¹ Soninke is the name which the people generally use of themselves, and I have followed that here. However, the alternative name, Sarakoli (with various spellings), is more common in the written sources, and was also the term used in all my discussions on the Gambia.

² Oloruntimehin, E.g. B. Olatunji, ‘Muhammad Lamine in Franco–Tukulor relations 1885–7’, J. Hist. Soc. Nigeria, IV, no. 3 (12 1968).Google Scholar

³ For a list of informants see page 68 below.

⁴ A draft of this article was read by Prof. P. Curtin of Wisconsin, Prof. J. D. Hargreaves of Aberdeen, Dr Ivan Hrbek of the Oriental rnstitute of Prague, and Mr D. H. Jones of the School of Oriental and African Studies in London. To all I am indebted for comment and corrections. Dr Hrbek particularly, who is preparing a full biography of Muhammad alAmin, most generously put both his time and his unrivalled knowledge of the subject at toy service.

⁵ Boston, J. S., ‘Oral tradition and the history of Igala’, J. Afr. Hist. x (1969), 29–43. For a less circumspect plea for inclusive incorporation of various traditions,CrossRefGoogle Scholar see McCall, D. F., ‘The traditions of the founding of Sijilmasa and Ghana’, Trans. Hist. Soc. Ghana, v (1961), 3–32.Google Scholar

⁶ Frey, H., Campagne dans le Haut Sénégal et dans le Haut Niger, 1885–1886 (Paris, 1888), 250;Google ScholarLe Chatelier, A., L'Islam dans L'Afrique occidentale (Paris, 1899), 216; oral tradition in Kabba Kunda, J. 1667–1668, 1669–1670 (these references are to my Journal, which includes typescripts of recorded interviews as well as other notes). Still other sources confirm this. The exceptions are in a small minority and probably mistaken:Google ScholarRancon, A., Le Bondou (Bordeaux, 1894), 707,Google Scholar says at Safalou in Bondu; oral tradition in Sankuli, Kunda, 1910, says in Guidimakal, J. S.Trimingham, AHistory of Islam in West Africa (London, 1962), 174n, says that some authorities prefer Madina in Khaso;Google ScholarBrigaud, F., Histoire madame et contemporaine du Sénégal (St Louis, 1966), 55, says in the environs of Bakel.Google Scholar

⁷ Malimūd, Ka'ti, Tariḵẖ al-fattāsẖ, ed. Houdas, O. and Delafosse, M. (Paris, 1913), 179–80/314–5.Google Scholar

⁸ Monteil, C., Les Khassonké (Paris, 1915), 361.Google Scholar

⁹ Rancon, A., Le Bondou, 107–8; he says that the father, a well-known and respected cleric, was called Alpha-Ahmadou, and was the son of Alpha-Mahmadu-Salif, a cleric who moved from Goundiourou to Safalou; Muhammad al-Amin's mother came from Diafounou. Le Chatelier, L'Islam, 216, gives the name of Muhammad al-Amin's father as Mahmadou Diamé, a variant form of Daramy.Google ScholarFrey, , Campagne, 250, speaks simply of an obscure cleric.Google Scholar

¹⁰ Rancon, A., La Bondou, 709.Google Scholar

¹¹ Frey, , Campagne, 250, and Ranç, , Le Bondou, 107, say about 1840;Google ScholarLe, Chatelier, L'Islam, 216, about 1835; Marty, P., L'Islam en Mauritania et au Sénégal (1915–1916), 280, about 1830; etc.Google Scholar

¹² Frey, , Campagne, 250;Google Scholar various sources apparently follow this, giving also Demba Debisso or Demba Debasi (Rancon, , Le Bondou, 107; Marty, , L'Islam, 280;Google ScholarFroelich, J.-C., Les Musulmans D'Afrique noire (Paris, 1962), 205;Google ScholarMonteil, V., L'Islam noir (Paris, 1964), 99).Google Scholar

¹³ Frey, , Campagne, 250; 1am not sure if this means that his father was actually teaching him.Google Scholar

¹⁴ Information received personally from Dr Hrbek.

