Ironically, the small kingdom of Kénédougou would become one of the last major hold-outs against French ambitions in West Africa. The larger states were falling like dominoes to either Samori's Wassulu Empire or the French. Samori attacked Sikasso with an army of 12,000 men in April 1887, but failed to take the city. Then, from 1887 to 1888, the French besieged Sikasso but also met with defeat. In light of these threats, Tieba ordered the construction of a "tata", or fortified wall, around the city in 1890. Parts of the tata have become one of present-day Sikasso's major tourist attractions.