Sokoto Caliphate
Sokoto Caliphate: In Hausaland, which is now northern Nigeria, walled towns that had become important trade hubs in the 15th and 16th centuries were the sites of centralized states. Kano, Katsina, Zazzau, Zamfara, Kebbi, and Gobir were the most well-known of these states.
A lot of people from different ethnic groups also moved to the Hausa states. The Fulbe (Fulani in Hausa), a group of herders who came from Futa Toro and lived across a lot of the West African desert, were one of the most important of these groups.
At least in cities, Islam had grown from being the religion of a small group of traders and scholars to being the main religion of the Hausa states. However, by the end of the 18th century, many people were still practicing their own religions.
Many of the Fulani mallams (educated Muslims) in Hausaland came from the Torodbe community. The Torodbe community often viewed this mix of religions as an act of infidelity, leading many Torodbe to advocate for the establishment of Muslim states that would enforce Shari’a (Islamic law).
But Shehu ‘Uthman dan Fodio, who was the spiritual leader of the Sokoto jihad (holy war), didn’t want to get involved in politics at first. So, when he was an advisor at the court of Sarkin Gobir Bawa in the early 1780s, there wasn’t much reason to think he would lead a movement against the Gobir government.
But when it became clear that the Hausa rulers didn’t want to give up the non-Muslim religious practices that helped them keep power, ‘Uthman allowed the formation of independent Muslim groups all over Hausaland. His approval among the Fulani was not uniform, though. Some Torodbe didn’t believe in ‘Uthman’s plan to make things better, while others were happy at court and didn’t want things to change.
Many, on the other hand, supported the movement because their income depended on the whims of their rich Hausa hosts. This was because farming, trade, and commerce were seen as taking away from living a religious life. Similarly, religious criticism of the political and economic system they had come to appreciate did not sway many of the Fulanin Gidda (settled Fulani).
But a lot of Fulanin Gidda, who wanted more political power, also joined the terrorist army. On the other hand, the non-Muslim Baroji (pastoral Fulani), who lived all over Hausaland, stayed away from town life and got along well with the Hausa farmers.
Even so, the jangali (a tax on cattle), the forced military service, and the limits on water and grazing land use often made the heads of the independent clans side with Usman. The main groups fighting in the Sokoto jihad were Fulani-led independent armies, but many Hausa peasants joined as well. They were fed up with slavery, high taxes, a corrupt government, and customary rights that let the rich choose which daughters and animals to use as slaves.
Because of this, when ‘Uthman talked about an Islam where Muslims would not be slaves and the government would be fair to everyone, he was also speaking for the Hausa, who were unhappy. By the early 1900s, there were an alarmingly large number of ‘Uthman’s followers in Gobir.
In 1803, Sarkin Gobir Yunfa called ‘Uthman to the house and tried to kill him. Heavenly providence allegedly thwarted the assassination attempt, and following the Prophet Muhammad’s tradition, the shehu fled with his brother Abdullah and his son Muhammad Bello. But the fight didn’t start until Yunfa attacked the Muslims in 1804. At that point, Yunfa appointed Uthman as the “commander of the faithful.”
But in the armed battles that followed, Abdullah and Bello were the ones who made most of the important choices. In 1804 at Tabkin Kwatto, the shehu’s followers beat the Gobirawa, who had more soldiers, but they won because they were mostly shooters. Next, they went after Gobir’s city, Alkalawa, but lost over 2,000 of their best soldiers. The shehu’s men then went back to Zamfara, which they eventually took over.
The terrorists left Zamfara and went to Gwandu in the southern part of Kebbi. The Gobirawa struck Gwandu with help from the Tuareg and the rebellious Kebbawa and Zamfarawa. The town wasn’t well protected, and the hilly landscape made it hard for Gobirawa’s heavy horse corps and Tuareg camel corps to attack.
In the end, the shehu’s shooters won the whole battle. In 1805, the people carrying the Shehu flags attacked Zazzau. Reformers caught Makau, the son and heir of Sarkin Zazzau, off guard as he made his way to a special prayer ground outside the city walls. He had to run away, and the city of Zaria fell without a fight.
After defeating Kebbi and Zamfara in the west in 1806, Bello went to Katsina to help the shehu’s followers there. Fulani, Zamfarawa, and Kanawa defeated Sarkin Katsina’s troops at Dankama. By 1807, they had also taken control of the large city of Kano.
It was impossible for Gobir to get away because the reformers had control of Kano, Zazzau, Katsina, Kebbi, and Zamfara. Bello took Alkalawa in 1808 and killed Sarkin Gobir Yunfa with all of his soldiers by his side. The empire transformed all the Hausa states into emirates, with Sokoto serving as their capital, following Gobir’s defeat.
The north produced Ahir and Adar, the south produced Yauri, Gombe, Adamawa, and Bauchi, the west produced Gurma, and the east produced Hadejia and Katagum (in areas previously ruled by Bornu). When the shehu died in 1817, Bello became the “commander of the faithful”. The result was the division of the empire into two parts. Yauri and Gurma, along with most of Kebbi and its old provinces, became Abdullah’s western sultanate of Gwandu.
Bello took over most of the empire. Bello’s eastern sultanate encompassed Kano, Katsina, Zazzau, Bauchi, Adamawa, Daura, Hadejia, and Ahir, along with the merged states of Gobir, Zamfara, and parts of Kebbi to form the urban sultanate of Sokoto.
During the early stages of growth, the emirates of the newly formed Sokoto caliphate had a lot of freedom. There were areas within the caliphate’s borders where Muslims remained unruled, and the peasants continued to believe in multiple gods.
Still, this huge kingdom, which spanned from Bornu in the east to Songhay in the west, brought together all of the Hausa states for the first time in their history. It did this by replacing each state’s native religion with an Islamic one.
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