Shehu Usman dan Fodio (1754-1817). A charismatic mallam, who lived in a time of turmoil in Hausaland, where reformist and military-minded parties vied for the control of the city-states. He declared the Jihad against the Sarkin Gobir Yunfa dan Nafata, who was reportedly his former pupil. The Sarkins of Gobir were already wary of his influence, prestige and disdain of courtly life. Sarkin Nafata (r. 1797-1803) was the first to admonish him and other Mallams, by reversing the reforming policies of his predecessor Bawa.

The Jihad occurred during a time of economic hardship in Western Hausaland, marked by epizooties, heavy tax burden towards the poorer and internal rivalry between reformist Mallams and militarist aristocrats. Zamfara was at that time a vassal of Gobir, which was the strongest city-state. During the 18th century, Hausaland was a vassal to Borno and it was Gobir who broke that yoke.

When the Shehu sent the letters to the Sarkins, only the ruler of Zaria Ishaq Jatau allied with him. In 1806, the jama’at successfully installed Usuman Masa, as Sarkin Kebbi. But the latter killed later many of the Shehu’s partisans before being toppled by his kinsmen.

After the successes in other Hausa and Banza Bakwai, Shehu moved back to Degel in 1808 then to Bodinga, then to Sifawa in 1812 and to Sokoto in 1815, the new town founded by his son Muhammad Bello. Sometime in 1812, Shehu divided responsibilities for administration of the new state between his son Bello (at Sokoto), his brother Abdullahi (at Gwandu), the commander of the armies (Aliyu Jedo) and one his principal lieutenant Abdussalami Ba’are (at Kware). Shehu was to do what he did best: teaching, preaching the good and denouncing evil. Sick during the last two years of his life, he died in April 1817 at Sokoto.

o Muhammad Saad (1776-1804) (by Aisha “Iya Garka” the second wife). Could have been the “Saad our flagbearer” mentioned by Bello, who died at battle of Tabkin Kwatto. Taught grammar to his younger brother Muhammad Bello.

o Muhammad Sambo, (by Aisha “Iya Garka” the second wife). Born around 1778-1779. Lived during Bello’s rule

o Hadija (by Aisha-Iya Garka- the second wife) (c.1780). Preceptor to her sister Asma’u and future sister-in-law Aisha al-Kammu. Married to the scholarly Mustafa.

o Fadima (by Hauwa, Inna Garka, the third wife). Full sister to Muhammad Bello and Abubakar Atiku. Married Sarkin Yaki (Amir al-Jai’sh, Aliyu Jedo).

o Habsatu. Married the scholar Dambo

o Hannatu. Married the Zamfarawa scholar, Mallam Namoda.

o Muhammad Bello, by Inna Garka his third wife. (3 November 1781-25 October 1837). 1st Sultan of Sokoto (1817-1837) and author of extensive publications on the Jihad, Islamic theology, mysticism, prophetic medicine and History of Hausaland. Bello had to consolidate his rule between 1817 and 1820, having to deal with many rebellions following Shehu’s death, his uncle, Abdullahi dan Fodio’s not paying allegiance to him as Sultan, as did many of the Shehu’s lieutenants. One of the Shehu’s main disciples Abdussalam Ba’are, the ruler of Kware, who was the one who first attacked Sarkin Gobir Yunfa in 1804 and who was given command of territories to command by Shehu in 1812 (along with Muhammad Bello, Abdullahi dan Fodio and Aliyu Jedo) rebelled openly. His cause was that he pledged allegiance to Shehu and not to Bello. The Sultanate, as hereditary rulership, was not easily accepted. Abdussalam Ba’are was defeated in 1819 at Bakura, after the storming of his ribat Kware following a five-month siege. The Emir of Gwandu Abdullahi paid allegiance at Kaleimbana to his nephew after the latter relieved Gwandu from the besieging Kebbawa forces. Sultan Bello crushed also the rebellion of the Zamfarawa, Katsinawa and Burmawa led by Banaga dan Kature, who was killed near Bugundu. Received Maj. Hugh Clapperton (known in Sokoto as Abdullahi the Englishman) whom he forbid from travelling to Borno, during the war against Shehu el-Kanemi.

