The Imamate of Futa Toro was situated along the Senegal River in present-day northern Senegal and southern Mauritania. The Futa Toro region is south of the Sahara Desert linking it to vital trade routes. [1] The Imamate of Futa Toro was first established in 1776 CE, when Muslim clerics also known as torodbe, overthrew the rulers of the Empire of Great Fulo. [2] The Muslim clerics established an Imamate with an Almamy or Imam as ruler. During the beginning of the nineteenth century the Almamy began to lose power to elite local aristocracy or chieftains who controlled most of the land in the region. During this time many non-Muslims in the region migrated from Futa Toro. In 1860 CE during the Senegambian Jihad of al-Hajj Umar, the French took control over the Futa Toro region as it was crucial for trade along the Senegal River, therefore with the French occupation the Imamate of Futa Toro ended. [3]
[1]: (Clark, 2005) Clark, Andrew F. 2005. ‘Futa Toro’ In Encyclopedia of African History Volume 1: A-G. Edited by Kevin Shillington. London: Taylor and Francis. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/GDPPE8E5/collection
[2]: (Klein 1972, 429) Klein, Martin A. 1972. ‘Social and Economic Factors in the Muslim Revolution in Senegambia.’ The Journal of Africa History. Vol. 13:3. Pp 419-441. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/ZJRN8UJ8/collection
[3]: (Lapidus, 2014) Lapidus, Ira M. 2014. A History of Islamic Societies. Third Edition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Lapidus/titleCreatorYear/items/5HAADQHE/item-list
| Year Range | Imamate of Futa Toro (se_futa_toro_imamate) was in: |
|---|
“The first Muslim success was on the banks of the Senegal river. In 1776, the torodbe, the Muslim clerics of Futa Toro, deposed the denianke rulers and formed a theocratic state.” [1] During the Jihad of al-Hajj Umar, the French took control over the Futa Toro region which officially ended the Imamate of Futa Toro. “His jihad began with the conquest of Futa Toro. By 1862 his empire included Timbuktu, Masina, Hamdallahi, and Segu. In Futa Toro, however, he came into conflict with the French, who were attempting to establish their commercial supremacy along the Senegal River. In 1857 they defeated Umar in battle at Medina, and in 1860 Umar made a treaty with the French that recognized their sphere of influence in Futa Toro and assigned him the Bambara states of Kaarta and Segu.” [2]
[1]: (Klein 1972, 429) Klein, Martin A. 1972. ‘Social and Economic Factors in the Muslim Revolution in Senegambia.’ The Journal of Africa History. Vol. 13:3. Pp 419-441. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/ZJRN8UJ8/collection
[2]: (Lapidus, 2014) Lapidus, Ira M. 2014. A History of Islamic Societies. Third Edition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Lapidus/titleCreatorYear/items/5HAADQHE/item-list
During the Jihad of al-Hajj Umar, the French took control over the Futa Toro region which officially ended the Imamate of Futa Toro. “His jihad began with the conquest of Futa Toro. By 1862 his empire included Timbuktu, Masina, Hamdallahi, and Segu. In Futa Toro, however, he came into conflict with the French, who were attempting to establish their commercial supremacy along the Senegal River. In 1857 they defeated Umar in battle at Medina, and in 1860 Umar made a treaty with the French that recognized their sphere of influence in Futa Toro and assigned him the Bambara states of Kaarta and Segu.” [1]
[1]: (Lapidus, 2014) Lapidus, Ira M. 2014. A History of Islamic Societies. Third Edition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Lapidus/titleCreatorYear/items/5HAADQHE/item-list
“The first Muslim success was on the banks of the Senegal river. In 1776, the torodbe, the Muslim clerics of Futa Toro, deposed the denianke rulers and formed a theocratic state.” [1]
[1]: (Klein 1972, 429) Klein, Martin A. 1972. ‘Social and Economic Factors in the Muslim Revolution in Senegambia.’ The Journal of Africa History. Vol. 13:3. Pp 419-441. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/ZJRN8UJ8/collection
