Seku Amadu

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Seku Amadu (1773–1845) was the founder of the Fula (Peul in French) Massina Empire in what is now the Mopti Region of Mali.

An imam by training, Seku Amadu preached for years against what he saw as the corruption of the Islamic elites governing Tomboctou and Djenné. Inspired by the recent uprising of Usman dan Fodio in neighboring Hausaland, Seku Amadu led his followers in a jihad against the then-dominant animist Bambara Empire in 1818. By 1819, he had decisively defeated the Bambara in battle, seizing Djenné and much of Niger Inland Delta region. He founded a capital for his new Massina Empire at Hamdullahi, northeast of Djenné, just south of the present day city of Mopti.

At the height of the Empire's power, a 10,000 man army was stationed in the city, and Seku Amadu ordered the construction of six hundred madrasas to further the spread of Islam. He also ordered alcohol, tobacco, music and dancing banned in accordance with Islamic law, and constructed a social welfare system to provide for widows, orphans, and the poor.

One of the most enduring results of his rule was a code regulating the use of the inland Niger delta region by Fula cattle herders and diverse farming communities.

In 1845, Seku Amadu conquered Tomboctou. However, he died within the year, leaving control of the Massina Empire to his son, Amadu Seku. Seku Amadu's Empire outlived him by only seventeen years, falling to Toucouleur conqueror El Hajj Umar Tall in 1862.