Ribats and the Development of Plantations in the Sokoto Caliphate: A Case Study of Fanisau

Abstract

Ribat, in context of Sokoto Caliphate, was a walled military settlement established for defending and protecting frontiers and settled agricultural hinterland of any major population center. This type of institution was well known in history of other Islamic societies.1 Indeed, ninth century has been identified as golden age of classic ribat construction in early Muslim world, and at this period several of these structures were established in North Africa and central Asia. After this early golden age, ribats continued to be built in Muslim lands, but it was only during nineteenth century that they became widespread in hasar Hausa or what became known as Sokoto Caliphate. Evidently, leaders of this Muslim state, largest state in nineteenth century West Africa, drew for inspiration on this history to foster expansion of new state.1Most writers who have studied Sokoto Caliphate have recognized significance of ribats to state. However, much of scholarship devotes no more than a paragraph or two to this crucially important aspect of caliphate's defensive strategy, with passing remarks on how system worked in emirates.3 In his major work on Sokoto Caliphate, Murray Last has traced development of ribats in metropolitan Sokoto, arguing that some at least were populated with slaves:The establishment of ribats was part of policy of establishing frontiers and providing strongholds round which settlement could flourish.... Likewise Bello encouraged building within frontiers of walled towns where mosques and schools could be opened and trade and workshop started: with scholars appointed to these towns as Imams, judges, muhtasibs (legal inspectors) and teachers, Bello hoped to maintain both practice of Islam and military control of area. Since much of Bello's support had come from cattle owing Fulani, Fulani clans were persuaded to join community of Shaikh-They were taught agriculture and encouraged to breed horses, camels and flocks of sheep and goats and to reduce their herds of cattle. By this means BeUo balanced economy of Sokoto...he thus also reduced military risk....4Similarly, although Joseph P. Smaldone has acknowledged that many of these new frontier outposts were populated by slaves, he was more concerned with military dimensions of ribats than with role of institution in establishment of plantations.5By contrast, Paul E. Lovejoy, whose writings have been largely on entire Sokoto Caliphate, has perceived ribat as a major factor in growth of plantation sector.6 Indeed, he seems to be most influential exponent of this view. Lovejoy asserts that ribats influenced location of plantations and that throughout caliphate plantations were associated with economic and political consolidation and with maintenance of an active front line for defence and annual campaigns.7 According to Lovejoy, the steady stream of slaves which flowed into Sokoto and Gwandu in form of tribute was directed to officials, Fulani leaders, and scholars for use in agriculture. The military elite of ribats remained on permanent alert and were not engaged directly in farming. Instead, plantations rapidly dominated agricultural production.Although he avoided using term plantation, in his study of governmental system in Zaria emirate,' M. G. Smith first established this relationship thus:Settlement patterns emphasized defensive values and were based on compact distribution of population within walled towns, strung out along principal caravan routes. Each of these towns had a few smaller settlements near it which owed allegiance to village chief of area in which they were sited. Many but not all of these hamlets were slave slave-villages (rumada); other rumada large enough to form towns of their own, would have walls and other fortifications typical of a town (gari). …