[citation needed] The construction of the great mosque at Touba was conceived in the final years of Ahmad Bamba's life, around 1924–27.

[citation needed] Senegal's colonial rulers of the time, the French, agreed to the scheme in 1926, albeit after some hesitation.

[citation needed] Construction was delayed because of the misappropriation of the first round of funds and then, under the direction of Mamadu Mustafâ Mbacke, Bamba's son and successor, proceeded only very slowly.

[3] The immediate vicinity of the mosque houses the mausoleum of Ahmad Bamba's sons, the caliphs of the Mouride order.

[citation needed] Other institutions in the center of the holy city include a library boasting 160,000 volumes,[2] the Caliph's official audience hall, a sacred "Well of Mercy", and a cemetery.