Following the back-to-back conquest of Kebbi by columns personally commanded by Sultan Bello, the Hausa Sarkin Kebbi Ismaila Karari hard-pressed, sacrificed himself to enable his young son, Yakubu Nabame, to escape. After hiding for two in the northern marches of Hausaland and without any followers and with dwindling resources, Yakubu Nabame made a hard choice: he bent the knee to Sultan Bello in 1832. Sultan Bello accepted his allegiance and Yakubu Nabame was considered as a prince in Sokoto where he lived and was educated for 18 years (1831-1849).

Sultan Bello died after returning from a campaing against the Gobirawa of Tsibiri and Tuareg of Air, whom he decimated at Gawakuke. He was buried in Wurno, a ribat (fort-monastery) where he lived during the second half of his reign. Wurno was among the many ribats (along with Isa, Rabah, Silame, Cimmola, Bakura, Lajinge, Shinaka, Yamma, Barau….) that were built under Sultan Bello’s rules as a series of forts to defend Sokoto. The ribats were defensive settlements but also economic centers where agriculture and trade networks were encouraged under the military supervision of the state. An excellent administrator, soldier, with a scholarly mind (but not the mysticism and disdain of wordly affairs characteristic of his father and uncle), Muhammad Bello was the greatest Sultan of Sokoto indeed.

§ Eldest daughter (born c.1800). Married in 1815 Suleiman (d. 1819), the first Fulani Emir of Kano (r. 1806-1819).



§ Aliyu Babba (1804-1859). 3rd Sultan of Sokoto (1842-1859). Was confronted to the Kebbawa challenges during most of his reign. Was more “genial” than ruthless. His rule was characterised by internal turmoils. Restored peace with Dendi, Zamfara and Adamawa (The Modibbo Adama threatened to retake his allegiance from Sokoto during Sultan Atiku’s rule. The emir of Hadejia, Muhammadu Buhari, started raiding the neighbouring emirates. After he appointed/confirmed Shehu Usman, as Emir of Kano in 1846 as successor to his father, Mallam Hamza self-exiled in Ningi with his his followers and allying with the Ningawa, formed a non-hereditary Emirate that was de facto in rebellion for 50 years. In 1847,Sarkin Gobir Mayaki launched a daring raid into the heartland of Sokoto, sacking the ribat of Silame where Hadiza, the daughter of Shehu lived. Not content with plundering and burning the library at Silame, Mayaki made off with a niece of Sultan Aliyu (Nana Asma’u’s grand-daughter) who would give birth to three of his sons.



Sultan Aliyu acquiesced to the Hausa prince Yakubu Nabame dan Ismaila Karari request to go back in Kebbi and rule his people, after the latter saved his son’s (Umaru, who was to become Sultan) life during a battle at Gora. Yakubu Nabame (c.1815-1855), prompted by his subjects and taunted by the Gobirawa, was to rebel, raiding in Sokoto (killing several mallams in a mosque as well as a widow of Sultan Bello) causing much chagrin to the Sultan who was criticized for his handling of the matter. Following Kebbawa raids against Sokoto, Sultan Aliyu engaged his former protégé who died around 1855 in battle. Nicknamed Mai-Saje, for his impressive whiskers. Before becoming Sultan, he commanded the ribat of Lajinge and then the one at Shinaka, hence his other nickname (Mai-Shinaka)

· Daughter who married Emir of Kano Abdullahi Maje Karofi (1814-1882)

o Emir of Kano, Aliyu Babba (1858-1926). Nicknamed “Zaki” (the lion), “Mai Sango” (the one with the gun) for the guns used during the siege of Kano. Ruled from 1894 to 1903. Self-exiled, captured by the French in Niger and extradited to British colonial authorities. Interned at Yola then Lokoja where he died in 1926.

