Fulani War
| Fulani Jihad | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
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| Belligerents | |||||||
| Sokoto Caliphate | Hausa Kingdoms | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Usman dan Fodio | Sarkin Gobir Yunfa | ||||||
The Fulani Jihad of 1804–1808, also known as the Fulani War or Jihad of Usman dan Fodio, was a military contest in present-day Nigeria and Cameroon. The war began when Usman dan Fodio, a prominent Islamic scholar and teacher, was exiled from Gobir by the king Yunfa, one of his former students.
Usman dan Fodio assembled a Fulani army to lead in jihad against the Hausa kingdoms of the north of 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, headed by Usman dan Fodio, which became one of the largest states in Africa in the 19th century. His success inspired similar jihads in Western Africa.
The Kanem-Bornu Empire had been in decline in the area from the mid-18th century. The result was the rise of a number of independent Hausa kingdoms throughout the region. Two prominent Hausa kingdoms were Gobir and Zamfara. However, warfare between the Hausa states and with other states were constant for the latter 18th century, resulting in a harsh system of conscription and taxation. The Fulani, a largely pastoral people, were often the victims of Hausa taxation, land control, and other discriminatory practices.
Usman dan Fodio, born in 1751, joined a growing number of traveling Islamic scholars through the Hausa kingdoms in the 1770s and became quite popular in the 1790s. 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. Sarkin Gobir Nafata, the king of Gobir, placed a series of restrictions on dan Fodio's preaching. In 1801, Sarkin Gobir Yunfa, a former pupil of dan Fodio, replaced Nafata as king of Gobir. However, Yunfa increased the restrictions on dan Fodio and exiled 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, which led to the large-scale hijra of dan Fodio's 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. Followers of dan Fodio declared him to be the Amir al-Mu'minin, commander of the faithful, and denounced their allegiance to Gobir.
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