Battle of Gawakuke

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Map of the Sokoto Caliphate in the 19th century with Gobir to the northwest.

Date	9 March 1836
Location	Gawakuke, Sokoto, Nigeria
Result	Sokoto victory

Belligerents

Sokoto Caliphate

Gobir city-state

Commanders and leaders

Sultan Muhammed Bello

Gobir Sultan Ali

Tuareg Chief Ibra

Maradi Chief Raudi

Gobir Sultan Ali

Tuareg Chief Ibra

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.

In 1836, the Gobir kingdom revolted against the Sokoto Caliphate, which had ruled Gobir since its initial conquest in 1808. To crush the rebellion, Sokoto Sultan Muhammed Bello and several of his allies marched to meet the rebels at Gawakuke, in northern Gobir territory. Bello's soldiers routed the assembled insurgent army, killing Gobir Sultan Ali, before embarking on a murderous campaign throughout the Gobir kingdom, burning villages and slaughtering peasants.

This battle was the last in a series of conflicts between the Gobir kingdom and Sokoto Caliphate that had lasted for nearly three decades. Muhammed Bello, the Sultan of Sokoto and commander of the army that defeated the rebels, died one year after the battle in 1837, at the age of 56.

The founder of the Sokoto Caliphate, Usman dan Fodio, conquered Gobir in 1808 towards the end of the Fulani War, and annexed the kingdom. However, the Gobir populace despised Sokoto rule, engaging in frequent revolts and rebellions accompanied by an extensive guerrilla warfare campaign against Sokoto merchants which severely compromised trade within the sultanate. In 1830 the Sokoto Sultan Muhammed Bello agreed to a truce with the Gobir Sultan Ali, splitting the territory in conflict between Sokoto and Gobir control.

Members of the Gobir aristocracy, however, were angered by the terms of the truce, and plotted to disrupt the peace. The collaborators sent a package to Sultan Ali, who had been living in Sokoto territory, containing a set of butcher's knives. As per tradition, this intended insult implied Ali was a slave of the Sokoto Caliphate, outraging the Gobir Sultan. Ali felt he had endured enough ridicule for his peace with the Sokoto and renounced his allegiance to the Caliphate before fleeing to Gobir in order to gather forces. Sultan Ali persuaded other kingdoms in northern Sokoto territory to ally themselves with him, including the Tuareg and Maradi tribes, before leading an assault on the undefended town of Karatu and killing its inhabitants.

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