Ahmadu Tall

Ahmadou Sekou Tall (June 21, 1836 - December 15, 1897) was a Toucouleur ruler (Laamdo Dioulbé) of the Toucouleur Empire (1864-92) and (Faama) of Ségou (now Mali) from 1864 to 1884. On March 10, 1861, Ahmadu Sekou's father, El Hadj Umar Tall, conquered Ségou (then the heart of the Bambara Empire). Toucouleur Empire (1861-1890) was founded in the mid-nineteenth century by Elhadj Oumar Foutiyou Tall of the Toucouleur people of Senegal. Soon after, he began his conquest of the Massina Fula empire, leaving Ahmadu as the Almami of Ségou. Following the French advance in 1887, he abandoned Ségou and accepted a French protectorate known as the Treaty of Gouri on May 12, 1887.

When Umar Tall died in 1864, his nephew Tidiani Tall took over as ruler of the Toucouleur Empire. Ahmadu Sekou continued to serve as Faama of the eastern regions from Ségou, suppressing rebellions in several neighboring cities while quarrelling with his brothers more and more. In the 1880s and 1890s, the French colonial army invaded the empire, capturing Ségou in 1892 and forcing Ahmadu Sekou to flee to Sokoto (now in present-day Nigeria). Now he is remembered as one of the most important historical figures in Nigeria.