· Umaru dan Aliyu (1825-1891). 9th Sultan of Sokoto from 1881 to 1891. When he became Sultan, he tried to make peace with the Kebbawa, whose rulers were the family of Yakubu Nabame; the one that saved his life during the battle of Gora. He proposed peace to Toga, the Sarkin Kebbi, but his overtures were turned down under the instigation of a renegade Fulani chief Jan Borodo.

· Muhammad At-Tahiru II. 12th Sultan. First under the British imperium (1903-1915).

§ Fodiyo dan Bello (c.1807-1840). Commander of the ribat of Lajinge and then of Isa. Driven out of Lajinge by the Kebbawa around 1839-1840. Died in battle in 1840.Fodiyo’s mother was a Gobirawa of the older dynasty.

§ Aliyu Karami (1807-1867). Sarkin Baura, Sarkin Gobir of Isa then 5th Sultan of Sokoto for some months (1866-1867).

· Umaru. Sarkin Gobir of Isa

o Ibrahim. Sarkin Gobir of Isa

§ Alhaji Suleiman Isa (1909-1984). One of the candidates for the Sokoto stool in 1936, along with his cousins Ahmadu Bello and the eventual Sultan Abubakar Siddiqi. Politician.

· Yusuf Suleiman Isa. Former Executive Director with the National Maritime Authority of Nigeria. Federal Minister of Transportation in 2010-2011.

§ Abubakar Atiku (1809-1877). 7th Sultan from 1873 to 1877. Son of Bello by Aisha al-Kammu.

· Ibrahim (1850-1915). Sarkin Rabah. Commanded the left flank of Sokoto’s armies during the decisive battle against Lord Lugard in 1903. Did not follow Sultan At-Tahiru in exile. Was considered as the main contender for the Sultanship between 1903 and his death.

o Sir Ahmadu Bello (1910-1966). Sardaunan of Sokoto (1936-1966). Premier of Northern Nigeria (1954-1966). Killed during the January putsch.

§ Mua’zu Ahmadu (v. 1814-1881) Son of Bello by Aisha al-Kammu, his first wife and daughter of Umaru al-Kammu, the Magajin Rafi of Sokoto. 8th Sultan from 1877 to 1881.

· Aliyu ibn Muazu. Sarkin Baura.

· Hasan dan Muazu. 15th Sultan of Sokoto (1931-1938).

· Shehu Usman dan Muazu.

o Abubakar Siddiq (1903-1988). 16th Sultan of Sokoto (1938-1988).

§ Rukkaya, married Wazirin Junaidu (1903-1990).

§ Muhammad Maccido dan Abubakar (1926-2006). Was the only surviving son of his father when the latter became Sultan in 1936, hence his nickname Maccido (“Slave” in Fulfulde). 17th Sultan of Sokoto (1995 to 2006).

· Badamasi Maccido (1961-2006). Senator. Died in the same plane crash as his father.

o Umaru Badamasi Maccido. Died in the same plane crash as his grandfather

§ Muhammad Sa’d Abubakar (b.1956). Officer of the Federal Nigerian Army. ECOWAS military liaison officer and Commanding Officer, 231 Tank Battalion in Sierra Leone from 1999 to 2000. 18th Sultan of Sokoto since 2006.

o Muhammad Bello dan Shehu Usman

§ Shehu Malami. Ambassador of Nigeria to South Africa under Abacha. Sarkin Sudan of Wurno.

§ Sai’d (1816-1880s). Candidate to the turban in 1877.

· Hayat-al-Din “Hayatou” (1840-1898). Mahdist Khalifa for Western Sudan. Self-exiled in Adamawa. Joined Rabah ibn Fadlallah’s campaign against Borno. Was killed by Fadlallah ibn Rabah at Dikwa, when he tried to escape to Gombe in 1898.

o Sai’d ibn Hayatu (b.1860). Author of the Tarikh Sokoto (p.1899)

§ Alhaji Abubakar Garba Sai’d. Historian. Wrote and about Hayatou’s life and times.

o Jabbo ibn Hayatou. Only son of Hayatou that did not join his father during his self-exile in Adamawa. Probably because he was too young. Died in Kasarawa, a suburb of Sokoto in the 1950s.

