The Caliphate of Hamdullahi (; ; ; ; also: Dina of Massina, Sise Jihad state), also known as the Massina Empire (also spelled Maasina or Macina), was an early nineteenth-century Sunni Muslim caliphate in West Africa centered in the Inner Niger Delta of what is now the Mopti and Ségou Regions of Mali. It was founded by Seku Amadu in 1818 during the Fulani jihads after defeating the Bambara Empire and its allies at the Battle of Noukouma. By 1853, the empire had fallen into decline and was ultimately destroyed by Omar Saidou Tall of Toucouleur.
The Massina Empire was one of the most organized theocratic states of its time on the African continent and had its capital at Hamdullahi. It was ruled by an almami with the help of a Grand Council that possessed the power to elect new rulers after the death of the previous one. intending to restore genuine Islam rather than the contemporaneous infusion of Islam with traditional beliefs. Massina at this time was controlled by Muslim Fulani vassals of the Bambara Empire (whose government was animist). Amadu was born from a minor scholar family from one of the less important Fulani clans. He was both a religious and political outsider which increasingly led him to clash with the established elites as his influence in the region grew at their expense. Despite Fulani chiefs pledging loyalty, Ahmadu suspected them of being motivated by self-interest rather than religious zeal, and he overthrew them one by one. In 1823 he defeated separate Fulani jihadists from Fittuga, and in 1826/7 conquered Timbuktu, as the caliphate came to rule the lands from there to Djenne. Ahmadu died in 1844,
Regions
The empire was made up of five major regions known as Jenneri, Fakala-Kunari, Hayre-Seno, Massina, and Nabbe-Dude. Within each of these regions, governance was entrusted to a military governor, known as the amiru, who bore the responsibility of safeguarding their respective territories. The amiru were supported by local councils and a state-funded judicial system, granting them the authority to render independent legal judgments and facilitate conflict resolution. The Grand Council would act as the supreme court. For some alternative spellings and dates, see the Tarikh al-Sudan. Rulers from 1814 to 1873, except for Tukolor regents, used the title of 'Sheikh'.