“The term Torodbe, as the clerics of the Futa Toro were know, covered persons of diverse social status and ethnic origin. They spoke Fulfulde and embraced customs of the pastoral Fulbe, but they were sedentaries, not necessarily of Fulbe origin.” [1] Communications between Senegambian groups and the French and English colonists were made in Arabic and French. “There was a series of treaties, frequently negotiated with great care and written up in French and Arabic.” [2]
[1]: (Levtzion and Pouwels 2000, 78) Levitzon, Nehemia and Randall L. Pouwels. The History of Islam in Africa. Athens: Ohio University Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Pouwels/titleCreatorYear/items/R3XRWJBX/item-list
[2]: (Klein 1972, 425) Klein, Martin A. 1972. ‘Social and Economic Factors in the Muslim Revolution in Senegambia.’ The Journal of Africa History. Vol. 13:3. Pp 419-441. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/ZJRN8UJ8/collection
“The term Torodbe, as the clerics of the Futa Toro were know, covered persons of diverse social status and ethnic origin. They spoke Fulfulde and embraced customs of the pastoral Fulbe, but they were sedentaries, not necessarily of Fulbe origin.” [1] Communications between Senegambian groups and the French and English colonists were made in Arabic and French. “There was a series of treaties, frequently negotiated with great care and written up in French and Arabic.” [2]
[1]: (Levtzion and Pouwels 2000, 78) Levitzon, Nehemia and Randall L. Pouwels. The History of Islam in Africa. Athens: Ohio University Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Pouwels/titleCreatorYear/items/R3XRWJBX/item-list
[2]: (Klein 1972, 425) Klein, Martin A. 1972. ‘Social and Economic Factors in the Muslim Revolution in Senegambia.’ The Journal of Africa History. Vol. 13:3. Pp 419-441. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/ZJRN8UJ8/collection
“In Mauritania and Senegambia, there was a network of rural schools, at which the Koran and certain important works of technology and law were studied. The more learned marabouts studied at different schools. Some of these schools seem to have played an important revolutionary role. Thus, according to Futa Toro traditions, all the major leaders of the 1776 torodbe revolt studied at Pir Saniokhor in Cayor.” [1]
[1]: (Klein 1972, 428) Klein, Martin A. 1972. ‘Social and Economic Factors in the Muslim Revolution in Senegambia.’ The Journal of Africa History. Vol. 13:3. Pp 419-441. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/ZJRN8UJ8/collection
The following quote suggests that Islamic judges were likely present. “The tokolor revolution resulted in the replacement of one elite by another, and in the creation of a society within which the Sharia, the Muslim law, was enforced.” [1]
[1]: (Klein 1972, 429) Klein, Martin A. 1972. ‘Social and Economic Factors in the Muslim Revolution in Senegambia.’ The Journal of Africa History. Vol. 13:3. Pp 419-441. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/ZJRN8UJ8/collection
Sharia law. “The tokolor revolution resulted in the replacement of one elite by another, and in the creation of a society within which the Sharia, the Muslim law, was enforced.” [1]
[1]: (Klein 1972, 429) Klein, Martin A. 1972. ‘Social and Economic Factors in the Muslim Revolution in Senegambia.’ The Journal of Africa History. Vol. 13:3. Pp 419-441. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/ZJRN8UJ8/collection
The following quote suggests that Islamic courts were likely present. “The tokolor revolution resulted in the replacement of one elite by another, and in the creation of a society within which the Sharia, the Muslim law, was enforced.” [1]
[1]: (Klein 1972, 429) Klein, Martin A. 1972. ‘Social and Economic Factors in the Muslim Revolution in Senegambia.’ The Journal of Africa History. Vol. 13:3. Pp 419-441. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/ZJRN8UJ8/collection
The following quote suggests that markets were likely present due to the vast trading networks with French merchants and other Muslim kingdoms. “The Torodbe belonged to the Tucolor, a West African people closely related to the Fulani. Once in the Futa Toro, they began to expand the trade with French merchants who came up the Senegal River, as well as with other Muslim centres of trade in the western region of Western Sudan.” [1]
