Fulani War

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The Fulani War of 1804-1810, also known as the Fulani Holy War or Jihad of Usman dan Fodio, was a military conquest in present day Nigeria and Cameroon. Expelled from Gobir by his former student Yunfa in 1802, Islamic reformer Usman dan Fodio assembled a Fulani army to lead in jihad against the Hausa kingdoms of the north. Realizing the threat that Usman's forces posed, Yunfa assembled the other Hausa rulers to oppose him.

The Hausa rulers dealt the jihadists a number of initial setbacks, most notably at the Battle of Tsuntua (December 1804), in which Usman lost more than 2,000 men, 200 of whom are said to have known the Koran by heart. The following year, however, Usman's forces seized Kebbi and established a permanent base at Gwandu. Building on popular discontent caused in part by famine and by Hausa taxation, the jihadists continued to advance, taking the Gobir capital of Alkalawa in 1808 and killing Yunfa.

Usman united the conquered lands under his Sokoto Caliphate as the Fulani Empire. The success of the jihad inspired a number of later West African jihadists, including Massina Empire founder Seku Amadu, Toucouleur Empire founder El Hadj Umar Tall, Wassoulou Empire founder Samori Ture, and Adamawa Emirate founder Modibo Adama.