Sokoto Caliphate
The centrality of Sokoto to the jihād movement is undisputed, and the date 1804 is considered a turning point in West African history. In the process of establishing an Islamic state, all the Hausa states were overthrown, Borno lost half its territory, and regions astride the Benue River extending into the mountainous districts beyond the headwaters of the Benue and its tributaries were incorporated, while the Oyo Empire collapsed. These dramatic changes can be seen through a comparison of maps of West Africa dating to around 1800 and around 1836 in which the revolutionary transformations are apparent (map 3.1 and map 3.2). As evident in map 3.1, Oyo dominated most of the coast of the Bight of Benin from Badagry and Porto Novo westward to Ouidah, with Dahomey, moreover, a tributary in this period. In 1800 there was a vibrant trade from the Hausa states and Borno to the south, as well as an east-west trade from the Hausa cities to Asante in the Volta basin in the southwest. By 1837 the area had been transformed as large areas were incorporated into the Sokoto Caliphate. Dahomey asserted its independence from Oyo in 1823, and with Oyo’s final collapse in 1836, several city-states, including Ibadan and Abeokuta, emerged that successfully resisted further caliphate expansion from the north. Moreover, a reform regime under Muhammad al-Kānimī and his successors replaced the ancient Sayfawa dynasty in Borno, which had lost its western provinces and had to rebuild its capital at Kukawa after Birni Ngazargamu was occupied twice and then destroyed in 1810.
The jihād can be examined on the basis of the following chronological benchmarks: first, the initial phase in the Hausa states of Gobir, Zamfara, Kebbi, Kano, Daura, Katsina, and Zaria between 1804 and 1808 that led to the formation of the Sokoto Caliphate; second, the invasion of Borno in 1808 that was repulsed only in 1810; and third, the extension of jihād to Nupe in 1810, with the subsequent civil wars there and the ascendancy of Malam Dendo in 1819.4 For comparative purposes, it should be noted that the outbreak of jihād in 1804 coincided with the emergence of Haiti as an independent state in the midst of the Napoleonic Wars. In 1817, upon ʿUthmān dan Fodio’s death, the jihād entered a new phase that in many ways continued until 1837 and the end of the first generation of leadership. By then, twenty-eight emirates had been established, as well as the twin capitals at Gwandu and Sokoto. Table 3.1 summarizes key events, leadership, and important results up to 1837. The second benchmark of 1817 was significant because it was not only the year in which ʿUthmān dan Fodio died but the year of local rebellions (tawaye) and the uprising at Ilorin. ʿAbd al-Salām, one of the few jihād leaders who was not Fulbe or Fulani, and his supporters staged an uprising in Zamfara during the succession crisis after the shaykh’s death. In crushing the revolt and executing ʿAbd al-Salām, the Sokoto aristocracy became more firmly identified as Fulani, which was further reflected in the leadership of the revolt at Ilorin. The jihād continued for the rest of the century, with the establishment of all the emirates and the many subemirates in Fombina, also known as Adamawa, with a capital at Yola.
MAP 3.1. Bight of Benin and Central Bilād al-Sūdān, 1800.
Source: Henry B. Lovejoy, African Diaspora Maps
MAP 3.2. Sokoto Caliphate, Borno, and Bight of Benin, 1840.
