Fulani Origins Before 1800: From Nomads to the Sokoto Caliphate

In this chapter, we explore the early history of the Fulani people in West Africa before 1800. Known as Fulbe, Fula, or Peul, they were chiefly cattle herders who by the 1500s had spread from Senegal to Cameroon. They formed two main groups: nomadic herders and the Torodbe, settled scholars and judges in Hausa cities. Usman dan Fodio, a Torodbe scholar in Gobir, challenged the heavy taxation and syncretic practices of Hausa rulers in 1800. This challenge ignited the movement that led to the Sokoto Caliphate in 1804, one of Africa’s largest states at the time. Next up: Chapter 1, Verse 6 – The Beginning of the 1804 Jihad.

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