Emirates of the Sokoto Caliphate

The Sokoto Caliphate was a loose confederation of emirates that recognized the suzerainty of the Amir al-Mu'minin.[1] The caliphate was established in 1809 and later became the largest pre-colonial African state.[2] The boundaries of the caliphate are part of present-day Cameroon, Burkina Faso, Niger, and Nigeria.[3]

According to historian Mahmud Modibbo Tukur, by the turn of the 20th-century, the Sokoto Caliphate covered an area of about 388,500 square kilometres (or 150,000 square miles), not including parts of Adamawa (Fombina), located in modern-day Cameroon, which is estimated to cover over 100,000 square kilometres.[4]

At the end of the 19th-century, the Caliphate comprised 30 emirates, excluding its twin capitals of Gwandu and Sokoto. Some of these emirates had autonomous sub-emirates under them, with Adamawa having the most, numbering over 40.[4] Most of the emirates were grouped by regional titles: the western emirates were known as the aqalim al-gharb; the southern ones aqalim al-yemen; and the emirates in the no-man's-land between Hausaland and Borno as Borno Gudiri or Ghaladi.[5] The eastern and western territories were administered from the twin capitals of Sokoto and Gwandu respectively.[6]

Sokoto Caliphate during the reign of Ahmadu Rufai (1867–1873)
Map showing the westernmost area of the Caliphate which was governed by Gwandu

According to historian Yusufu Bala Usman, the emirates were:[4]

Emirate Date joined Capital
Adamawa Emirate (Fombina) 1809 (created) Yola
Agaie Emirate 1832 (created) Agaie
Bauchi Emirate 1809 (created) Bauchi
Bida Emirate 1835 Bida
Birnin-Gaoure Birni N'Gaouré
Bitinkogi Lamorde
Daura Emirate 1805 Daura
Gelajo Gelajo
Gombe Emirate 1804 (created) Gombe
Gwandu Emirate 1809 (created) Gwandu
Hadejia Emirate Hadejia
Jama'are Emirate Jama'are
Jema'a Emirate Jema'a
Junju Emirate Gaya
Ilorin Emirate 1824 (created) Ilorin
Kano Emirate 1807 Kano
Katagum Emirate 1807 (created) Katagum
Katsina Emirate 1807 Katsina
Kazaure Emirate Kazaure
Kontagora Emirate 1864 (created) Kontagora
Lapai Emirate 1825 (created) Lapai
Lafiagi Emirate Lafiagi
Liptako Emirate Dori
Missau Emirate Missau
Muri Emirate (Hammanruwa) Muri
Nasarawa Emirate 1838 (created) Lafia
Say Say
Shonga Emirate
Torodi Lamorde
Yaga Sebba
Yauri Emirate Yauri
Zazzau Emirate 1804 Zaria

References

  1. ↑ "Usman dan Fodio and the Sokoto Caliphate". countrystudies.us. Archived from the original on 22 April 2023. Retrieved 22 April 2023.
  2. ↑ "The Sokoto Caliphate". Retrieved 22 April 2023.
  3. ↑ Lofkrantz, Jennifer (2012). "Intellectual Discourse in the Sokoto Caliphate: The Triumvirate's Opinions on the Issue of Ransoming, ca. 1810". The International Journal of African Historical Studies. 45 (3): 385–401. ISSN 0361-7882. JSTOR 24393055.
  4. 1 2 3 Lovejoy, Paul E. (2016). Jihād in West Africa during the Age of Revolutions. Internet Archive. Athens, Ohio: Ohio University Press. pp. 259–260. ISBN 978-0-8214-2240-3.
  5. ↑ Hogben, S. J.; Kirk-Greene, A. H. M. (1 January 1966). The Emirates of Northern Nigeria: A Preliminary Survey of Their Historical Traditions. Internet Archive. Oxford University Press. p. 144.
  6. ↑ "Gwandu". Encyclopedia Britannica.
This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.