¹⁵ Oral tradition in Sankuli Kunda, J. 1913−4.

¹⁶ Frey, , Campagne, 250;Google ScholarFaidherbe, L.C.C., Le Sénégal (Paris, 1889), 420Google ScholarLe, Chatelier, 216; oral tradition in Bamako (B); Bakel traditions, collected by P. Curtin, confirm the period of study there.Google Scholar

¹⁷ Rancon, A., Dans la Haute-Gambie (Paris, 1894), 376–7.Google Scholar

¹⁸ Frey, , Campagne, 250–1.Google Scholar

¹⁹ Ranç, , Haute-Gamble, 108–9.Google Scholar

²⁰ J. I 913–1914. Oral tradition in Tambasansang, J.1714 says that the people of Tanda had maltreated Muhammad al-Amin by fixing a big stick to his leg. This is not uncommon punishment, and was employed by Samori in respect of one of his sons.

²¹ Oral tradition in Tambasansang, J. 1718, says that Muhammad al-Amīn, when he came later to Bondu, asked for permission to cross to Tanda, for he wanted to ask them about having tied his foot to a stick in his student days. Oral tradition in Sankuli Kunda, J. 1915, says that he sought to fight Tanda after his pilgrimage, not because of any problem connected with European domination, but simply because they were pagan. Frey, , Campagne, 251,Google Scholar confirms the element of vengeance, saying Mubammad al-Amīn took this as his pretext later when asking the chief of Bondu for permission to cross his state to punish the village of Gamon. Faidherbe, , Sénégal, 422, says that he expressed a legitimate desire to avenge an old injury at the hands of the pagans of Gamon.Google Scholar

²² Ba, A. J. and Daget, J., L'Empire peul du Macina, 1 (the Hague, 1962), 29–30.Google Scholar

²³ Ranç, , Le Bondou, 209.Google Scholar

²⁴ Le, Chatelier, L'Islam, 226. Trimingham, , History of Islam, 174 n., says that Muham. mad al-Amīn had been a companion of both al-Hājj ‘Umar and his son Ahmad. Oral tradition in Bamako (B) also associates Muhammad al-Amīn with al-Hājj ‘Umar, though the passage is not altogether clear. ‘From there [Gunjur] he moved on to Nioro, then to Baghina, then to Touba Sila where he left his son by the name of S'ayb, and went to Segu to meet al-Hājj ‘Umar. He returned to Baghina from where he prepared himself to go on pilgrimage.’Google Scholar

²⁵ Daniel, Nyambarza, ‘Le marabout El Hadj Mamadou Lamine d'aprés les archives francaises,’ Cahiers d'études africaines, ix, no. 1 (1969), 125.Google Scholar He cites Mohammadu Aliyu Tyam, , La Vie d'El Hadj Omar, ed. Gaden, H. (Paris, 1935), 34.Google Scholar

²⁶ For example, when Yimba the king of Tamba converted, after al-Hājj ‘Umar had overrun Tamba save for the fortified residence of the chief, ‘Umar left Souleiman Gassama, Sarakoli, with Yimba to teach him the prayers; Tyam, , El Hadj, 38Google Scholar and n. The text calls him a Sarakoli, while the notes say a Tokolor of Sarakoli origin. According to a note on page 42, this was before 22 May 1854. Again, after the move to Dabatou in May 1854, al-Hājj ‘Umar sent emissaries to Bakel, then a Sarakoli village, to exchange ivory for powder and ball Tyam, , El Hadj, 43–4.Google Scholar And again, the forced emigrants whom al-Hājj ‘Umar extracted from Bondu included Fulani, Tokolor and Sarakoli; some people fled to Bakel and Sénoudébou to escape (ibid. 110 and n.).

²⁷ Oral tradition in Diawara.