· Mallam Mojail. Joined his brother Hayatou in his dissidence and self-exile.

· Ahmad Duduwa (died in Kano, on his way to join Hayatou in Adamawa)

§ Abdur Rauf. Flourished in the 1890s. Described by Alhaji Garba Sai’d as the richest man in Sokoto during Sultan Danyen Kasko’s rule.

§ Mu’allayidi (“the one loved by God”). Died in 1874.

§ Khadija (Hadiza) dan Bello. Married Ahmadu dan Waziri Gidado

o Abubakar Atiku (1782-1842), by Inna Garka the third wife. Full brother of Bello. Mystic confidant to the Shehu. 2nd Sultan from 1837 to 1842. Stern and principled ruler, his governance was marked by tensions with many emirates.

§ Ahmadu Zaruku (1806-1866). Sarkin Zamfara and Chief of the unruly Sullubawa clan. 4th Sultan of Sokoto from 1859 to 1866. A dynamic ruler, he defeated the Kebbawa and Gobirawa during his rule.

· Muhammad Attahiru I. 11th Sultan of Sokoto in 1903. Self-exiled following the defeat of his armies at the walls of Sokoto. A lot of people rallied under him during his exile. He died at Burmi, Gombe during the British assault of that town in 1906.

o Muhammad Bello, Mai Wurno. Amir-ul-Hijra.Caliph-in-exile after the demise of his father at Burmi.

· Muhammad Maiturare. Marafa of Gwadabawa then 13th Sultan of Sokoto from 1915 to 1924. The Marafa was reportedly one of the finest military commanders of the late independent Sultanate. Commanded the right flank at the battle of Sokoto in 1903 (his brother the Sultan, commanded the center and his cousin the Sarkin Rabah Ibrahim, the left). Advised for retreat against overwhelming artillery.

o Muhammadu Tambari. 14th Sultan of Sokoto from 1924 to 1931 despite the opposition of most of the traditional chiefs. Considered illegitimate by various members of the traditional council. Was deposed by the British in 1931.

§ Abderrahman “Danyen Kasko” (1828-1903). 10th Sultan of Sokoto from 1891 to 1903. Had to face the Basasa in Kano and the Argungu Kebbawa during his rule. Died just before British attack on Sokoto.

· Mai Garin Jabbo

· Innama

§ Umaru Nagwamatse (1808-1876). District Head of Nagwamatse. First Emir of Kontagora (1859-1876) and Sarkin Sudan of Nagwamatse. Nicknamed “the Destroyer” for his campaigns. Boasted that “he would die with a slave in his mouth”.

· Abubakar Atiku Nagwamatse. Second Emir of Kontagora.

o Muhammad Buhari (1787-1840). Was raised by his uncle Abdullahi dan Fodio in Gwandu, where he lived. Pretender to the Sokoto turban in 1837 at the death of Sultan Bello. Commander of ribats, in Gwandu. Author of the Tanbih al-Ikhwan.

§ Umaru Buhari. Pretender to the Sokoto turban in 1859 at the death of Aliyu Babba. Rival to his cousin Sultan Ahmadu Zaruku dan Atiku who stripped him of the command of the ribat of Buhari, to give him to his brother.

§ Aisha Buhari. Married Ahmadu dan Waziri Gidado.

§ Abdullahi Barau. Sarkin Yamma

· Haliru ibn Abdullahi Barau. Sarkin Yamma

o Ibrahim Dasuki. 17th Sultan of Sokoto (1987-1995). Deposed by Sani Abacha

§ Sambo Ibrahim Dasuki. Colonel of the Nigerian Federal Army. NSA under Goodluck Jonathan

o Hasan (1793-1817), youngest son of Shehu’s first wife and cousin, Maimuna. Twin of Asma’u. Died in November 1817, six months after his father. Poet and scholar.