[1]: (Davidson 2014, 88) Davidson, Basil. 2014. West Africa Before the Colonia Era: A History to 1850. London: Taylor and Francis. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/XNXIN893/collection
“This double harvest made Futa Toro a food-exporting region and also drew migrant farmers from the surrounding areas […] Fulbe herders practices seasonal migration, staying near permeant sources of water in the dry season, then moving out with the rains and finally returning when water holes and pastures dried up.” [1]
[1]: (Clark, 2005) Clark, Andrew F. 2005. ‘Futa Toro’ In Encyclopedia of African History Volume 1: A-G. Edited by Kevin Shillington. London: Taylor and Francis. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/GDPPE8E5/collection
The following quotes suggest that communal buildings such as mosques were likely present within the Imamate of Futa Toro. “In Mauritania and Senegambia, there was a network of rural schools, at which the Koran and certain important works of technology and law were studied. The more learned marabouts studied at different schools. Some of these schools seem to have played an important revolutionary role. Thus, according to Futa Toro traditions, all the major leaders of the 1776 torodbe revolt studied at Pir Saniokhor in Cayor.” [1] “The tokolor revolution resulted in the replacement of one elite by another, and in the creation of a society within which the Sharia, the Muslim law, was enforced.” [2]
[1]: (Klein 1972, 428) Klein, Martin A. 1972. ‘Social and Economic Factors in the Muslim Revolution in Senegambia.’ The Journal of Africa History. Vol. 13:3. Pp 419-441. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/ZJRN8UJ8/collection
[2]: (Klein 1972, 429) Klein, Martin A. 1972. ‘Social and Economic Factors in the Muslim Revolution in Senegambia.’ The Journal of Africa History. Vol. 13:3. Pp 419-441. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/ZJRN8UJ8/collection
Drinking water supply systems. “This double harvest made Futa Toro a food-exporting region and also drew migrant farmers from the surrounding areas […] Fulbe herders practices seasonal migration, staying near permeant sources of water in the dry season, then moving out with the rains and finally returning when water holes and pastures dried up.” [1] Markets were also likely present. “The Torodbe belonged to the Tucolor, a West African people closely related to the Fulani. Once in the Futa Toro, they began to expand the trade with French merchants who came up the Senegal River, as well as with other Muslim centres of trade in the western region of Western Sudan.” [2]
[1]: (Clark, 2005) Clark, Andrew F. 2005. ‘Futa Toro’ In Encyclopedia of African History Volume 1: A-G. Edited by Kevin Shillington. London: Taylor and Francis. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/GDPPE8E5/collection
[2]: (Davidson 2014, 88) Davidson, Basil. 2014. West Africa Before the Colonia Era: A History to 1850. London: Taylor and Francis. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/XNXIN893/collection
“In Mauritania and Senegambia, there was a network of rural schools, at which the Koran and certain important works of technology and law were studied. The more learned marabouts studied at different schools. Some of these schools seem to have played an important revolutionary role. Thus, according to Futa Toro traditions, all the major leaders of the 1776 torodbe revolt studied at Pir Saniokhor in Cayor.” [1]
[1]: (Klein 1972, 428) Klein, Martin A. 1972. ‘Social and Economic Factors in the Muslim Revolution in Senegambia.’ The Journal of Africa History. Vol. 13:3. Pp 419-441. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/ZJRN8UJ8/collection
The following quote suggests that roads were likely present due to the presence of trade networks. “Hitherto, the trading season had been limited to the month immediately following the rains. When the season ended the traders burned their huts and returned home. The peanut trade however, gave rise to the practice of traders advancing goods on credit to subtraders who remained in business all year long.” [1]
[1]: (Klein 1972, 425) Klein, Martin A. 1972. ‘Social and Economic Factors in the Muslim Revolution in Senegambia.’ The Journal of Africa History. Vol. 13:3. Pp 419-441. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/ZJRN8UJ8/collection
