USMAN DAN FODIO (1754 -- 1817)

Nigerian Islamic scholar, politician, and crusader whose Jihad -- holy wars-- were responsible for the spread of Islam in Nigeria in particular and neighbouring West African countries. He was born in December 1754 in the small Fulani village of Maratta in Gobir, northern Nigeria. The family moved to Degel where Usman grew up impure form of islam. This was met with threats to his life and attacks on his followers which force them to flee from Degel to Gudu on 21 February 1804.
This flight, Hijra, still honoured in the moslem calendar in Nigeria, has significance for the Fulani because of its similarity with the flight of Prophet Mohammed from Mecca to Medina in the 7th century. Usman's followers saw the Hijra as the final justification for launching a jihad. Usman Dan Fodio was elected caliph and giving the title of Sarkin Musulumi (Commander of the Faithful) and had the political title of Shehu bestowed upon him, in preparation for the wars against the Hausa rulers.
In February 1804 the first attack was made against the King of Gobir but the state did not fall to the Fulani until 1808. However, by 1804 they had captured Zaria and Katsina, paving the way for the taking of all Hausaland in 1809 and the emergence of the Fulani empire which later spread southward as far as the Oyo Kingdom in Yorubaland.
In later stages, the jihad lost most of its original religious character; what had begun essentially as a clash between Usman dan Fodio and the ruler of Gobir turned out to encompass a revolutionary movement, led by intellectuals, with far-reaching political consequences. The jihad thus resulted in a system of government, based on Islam, in place of the traditional dynasties south of the Sahara.
Although Usman's personal involvement in wars decreased with age, he was the mastermind behind the movement whose spirit and intentions he articulated eloquently in his writings. It was he who guided his son, Muhammadu Bello (q.v.) and his brother Abdullahi, during the invasions of Hausaland. With the war won and the new Fulani empire established, Usman divided it into two dynasties, Sokoto under Bello and the other, Bornu, under Abdullahi. He retired from politics in 1809 and went to Sokoto where he died at the age of 63, in April 1817.