Fugumba was the religious center of the

Imamate of Futa Jallon The Imamate of Futa Jallon or Jalon ( ar, إمامة فوتة جالون; fuf, Fuuta Jaloo or ' ) was a West African theocratic state based in the Fouta Djallon highlands of modern Guinea. The state was founded around 1727 by a Fulani jihad ...

. It was about to the northwest of the secular capital, Timbo, and lay in the valley of the Téné River. Fugomba was a place where

marabout A marabout ( ar, مُرابِط, murābiṭ, lit=one who is attached/garrisoned) is a Muslim religious leader and teacher who historically had the function of a chaplain serving as a part of an Islamic army, notably in North Africa and the Sah ...

s and chiefs of the

Fula people The Fula, Fulani, or Fulɓe people ( ff, Fulɓe, ; french: Peul, links=no; ha, Fulani or Hilani; pt, Fula, links=no; wo, Pël; bm, Fulaw) are one of the largest ethnic groups in the Sahel and West Africa, widely dispersed across the region ...

gathered to read and discuss the

Quran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , s ...

. It was here that the decision to launch a holy war against the infidels was decided in 1725, and here that

Karamokho Alfa Karamokho Alfa (born Ibrahima Musa Sambeghu and sometimes called Alfa Ibrahim; died c. 1751) was a Fula religious leader who led a jihad that created the Imamate of Futa Jallon in what is now Guinea. This was one of the first of the Fulbe jih ...

was chosen to lead the '' jihad''. In 1762 the king of Sankaran, Konde Burama, attacked the new formed state and was only with difficulty prevented from taking Fugumba. The forces of Ibrahima Sory did not remove the threat from Sankaran until 1776. The Council of Elders of the Futa Jallon state were based in Fugumba, acting as a brake on the

Almami Almami ( ar, المامي; Also: Almamy, Almaami) was the regnal title of Tukulor monarchs from the eighteenth century through the first half of the twentieth century. It is derived from the Arabic Al-Imam, meaning "the leader", and it has since ...

, who headed the state. The Fulani built a large conical mosque in Fugumba, the first in the region. Fugumba had perhaps a thousand huts, and became the place where the newly chosen rulers of Futa-Jallon came to be consecrated. It was a center of Islamic learning. In the later political struggles of the state, Fugumba and Kolladé were the bases of the '' Alfaya'' faction, opposed to the more militarist ''

Soriya The Soriya was the name given to the party from the mid-18th century that supported the successors of the war leader Ibrahim Sori first cousin of the jihad leader Karamoko Alfa in the Imamate of Futa Jallon in what is now Guinea. They contended w ...

'' faction that controlled

Labé Labé (Adlam script, Pular 𞤆𞤵𞤤𞤢𞤪:𞤂𞤢𞤦𞤫) is the main city and administrative capital of the Fouta Djallon region of Guinea. It has a population of about 200,000. It is the second largest city in the country after the capit ...

and Timbi.

References

Citations Sources * * * {{morecat, date=September 2022 History of Guinea