Wassoulou Empire

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The Wassoulou Empire was a short-lived (1878 - 1898) empire of West Africa built from the conquests of Dyula ruler Samori Ture and destroyed by the French colonial army.

In 1864, Toucouleur ruler El Hajj Umar Tall died near Bandiagara, leaving the then-dominant Toucouleur Empire tottering and a number of chiefs rushing to break their own pieces away from newly-weakened Empire. By far the most successful among them was Samori Ture of what is now southwestern Guinea. Equipping his forces with modern firearms, Samori's jihad swept first through his neighbors, the Bérété and the Cissé, and then into the Wassoulou region (the border of today's Guinea and Mali). In 1876, he secured the Buré gold mines, and by 1878, his position was secure enough to officially declare himself faama (military leader) of a new Wassoulou Empire.

Later conquests included Kankan, a key Dyula trading center, and sections of what are now Sierra Leone and northern Côte d'Ivoire.

Samori forced animist subject villages to convert to Islam, taking the title of "Almany," chief of all believers, in 1884. In non-religious matters, however, he conserved most traditions and local institutions of conquered peoples.

From 1880 until his death, Samori's ambition was opposed by the expansion of the French. He entered into combat with the colonial army, defeating them on several occasions, including a notable victory at Woyowayanko (April 2, 1882) in the face of French heavy artillery.

Nonetheless, Samori was forced to sign several treaties ceding territory to the French between 1886 and 1889. Samori began a steady retreat, but the fall of other resistance armies, particularly Babemba Traoré at Sikasso, permitted the colonial army to launch a concentrated assault against his forces. He was captured 29 September 1898 by French Commandant Goudraud and exiled to Gabon, marking the end of the Wassoulou Empire.