²⁸ Marty, , L'Islam en Mauritanie, 280, says about 1850;Google ScholarLe, Chatelier, L'Islam, 216, says Muhammad al-Amīn left Segu after aI-Hājj ‘Umar’s death; Brigaud, Histoire, says about 1872;Google ScholarTrimingham, , History of Islam, 174 n., says he left Segu in 1874.Google Scholar

²⁹ This is the view of Le, Chatelier, L'Islam, 216;Google Scholar and oral tradition in Sankuli Kunda, J. 1914–5, says that when Muhammad al-Amīn left on the pilgrimage, al-Hājj 'Umar was no longer alive. Ran÷, , Le Bondou, 109, however, says that when al-Hājj 'Umar began fighting, Muhammad al-Amīn having finished his studies, set out for Mecca.Google Scholar

³⁰ Brigaud, , Histoire, 55,Google Scholar and Trimingham, , History of Islam, 174 n., both say seven years;Google ScholarPéroz, E., Au Soudanfrancais, souvenirs deguerre et de mission (Paris, 1891,) 55–6, says about 10 or about 12 years; Faidherbe, Senegal, 420, and Marty, L'Islam en Mauritanie, 280, and oral tradition at Alunhare, J. 1691, all say about 30 years; other oral traditions (Bamako A and B) extend the period to 36 or 44 years. Nyambarza, ‘Le marabout’, 130, quotes a letter from Mubammad al Amīn of August 1885 in which he says he has been 36 years away.Google Scholar

³¹ These details are from Le, Chatelier, L'Islam,216. Frey, , Campagne, 251–2, says that he passed through the countries south and east of the Sahara, spending three years on the way to Mecca, begging his sustenance each day from his fellow Muslims.Google ScholarRançon, , Le Bondou, 509, says he went through Masina, Mossi and Hausa, begging his way for three years.Google Scholar

³² Le Chatelier, , L'Islam, 226.Google ScholarBarth, H., Travels and Discoveries in North and Central Africa, 111 (London, 1857), 565, 570, mentions a place called Nimró, one day's journey before Wara, the capital of Wadai. Nimró was a Jellaba, or traders', centre, and the seat of a ‘great fáki Góni Merés’.Google Scholar

³³ Faidherbe, , Sénégal, 447 n.Google Scholar

³⁴ Frey, , Campagne, 243–4 and n.Google Scholar

³⁵ Oral tradition in Bathurst (A), J. 1836–7. This is my only source for the rosary dispute, which does not appear in Dr Hrbek's voluminous material. On the other hand, however, my informant here had had close relatives in Bakel at the time, some of whom were killed, and I incline to accept his report. He added that Mubammad al-Amīn condemned twelve beads as a transgression against the Tijā;nĪya.

³⁶ Monteil, , L'Islam noir, 129; Froelich, , Les Musulmans, 234.Google Scholar

³⁷ Le, Chatelier, L'Islam, 216.Google Scholar

³⁸ Faidherbe, , Sénégal, 420.Google Scholar

³⁹ Frey, , Campagne, 258–2.Google Scholar

⁴⁰ Le, Chatelier, L'Islam, 216.Google Scholar

⁴¹ Oral tradition in Alunhare, J. 1701–2.

⁴² Abun-Nasr, J M., The Tijaniyya: a Sufi Order in the Modern World (London, 1965), 111.Google Scholar

⁴³ Faidherbe, , Sénégal, 420; Marty, , L'Islam en Mauritanie, 280. Marty goes on to say that Muhammad al-Amīn, whom he calls a prophet, wished later to insinuate ‘que son rôle serait presque aussi grand que celui du fondateur de l'lslam.’ There seems no substance in such charges of overweening heresy; see note 59, below.Google Scholar

⁴⁴ Frey, , Campagne, 388; he says each came ‘d'un monarque ou d'un chef de croyants’.Google ScholarFaidherbe, , Sénégal, 429, and Marty, , L'Islam en Mauritanie, 280, say that there were 300 of these Qurans, carried by ten slaves, sumptuously dressed and marching pompously.Google Scholar

