Jihad of Usman dan Fodio

Last updated
Jihad of Usman dan Fodio
Part of the Fula jihads
Sokoto Sultanate.png
The Sokoto Sultanate (Sokoto Empire) in the reign of sultan Ahmadu Rufai, established after the Jihad led by Shaikh Usman bin Fodiyo.
DateFebruary 21, 1804 – 1808
Location
Present day Nigeria and Cameroon
Result

Sokoto victory

Belligerents
Flag of the Sokoto Caliphate.svg Sokoto Caliphate
Support:
Kel Ayr
Commanders and leaders

The Jihad of Usman dan Fodio was a religio-military conflict in present-day Nigeria and Cameroon. The war began when Usman dan Fodio, a prominent Islamic scholar and teacher, was exiled from Gobir by King Yunfa, one of his former students. [1]

Contents

Usman dan Fodio assembled an Islamic army to lead a jihad against Gobir and other Hausa Kingdoms of northern Nigeria. The forces of Usman dan Fodio slowly took over more and more of the Hausa kingdoms, capturing Gobir in 1808 and executing Yunfa. The war resulted in the creation of the Sokoto Caliphate, initially headed by Usman dan Fodio himself, which became one of the largest states in Africa in the 19th century. His success inspired similar jihads in Western Africa.

Background

The ancient Kanem–Bornu Empire was losing power by the mid-18th century. There was large-scale immigration by Fulani pastoralists, leading to resource competition with more settled Hausa communities despite mutually intelligible language and shared religion . Several Hausa kingdoms previously tributary to Kanem-Bornu became independent and fought with each other. Rulers enforced harsh systems of conscription and taxation, while war caused social disruption, economic hardship, and enslavement of war captives. Fulani communities felt especially victimized by Hausa rulers' taxation and land control. Two prominent Hausa kingdoms that were central in the Jihad were Gobir, where Usman dan Fodio's parents settled in his childhood and where he lived until 1804, and Zamfara. [1] [2]

Lead up to war

Usman dan Fodio, born in 1754, joined a growing number of traveling Islamic scholars through the Hausa kingdoms in the 1770s and became quite popular in the 1790s. [1] Much of his preaching focused on the obligations of Muslim rulers to promote Islam and to rule ethically and generously in a manner that allowed their subjects to live as good Muslims while criticizing corruption, hypocrisy, oppression of fellow Muslims, and tolerance of beliefs and practices in conflict with Islam. Originally, dan Fodio's preaching received the support of the leadership of Gobir; however, as his influence increased and as he began to advocate for self-defense arming by his followers, his favor with the leadership decreased. King Nafata of Gobir, placed a series of restrictions on preaching by dan Fodio's followers and by Usman himself. [1] In 1801, Sarkin Gobir Yunfa, a former pupil of dan Fodio, replaced Nafata as king and increased the restrictions on dan Fodio, exiling him from Gobir to the village of Degel. A crisis developed later in 1803 when Yunfa attacked and captured many of the followers of a group associated with dan Fodio. Yunfa then marched the prisoners through Degel, enraging many of dan Fodio's followers, who attacked the army and freed the prisoners.

Yunfa gave dan Fodio the option of exile before destroying Degel, but Usman refused to abandon his followers, instead leading a large-scale hijra of the community to Gudu. So many people went with dan Fodio throughout the state that on February 21, 1804, Yunfa declared war on dan Fodio and threatened punishment to anyone joining him. [1] Followers of dan Fodio declared him to be the Amir al-Mu'minin "Commander of the Faithful" and renounced their allegiance to Gobir. [1]

Battles

Several minor skirmishes preceded the forces meeting at the Battle of Tsuntua. Although Yunfa was victorious and dan Fodio lost men, the battle did not diminish his force. He retaliated by capturing the village of Matankari, which resulted in the Battle of Tabkin Kwatto, a major action between Yunfa and dan Fodio's forces. Both the Gobirawa and Dan Fodio armies were ethnically mixed. The Gobirawa had some Tuaregs and Fulanis from the Sullubawa clan while the Muslims had Hausa, Fulani and a few Iwellemmedan Tuaregs. The Tuaregs of the Muslim army consisted of Agali and Adagh muslims and possibly the sons of the Emir of Adagh. [3] Although outnumbered, dan Fodio's troops were able to prevent Yunfa from advancing on Gunu and thus convince larger numbers of people to join his forces. [1]

