In 1809, Usman dan Fodio (December 15, 1754 – April 20, 1817) founded the Sokoto Caliphate. Dan Fodio, a religious author, writer and Islamic activist, was one of the urbanised ethnic Fulani communities living in the Hausa States in what is now northern Nigeria. An instructor at the Maliki School of Law and the Qadiriyyah Order of Sufism, he remained in the city-state of Gobir until 1802, when, inspired by his reformist ideas and growing persecution by local authorities, he led his followers into exile. This exile started a political and...