The sultan of Sokoto is the hereditary leader of the
Sokoto Caliphate
The Sokoto Caliphate (, literally: Caliphate in the Lands of Sudan), also known as the Sultanate of Sokoto, was a Sunni Islam, Sunni Muslim caliphate in West Africa. It was founded by Usman dan Fodio in 1804 during the Fula jihads, Fulani jihads ...
, a Sunni Muslim community in West Africa. The position may also be referred to as the 'Sokoto Caliph' or the "Commander of the Faithful" ('' Amir-ul-Momineen'' in Arabic or '' Lamido Julbe'' in Fulani). The current holder of this title, since 2006, is
Sa'adu Abubakar
Muhammadu Sa'ad Abubakar () (born 24 August 1956) is the 20th List of sultans of Sokoto, Sultan of Sokoto. As Sultan of Sokoto, he is considered the spiritual leader of Islam in Nigeria, Nigeria's Muslims.Qadiriyya
Sufi
Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism.
Practitioners of Sufism are r ...
order, historically the most important Muslim position in Nigeria and senior to the Emir of Kano, the leader of the Tijaniyya Sufi order. The post has become increasingly ceremonial since British rule defeated the caliphate and replaced it with the Sokoto Sultanate Council in 1903, but the sultan – considered a spiritual leader in the Muslim community in
Nigeria
Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...
Hausa people
The Hausa (Endonym, autonyms for singular: Bahaushe (male, m), Bahaushiya (female, f); plural: Hausawa and general: Hausa; exonyms: Ausa; Ajami script, Ajami: ) are a native ethnic group in West Africa. They speak the Hausa language, which is the ...
from northern Nigeria. Usman dan Fodio, the founder of the dynasty of Sokoto State and of the Fulani Empire (consisting of the Fulbe Jihad states of which Sokoto was suzerain), never used the high style of Sultan but was simply titled ''Amir al-Mu´minin'' . The first to assume the title of Sultan was Fodio's son Muhammed Bello, who ruled from 1817 to 1837. Since the creation of the title, there have been nineteen Sultans of Sokoto, all men from the Torodbe scholar caste who are descended from Usman dan Fodio. Siddiq Abubakar III was the longest serving Sultan, holding the position for 50 years from 1938 to 1988. The shortest reign was that of Muhammadu Attahiru I, who held the position for five months in 1902–03. The 17th sultan, Ibrahim Dasuki, was forcefully deposed in 1996 by the Sani Abacha military government of Nigeria.
Prior to the beginning of the Fulani Jihad of 1804, the ethnic category Fulani was not important for the Torodbe and their literature reveals the ambivalence they had defining Torodbe-Fulani relationships. They adopted the language of the Fulani and much ethos while maintaining a separate, non-ethnic identity. The Torodbe clan at first recruited members from all levels of Sūdānī society, particularly the poorer people.
List of sultans
As mentioned above, the sultans were also styled ''Amir al-Mu´minin'' and ''Sarkin Musulmi'' ("King of the Muslims"), basically the autochthonous form of the former, which is the Arabic style of
caliph
A caliphate ( ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with Khalifa, the title of caliph (; , ), a person considered a political–religious successor to the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a leader of ...
s and other independent sovereign Muslim rulers that claim legitimacy from a community of Muslims); Mai, occurring in various sultans' surnames, is another autochthonous title.Sultan of Sokoto: Sarkin Musulumi or Sarkin Fulani?, By Majeed Dahiru 7 December 2017 The table below shows the historical list of the sultan of Sokoto, beginning from 1817.
Genealogical tree of the sultans of Sokoto
Gallery
References
Sources and references
*Falola, Toyin, (2009) ''Historical Dictionary of Nigeria'' Scarecrow Press: Lanham, Maryland
*Burdon, J. A. (1907) "Sokoto History: Tables of Dates and Genealogy" ''Journal of the Royal African Society'' Volume 6, #24.
Sultans
Sultan (; ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be use ...
Sultans
Sultan (; ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be use ...