Gold mines. “With the end of the export slave trade, the commercial populations looked for new commodities to trade […]These linkages also seem to have stimulated the cultivation of cotton, the mining of gold, and the production of textiles and gold jewelry.” [1]
[1]: (Klien, 2005) Klien, Martin A. ‘Futa Toro: Early Nineteenth Century’ In Encyclopedia of African History Volume 1: A-G. Edited by Kevin Shillington. London: Taylor and Francis. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/U5AI43KW/collection
“Hitherto, the trading season had been limited to the month immediately following the rains. When the season ended the traders burned their huts and returned home. The peanut trade however, gave rise to the practice of traders advancing goods on credit to subtraders who remained in business all year long.” [1]
[1]: (Klein 1972, 425) Klein, Martin A. 1972. ‘Social and Economic Factors in the Muslim Revolution in Senegambia.’ The Journal of Africa History. Vol. 13:3. Pp 419-441. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/ZJRN8UJ8/collection
Gold mines. “With the end of the export slave trade, the commercial populations looked for new commodities to trade […]These linkages also seem to have stimulated the cultivation of cotton, the mining of gold, and the production of textiles and gold jewelry.” [1] Trading emporia might have also been present. “Hitherto, the trading season had been limited to the month immediately following the rains. When the season ended the traders burned their huts and returned home. The peanut trade however, gave rise to the practice of traders advancing goods on credit to subtraders who remained in business all year long.” [2]
[1]: (Klien, 2005) Klien, Martin A. ‘Futa Toro: Early Nineteenth Century’ In Encyclopedia of African History Volume 1: A-G. Edited by Kevin Shillington. London: Taylor and Francis. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/U5AI43KW/collection
[2]: (Klein 1972, 425) Klein, Martin A. 1972. ‘Social and Economic Factors in the Muslim Revolution in Senegambia.’ The Journal of Africa History. Vol. 13:3. Pp 419-441. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/ZJRN8UJ8/collection
Communications between Senegambian groups and the French and English colonists were made in Arabic and French. “There was a series of treaties, frequently negotiated with great care and written up in French and Arabic.” [1]
[1]: (Klein 1972, 425) Klein, Martin A. 1972. ‘Social and Economic Factors in the Muslim Revolution in Senegambia.’ The Journal of Africa History. Vol. 13:3. Pp 419-441. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/ZJRN8UJ8/collection
Communications between Senegambian groups and the French and English colonists were made in Arabic and French. “There was a series of treaties, frequently negotiated with great care and written up in French and Arabic.” [1]
[1]: (Klein 1972, 425) Klein, Martin A. 1972. ‘Social and Economic Factors in the Muslim Revolution in Senegambia.’ The Journal of Africa History. Vol. 13:3. Pp 419-441. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/ZJRN8UJ8/collection
The Arabic writing system is phonetic. “The first obvious indication of such interest would be that given by the evidence of attempts to write the language, for if different signs were used to designate different sounds there was at least sufficient phonetic interest present to distinguish one speech-sound from another.” [1]
[1]: (Semaan 1968, 6) Semaan, Khalil I. 1968. Linguistics in the Middle Ages: Phonetic Studies in Early Islam. Leiden: Brill Publishing. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Semaan/titleCreatorYear/items/U3W57I6B/item-list
Quran. “In Mauritania and Senegambia, there was a network of rural schools, at which the Koran and certain important works of technology and law were studied. The more learned marabouts studied at different schools. Some of these schools seem to have played an important revolutionary role. Thus, according to Futa Toro traditions, all the major leaders of the 1776 torodbe revolt studied at Pir Saniokhor in Cayor.” [1]
[1]: (Klein 1972, 428) Klein, Martin A. 1972. ‘Social and Economic Factors in the Muslim Revolution in Senegambia.’ The Journal of Africa History. Vol. 13:3. Pp 419-441. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/ZJRN8UJ8/collection