In 1805, the forces of dan Fodio, the jihadists, captured the Hausa kingdom of Kebbi. In 1807, the jihadists had taken over Katsina whose ruler, Magajin Halidu, committed suicide following the defeat. [4] They then captured the Sultanate of Kano whose king (Muhammad Alwali II) was forced to flee to Zazzau, then the village of Burum-Burum where he was soon killed in battle. [5] In 1808, the jihadists assaulted Gobir, killing Yunfa in the battle of Alkalawa, [1] and destroying large parts of the city. [6] Furthermore, Abdullahi dan Fodio also took over the Kebbi Emirate the same year. [7]

With the capture of Gobir, the jihadists saw that they were part of a wider regional struggle. They continued with battles against several Hausa kingdoms, and the Sokoto Caliphate expanded over the next two years. The last major expansion of the jihadists was the toppling of the Sayfawa dynasty in 1846. [1]

Founding of the Sokoto Caliphate

Muhammed Bello, the son of Usman dan Fodio, transformed the semi-permanent camp of Sokoto into a city in 1809, during the Fulani war. [8] Dan Fodio ruled from Sokoto as the religious leader of the Fulani jihad states from that point until 1815, when he retired from administrative duties. [1] The Caliphate appointed various Emirs to govern the various states of the empire. These men were often veterans of the Fulani wars. [2] Bello succeeded Usman dan Fodio as ruler of Sokoto and in 1817 adopted the title of sultan, an office that still exists, albeit stripped of most of its power by the British colonial government of Nigeria in 1903.

Legacy

The success of the jihad inspired a number of later West African jihadists, including Massina Empire founder Seku Amadu, Toucouleur Empire founder Omar Saidou Tall, Wassoulou Empire founder Samori, Adamawa Emirate founder Modibo Adama and Zabarma Emirate founder Babatu (warlord).[ citation needed ]

The Sokoto Caliphate has continued to the present. Since the British conquest of the Caliphate in 1903, and later Nigerian independence under a constitutional government in 1960, the Caliphate's political authority has diminished. But the position still has considerable spiritual authority.[ citation needed ]

See also

Related Research Articles

Shehu Usman ɗan Fodio was a Fulani scholar, Islamic religious teacher, revolutionary and a philosopher who founded the Sokoto Caliphate and ruled as its first caliph. After the successful revolution, the "Jama'a" gave him the title Amir al-Mu'minin. He rejected the throne and continued calling to Islam.

Hausa–Fulani are people of mixed Hausa and Fulani origin. They are primarily found in the Northern region of Nigeria, most of whom speak a variant of Hausa or Fula or both as their first language.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sokoto</span> Capital city of Sokoto State, Nigeria

Sokoto is a major city located in extreme north-western Nigeria, near the confluence of the Sokoto River and the Rima River. As of 2006, it has a population of over 427,760. Sokoto is the modern-day capital of Sokoto State and was previously the capital of the north-western states. Modern Sokoto is known for trading sheepskins, cattle hides, leather crafts, kola nuts and goatskins.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sokoto Caliphate</span> Islamic state in West Africa (1804–1903)

The Sokoto Caliphate, also known as the Sultanate of Sokoto, was a Sunni Muslim caliphate in West Africa. It was founded by Usman dan Fodio in 1804 during the Fulani jihads after defeating the Hausa Kingdoms in the Fulani War. The boundaries of the caliphate are part of present-day Cameroon, Burkina Faso, Niger, and Nigeria. By 1837, the Sokoto state had a population of around 10-20 plus million people, becoming the most populous empire in West Africa. It was dissolved when the British, French and Germans conquered the area in 1903 and annexed it into the newly established Northern Nigeria Protectorate, Senegambia and Niger and Kamerun respectively.

Muhammadu Bello was the second Caliph of Sokoto and reigned from 1817 until 1837. He was also an active writer of history, poetry, and Islamic studies. He was the son and primary aide to Usman dan Fodio, the founder of the Sokoto Caliphate and the first caliph. During his reign, he encouraged the spread of Islam throughout the region, increasing education for both men and women, and the establishment of Islamic courts. He died on October 25, 1837, and was succeeded by his brother Abu Bakr Atiku and then his son, Aliyu Babba.

Muhammadu Yunfa was a king of Gobir, a city-state in Hausaland in what is now Nigeria. He was the son of a Sultan of Gobir Nafata. He is particularly remembered for his conflict with Islamic reformer Shaikh Usman dan Fodio.

The Battle of Tsuntua, fought in December 1804, was one of the largest battles of the Fulani War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gobir</span> Hausa city-state or minor kingdom

Gobir was a city-state in what is now Nigeria. Founded by the Hausa in the 11th century, Gobir was one of the seven original kingdoms of Hausaland, and continued under Hausa rule for nearly 700 years. Its capital was the city of Alkalawa. In the early 19th century elements of the ruling dynasty fled north to what is today Niger from which a rival dynasty developed ruling as Sarkin Gobir at Tibiri. In 1975 a reunited traditional sultanate took up residence in Sabon Birni, Nigeria.

