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Omar Saidou Tall

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For the soccer player, seeOmar Tall (soccer).
Oumar Foutiyou Tall
El Hadji, Khalifa, Amir al-Mu'minin
Reign1852–1864
SuccessorAhmadu Tall
BornOumar Tall
c. 1796
Futa Tooro, Senegal
Died14 February 1864(1864-02-14)(aged 67–68)
Bandiagara Escarpment
IssueAhmadu Tall
ReligionTijaniyyah islam

Hadji Oumarûl Foutiyou Tall(ʿUmar ibn Saʿīd al-Fūtī Ṭaʿl,Arabic:حاج عمر بن سعيد الفوتي طعل,c. 1794– 1864CE), born inFuta Tooro,present-day Senegal, was a SenegaleseTijani sufiToucouleurIslamic scholar and military commander who founded the short-livedToucouleur Empire,which encompassed much of what is nowSenegal,Mauritania,GuineaandMali.[1]

Name

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Omar Tall’s name is spelt variously: in particular, his first name is commonlytransliteratedin French asOmar,although some sources preferUmar;thepatronymic,ibn Saʿīd,is often omitted; and the final element of his name,Tall(Arabic:طعل), is spelt variously asTall,TaalorTal.

ThehonorificEl Hadj(alsoal-Hajjorel-Hadj), reserved for a Muslim who has successfully made theHajjtoMecca,[2]precedes Omar Tall's name in many texts, especially those in Arabic. Later he also took on the honorificsAmir al-Mu'minin,Khalifa,Qutb(pole of the universe), vizier of theMahdi,Khalifat Khatim al-Awliya(successor of the seal of saints), andAlmami(Imam).[1]

Early life

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Omar Tall was born about 1794 in Halwar in theImamate of Futa Toro(present-daySenegal), the tenth of twelve children.[3]His father was Saidou Tall, from the Torodbe tribe, and his mother was Sokhna Adama Thiam.

Omar Tall attended amadrassabefore embarking on the Hajj in 1828, during which he learned from the scholars ofAl Azhar University.While inMeccahe stayed withMuhammad al Ghali[fr],the head of the Tijaniyyah order, who made him amuqaddam(commander) of the order with a commission to destroy paganism in the Sudan.[4]He returned in 1830 as amaraboutwith the titleEl Hadjand assumed thekhalifaof the TijaniyyaSufi orderin theSudan.El-Hadj took the Tijani honorificKhalifat Khatim al-Awliya.This authority would become the basis of the authority necessary to lead Africans.[5]

When returning from the Hajj, he camped nearDamascus,where he metIbrahim Pasha,Omar Tall befriended the Pasha and healed his son from a deadly fever. The trends set by the Pasha highly inspired Omar Tall.[citation needed]

Gathering strength

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Settling inSokotofrom 1831 to 1837, he entered into a polygynous marriage, with one of the women being the daughter of theFulacaliph of theSokoto Caliphate,Muhammed Bello.In 1837, Omar Tall moved to theImamate of Futa Jallonand founded his religious settlement at Jegunko in 1840. Omar Tall claimed a transcendental personal authority. He denied the importance of adherence to amadhhaband favouredijtihador personal religious judgment. He taught that a believer should follow the guidance of a Sufishaykhwho has immediate personal knowledge of the divine truth. Even though Omar Tall never took the title of eithermujaddidorMahdi,he was regarded as such by his followers. He became theTorodbeideal of religious revival and conquest of pagans.[1]

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 lower-class people had grievances against local religious or military elites. Slaves aspired to gain freedom fighting for Islam. Rootless individuals of mixed ethnic backgrounds found new social identities and opportunities. Communities under the power of Europeans looked to Tall to drive off the foreigners.Maraboutfamilies hoped to gain political power in addition to their religious influence.[6][1]

His growing power and number of followers caused tension with the leaders of the Imamate.[1][4]In 1851 he moved his community to found the city ofDinguirayein what was then theKingdom of Tamba.The king, Yambi, granted him the land in return for a yearly payment.[7]: 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.[7]: 103 : 108 

Initial conquests

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With his victory in Tamba, Tall proclaimed a jihad against pagans, lapsed Muslims, European intruders, and the backsliding rulers ofFuta Toroand Futa Jallon.[1]As his army scored victories, he reinforced his army with the recruits who flocked to Dinguiraye and English guns purchased inSierra Leonewith the spoils of war.[4]

Omar Tall pressed on into what is today the region ofKayesin Mali, conquering several cities and building atata(fortification) near the city of Kayes which is today a populartouristdestination.[8]He conqueredBambouk,then seizedNioro du Sahel,the capital ofKaarta,in April 1855, which became his capital.[4]

