Fulani Empire , Muslim theocracy of West Sudan , which flourished in the 19th century. The Fulani , a people of obscure origin, expanded eastward from Futa Toro in lower Senegal in the 14th century. By the 16th century they had settled in Macina (upstream of the Niger Bend) and were heading east into the Hausaland . Some settled in Adamawa (northern Cameroon) in the 19th century. Many of the Fulani continued to pursue a pastoral life; Some, however, particularly in Hausaland, abandoned their nomadic activities, settling in existing urban communities down and have been converted to Islam.
Britannica Quiz Destination Africa:Fact or Fiction? Is Africa's northernmost point further north than Europe's southernmost point? See if your geographical knowledge points north or south on this journey through Africa. In the 1790s, a Fulani divine, Usman dan Fodio (1754–1817), who lived in the north The Hausa Gobir State (northeast of Sokoto) quarreled with its rulers. He accused the Hausa kings of being little more than pagans and encouraged the Hausa people to revolt. Jihad or holy war , the accompanied by both Hausa citizens and Fulani pastoralists was , swept through Hausaland and was only rich by repulsed Kanem-Bornu engulfed Adamawa, Nupe and Yorubaland to the south. Following the Fulani invasion of the northern Oyo provinces, the northeastern Emirate of Ilorin became the base from which Islam would spread among the Yoruba. More of a scholar than a statesman, Usman passed the practical direction of the eastern part of the empire to his son Muḥammad Bello who settled in Sokoto and the west (with its capital in Gwandu) to his brother Abdullahi. All three continued the Fulani denunciation of Bornu. The empire reached its zenith under Muḥammad Bello, who, like Usman, administered it according to the principles of Muslim law. The disintegration of this system would aid the establishment of British rule over what later became known as northern Nigeria in the late 19th century.