Hamdullahi

Who is Hamdullahi?

Hamdullahi was a nineteenth-century imamate in what is now the Mopti Region of Mali. Founded around 1820 by Seku Amadu, Hamdullahi served as the capital of the nineteenth-century Fula empire of Massina.

On March 16, 1862, the town fell to the Toucouleur conqueror El Hadj Umar Tall after three major battles that claimed over 70,000 lives. Umar Tall destroyed the city, marking the effective end of the Massina Empire.

The ruins of the abandoned town are located 21 km southeast of Mopti, at a site lying to the east of the Bani River and to the west of the Bandiagara plateau. The town was encircled by sun-dried mud-brick walls and covered an area of 244 hectares. The town walls and some of the street layout are clearly visible on satellite images provided by Google. The mosque and Seku Amadu’s palace were located side by side in the centre of the town. They were also constructed of sun-dried bricks, except for the enclosing walls of the palace, which were of stone. The mosque has been rebuilt and reopened in 2004.