The following quote suggests that religious literature was likely present. “In Mauritania and Senegambia, there was a network of rural schools, at which the Koran and certain important works of technology and law were studied. The more learned marabouts studied at different schools. Some of these schools seem to have played an important revolutionary role. Thus, according to Futa Toro traditions, all the major leaders of the 1776 torodbe revolt studied at Pir Saniokhor in Cayor.” [1]
[1]: (Klein 1972, 428) Klein, Martin A. 1972. ‘Social and Economic Factors in the Muslim Revolution in Senegambia.’ The Journal of Africa History. Vol. 13:3. Pp 419-441. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/ZJRN8UJ8/collection
Islamic calendar. “The twelve months of the Islamic calendar, in order are as follows (1) Muharram; (2) Safar; (3) Rab’I al-Awwal; (4) Rab’i al-Akhir (or al-Thani); (5) Jumada ‘l-Ula; (6) Jumada ‘l-Akhira; (7) Rajab (8) Sha’ban; (9) Ramadan; (10) Shawwal; (11) Dhu’-Qa’da and (12) Dhu ‘l Hijja.” [1]
[1]: (Hanne 2006, 196) Hanne, Eric. 2006. ‘Dates and Calendars’ In Medieval Islamic Civilizations: A-K, Index. By Josef W. Meri. London: Routledge. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Dates%20and%20Calendars/titleCreatorYear/items/8BDKDQRX/item-list
Cowry shells. “Cowry shells (mollusks of the species Cypriaea Moneta and annulus) originated in the Indian Ocean and were brought to West Africa in European ships, often after passing through auctions in Amsterdam or London. Jon Hogendorn and M. Johnson (1986) provide a thorough account of this history explaining the large volume of shells brough to West Africa and the cycles of inflation that followed. As they moved to the interior, the shells crossed several linguistic and cultural boundaries. In a vast zone the cowry coexisted not only with gold dust and imported silver coins but also with salt bars, brass in rods or in heavy horseshoe shapes referred to as manillas, locally produced iron and cloth currencies, beads, and other means of payment.” [1]
[1]: (Saul 2004, 73) Saul, Mahir. 2004. ‘Money in Colonial Transition: Cowries and Francs in West Africa’ American Anthropologist. Vol 106:1. Pp 71-84. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/FKJJ3H49/collection
“The anklet, bangle, or torque money of the West African equatorial coast, the manilla applied iron, brass, or copper to a common form of personal adornment that doubled as currency facilitating the slave trade. From prehistoric times, natives of Zaire north to Senegal collected portable wealth in heavy anklets, bracelets, and collars that served as highly visible savings accounts rather than everyday shopping cash.” [1]
[1]: (Snodgrass 2019, 198) Snodgrass, Mary Ellen. Coins and Currency: An Historical Encyclopedia. Second Edition. Jefferson: McFarland Publishers. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/F5SC74DA/library
The following quote suggests that weight systems likely existed in the Imamate of Futa Toro. “During the Islamic era trade the weight system we hear most evidence of in West Africa is the mithqal, based on the standard operating widely throughout the majority of the Islamic world. We are provided with details of the value of the mithqal against the dirham in North Africa (c. 25 dirhams to the mithqal), and likewise of rates for the mithqal against copper in West Africa (100 mithqals of copper for 66 2/3 mithqals of gold).” [1]
[1]: (Nixon 2017, 174-175) Nixon, Sam. 2017. ‘Trans-Saharan Gold Trade in Pre-Modern Times’. In Trade in the Ancient Sahara and Beyond. Edited by V. Leitch. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/CJ6VZSEM/collection
“The twelve months of the Islamic calendar, in order are as follows (1) Muharram; (2) Safar; (3) Rab’I al-Awwal; (4) Rab’i al-Akhir (or al-Thani); (5) Jumada ‘l-Ula; (6) Jumada ‘l-Akhira; (7) Rajab (8) Sha’ban; (9) Ramadan; (10) Shawwal; (11) Dhu’-Qa’da and (12) Dhu ‘l Hijja.” [1]
[1]: (Hanne 2006, 196) Hanne, Eric. 2006. ‘Dates and Calendars’ In Medieval Islamic Civilizations: A-K, Index. By Josef W. Meri. London: Routledge. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Dates%20and%20Calendars/titleCreatorYear/items/8BDKDQRX/item-list