The Sokoto Caliphate is
probably among the only few surviving empires still existing in Africa. The
Empire was founded by Usman dan Fodio in 1804 as a Sunni Muslim caliphate in
West Africa.
According to historical
facts, the Sokoto Caliphate holds the record as the biggest Islamic empire in
the 19th century in Sub-Saharan Africa. The empire was founded after
the Hausa tribe was conquered in battle by the Fulani. The war arose due to
an attempt by the Hausa king to assassinate Usman; the founder of the empire in
1802 which forced him to flee to Gudu.
The Beginning
Prior to the emergency
of the Sokoto Caliphate, the Bornu Empire already existed. The latter served as
the major power in the 17th and 18th centuries. Bornu Empire gradually fell in
1759 as internal revolutions weakened it from within giving room for smaller
kingdoms to emerge.
Similarly, the collapse
of the Songhai Empire in 1591 gave room to loosed autonomous cities springing
up across the region.
From the ashes of these
empires rose the kingdoms of the Hausa aristocrats which centered primarily in
Gobir, Zamfara, and Kebbi all in present-day Nigeria.
Peace was elusive in
this region as they fought persistently among themselves and also conducted slave raids. The kings also imposed taxes on the people to raise money to
prosecute the wars they engaged in.
The areas in question; regions between Lake Chad and the Niger River were populated mainly by the Hausa, Fulani, and other smaller tribes. And the greater population were Muslims while some were pagans, particularly the upper class.
The Rise of Usman dan Fodio
Islamic scholars from
far-flung regions of Maghreb preached Islam to the Hausa tribes during the
1700s. And within this period emerged an Islamic scholar named Usman dan Fodio.
Fulani by the tribe he preached in the city of Gobir but later had his preaching
permission withdrawn.
The withdrawal of his
preaching license was authorized by one of his former students who later became
the King of Gobir.
The events they
followed compelled Usman to flee to Gudu where he settled with his followers.
In February 1804, Yanfa declared war on dan Fodio who at this point was
uncomfortable with his activities.
Usman declares jihad
Now prominent and
influential among his followers they proclaimed him “Commander of the Faithful”.
He then created a flag
that they rallied under and thus gave birth to the foundation of one of
Africa's largest empires.
He organized his army of jihadists after he declared jihad against the Hausa kings within the region. At the beginning of the war, he suffered huge losses but quickly upturned the tables in 1805 against the Hausa kings.
Incidentally, the
Jihadists had support from the citizens due to disenchantment with the despotic
Hausa kings that taxed them excessively. Non-Fulanis and peasant Hausas joined the jihadist to show the extent of acceptance they had from the people.
By 1808, the Fulani
warriors had conquered Katsina, Daura as well as Kano. Gobir eventually fell in
1809 after 5 years of a bloody war that wasted thousands of lives.
The consequence was the
creation of a large number of slaves. And at this point in history, the empire
was regarded as second to the United States in the number of slaves; about 2.5
million slaves.
Expansion
With the successes
recorded and the desire to expand, the jihadist launched attacks to the west a
region populated by Yoruba. They succeeded in annexing Ilorin which was used as
a military post by the Yoruba. And with this, the Sokoto Caliphate became one
of the largest states in Africa. The empire extended from areas in Burkina
Faso, northern Nigeria, and Cameroun with about 30 emirates.
The city of Sokoto
where the sultan receded served as the capital of the caliphate while the
emirates operated independently but all pledged allegiance to the sultan of
Sokoto.
At the early stage of
the caliphate, in place of hereditary ascension, Islamic scholarship and moral
standing were used as a means to turban an emir. These emirs were mandated
yearly to deliver crops, taxes, and slaves to the sultan. As expected a greater
percentage of the emirs were Fulani scholars and a few were senior officers
that fought the war.
With systems put in
place to encourage expansion and development, the population of the empire grew
and was estimated to have been a little over 10 million people.
Usman dan Fodio in 1815
retired and divided the empire into two; one for his son Muhammed Bello and the
other for his brother Abdullahi dan Fodio. Abdullahi was assigned to the west
with Gwandu Emirate as his base but he still pledge loyalty to the sultan in
Sokoto.
Notwithstanding the
arrangement, there were cases of revolts from some emirates in the 19th
century which were crushed violently.
The economy of the
caliphate was driven chiefly by the slave trade, crop production, and tobacco. The
sultan approved but limited the trading of slaves to non-Muslims which they regarded
as a way of converting them into the Islamic religion.
Due to the intense
nature with which they carried out slave raiding almost half the population
of the Sokoto Caliphate was slaves.
Slaves played an important
part in the empire as farm workers which encouraged slavery despite its
abolition by the Europeans.
Decline
The decline of the
empire was primarily triggered by the incursion of colonial operations after
conclusions at the Berlin Conference.
The French, Germany, and British all came in at several points as they scrambled to take possession of different parts of the empire. The British however had the upper hand among the trio.
Despite efforts to
defend their territory, the opposition put up by the caliphate crumbled without
much fight. After the defeat of the caliphate in 1903, the British and Germany
shared the spoils of war; they partitioned the empire between themselves.
Though the caliphate
was abolished, the British led by Fredrick Lugard allowed the retention of the
title ‘sultan’. They appointed
Muhammadu Attahiru II as the new Sultan.
Nonetheless despite the
decline of the empire, the Sokoto Sultanate Council still exists and wields
significant influence in the Nigerian society. The Sokoto Caliphate is held in
high esteem in Nigeria and especially in the Northern part of the country.