The Great Tukulor Empire (West Africa)

During the 19^th century, the Tukulor Empire was the largest and most powerful state in the Western Sudan.

Image I (Left): Ahmadu Tall, the ruler of the Tukulor Empire. ‘Umar b. Sa’īd Tall was the founder of the Tukulor Empire, and Ahmadu is ‘Umar’s oldest son. As a leader, Ahmadu Tall’s government was highly structured, with centrally appointed governors and their deputies, the cadis, military commanders, tax collectors, and with ministers in Segu controlling justice, the Niger River fleet, the public treasury, commerce, and relations with Europeans in this region of West Africa.

Image II (Right): The greatest extent of the Tukulor Empire at the time of ‘Umar b. Sa’īd Tall’s death in 1864. The Tukulor Empire consisted of the present-day parts of Senegal, including the Senegal River, the Niger River basin northeastwards to Timbuktu in Mali, the southern part of Mauritania and the Dinguiray province in the northern part of Guinea. Image courtesy of Wikipedia

The Tukulor people have played a key role as leaders of religion and provider of ideas in the movements and events of the 19^th century Western Sudan in West Africa. Unfortunately, the Tukulors have received little attention in historical or other forms of scholarship.

According to Dr. Cheikh Anta Diop, Senegalese historian and author of Precolonial Black Africa, the origin of the Tukulors is among the Nuer of the Sudan (Khartoum) on the Upper Nile, and one finds unaltered the totemic names of the Tukulor who live on the banks of the Senegal River, thousands of kilometers away in the Nile Valley. In the same region, at a place called Nuba Hills (Nubia Hills), tribes can be found of the Nyoro and Toro. These two names in a way mark out the route followed by the Tukulor migration from the Upper Nile River. The region between the Senegal and Niger Rivers, in which the Tukulor would remain for a certain amount of time, was to be known as the Nyoro when they arrived on the banks of the Senegal River, and the region would be known as Futa Toro, the homeland of the Tukulor in West Africa before their empire spread and building.

The forces of ‘Umar b. Sa’īd Tall attempted to resist French colonial forces in 1857, besieging their Médine fort but ultimately failing when Louis Faidherbe, the French governor of Senegal, arrived with relief forces.  Image courtesy of The History Files

The Tukulor Empire (c. 1850 – c. 1898), an Islamic empire consisted of the present-day parts of Senegal, including the Senegal River, the Niger River basin northeastwards to Timbuktu in Mali, the southern part of Mauritania and the Dinguiray province in the northern part of Guinea. The founder of the Tukulor Empire was ‘Umar b. Sa’īd Tall, properly known as al-hājj ‘Umar. Little is known about ‘Umar as a youth, but what is known is recorded by one of his Tukulor talibẻs (i.e., boys) and admirers in a 2,000-verse poem in Poular.

The powerful Tukulor Empire provided a central theme of the 19^th century history of the Western Sudan as far east as the Niger bend. The Tukulor Empire absorbed many states and chiefdoms that had existed before its rise to power and exerted great influence upon the developments of neighboring states. This was due to the vastness of the size and strength of the Tukulor Empire. The Tukulor created their empire through a protracted, violent revolution that was led by ‘Umar, and later led by his son Ahmadu from 1852 to 1864. Also, during his lifetime, ‘Umar fathered 50 children: 25 sons and 25 daughters.

In ‘Umar’s last battle trying to consolidate his empire, he had been pursued from Hamdallahi until he reached the Bandiagara cliffs at Deguembere where he entered the cave of N’Goro. Masina forces were said to have been told where ‘Umar was by a woman, and to prevent him from escaping, the Masina soldiers set the whole area on fire. ‘Umar was caught in the fire and was burnt to death on February 12, 1864. Among those who died with him were two of his sons, Makki and Mahi, and some of his military leaders, including Muhammad Sire, Ahmadu Musa, Bubakar Bambi and Seidi Keika.

‘Umar died as a victim of violence which his revolution had engendered. By the time of his death, ‘Umar had only created a framework within the Tukulor Empire, which was the objective of his revolution, and remained a set of aspirations that could only be realized. The task of doing this fell upon his oldest son, Ahmadu, who had the responsibility of building a nation-state, within an Islamic setting. Born around 1833, Ahmadu was only about 31-years-old when he assumed leadership of the Tukulor Empire in 1864. Ahmadu was also a courageous and resourceful leader, and he was never shy to tackle social or political problems of his empire.

