Sokoto Caliphate - Decline and Fall

Decline and Fall

European attention had been focusing on the region for colonial expansion for much of the last part of the 19th century. The French and British both sent multiple exploratory missions to the area to assess colonial opportunities.

French explorer Parfait-Louis Monteil visited Sokoto in 1891 and noted that the Caliph was at war with the Emir of Argungu, defeating Argungu the next year. Monteil claimed that Fulani power was tottering because of the war and the ascension of the unpopular Caliph Abderrahman dan Abi Bakar.

However, the British had expanded into Southern Nigeria and by 1902 had begun plans to move into the Sokoto Caliphate. British General Frederick Lugard used rivalries between many of the emirs in the south and the central Sokoto administration to prevent any defense as he worked toward the capital. As the British approached the city of Sokoto, the new Sultan Muhammadu Attahiru I organized a quick defense of the city and fought the advancing British-led forces. The British led force quickly won sending Attahiru I and thousands of followers on a Mahdist hijra.

The British moved in to the largely depopulated Sokoto and appointed Muhammadu Attahiru II the new Caliph. Lugard abolished the Caliphate, but retained the title Sultan as a symbolic position in the newly organized Northern Nigeria Protectorate. In 1903, the British defeated the remaining forces of Attahiru I and killed him ending the resistance to their rule. The area of the Sokoto Caliphate was divided between the British, French, and Germans under the terms of the Berlin Conference.