The David Robinson collection on Western Sudan consists of materials collected by David Robinson (History and African Studies, Michigan State University) while doing research in francophone West Africa and France on the Haal-Pulaar people, especially those in Futa Toro (the middle valley of the Senegal River) and along their paths of migration into Mali, with a focus on the movement organized by Umar Tal. Over the course of 40 years of research, these materials were invaluable in preparing the publications Chiefs and Clerics: Abdul Bokar Kan and the History of Futa Toro (1975), The Holy War of Umar Tal (1985), After the Jihad: the Reign of Ahmad al-Kabir in the Western Sudan (1991, with John Hanson), and, to a lesser extent, Paths of Accommodation: Muslim Societies and French Colonial Authorities in Senegal and Mauritania, 1880-1920 (2000).

These materials will be of interest to those concerned with a wide variety of themes in the 19th century history of Senegal and Mali, and to a lesser extent of Mauritania and Guinea Conakry.