Next, Omar Tall turned west towardsFuta Toro,GajaagaandBundu.This brought him into conflict with the French who were attempting to establish their commercial supremacy along theSenegal river.Tall besieged the Frenchcolonialarmy 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 theBambarastates ofKaartaandSegu.[1]

Bambara and Masina

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Prevented from expanding in the west by the French, Omar Tall turned East. He conquered the importantBambaracities ofNyaminaandSansanding,followed by Ségou on 10 March 1860.[4][9]When Segu fell, their king, Ali Diara (Bina Ali), fled toHamdullahi[10]taking with him the traditional idols of the royal family.[11]

While Omar Tall's wars thus far had been against theanimistBambara or the Christian French, he now turned his attention to the smaller Islamic states of the region. Installing his sonAhmadu Tallasimamof Segu, Omar Tall marched down theNigerto attack theMassina EmpireofHamdullahi.This was controversial, as attacking a fellow Muslim power was forbidden.[4]Ahmad al-Bakkai al-Kunti,of the Qadari Sufi order, led a coalition of local states to resist this invasion, denounced as an illegitimate war of Muslims on Muslims. The coalition includedinter alia,MasinaandTimbuktu.[citation needed]

More than 70,000 died[8]in the battles that followed. The most decisive was atCayawal,after whichAmadu III,the Masina king, was captured and executed.[7]: 105 Djennéfell quickly[10]followed by the final fall of Hamdullahi in May 1862.[10][12][13]

Now controlling the entire Middle Niger, Omar Tall moved againstTimbuktu,only to be repulsed in 1863 by a combined force ofTuaregs,Moors,andFulas.[14]In 1863, the coalition inflicted several defeats on Omar Tall's army, ending up killing Tall's generals Alpha Umar (Alfa 'Umar), Thierno Bayla and Alfa 'Uthman.[15][16]

Rebellion and death

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Meanwhile, a rebellion broke out in the Masina lands led byBa Lobbo,cousin of executed Masina monarchAmadu III.In suppressing the revolt during the spring of 1863, Omar Tall reoccupied the city of Hamdullahi, and in June Ba Lobbos's combined force of Fulas andKountasbesieged Omar Tall's army there.[17]They capturedHamdallahiin February 1864. Omar Tall fled and managed to make it to a cave in Degembere (in theBandiagara Escarpment[18]) where he died on 14 February 1864.[15][17][19]

Omar Tall's nephewTidiani Tallsucceeded him in retaking Massina, though his sonAhmadu Tall,operating out of Ségou, did much of the work in keeping the empire intact. Nonetheless, the French continued to advance, conquering Nioro in 1891.[4]Omar Tall's jihad state was completely absorbed into the growing French West African empire.[1]

Legacy

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Graffiti of Omar Tall inDakar,Senegal

Omar Tall remains a prominent figure in Senegal, Guinea, and Mali, though his legacy varies by country. While many Senegalese tend to remember him as a hero of anti-French resistance, Malian sources tend to describe him as an invader who prepared the way for the French by weakening West Africa.[citation needed]Omar Tall also figures prominently inMaryse Condé'shistorical novelSegu.

He remains to this day an influential figure in theTijaniyyaand other reformist movements, which stressed the importance of Muslim orthopraxy. Omar Tall's state forbade dancing, the use of tobacco, alcohol, charms, pagan ceremonies, and the worship of idols. Many un-Islamic practices were banned. These laws were also very strictly enforced, especially the ban on alcohol. Omar Tall abolished uncanonical taxes and replaced them withzakat,land taxes, andjizya.Polygamists were restricted to only four wives. Omar Tall, however, was uninterested in the logistical aspects of inculcating Islam such as building courts, madrassahs, and mosques. The primary function of Omar Tall's state was predatory warfare, slaving, the accumulation of booty, and the reform of morals.[1]In Senegambia, his emphasis during the “jihadic period” is remembered as "not resistance to the Europeans but the “destruction of paganism” in the Western Sudan. "[20]

In November 2019, the French government returned the so-called sword of Omar Tall—which was the sword of Ahmadu Tall, Omar Tall's son—to the government of the Republic of Senegal. The sword was returned five years later. French MPs will vote later on permanently returning the sword.[21][22]

Lineage of kingship

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Preceded by
none
 Leader of theToucouleur Empire
1850–1864 		Succeeded by
Preceded by FaamaofSégou
1861–1864 		Succeeded by

