Fulani Empire (Sokoto)

Abstract

Abstract This entry discusses the rise and expansion of the Sokoto Caliphate in western Sudan. The Islamic religious scholar Usman (Uthman) dan Fodio led a revival movement in the late 18th and early 19th centuries that ultimately overwhelmed the local Hausa aristocracies, replacing them with new Fulani dynasties committed to Usman's vision of a society governed by the principles of a purified Islam. The state came to be the largest on the African continent, stretching over 1000 miles from east to west. Later religiously motivated empire‐builders explicitly followed the example set by Usman dan Fodio and his caliphate, leading some scholars to speak of a “Sokoto model of jihad.” These developments contributed a great deal to the long‐term Islamization of the region. The Sokoto Caliphate remained the most important state in the region until its conquest in the early 20th century by the British, who built their system of “Indirect Rule” on the caliphate's foundations.