Seku Amadu - Early Years

Early Years

Aḥmad bin Muḥammad Būbū bin Abī Bakr bin Sa'id al-Fullānī (Fula: Aamadu Hammadi Buubu) was born around 1776 and was raised by Hamman Lobbo, his father's younger brother. Amadu was a pupil of the Qadiriyya Sufi teacher Sidi Mukhtar al-Kunti. In the Inner Niger Delta region, alliances of Fulbe traders ruled the towns like Djenné, but non-Moslem Bambara people controlled the river. The Fulbe ardo'en were tributary to the Bambara of Ségou, and practiced a form of Islam that was far from pure.

Seku Amadu may have served in the Sokoto jihad before returning to the Massina region. He settled in a village under the authority of Djenné. When his teaching brought him a large following he was expelled, and moved to Sebera, under Massina. Again he built a large following and again he was expelled. Shaykh Usman dan Fodio, who founded the Sokoto Caliphate in Hausaland in 1809, authorized him to carry out jihad in region. Originally his conquests were to have been included in the western part of the Sokoto Caliphate under Abdullahi dan Fodio of Gwandu. As with other jihad leaders, Seku Amadu received a flag from Usman dan Fodio as a visible symbol of his authority.