Massina Empire

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West Africa 1625

The Massina Empire was a state of the Fulbe and lay in the area of ​​the Massina in today's Mali .

After the defeat of the Songhai Empire by the Moroccans, the Fulbe in Massina became autonomous. They were vassals of the Moroccan pasha in Timbuktu around 1600 , and vassals of Segu in the late 17th century .

Inspired by the success of Usman dan Fodio , who established the Caliphate of Sokoto in the jihad of the Fulbe between 1804 and 1810 in the northwest of what is now Nigeria , Amadu Hammadi Bubu (also: Sékou Amadou or Seku Amadu) from the Fulbe people probably conquered after 1810 Djenné and then the area around Mopti between 1818 and 1819. He founded his capital Hamdallaye / Hamdullahi in what is now the Mopti region , the ruins of which are now a tourist destination. He then conquered Timbuktu in 1845, but died that same year.

He was succeeded by his son Amadu Seku, who renounced in 1852 in favor of his own son Amadu. On March 16, 1862, Al-Hajj Omar conquered the capital Hamdallaye and killed Amadu. In 1864 there was an uprising in Hamdallaye under the leadership of Balobo, the brother of the killed Amadu. Although the rebellion had some success at times, it ultimately failed and the Massina Empire ended in 1868.

The Massina Empire stretched from Timbuktu in the north to the Black Volta in what is now Burkina Faso in the south. During its existence, Islam fully established itself in this area, and many mosques are said to have been built. Among them was the Great Mosque of Djenné , which was destroyed in 1834 and rebuilt in the spirit of the new era.