Al-Hajj Omar ibn Said Tal (ca. 1797-1864) was a West African Moslem leader who started a holy war and established a far-reaching empire on the Upper Niger.

Al-Hajj Omar was born in the Futa Toro near the town of Podar on the Senegal River. His father was a Moslem teacher, and young Omar was educated by prominent Moslem scholars of the Tijaniyya brotherhood, one of whom persuaded him to make the pilgrimage to Mecca in 1826.

The pilgrimage, and Omar's subsequent sojourn in Mecca, was the turning point in his life. While in Mecca he completed his religious studies and was initiated into the leadership of the Tijaniyya order, earning the designation of khalifa of the western Sudan. As a result, Omar had access to the ruling hierarchy throughout the entire Sudan, which was to facilitate his later political career.

On his return journey between 1835 and 1838 Omar visited Bornu...