After the death of ‘Umar, his oldest son, Ahmadu established himself as the supreme authority of the Tukulor Empire. Some of the Tukulor leaders found Ahmadu’s claim to the supremacy of the Tukulor Empire distasteful and would prefer to let him fall from grace if only to give themselves more power and importance. This constant internal struggle for power within the Tukulor Empire since 1864 was due to this mentality on the part of the Tukulor ruling elite. When Ahmadu’s father, ‘Umar died, his death deprived the ruling Tukulor elites in the emergent empire of his charismatic leadership which was widely respected and alone has prevented the explosion of the ideological conflicts incorporated in the revolution. Eventually, Ahmadu lost his grip on the situation and his empire, partly because he was not leading a united people.

Both Tukulor kingdoms of Masina and Ka’arta had remained independent of Ahmadu Tall, largely because he was not able to enforce his will. Furthermore, the kingdom of Masina remained independent of Ahmadu Tall until 1891, long after the ruler of Masina, Ahmadu Tijāni (Ahmadu Tall’s cousin, ‘Umar’s nephew and ‘Umar’s close aide in all work of empire-building) had died and only because the Tukulor demonstrated group solidarity to accommodate Ahmadu Tall, whom the French soldiers had chased out of the kingdom of Nioro. In short, the civil wars that occurred in the Tukulor Empire were nothing more than sibling or family rivalries of “Brothers against Brothers” or “Cousins against Cousins” for power.

What Does it Mean to be an African King?

“To begin with, religion was drawn upon as an indirect means of social control by enhancing the divine role of the king. The traditional role of the king as the Chief Elder and, therefore, the Chief Representative of the people before God was very easily changed now to the conception of the king as the ‘Lieutenant of God on Earth.’ As God’s Lieutenant on Earth, the king could assume powers not recognized by the constitution and go unchallenged.” – Dr. Chancellor Williams, author of The Destruction of Black Civilization: Great Issues of a Race from 4500 B.C. to 200 A.D.

It took many years for the European (French) invaders to subdue the Tukulor’s and the Tukulor Empire. A French lieutenant, who was later killed in battle was amazed by the courage of the Tukulor warriors, and said, “If instead of having the Tukulors as enemies, we could have had them with us, Africa would not have been long to take.”

The Fall of the Tukulor Empire (1888-1893)

During the years of the fall of the Tukulor Empire, the French knew they needed to be allied with the Bambara (African ethnic group or tribe) to be successful. One situation was when the French invaded the capital of the Tukulor Empire, the Segu Kingdom. French Military Governor Louis Archinard mobilized his forces against Segu before the French ministry was asked for approval. The French army marched to Segu on February 15, 1890, and the Governor of Senegal Clément Thomas also didn’t ask the French ministry for approval of this expedition until February 25^th.

Unfortunately, Ahmadu had enough on his hands to deal with, and he did everything he could to keep his empire from falling. When the French marched to Segu, he was still unable to leave the Ka’arta Kingdom, because he had to defend that part of his empire. He didn’t know an attack on his capital kingdom of Segu of his Tukulor Empire was being planned by the French with their Bambara allies. Ahmadu could neither act against nor forewarn his son, Madani, who was ruling Segu at the time.

The Tukulor Empire at this point was in real danger of collapsing, and the Tukulor leaders weren’t prepared for the inevitable. Archinard, along with his combined French and Bambara army of 3,600 men reached Segu on April 6, 1890, at 5:30 am, when most of the people were still sleeping. Segu was taken by surprise and was immediately under siege and bombarded from all directions. The surrender of Segu to the French took place at 3:30 pm, after only a few hours of fighting. The battle was disastrous for the Tukulor. It was reported that in the battle, French artillery fired 2,776 cannon rounds and used 70 kilograms of gun powder, in addition to using swords and other weapons.

Leading members of Ahmadu’s family and other Tukulor chiefs were taken hostage by the French to serve as a basis for later negotiations with Ahmadu. When the kingdom of Segu was taken by the French, this had a demoralizing effect on the Tukulor Empire, because the whole fabric of the empire was shaken to its core. From this point forward, it became clear that the struggle for the Tukulor people was crucial for the survival of their empire.

