Sultan, Caliph, and the Renewer of the Faith: Ahmad Lobbo, the Tarikh al-fattash and the Making of an Islamic State in West Africa

The Tārīkh al-fattāsh is a significant source for the history of pre-colonial West Africa, but scholars have been confounded by its inconsistencies and questions surrounding its authorship. Mauro Nobili's study challenges existing theories and demonstrates that it was written in the nineteenth century by a Fulani scholar, Nūḥ b. al-Ṭāhir, as a political project to legitimize the West African Islamic state known as the Caliphate of Ḥamdallāhi and its founding leader Aḥmad Lobbo.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 289 pages
Publication date: 16 June 2022
Publisher: Cambridge University Press

The Tārīkh al-fattāsh, a renowned and celebrated source for the history of pre-colonial West Africa, has perplexed scholars for decades due to its inconsistencies and uncertainties surrounding its authorship. In this comprehensive study, Mauro Nobili delves into and challenges prevailing theories about the chronicle, contending that much of what has been assumed about it is fundamentally flawed. Nobili employs a wealth of previously unpublished Arabic sources to substantiate his argument, demonstrating that the Tārīkh al-fattāsh was authored in the nineteenth century by a Fulani scholar named Nūḥ b. al-Ṭāhir. This scholar, driven by a political agenda, undertook the modification of pre-existing historiographical material to legitimize the West African Islamic state known as the Caliphate of Ḥamdallāhi and its founding leader, Aḥmad Lobbo. By contextualizing the production of the Tārīkh al-fattāsh within the broader landscape of religious and political developments in West Africa, this study assumes a pivotal position in the study of West African history and the evolution of Arabic historical literature in Timbuktu and its surrounding regions.

The Tārīkh al-fattāsh, a renowned and celebrated source for the history of pre-colonial West Africa, has perplexed scholars for decades due to its inconsistencies and uncertainties surrounding its authorship. In this comprehensive study, Mauro Nobili delves into and challenges prevailing theories about the chronicle, contending that much of what has been assumed about it is fundamentally flawed. Nobili employs a wealth of previously unpublished Arabic sources to substantiate his argument, demonstrating that the Tārīkh al-fattāsh was authored in the nineteenth century by a Fulani scholar named Nūḥ b. al-Ṭāhir. This scholar, driven by a political agenda, undertook the modification of pre-existing historiographical material to legitimize the West African Islamic state known as the Caliphate of Ḥamdallāhi and its founding leader, Aḥmad Lobbo. By contextualizing the production of the Tārīkh al-fattāsh within the broader landscape of religious and political developments in West Africa, this study assumes a pivotal position in the study of West African history and the evolution of Arabic historical literature in Timbuktu and its surrounding regions.

Weight: 432g
Dimension: 151 x 227 x 20 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781108789820