In the mid-19th century, al-Hajj Umar Taal launched a jihad in West Africa that forever altered the course of the region’s history.  Taal was a Tukulóor Fulani who was born in Alwaar, Senegal in 1794 (or 1795).  After taking the hajj to Mecca, he returned to West Africa and established Tijaniyya Sufism throughout the region.  Taal’s jihad was directed against non-Muslim “heathen,” especially the Bambara.  It was also undertaken in opposition to French colonialism.  But, after destroying the Segu Empire of the Bambara, al-Hajj Umar became embroiled in a bloody sectarian and inter-ethnic conflict with the Massina Fulani of Hamdallahi, Mali.  Twenty years in the making, Wise’s Archive of the Umarian Tijaniyya is a collection of eyewitness accounts of Taal’s life and jihad, translated into English for the first time.  It also includes a lengthy introduction that places Taal’s jihad in historical context along with illustrations, maps, and color photographs.    

Archive of the Umarian Tijaniyya: Table of Contents

 

Edited & Translated by Christopher Wise

1.  "Acknowledgements."

 

2.  "Note on Spelling"

 

3. "Introduction: al-Hajj Umar Taal and the Umarian Tijaniyya," by Christopher Wise, 2016.

 

4. The Life of al-Hajj Umar:  A Pulaar Qasida, by Muhammadu Aliu Tyam.  Edited with Notes by Henri Gaden, 1936. 

 

5. The Story of the Shaykh al-Hajj Umar, A Native of the Fuuta Tooro, of the Kedewiyu People, the Son of a Saidi. Charles Augustus Ludwig Reichardt, 1876.  

 

6. The Life of al-Hajj Umar (Translation of an Arabic Manuscript of the Zawiya Tijaniyya of Fez), Accompanied by an Introduction and Notes, by Jules Salenc, 1918. 

 

7.  "Historical and Legendary Traditions of the West Sudan, Translated from an unpublished Arabic manuscript," Maurice Delafosse, 1913.  Translated by Sophia Wickman.

 

8. "Chronicles (al-Hajj Umar), By Abdullai Ali,  1936-37.  

 

9.  "The History of al-Hajj Umar," by Eugene Mage, 1868.   

 

10. "Life of al-Hajj Umar Taal" (from Paul Soleillet: Journey To Segu, 1878-1879).  Edited by Gabriel Gravier, 1887.

 

11.  Memories of Agibu, by A. De Loppinot, 1919.

 

12. Appendix A: Issa Kane, "Circumcision Among the Tukulóor," 1937. 

13.  Key Personages.