The French invaded the kingdom of Segu with their anti-Tukulor African allies, like the Bambara. Segu is the home kingdom of the Segu Bambara, and was ruled by the Diara royal family before the conquest of Segu by the Tukulor in 1889. The French persuaded the Bambara chiefs to place themselves under French protection. The French felt if this could be done, they could establish domination by merely using the Bambara warring against the Tukulor. The French also promised the Bambara if the conquest of Segu was successful, they would reinstall the Segu Bambara as the rightful rulers of the kingdom. The French conquest of Segu was successful, and the French broke their promise and never reinstalled the Segu Bambara. The Segu Bambara felt the French couldn’t be trusted.

The Segu Bambara realized all they did was trade one conqueror in the Tukulor for another conquer in the French. The Bambara and Tukulor did eventually decide to collaborate and fight against the French invaders and colonizers. The problem was both the Tukulor and the Bambara had spent way too much time fighting each other, and when they finally decided to collaborate militarily, it was too late because the French had already established themselves firmly in the Western Sudan. The French exploited the disunity among the African ethnic groups or tribes of the Western Sudan, and the result from this African disunity was losing rulership of the homeland of their foremothers and forefathers to foreigners (i.e., the French) from Europe.

France, on the other hand was in the stages of rebuilding, due to the Franco-Prussian War having debilitating effects on the French nation. The French government was heavily concentrating on regaining its pre-1870 power and prestige in Europe. The need for France to recover from the war dictated the concentration to rehabilitate the struggling French economy and the re-emergence of France as one of the great powers of Europe. It was because of this background that the French were very conscious about their moves, and in the beginning, they did whatever they could to not provoke war with the Tukulor because France at the time was weak economically, politically, and militarily.

Besides, the French knew the Tukulor Empire and the Western Sudan in general was world famous for its gold deposits, like natural goldfields and goldmines, which was why they were eager to control Bambuk. In fact, in the heart of Tukulor territory, which is the region between the upper flows of the Niger and Senegal Rivers is where plentiful goldfields are found. So, the French wanted to explore (i.e., exploit) West Africa’s gold, and to get this magnificent chemical found in nature, France had to come face-to-face with the courageous, fearless and supreme Tukulor army.

The French and other European nations who “Scrambled for Africa” had nothing to lose because they were in the rebuilding stages of their countries, and they used Africa and Black people as an untapped source for minerals, resources, and of course, free slave labor in their home countries in Europe and their overseas colonies. Sadly, Africa and Black people had everything to lose, and unfortunately, this is what happened because indigenous African countries like “The Tukulor Empire” eventually became absorbed as a part of the European “French Sudan” in West Africa.  

The Tukulor Empire fell because Ahmadu, the Tukulor leaders and elites, and people of the empire, either Tukulor people and other African ethnic groups or tribes who were living within the borders of the Tukulor Empire were unable to unite. For instance, it was the disunity of the Tukulor Empire that Archinard, and the French exploited and sadly, former indigenous African rulership of the Western Sudan and some parts of Senegambia fell into the hands of foreigners (i.e., the French). It’s important not to forget that the French fought wars against the Tukulor with superior weapons, including cannons, and the Tukulors didn’t have these types of weapons and were likely to lose.

The French didn’t always use war to get there way, because they also used diplomacy. For example, the French occupation of Bandiagara in 1893 marked the final collapse of the Tukulor Empire. Aguibu held the position as a puppet ruler of the Tukulor Empire under the authority of the French until he was pensioned off in 1907. From a bird’s eye view, the fall of the Tukulor Empire appeared to look like a result of a classic coup d’etat in which one son of ‘Umar (i.e., Aguibu) took control of the state from another son of ‘Umar (i.e., Ahmadu). But Archinard and the French were the puppet masters in the background of the whole situation because the ruler of the Tukulor Empire was who they wanted. They manipulated the situation behind the scenes to go in the favor of the French. Aguibu had been collaborating with Archinard and the French since 1891. The French exploited one power clique of the Tukulor ruling class to strengthen their own rule while making the collapse of the Tukulor Empire look less tragic than it really was. Aguibu’s leadership of the Tukulor Empire represented nothing less than French colonialism in the Western Sudan.

