List of sultans of Sokoto

Entrance to the modern Sultan's palace in Sokoto

Sokoto Caliphate in the 19th century

The Sokoto Caliph is the ruler of the Sokoto Caliphate. The official title is Sultan of Sokoto and includes the title "Amir-ul-Momineen". The post has become increasingly ceremonial since British rule, but the Sultan, considered a spiritual leader in the Muslim community in Nigeria, can still carry much weight with Fulani and Hausa people from northern Nigeria.

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 descent from 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 Islamic prophet Muhammad, Uqba ibn Nafi allegedly married a Fulani woman called Bajjumangbu through which the Torodbe family of Usman dan Fodio descended. Caliph Muhammed Bello writing in his book Infaq al-Mansur claimed descent from 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. The Toronkawa clan at first recruited members from all levels of Sūdānī society, particularly the poorer people. 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.*

Shaihu Usman dan Fodio, the founder of the dynasty of Sokoto State and of the Fulani Empire (consisting of the Fulbe Jihad states of which Sokoto was suzerain), never used the high style of Sultan (his son was the first to do so), but was simply titled Amir al-Mu´minin, also styled Fula: Lamido Julbe, lit. 'Governor of the believers'. The sultan of Sokoto is the leader of the Qadiriyya Sufi order, historically the most important Muslim position in Nigeria and senior to the Emir of Kano, the leader of the Tijaniyya Sufi order.

List of sultans

As mentioned above, the sultans were also styled Amir al-Mu´minin and Sarkin Musulmi ("King of the Muslims", basically the autochthonous form of the former, which is the Arabic style of Caliphs and other independent sovereign Muslim rulers that claim legitimacy from a community of Muslims); Mai, occurring in various sultans' surnames, is another autochthonous title.

No.	Image	Name	Birth and death	Reign started	Reign ended	Lineage
1		Muhammed Bello (محمد بلُّو)	1781 Unknown – 1837 Wurno (aged 58)	21 April 1817	25 October 1837	Son of Usman dan Fodio
2		Abubakar I Atiku (أبو بكر عتيكو)	1782 Unknown – 1842 Sokoto (aged 60)	26 October 1837	23 November 1842	Son of Usman dan Fodio
3		Ali Babba bin Bello (علي ببَّا بن بلُّو)	1808 Unknown – 1859 Sokoto (aged 51)	30 November 1842	21 October 1859	Son of Muhammed Bello
4		Ahmadu Atiku (أحمد عتيكو)	c. 1807 Unknown – 1866 Sokoto (aged ~59)	24 October 1859	2 November 1866	Son of Abu Bakr Atiku
5		Aliu Karami		6 November 1866	18 October 1867	Son of Muhammed Bello
6		Ahmadu Rufai		21 October 1867	12 March 1873	Son of Usman dan Fodio
7		Abubakar II Atiku na Raba		16 March 1873	28 March 1877	Son of Muhammed Bello
8		Mu'azu		6 April 1877	26 September 1881	Son of Muhammed Bello
9		Umaru bin Ali	c. 1824 Sokoto – 1891 Sokoto (aged ~67)	3 October 1881	25 March 1891	Son of Ali Babba bin Bello
10		Abderrahman dan Abi Bakar	c. 1828 Unknown – 1902 Unknown (aged ~74)	25 March 1891	10 October 1902	Son of Abu Bakr I Atiku
11		Muhammadu Attahiru I		13 October 1902	15 March 1903	Son of Ahmadu Atiku
12		Muhammadu Attahiru II		21 March 1903	1915	Son of Ali Babba bin Bello
13		Muhammadu dan Ahmadu		1915	1924	Son of Ahmadu Atiku
14		Muhammadu dan Muhammadu		1924	1931	Son of Muhammadu dan Ahmadu
15		Hasan dan Mu'azu Ahmadu		1931	1938	Son of Mu'azu
16		Siddiq Abubakar III	15 March 1903 Dange – 1 November 1988 Sokoto (aged 85)	1938	1988	Grandson of Mu'azu
17		Ibrahim Dasuki	23 December 1923 Dogondaji - 14 November 2016 Abuja (aged 93)	6 November 1988	20 April 1996 (deposed)	Great-great-grandson of Uthman dan Fodio
18		Muhammadu Maccido	20 April 1926 Dange Shuni – 29 October 2006 (near Abuja) (aged 80)	20 April 1996	29 October 2006	Son of Siddiq Abubakar III
19		Sa'adu Abubakar	24 August 1956 Sokoto –	2 November 2006	Current	Son of Siddiq Abubakar III

Genealogical tree of the sultans of Sokoto

Mallam Muhammadu Fodio

1 Usman dan Fodio 1804–1815

Abdullahi dan Fodio Emir of Gwandu

2 Muhammed Bello 1817–1837

3 Abubakar I Atiku 1837–1842

6 Ahmadu Rufai 1867–1873

Muhammed Buhari

4 Ali Babba bin Bello 1842–1859

7 Aliu Karami 1866–1867

8 Abubakar II Atiku na Raba 1873–1877

9 Mu'azu Ahmadu 1877-1881

Umaru Nagwamatse Emir of Kontagora

5 Ahmadu Atiku 1859–1866

11 Abder Rahman Atiku 1891–1902

Abdullahi Barau

10 Umaru bin Ali 1881–1891

13 Muhammadu Attahiru II 1903–1915

16 Hasan dan Mu'azu Ahmadu 1931–1938

Usman Shehu

12 Muhammadu Attahiru I 1902–1903

14 Muhammadu Maiturare 1915-1924

Haliru Ibn Barau

17 Siddiq Abubakar III 1938–1988

15 Muhammadu Tambari 1924–1931

18 Ibrahim Dasuki 1988–1996

19 Muhammadu Maccido 1996–2006

20 Sa'adu Abubakar 2006–

See also

• Sokoto Sultanate Council
• Sokoto Grand Vizier

Sources and references

• Falola, Toyin, (2009) Historical Dictionary of Nigeria Scarecrow Press: Lanham, Md.
• Burdon, J. A. (1907) "Sokoto History: Tables of Dates and Genealogy" Journal of the Royal African Society Volume 6, #24.