⁴⁵ Oral tradition at Sankuli Kunda, J. 1914–1915.Google Scholar

⁴⁶ Oral tradition at Kabba Kunda, J.1667.Google Scholar

⁴⁷ Oral tradition at Damfa, KundaJ. 1755– 1756. This tradition narrates the following curious episode on Muhammad al-Amin's pilgrimage (J.1754–5). Fodey Mamadu, patron saint of the Diakhanke, used to be transported miraculously to Mecca every Friday, to pray there. One day, while in Mecca, Fodey Mamadu met Muhammad al-Amīn, and gave him a piece of gold as alms. Just at that moment an animal passed near them, like a dog. For such miraculous pilgrimages, called khatwa or tayaran (lit, flying),Google Scholar see Omer, el-Nager, ‘West Africa and the Muslim pilgrimage: an historical study with special reference to the 19th century’, unpublished thesis, University of London, 1969, 189–90. The exchange of alms presumably increased Fodey Mamadu's authority vis-à-vis Muhammad al-Amīn; I do not know the significance of the dog.Google Scholar

⁴⁸ See el-Nager, ‘Muslim pilgrimage’, 301 n.

⁴⁹ Marty, , L'Islam en Mauritanie, 280; Froelich, , Les Musuirnans, 205, who dates the announcement to 1885;Google ScholarBrigaud, , 1964, 55.Google Scholar

⁵⁰ Oral tradition of Bathurst (A); J. 1836. Oral tradition at Sankuli Kunda, J. 1917, says that the French commissioner at Bakel, besieged by Muhammad al-Amīn, sent a telegram to Bamako, saying that he did not know if his attacker were the Mahdi or not. This at least indicates that the local people were aware of French anxiety on this point.

⁵¹ Péroz, , Au Soudanfrançais, 55–6.Google Scholar

⁵² Frey, , Canpagne, 252–3. This explanation seems insufficient, both in its implication that claims to miracle-working were devised in such a calculating manner, and in its explicit statement that this was a suden new departure for Muhammad al-Amīn. However, the subsequent anecdotes, collected from Muhammad al-Amīn's followers by Captain Brissay, who commanded the post at Médine for three years, are a valuable fragment of oral tradition.Google Scholar

⁵³ Frey, , Campagne, 253–4.Google Scholar

⁵⁴ Ibid. 254. Oral tradition at Alunhare, J. 1691–1692, elaborates on this, saying that alTijani gave Muhammad al-Amīn 40 miṯqāls of gold, two horses, two wives, and 100 pieces of silver. He killed three bulls for him, and gave him 100 bags of rice, and 100 cows. Muhammad al-Amīn stayed there for about three years, and every six months al-Tijānī gave cloth to all his people and two horses to Muhammad al-Amīn himself. Before the three years were over Muhammad al-Amīn said that he wanted to go. So al-Tijānī gave him 40 cattle, 50 donkeys to carry his belongings, 4 horses, 100 pieces of cloth, 200 pieces of silver, 200 miṯqāls of gold, and a cutlass with two cutting edges. Al-Tijānt also slaughtered five bulls for him to take with him. The same tradition, J. 1689, says that al-Tijānt 'Umar, at Degembere just before his death, gave a cutlass to his messenger, to be given to al-Tijānl. I did not ask if this were the same cutlass; if it was, it might be a part the argument about the spiritual succession to al-Hājj''Umar.

⁵⁵ Oral tradition in Bamako (B); Frey, , Campagne, 254, says that Muhammad al-Amīn's period in Masina was short.Google Scholar

⁵⁶ Le, Chatelier, L'Islam, 216,Google Scholar gives this date, as does Marty, , 1915–1916, 280. Oloruntimehin, ‘Muhammad Lamine’, 380, Cites a French report, itself of 1880, suggesting 1878.Google Scholar

⁵⁷ Other authorities refer more briefly to these troubles. Le, Chatelier, L'Islam, 217, says that Mubammad al-Amīn was sometimes in danger of losing his life, and that he was for several years a prisoner, or at least under strict surveillance and subject to rigorous treatment.Google ScholarMarty, , L'Islam en Mauritanie, 280, says that he was held prisoner until 1885.Google Scholar