What Does it Mean to be an African King? Part II

“Since magic in Africa was simply another religious means of invoking the aid of a deity, to call their intercessor with God a magician meant that he was actually securing benefits for the people, and that he was indeed the ‘Lieutenant of God on Earth.’ In short, ‘magic’ was another form of prayer, song or dance in the appeals to supernatural powers for help.” - Dr. Chancellor Williams

“As leader he (Ahmadu Tall) consistently displayed considerable courage, energy and military as well as diplomatic resourcefulness in tackling what eventually proved intractable internal social and political problems which were complicated by the ever-threatening presence of French imperialism.” - Dr. B.O. Ọlọruntimẹhin, author of The Segu Tukulor Empire

Ahmadu Tall ruled the Tukulor Empire until French conquest in 1893. The French incorporated the Tukulor Empire as a part of their overseas colonies, and when African independence swept through Africa, the French colonies of the French Sudan were finally free from the iron fist of France in 1960.

About 93% of the present-day African Americans came from many different countries of Western Sudan before the Transatlantic slave trade era. So, what happened?

 “The big unanswered question, then was WHAT HAD HAPPENED? How was this highly advanced Black Civilization so completely destroyed that its people in our times, and for some centuries past, have found themselves not only behind the other peoples of the world, but even the color of their skin a sign of inferiority, bad luck and the badge of the slave whether bond or freed?” – Dr. Chancellor Williams

The Transatlantic slave trade and slavery are two disasters that Black people have suffered, and they still have not recovered from this forced “Dark Ages” that they are currently living in during the modern era.

“Our fathers and mothers who were brought here (i.e., United States of America) like cattle, are the present day African American men and women. About ninety-three or so percent came from the Western Sudan, which included (ancient) Ghana, Mali and Songhai. Out of the one hundred or so million or more rooted up from our homeland, only about two million made it to these American shores. There were scores of different societies within the Songhai Empire. We spoke many different languages. As we arrived here, the extreme harsh treatment soon taught our fathers and mothers that whatever language differences or whatever else, that we could not survive unless we stuck together. We naturally had children and over the years that two million grew and grew into the twenty-six to thirty million that we are now. This also includes so-called West Indians and Caribbean family. Therefore, in a direct sense we are tied together by blood and physical suffering and humiliation." - Dr. Calvin R. Robinson, Dr. Edward W. Robinson and Redman Battle, authors of The Journey of the Songhai People

Sources:

Battle, R., Robinson, C., Robinson, E. The Journey of the Songhai People. Pan African Federation Organization; 2nd edition. (June 1, 1992). July 18, 2025. p. Cover, 271.

Britannica. The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “Tukulor Empire.” Encyclopedia Britannica. March 27, 2017. July 18, 2025. https://www.britannica.com/place/Tukulor-empire

Captivating History. The Mali Empire: A Captivating Guide to One of the Largest Empires in West African History and The Legendary Mansa Musa (Western Africa). Captivating History. April 15, 2022. July 21, 2025. p. 4, 62.

Captivating History. The Songhai Empire: A Captivating Guide to One of the Largest States of Medieval West Africa (Western Africa). Captivating History. March 4, 2022. July 18, 2025. p. 55.

Diop, C. Precolonial Black Africa. Lawrence Hill Books; Seventh Printing edition. (Aug. 1, 1988). July 18, 2025. p. 224.

Edgerton, R. Africa’s Armies: From Honor to Infamy. Basic Books. (March 25, 2009). July 18, 2025. p. 32-33.

Green, T. African Kingdoms: A Guide to the Kingdoms of Songhay, Kongo, Benin, Oyo, and Dahomey c. 1400 -c. 1700. Oxford Cambridge and RSA (OCR). 2015. July 18, 2025. p. 14.

History Files. Kingdoms of West Africa – Tukulor Empire. Tukulor Empire (Fula-Mali State) (Africa). History Files. July 18, 2025. https://www.historyfiles.co.uk/KingListsAfrica/AfricaTukulor.htm

Ọlọruntimẹhin, B. The Segu Tukulor Empire. Humanities. First Edition. January 1, 1972. July 18, 2025. p. xiii, 1, 36-37, 142, 178, 196, 229, 271, 275, 283, 289, 295-296, 298, 303, 306, 308, 311, 317-318, 320, 330.

Sertima, I. Golden Age of the Moor. Transaction Publishers; 2nd Printing edition. (January 1, 1990). July 19, 2025. p. 352, 357.

Wikipedia. Tukulor Empire. July 18, 2025. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tukulor_Empire

Williams, C. The Destruction of Black Civilization: Great Issues of a Race from 4500 B.C. to 2000 A.D. Third World Press; 3rd Revised ed. edition. (Feb. 1, 1992). July 19, 2025. p. 18, 250, 252.