§ Ibrahim Halilu ibn Hasan. Nominated as Sarkin Namona by Sultan Bello in the late 1930s.

§ Muhammad ibn Hasan.

o Asma’u (1793-1865). Twin of Hasan. Married to the Waziri Usman Gidado dan Laima (1777-1851). Women educator and confidante to Sultan Bello. Prolific writer about her time, and translator in Hausa of many of Shehu’s and Sultan Bello’s scholarly outputs.

§ Abdul Qadir dan Gidado (1809-1859). Waziri of Sokoto from 1842 to 1859 during Sultan Aliyu Babba’s tenure. Died during the fortieth day of the latter’s death in 1859.

§ Ahmadu dan Gidado. Married Aisha dan Muhammadu Buhari dan Shehu and Khadija dan Bello dan Shehu.

· Muhammadu Buhari dan Ahmadu (by Aisha). Waziri of Sokoto between 1886 and 1903. Influential powerbroker. Was criticized for self-selecting Abderrahman dan Atiku as Sultan in 1891, and for being his grey eminence. Married Mafarsaki dan Sultan Abubakar na Rabah (1873-1877).

o Abdul Qadir Maccido dan Buhari. Waziri of Sokoto (1912-1925).

§ Hafsatu dan Abdul Qadir (1920-1966) x married the Sardauna of Sokoto. Died with him during the 1966 putsch.

o Muhammadu Abbas ibn Muhammadu Buhari, Waziri of Sokoto 1928/1948, died in December 1948.

· Junaidu ibn Muhammadu Buhari, (1906-1990), Waziri of Sokoto 1948. Author of the History of Sokoto

o Sambo Wali Junaidu

§ Abdullahi Bayero dan Gidado. Waziri of Sokoto between 1874 and 1876. Married Nafisa dan Sultan Mua’zu Ahmadu

§ Muhammad Ade dan Gidado (c.1800-1826)-(not by Asma’u). Married Maryam dan Shehu Usman (1823-1826). Died young.

o Abdul Qadir dan Shehu (1807-1836) by Hajjo. Died young, from battle wounds received at Anka, sometime before Sultan Bello’s passing.

§ Bayero

§ Iliyasu

o Mariyam (1808-1890s) by Mariya. Married to Muhammad Ade dan Gidado (1823-1826) then to Emir Ibrahim Dabo of Kano (1827-1846). Returned to Sokoto following the death of Emir Ibrahim Dabo, when she orchestrated a series of dynastic marriages between Kano and Sokoto. Teacher and advisor to her nephews. Rebuked her grand-nephew Hayatou ibn Sai’d’s dissidence.

o Ahmad Rufai’ (1812-1873) (by Shatura). Sarkin Kebbi Silame, then Sultan of Sokoto (1867-1873). Was preferred as successor by his elder brother, Sultan Abubakar Atiku (1837-1842) who was fast dying from battle wounds. Kingmakers prevailed (mostly Waziri Gidado and Sarkin Yaki Aliyu Jedo) and his nephew, Aliyu Babba was elected. Became Sultan thirty years later. Made peace with the Kebbawa. More scholarly than warrior-like. Last surviving son of the Shehu.

§ Lili. Sarkin Kebbi Silame.

· Garka. Member of Nana Asmau’s Yan Tauru.

§ Umaru. Sarkin Kebbin Silame

§ Ahmadu. Sarkin Kebbi Silame

o Isa (1818- c.1870). Youngest son of the Shehu. Full brother of Mariyam. Sarkin Yamma Kware. Married a daughter of Emir Ibrahim Dabo of Kano in 1847. Died sometime during Sultan Ahmad Rufai’s rule (1867-1873).

Kai kokari! Well done!

Great piece!

Thanks, buddy. The original post had some typos and wasn't very intelligible. There were several generations in the original post but it is not very clear.
Anybody knows how to make bullet points/lists in Nairaland?