References

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Notes

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  1. ^abcdefghiLapidus, Ira M.(2014) A History of Islamic Societies. 3rd ed., New York: Cambridge University Press, pp. 472–473.
  2. ^Malise Ruthven (1997).Islam: A very short introduction.Oxford University Press. p.147.ISBN978-0-19-285389-9.
  3. ^Robinson, David (1985).The Holy War of Umar Tal: The Western Sudan in the Mid-Nineteenth Century.Oxford:Oxford University Press.pp. 67–71.ISBN978-0198227205.
  4. ^abcdefgBoilley, Pierre (2005). "Tukolor Empire of al-Hajj Umar". In Shillington, Kevin (ed.).Encyclopedia of African History.New York: Fitzroy Dearborn. pp. 1591–1592.
  5. ^Robinson, David (1987). "The Umarian Emigration of the Late Nineteenth Century".The International Journal of African Historical Studies.20(2): 97–99.doi:10.2307/219842.JSTOR219842.
  6. ^Chastanet, Monique (October 1987)."De la traite à la conquête coloniale dans le Haut Sénégal: l'état Soninke du Gajaaga de 1818 à 1858"(PDF).Cahiers du C.R.A.5:106–107.Retrieved1 July2023.
  7. ^abcHanson, John H. (1985)."Historical Writing in Nineteenth Century Segu: A Critical Analysis of an Anonymous Arabic Chronicle".History in Africa.12:101–115.doi:10.2307/3171715.JSTOR3171715.Retrieved27 October2023.
  8. ^ab"El-Hadj Umar Tall (1797–1864) Islamic scholar and empire builder".Standard News From The Gambia.2019-05-31.Retrieved2022-05-15.
  9. ^Delafosse, Maurice (1968).The Negroes of Africa: History and Culture.Port Washington, New York: Kennikat Press. p. 93.,a reprint of the 1931 edition, being a translation of the author'sLes noirs de L'Afrique,published in 1921;Civilizations négro africaines,published in 1925; and part ofLes nègrespublished in 1927.
  10. ^abcRoberts, 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.ISBN978-0-8047-1378-8.
  11. ^Okoth, Assa (2006).A History of Africa: African societies and the establishment of colonial rule: 1800–1915.Nairobi: East African Educational Publishing. pp. 10–11.ISBN978-9966-25-357-6.
  12. ^Stapleton, Timothy J. (2013).A Military History of Africa.Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO. p. 84.ISBN978-0-313-39570-3.
  13. ^Tall, Hadja (2006)."Al Hajj Umar Tall: The Biography of a Controversial Leader".Ufahamu: A Journal of African Studies.32(1/2): 73–90 [85].doi:10.5070/F7321-2016514.
  14. ^Fula:Fulɓe;French:Peul
  15. ^abAjayi, J. F. Ade, ed. (1989).Africa in the Nineteenth Century Until the 1880s.Paris: International Scientific Committee for the Drafting of a General History of Africa, UNESCO. p.620.ISBN978-0-520-03917-9.
  16. ^Tyam, Mohammadou Alio (1935).La vie d'el Hadj Omar, qacida en poular.Paris: Institut d'ethnologie. pp. 190–192, notes 1092 & 1110.notes and translation by Gaden, Henri; url access restricted to University of Michigan libraries.
  17. ^abTall 2006,p. 86
  18. ^Gallay, Alain; Huysecom, Eric; Honegger, Matthieu; Mayor, Anne (1990). "Vorwort [Forward]".Hamdallahi, capitale de l'Empire peul du Massina, Mali: première fouille archéologique, études historiques et ethnoarchéologiques(in German). Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag. p. 10.
  19. ^There is some dispute about where exactly the cave in question is located."Le miracle s'est produit a Degembere et non dans les falaises de Bandiagara"[The miracle occurred in Degembere and not in the Bandiagara Escarpment]. SenePlus. 2 February 2014.
  20. ^The Standard (Gambia),Al-hajj Umar Fouti Tall c. 1797–1864 The Tijaniyya jihadist(June 19, 2020)[1](retrieved 23 August 2020)
  21. ^"France returns Omar Tall's sword to Senegal".BBC News.18 November 2019.
  22. ^"'La première œuvre qui est "restituée" à l'Afrique est un objet européen'".Le Monde.24 November 2019.

Sources

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  • Davidson, Basil.Africa in History.New York: Simon & Schuster, 1995.
  • Robinson, David, (1985)The Holy War of Umar Tal.Oxford: Oxford University Press
  • Robinson, David; Triaud, Jean-Louis, eds. (1997).Le temps des marabouts Itinéraires et stratégies islamiques en Afrique occidentale française.Karthala.ISBN978-2-8111-0735-2.{{cite book}}:|journal=ignored (help)
  • B. O. Oloruntimeehin.The Segu Tukulor Empire.New York: Humanities Press (1972). SBN 391002066
  • Willis, John Ralph.In the Path of Allah: The Passion of al-Hajj 'Umar.London: Cass, 1989.
  • Wise, Christopher.The Desert Shore: Literatures of the Sahel.Boulder & London: Lynne Rienner, 2001.
  • Wise, Christopher.Yambo Ouologuem: Postcolonial Writer, Islamic Militant.Boulder & London: Lynne Rienner, 1999.
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