Source: Henry B. Lovejoy, African Diaspora Maps
TABLE 3.1. Selected Events in the History of the Sokoto Caliphate, 1800–1837
The jihād began in 1804 after a period of twenty years of increasing friction betweenʿUthmān dan Fodio and the government of Gobir and indirectly betweenʿUthmān’s followers and the governments of the other Hausa states—Kebbi, Katsina, Daura, Kano, and Zaria. The issues concerned the insistence of dan Fodio on reforms in the treatment of Muslims and the promotion of an Islamic society. Initially, the king of Gobir, Sarkin Gobir Bawa Jan Gwarzo, conceded a number of measures to ʿUthmān dan Fodio at a public confrontation in 1785 at Magami that related to the guarantee of freedom to preach, the treatment of Muslims and prisoners, and taxation. This success resulted in further calls for reform in matters of marriage, inheritance, and other aspects of social relations.5 Dan Fodio toured the upper Sokoto River area between 1788 and 1792 to preach and thereby spread his influence as a reformer. Bawa’s death in 1789–90 and the succession of Bawa’s brother Yakubu as Sarkin Gobir provided the context for dan Fodio’s continuing appeal, but when Yakubu was killed in battle with Katsina in 1794/95, relations with the Gobir government deteriorated rapidly. Yakubu’s successor, Nafata (1794/95–1801), revoked the concessions and instead enacted decrees that declared that no one could convert to Islam, but that everyone had to follow the beliefs of his or her parents. He prohibited the use of turbans and veils for women, and Muslims were not allowed to carry weapons. Nafata’s successor, Yunfa (1801–8), went further in the attempt to curb the growth of the movement, even attempting to assassinate dan Fodio. In December 1803 Gobir forces attacked and occupied Gimbana, a settlement under ʿAbd al-Salām, one of dan Fodio’s foremost supporters. The Shehu, as dan Fodio was known, who lived at Degel, intervened and released the prisoners, effectively defying the Gobir government and committing an outright act of treason. On 21 February 1804 dan Fodio withdrew from Degel and moved to Gudu (Sokwai) near Kwonni, across the border and therefore technically outside Gobir.6 The Muslims considered this migration the hijra that preceded jihād, following the pattern of the Prophet Muhammad’s original jihād. Sarkin Yunfa sent emissaries requesting that the Shehu return, but negotiations broke down, and fighting began at Matan-kare on 21 June 1804. The Shehu’s forces won a major victory against Yunfa at Tabkin Kwoto, after which the Shehu moved to Magabci, and shortly thereafter war spread to the other Hausa states.
The expanding conflict pitted the established governments of the Hausa states against dan Fodio’s community and his sympathizers among Muslims throughout the region. Moreover, dan Fodio was able to gain the support of the major clan leaders of the Fulbe pastoralists on the basis of ethnic solidarity that appealed to dissatisfaction of the Fulbe with government taxation and regulation. Without this support, dan Fodio could not have sustained a military campaign. Dan Fodio formally pursued jihād, issuing flags (tata) to key supporters who were charged with undertaking the struggle against the ruling authorities. For example, Moyijo, leader of the Kebbi Fulani, and Muhammad Namoda, leader of the Zamfara Fulani, played major roles in a series of battles in the Sokoto area of the Sokoto, Rima, Kebbi, and Zamfara River valleys, including Matanakari (1804), Tabkin Kwatto (1804), Birnin Konni (1804), Tsuntsuwa (1804), Silame (1805), Kanoma (1805), Birnin Kebbi (1805), Gwandu (1805), Alwassa (1805), Yandoto (1806), Kamba (1806), Fafara (1806), Alkalawa (1808), Tanda (1809), and Illo (1811).7 Birnin Kebbi fell on 13 April 1805, thereby toppling the first of the major Hausa governments, while the capital of Gobir, Alkalawa, was taken on 3 October 1808, and the city was destroyed. The defeated Hausa of Gobir regrouped first under the leadership of Salihu, then Gumki, and finally ʿAlī (1817–35) and continued the struggle against the jihād. The Gobirawa, as people from Gobir are referred to in Hausa, eventually settled at Tsibiri after joining the defeated government of Katsina, thus establishing a pocket of resistance on the northern region of Gobir and Katsina. Nonetheless, the jihād spread northward into the region of Adar and secured the support of the main Tuareg confederations of nomads, particularly the Kel Gress, Kel Ewey, and Itisen, and thereby established hegemony over the region as far as Agadez in the Air Massif.8 Similarly, the jihād spread eastward to the other Hausa city-states
