Hamdallahi (Mali)

The capital city of the Islamic Fulani caliphate of Macina (also spelled Massina or Masina), Hamdallahi is a fortified city which was constructed in 1820 and destroyed in 1862. Hamdallahi was founded by the Fulani shepherd Sekou Ahadou, who in the early 19th century decided to build a home for his nomadic pastoralist followers, and to practice a more rigorous version of Islam than he saw in Djenne. In 1862, the site was taken by El Hadj Oumar Tall, and two years later, it was abandoned and burned.

Architecture extant at Hamdallahi include the side-by-side structures of the Great Mosque and Sekou Ahadou's palace, both built of sun-dried bricks of the West African Butabu form. The main compound is surrounded by a pentagonal wall of sun-dried adobes.

Hamdallahi and Archaeology

The site has been the focus of interest to archaeologists and anthropologists wishing to learn about theocracies. In addition, ethhnoarchaeologists have been interested in Hamdallahi because of its known ethnic association with the Fulani caliphate.

Eric Huysecom at the University of Geneva has conducted a couple of seasons of archaeological investigations at Hamdallahi, identifying a Fulani presence on the basis of cultural elements such as ceramic pottery forms. Evidence of the violent end of Hamdallahi However, Huysecom did identify additional elements (such as rainwater guttering adopted from Somono or Bambara societies to fill in where the Fulani repertoire lacked.

Additionally, Hamdallahi is seen as a key partner in the Islamicization of their neighbors the Dogon.

Sources

David, Nicholas. 1971. The Fulani compound and the archaeologist. World Archaeology 3(2):111-131.

Huysecom, Eric. 1991. Preliminary Report on Excavations at Hamdallahi, Inland Niger Delta of Mali (February/March and October/November 1989). Nyame Akuma 35:24-38.

Insoll, Timothy. 2003. Hamdallahi. Pp. 353-359 in The Archaeology of Islam in Sub-Saharan Africa. Cambridge World Archaeology, Cambridge University, Cambridge.

This glossary entry is part of the Dictionary of Archaeology.