Muhammad Bello

Muhammad Bello (1781–1837) was the second caliph of the Sokoto Caliphate, reigning from 1817 until his death, and the son and chief aide of its founder, Usman dan Fodio. A scholar-ruler of wide learning, he wrote hundreds of texts on history, Islamic studies and poetry while consolidating the largest state in West Africa of his time. ¹

He was born on 3 November 1781, the son of Usman dan Fodio and of Hauwa, herself the daughter of a Fulani scholar. His nickname Bello means "helper" in Fulfulde, from the attachment that kept him at his father's side from early childhood; in time he became his father's wazir. Like his siblings, he studied under his father at Degel until the family's exile in 1804. ¹

Wikidata carries two competing birth years for him, 1780 and 1781, at year precision only; the articles agree on 1781, and that is the year the museum records, with the disagreement stated openly. ²

In 1809 Bello founded Sokoto, which became the capital of his father's conquests in Hausaland, and in 1815 his father put the eastern emirates in his charge, ruling from Wurno nearby. ¹

On his father's death in 1817 the succession was contested: Bello's supporters sealed the gates of Sokoto against rival contenders, including his uncle Abdullahi, and the caliphate settled into four self-governing parts, of which Abdullahi's western emirates recognised Bello's authority. He faced dissident leaders among both Fulani and Hausa, backed Ibrahim Dabo of Kano against Dan Tunku, and crushed the revolt of Gobir at the battle of Gawakuke on 9 March 1836. ¹

His administration was more permissive of older Hausa systems than his father's had been. He settled the nomadic Fulani around planned ribats with schools, mosques and fortifications, built a uniform system of justice, and greatly expanded the education of men and women alike; his sister Nana Asma'u became the crucial figure in the teaching of women. ¹

The traveller Hugh Clapperton visited his court in 1824 and recorded his generosity, his intelligence and the range of his writing; the future Toucouleur founder Umar Tall lived at his court from 1822, married his daughter, and served him as judge and infantry commander. ¹

He wrote hundreds of texts during his lifetime. His Infaq al-Maysur is often considered the definitive history of the Fulani wars and of his father's empire, and his Sard al-Kalam preserves the correspondence of the rebel Abd al-Salam, a primary source for that revolt. ^{1 3}

No source consulted names a legal school or a Sufi order for Bello himself. He ruled a state founded on the Maliki school and the Qadiriyya path, administered it under Muslim law and wrote on Islamic law and learning — but he was also the founder's son and heir, and descent and office are not attestation. His faith is therefore recorded as unattested, with the tradition he worked in stated in the record's note. ^{1 2}

He died of natural causes on 25 October 1837 at Wurno, aged 58, and was succeeded by his brother Abu Bakr Atiku. ¹

He was the son of Usman dan Fodio, the caliphate's founder, whom he succeeded; the elder brother of Nana Asma'u, the scholar and teacher; and the father-in-law and patron of Umar Tall, who married his daughter Maryam. ¹