⁵⁸ Oral tradition at Alunhare, J.1692.Google Scholar

⁵⁹ Frey, , Campagne, 255;Google Scholar also Ranç, , Le Bondou, 111. Frey here speaks of Mubammad al-Amin as ‘'envoyé de Dieu’; these phrases–compare ‘marabout prophéte’ on the preceding page–appear to have no foundation outside the French sources. They are still repeated–Nyambarza, ‘Le marabout’ 126, 136, says that Multammad al-Amīn wanted to become a great prophet, ‘Se voulant avant tout prophéte’. Since they imply an extreme degree of heresy on Mubammad al-Amīn's part–there being no prophet or apostle after Mubammad the Prophet in the seventh century–heresy for which there is no supporting evidence, I prefer to exclude them entirely. Cf. note 43 above.Google Scholar

⁶⁰ Frey, , Campagne, 255. He translates Salam as priére, and adds that the site was that of destroyed village. Oral tradition in Bamako (B) says that Mubammad al-Amīn lived in the town of Tugu, close to Segu; adherents began to gather round him there; every Friday he came to Segu. From Tugu he moved to the town of Murbigu, which he called Ya Salam.Google Scholar

⁶¹ Frey implies that this was a privilege. It may equally well have been a form of probation or discipline, so that the sultan could keep a check on Mubammad al-Amīn's whereabouts–this is reported, for example, to have been the Lhaltfa ‘Abdallāh's practice with suspect individuals in Mahdist Khartum; Slatin, R. C., Fire and Sword in the Sudan (London, 1896), 472, 526.Google Scholar

⁶² Frey, , Campagne, 255; he adds that the sultan had to weigh his dislike of Mubammad al-Amīn against his need for the active support of his own talibés.Google Scholar

⁶³ Frey, , Campagne, 256–7.Google Scholar

⁶⁴ Frey, , Campagne, 258–60.Google Scholar

⁶⁵ Oral tradition at Alunhare, J. 1692.Google Scholar

⁶⁶ Rouch, J., Contribution à l'histoire des Songhay, Dakar, Mémoires del'I.F.A.N. 1953, 187.Google Scholar

⁶⁷ See the Arabic quotation from Karamāt fil-s;ḵaiḵẖ, in Hiskett, M. (ed.), Tazyīn al-waraqāt (Ibadan, 1963), 132-3.Google Scholar

⁶⁸ Oral tradition at Alunhare, J.1693–4.Google Scholar

⁶⁹ Tremearne, A. J. N., Hausa Superstitions and Customs (London, 1913), 171.Google Scholar

⁷⁰ el.Nager, ‘Muslim pilgrimage’.

⁷¹ Oral tradition at Alunhare, J.1694–5.Google Scholar

⁷² es-Sa'di, Tarikh es-Sudan, ed. Houdas, O. (Paris, 1964), 158/244.Google Scholar

⁷³ Oral tradition at Alunhare, J. 1702.Google Scholar

⁷⁴ Oral tradition in Bathurst, (B) J.1847–8.Google Scholar

⁷⁵ Oral tradition in Alunhare, J.1703–4.Google Scholar

⁷⁶ Ibid. J. 1695.

⁷⁷ Ibid. J. 1696; this final touch about the sultan's mother seems highly implausible, but may be related to the controversy over al-Hājj 'Umar's wives (see p. 66 below).

⁷⁸ Frey, , Campagne, 262–3.Google Scholar

⁷⁹ Le, Chatelier, L'Islam, 217.Google Scholar

⁸⁰ Oral tradition at Bamako (B).

⁸¹ One of el-Nager's informants told a similar story of his own grandfather, Muhammad al-Aīnun Sula, a Soninke cleric, who after his pilgrimage settled in Duntu, a little village south of Bamako. By his teaching and reputation he attracted many followers. This aroused the envy of Almami Samori, who advanced on the settlement, killing many and capturing the pilgrim, who was taken to Samori's court and kept there for three years before being allowed to leave. He settled in Bamako, and was buried in the old mosque of the town. el-Nager, ‘Muslim pilgrimage’, 306–7.

