1794–1864: (Al-Hajj Umar Tal and the Tukolor State — The Distinguished Scholar Who Introduced the Tijaniyya Brotherhood to Sokoto, Declared Jihad on the Uppe…

1794–1864: (Al-Hajj Umar Tal and the Tukolor State — The Distinguished Scholar Who Introduced the Tijaniyya Brotherhood to Sokoto, Declared Jihad on the Upper Senegal in 1852, Conquered a Swathe of Territory as the French Looked On, Made War on Fellow Muslims in Masina, and Died in 1864 Leaving an Unconsolidated Empire That Fell to the French in 1893): The creation of Sokoto inspired the formation of states based on revitalized Islam across the savannah. Al-Hajj Umar Tal (1794–1864), a distinguished scholar who had undertaken the pilgrimage to Mecca and spent time at Sokoto, railed against both pagans and lapsed Muslims. As the West African head of the Tijaniyya brotherhood — which he had introduced to Sokoto during the 1830s — Umar came into conflict with local authorities and attracted a large following among the displaced and marginalized. In 1852 he declared a jihad on the upper Senegal River, and as the French looked on from their coastal base, he conquered a swathe of territory across the Senegal interior and further east. He made war on Masina — condemned by his enemies as illegitimate because it involved conflict with fellow Muslims — and the Tukolor state proved less durable than Sokoto as a result. Following Umar’s death in 1864, the unconsolidated empire deteriorated into civil war. Nonetheless, the religious impact was significant — the Tukolor state revitalized Islam across the western savannah on the eve of French encroachment. Umar’s followers created a state in Hamdallahi, extending across western present-day Mali, which was only overwhelmed by the French in 1893.