Imamate of Futa Toro

Imamate of Futa Toro
1776–1861
Futa Toro and neighbors, circa 1850
Capital		Orefonde
Languages		Pulaar language
Religion		Sunni Islam
Government		Monarchy
Almaami
•	1776–1804	Abdul Kaader
•	1875–1891	Abdul Ba Bakar
History
•	Established	1776
•	Torobe Islamic Revolution
•	Fractured state absorbed into Tukulor Empire
•	Incorporated into Senegal Colony	1877
•	Disestablished	1861
Preceded by Succeeded by Empire of Great Fulo Tukulor Empire French West Africa

The Imamate of Futa Toro (1776-1861) was a pre-colonial West African theocratic state of the Fula-speaking people (Fulɓe and Toucouleurs) centered on the middle valley of the Senegal River. The region is known as Futa Toro.

Futa Toro is a strip of agricultural land along both sides of the Senegal River. The people of the region speak Pulaar, a dialect of the greater Fula languages spanning West Africa from Senegal to Cameroon. They identify themselves by the language, which gives rise to the name Haalpulaar'en (those who speak Pulaar). The Haalpulaar'en are also known as Toucouleur people, a name derived from the ancient state of Takrur. From 1495 to 1776, the country was part of the Denanke Kingdom. The Denianke leaders were a clan of non-Muslim Fulbe who ruled over most of Senegal.

A class of Muslim scholars called the Torodbe seem to have originated in Futa Toro, later spreading throughout the Fulbe territories. Two of the Torodbe clans in Futa Toro claimed to be descended from a seventh-century relative of one of the companions of the prophet Muhammad who was among a group of invaders of Futa Toro. The Torodbe may well have already been a distinct group when the Denianke conquered Futa Toro.

In the last quarter of the seventeenth century the Mauritanian Zawāyā reformer Nasir al-Din launched a jihad to restore purity of religious observance in the Futa Toro. He gained support from the Torodbe clerical clan against the warriors, but by 1677 the movement had been defeated. After this defeat, some of the Torodbe migrated south to Bundu and some continued on to the Futa Jallon. The farmers of Futa Toro continued to suffer from attacks by nomads from Mauritania. By the eighteenth century there was growing resentment among the largely Muslim lower class at lack of protection against these attacks.