Degel is a town in northern Nigeria.

Alkalawa was the capital of the Hausa city-state of Gobir, in what is now northern Nigeria.

Abdullahi ɗan Fodio, was a prominent Islamic scholar, jurist, poet and theologian, and the first Amir of Gwandu and first Grand Vizier of Sokoto. His brother, Usman dan Fodio (1754–1817) was the founder of the Sokoto Caliphate. Usman, being more of a scholar than politician, delegated the practical regency of the western part of his empire to Abdullahi and the eastern part to his son Muhammed Bello, who later became the Sultan of Sokoto after his father.

Sarki Nafata of Gobir, one of a series of rulers of the small Hausa state of Gobir, today in northern Nigeria is best remembered for his opposition to Fulani Islamic reformer Usman dan Fodio, who later led a popular uprising against the Gobir rulers, and established the Sokoto Caliphate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fula jihads</span> Series of Jihads across West Africa during the 18th and 19th centuries

The Fulajihads sometimes called the Fulani revolution were a series of jihads that occurred across West Africa during the 18th and 19th centuries, led largely by the Muslim Fula people. The jihads and the jihad states came to an end with European colonization.

Nana Asmaʾu was a Fula princess, poet, teacher, and a daughter of the founder of the Sokoto Caliphate, Usman dan Fodio. She remains a revered figure in northern Nigeria. She is held up by some as an example of education and independence of women possible under Islam, and by others as a precursor to modern feminism in Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kano Emirate</span> Muslim state in northern Nigeria

The Kano Emirate was a Muslim state in Northern Nigeria formed in 1805 during the Fulani jihad when the Muslim Hausa-led Sultanate of Kano was deposed and replaced by a new emirate which became a vassal state of the Sokoto Caliphate. During and after the British colonial period, the powers of the emirate were steadily reduced. The emirate is preserved and integrated into modern Nigeria as the Kano Emirate Council.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bauchi Emirate</span> Traditional state in Bauchi State, Nigeria

The Bauchi Emirate was founded by Yaqubu dan Dadi in the early 19th century in what is now Bauchi State, Nigeria, with its capital in Bauchi. The emirate came under British "protection" in the colonial era, and is now denoted a traditional state.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Gawakuke</span>

The Battle of Gawakuke was an engagement fought between the Sokoto Caliphate and the Gobir city-state at Gawakuke in northern Nigeria on 9 March 1836. The battle was a victory for Sokoto, and secured the Gobir kingdom's subordination to the caliphate.

Ali Jedo, was the first Amir al-jaish al-Islam of the Sokoto Caliphate. Prior to the jihad, he was the leader of the Fulbe of Konni in modern-day Sokoto State.

The Revolt of Abd al-Salam was a rebellion against the Sokoto Caliphate, driven by perceived bias against the Hausawa. The revolt was led by Mallam Abd al-Salam, a Hausa scholar who had been among the leaders of the Sokoto Revolution that led to the establishment of the caliphate. As time went on, he grew disillusioned with the rewards he received compared to other leaders, many of whom were of Fulbe ethnicity.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Hamza Muhammad Maishanu; Isa Muhammad Maishanu (1999). "The Jihad and the Formation of the Sokoto Caliphate" (PDF). Islamic Studies. 38 (1): 119–131. JSTOR   20837029. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 2, 2018.
  2. 1 2 Chafe, Kabiru Sulaiman (1994). "Challenges to the Hegemony of the Sokoto Caliphate: A Preliminary Examination". Paideuma. 40: 99–109.
  3. Last, Murray (1967). The Sokoto Caliphate (Nigerian ed.). Abuja, Nigeria: Premium Times Books (published 2020). p. 27. ISBN   978-0-9995584-7-8.
  4. Forde, Daryll; Kaberry, P. M. (2018-10-10). West African Kingdoms in the Nineteenth Century. Routledge. ISBN   978-0-429-95851-9.
  5. Smith, M. G. (2021-12-13). Government In Kano, 1350-1950. Routledge. ISBN   978-0-429-72118-2.
  6. McGarvey, Kathleen (2009). Muslim and Christian Women in Dialogue: The Case of Northern Nigeria. Peter Lang. ISBN   978-3-03911-417-7.
  7. Collins, Robert O. (1990). Western African History. M. Wiener Pub. ISBN   978-1-55876-015-8.
  8. Boyd, Jean (1986). Mahdi Adamu (ed.). Pastoralists of the West African Savanna. Manchester, UK: International African Institute.