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…

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 to 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.