Jihad of Usman dan Fodio | |||||||
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Part of the Fula jihads | |||||||
![]() The Sokoto Sultanate (Sokoto Empire) in the reign of sultan Ahmadu Rufai, established after the Jihad led by Shaikh Usman bin Fodiyo. | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
![]() Support: Kel Ayr | |||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
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The Jihad of Usman dan Fodio was a religio-military conflict in present-day Nigeria and Cameroon. The war began when Usman dan Fodio, a prominent Islamic scholar and teacher, was exiled from Gobir by King Yunfa, one of his former students.[1]
Usman dan Fodio assembled an Islamic army to lead a jihad against Gobir and other Hausa Kingdoms of northern 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, initially headed by Usman dan Fodio himself, which became one of the largest states in Africa in the 19th century. His success inspired similar jihads in Western Africa.