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| Title: | Hedging bets: Shaikh Mamadu Mamudu of Futa Toro |
| Author: | Robinson, David |
| Year: | 1995 |
| Periodical: | Islam et sociétés au Sud du Sahara |
| Issue: | 9 |
| Pages: | 83-98 |
| Language: | English |
| Geographic terms: | Mauritania Senegal France |
| Subjects: | ulema colonial conquest Futa Toro polity Tukolor polity biographies (form) |
| About person: | Cheik Mamadu Mamudu (c. 1848-1890) |
| Abstract: | In the two decades between 1870 and 1890 French colonial power grew substantially in West Africa, notably in what later became Senegal and southern Mauritania, while to the east the preponderant power was the Umarian State under Amadu Sheku. In order to counter this 'militant' Islamic State the French authorities supported 'pacifist' Islam by establishing a network of Muslim clerics and traders who were beneficiaries of the wealth of the colonial capital of St. Louis and who therefore supported the French. During this period the brilliant and ambitious Muslim scholar Sheik Mamadu Mamudu (c. 1848-1890), who lived in the Islamic State of Futa Toro, 'hedged his bets' amid the changing constellations of power. Maintaining good relations with the Umarians as well as with the French, Sheik Mamudu, from his base in the community of Magama, tried to expand his power in eastern Futa. He eventually became convinced that the French were the strongest force in the future Senegal, and campaigned to have them appoint him chief of eastern Futa. Only after the French decided to break with his rival, Abdul Bokar, did he finally succeed in his aim, but he was assassinated before he had the opportunity to take up his new function. Instead his son, Abdussalam Kan, became 'chef de canton' and 'chef de province' of eastern Futa Toro, a position he retained for almost 60 years, from 1896 to 1955. Notes, ref. |
