Muhammadu Attahiru I

Muhammadu Attahiru I (died 1903) was the twelfth Sultan of the Sokoto Caliphate from October 1902 until March 15, 1903. He was the last independent Sultan of Sokoto before the Caliphate was taken over by the British.[1]

Muhammadu Attahiru I
Sultan of Sokoto
ReignOctober 13, 1902 – March 15, 1903
PredecessorAbderrahman dan Abi Bakar
SuccessorMuhammadu Attahiru II
BornSokoto
DiedAugust 1903 (1903-09)
Burmi, 5km East of Bajoga in Funakaye local government of Gombe State
HouseAtiku Clan
FatherAhmadu Atiku

The Sokoto Caliphate leaders are partly Arabs and partly Fulani as stated by Abdullahi dan Fodio, brother of Usman dan Fodio who claimed that their family are part Fulani, and part Arabs, they claimed to be a descendant of the Arabs through Uqba ibn Nafi who was an Arab Muslim of the Umayyad branch of the Quraysh, and hence, a member of the family of the Prophet, Uqba ibn Nafi allegedly married a Fulani woman called Bajjumangbu through which the Torodbe family of Usman dan Fodio descended.[2] Caliph Muhammed Bello writing in his book Infaq al-Mansur claimed descent from Prophet Muhammad through his paternal grandmother's lineage called Hawwa (mother of Usman dan Fodio), Alhaji Muhammadu Junaidu, Wazirin Sokoto, a scholar of Fulani history, restated the claims of Shaykh Abdullahi bin Fodio in respect of the Danfodio family been part Arabs and part Fulani, while Ahmadu Bello in his autobiography written after independence replicated Caliph's Muhammadu Bello claim of descent from the Arabs through Usman Danfodio's mother, the historical account indicates that the family of Shehu dan Fodio are partly Arabs and partly Fulani who culturally assimilated with the Hausas and can be described as Hausa-Fulani Arabs. Prior to the beginning of the 1804 Jihad the category Fulani was not important for the Torankawa (Torodbe), their literature reveals the ambivalence they had defining Torodbe-Fulani relationships. They adopted the language of the Fulbe and much ethos while maintaining a separate identity.[3] The Toronkawa clan at first recruited members from all levels of Sūdānī society, particularly the poorer people.[4] Toronkawa clerics included people whose origin was Fula, Wolof, Mande, Hausa and Berber. However, they spoke the Fula language, married into Fulbe families, and became the Fulbe scholarly caste.[5]

Reign as Sultan

Attahiru came to the throne upon the death of Abderrahman dan Abi Bakar in October 1902 while the British forces had already taken over parts of the Sokoto Caliphate. During the last year of Abderrahman's reign, British General Frederick Lugard had been able to use rivalries between the emirs in the south with the Sokoto Caliphate to prevent a coherent defense against British troops.[6] A British led force was quickly approaching the city of Sokoto with clear intentions to take it over.[7] Attahiru I organized a quick defense of the city and decided to fight the advancing British army outside of the city of Sokoto. This battle ended quickly in favor of the British with superior firepower causing high casualties on the side of Attahiru I.[7]

Attahiru I and many followers fled the city of Sokoto on what Attahiru I described as a hijra to prepare for the coming of the Mahdi. The British moved into the largely depopulated Sokoto and appointed Muhammadu Attahiru II the new Caliph.[7] Lugard essentially abolished the Caliph and retained the title Sultan as a symbolic position in the newly organized Northern Nigeria Protectorate.[1]

Attahiru I begun traveling through the rural regions of the Sokoto Caliphate pursued by the British gathering supporters for his movement. The British and emirs working with the British were shocked at the large number of people who joined Attahiru and his force grew to thousands.[7][8] Marching through Zamfara and Kano, the British became increasingly concerned with the force. The British attacked the rebels in the Battle of Burmi, near present-day Gombe, in 1903 and Attahiru I was amongst those killed.[1] The British then proceeded to decapitate Attahiru, took photographs of the beheaded sultan, and then displayed the photographs throughout Northern Nigeria to "convince the diehards of the futility of fighting".[9] His son, Muhammad Bello bin Attahiru or Mai Wurno continued to lead the remaining members of the movement and eventually settled in Sudan, where many of the descendants still live today.[10]

See also

References
  1. Falola, Toyin (2009). Historical Dictionary of Nigeria. Lanham, Md: Scarecrow Press.
  2. Abubakar, Aliyu (2005). The Torankawa Danfodio Family. Kano,Nigeria: Fero Publishers.
  3. Ibrahim, Muhammad (1987). The Hausa-Fulani Arabs: A Case Study of the Genealogy of Usman Danfodio. Kadawa Press.
  4. Willis, John Ralph (April 1978). "The Torodbe Clerisy: A Social View". The Journal of African History. Cambridge University Press. 19 (2): 195. doi:10.1017/s0021853700027596. JSTOR 181598. Retrieved 2013-02-13.
  5. Ajayi, Jacob F. Ade (1989). Africa in the Nineteenth Century Until the 1880s. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-03917-9. Retrieved 2013-02-13.
  6. The Cambridge History of Africa: 1870–1905. London: Cambridge University Press. 1985. p. 276.
  7. Falola, Toyin (2009). Colonialism and Violence in Nigeria. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.
  8. Paden, John (1973). Religion and Political Culture in Kano. Berkeley, A: University of California Press.
  9. Gott, Richard (3 November 2006). "Death of a sultan". The Guardian. Retrieved 2021-08-15.
  10. Sikanga, Ahmad Alawad (1995). Slaves into Workers: Emancipation and Labor in Colonial Sudan. Austin, Tx: University of Texas Press.
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