1870s. They threatened the state and the vital communications between east and west. But their insurgency also offered opportunity to Ahmad al-Kabir to unify the Umarians to wage jihad against a “pagan” foe and to build his reputation as Commander of the Faithful and the only successor of his father. When the Umarians succeeded in defeating the insurgents again in 1872, they celebrated the triumph on the same basis as the conquest of Segu in 1859-61. The victory was a reaffirmation of the “jihad against paganism” that had won wide acclaim in the Muslim community, in West Africa and Morocco, before the catastrophic engagement against Hamdullahi, and it was the occasion for reaffirming that Ahmad was indeed the Commander of the Faithful

Ahmad came to depend upon a core of supporters whose families hailed from the same part of western Futa Toro as he. Foremost among them were his Ture cousins, from the Ceerno Wocce lineage of western Futa. Seydu Jeliya Ture became his counselor, spokesman and scribe, and it is to him that we owe the celebratory document below.