Shaikh Amadou Ba (also spelled Shaixu Amadu, or known as Amadu Mahdiyu) was a powerful Tijani prophetic leader in what is now northern Senegal, active from 1868 to 1875. At the peak of his power he controlled several pre-colonial states, before being defeated and killed.

Family and Youth

Shaikh Amadou Ba was the son of Hame Ba, a messianic cleric from Futa Toro who had declared himself the Mahdi in 1828. When he prepared to sacrifice his son, claiming that God had told him imitate Abraham, he was driven out of the region and joined serigne Koki Ndiaga Issa Diop's invasion of Waalo. When this failed he returned to Futa Toro and settled near Podor with his family. ^[1]

Messianic Movement

In 1868 a cholera epidemic broke out in Senegambia. Inspired by his father and al-hajj Umar Tall's examples, Shaikh Amadou saw it as a sign of the apolalypse, with himself as the Mahdi and the Tijaniyyah as the only community of true believers. After demanding that the leaders of the region follow him, he was forced into exile by the ruling religious establishment of the Imamate of Futa Toro. He and his followers took control of neighboring Jolof, forcing the buurba to convert and Islamizing the society. ^{[2] [3]} Resistance remained, however, led by the tuube Sanor Ndiaye and prince Alboury Ndiaye. ^[4]

Shaikh Amadou allied with Lat Jor, Damel of Cayor, and defeated the French in the battle of Mekhe on July 8th, 1869. ^[5] This alliance was short-lived, however. The French signed a treaty with Lat Jor, while meanwhile Amadou's ambitions in Cayor and Lat Jor's support for his cousin Alboury Ndiaye undermined their relationship. Over the next few years they clashed over control of Baol until Amadou Ba invaded Cayor in July 1874. ^{[6] [7]} His forces won a series of victories against Lat Jor and his allies, until the French intervened. With the support of their heavy artillery, Lat Jor won the bloody battle of Samba Saajo in February 1875, Ba was killed, and his movement evaporated. ^{[8] [4]}

References

Sources

• Barry, Boubacar (1998). Senegambia and the Atlantic slave trade. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
• Charles, Eunice A. (1977). Precolonial Senegal : the Jolof Kingdom, 1800-1890. Brookline, MA: African Studies Center, Boston University. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
• Clark, Andrew Francis; Philips, Lucie Colvin (1994). Historical Dictionary of Senegal. London: Scarecrow Press. ISBN  9780585129112.