⁸² Ibid. 215ff.

⁸³ Oral tradition at Bamako (B). Brigaud, , Histoire, 55, mentions Muhammad al-Amīn's popularity as a Tijānlya teacher.Google Scholar

⁸⁴ Gouilly, A., L'Islam dans I'Afrique occidentale française (Paris, 1952), 78;Google Scholar he contrasts them both with Samori. Brigaud, , Histoire, 545.Google Scholar The same sort of comparison may be found in oral tradition—see that in Sankuli, Kunda J. 1910; and el-Nager, ‘Muslim pilgrimage’, 300, says that Muhammad al-Amīn, among his kin and supporters, is regarded as equally endowed as al-Hājj 'Umar.Google Scholar

⁸⁵ Le, Chatelier, L'Islam, 227;Google ScholarTrimingham, , History of Islam, 174 n. The Tal family (al-Hājj 'Umar's family) in Mali today regards Muhammad al-Amīn as an ambitious upstart, exploiting the prestige of pilgrimage, and claiming to be the legal successor to al-Hājj 'Umar as Tijānīya potentate in the western Sudan; el-Nager ‘Muslim pilgrimage’, 302–3.Google Scholar

⁸⁶ Both these points are from oral tradition at Bamako (B).

⁸⁷ Le, Chatelier, 1899, 217.Google Scholar

⁸⁸ Oral tradition at Bamako (B). Such disputes amongst judges are rare in tropical Africa, perhaps because judges there are rare, but are not without precedent. The first askiya of Songhay, al-Hājj Muhammad, was rebuked by one judge for having appointed him close to another, and thus increasing the likelihood of friction (es-Sa'di, Tarikh es-Sudan, 28/46–7). However, the standard Islamic practice of asking and giving fatwas, or legal opinions, which are advisory only, has generally allowed one judge to consult other experts without sacrificing his own autonomy.

⁸⁹ Arcin, A., La Guinée française (Paris, 1907), 519, cites Muhammad al-Amīn as a leading example of Tijānlya fanaticism in opposition to the Qādirlya traditions of Futa Jallon. The dichotomy between the two tariqas may not in fact have been quite so sharp.Google Scholar

⁹⁰ For example, in Dafort, the Soninke clerics, half Qādiriya and half TijAnlya, supported Muhammad al-Amīn, and all who could carry arms in 1886 fought for him against the French; Marty, , L'Islam en Mauritanie, 313. And again (p. 316), the Sokhona family of Mbeīda, which included Tijānis and Qādirts, both apparently disciples of Chekou Amadou Donkouré, provided active lieutenants for Muhammad al-Armīn.Google Scholar

⁹¹ Faidherbe, , Sénégal, 420;Google ScholarHargreaves, J. D., Prelude to the Partition of West Africa (London, 1963), 340, accepts this explanation.Google Scholar

⁹² Faidherbe, , Sénégal, 415;Google ScholarMarty, , L'Islam en Mauritanie, 308;Google ScholarGouilly, , L'Islam 77;Google ScholarTrimingham, , History of Islam, 174, n.;Google ScholarMonteil, , L'Islam noir, 99.Google Scholar

⁹³ Froelich, , Les Musulmans, 68.Google Scholar

⁹⁴ Leriche, A., ‘Des châtiments prévus par Ia loi musulmane et de leur application en Mauritanie’, Bull. I.F.A.N. B, 1957, 458.Google Scholar

⁹⁵ Marty, , L'Islam en Mauritanie, 280.Google Scholar

⁹⁶ Gailey, H. A., A History of the Gambia (London, 1964), 16.Google Scholar

⁹⁷ Oral tradition at Alunhare, J.1696.Google Scholar

⁹⁸ Oral tradition at Bamako (B).

⁹⁹ Péroz, , Au Soudan, 6–8.Google Scholar

¹⁰⁰ Ibid 56ff; Oloruntimehin,‘Muhammad Lamine’, 380; Nyambarza, ‘ Le arabout’, 178.