Mallam Muhammad Bakatsine and the Jihad in Eastern Kano

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Periodical article

Title:	Mallam Muhammad Bakatsine and the Jihad in Eastern Kano
Author:	Shea, P.J.
Year:	2005
Periodical:	History in Africa
Volume:	32
Pages:	371-383
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Nigeria
Subjects:	ulema jihads 1800-1809 biographies (form) History and Exploration Religion and Witchcraft
About person:	Muhammad Bakatsine (born c. 1770)
External link:	http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/history_in_africa/v032/32.1shea.pdf
Abstract:	Born c. 1770, Mallam Muhammad Bakatsine became a student of Usman dan Fodio and joined his teacher's Islamic 'jihad' against the various Hausa monarchies, which began in 1804. Mallam Muhammad Bakatsine was one of the most outstanding figures in 19th-century Kano (Nigeria) history, and yet we know little about him. The modern literature has distorted Mallam Muhammad Bakatsine's role, even to the extent of accusing him of being a collaborator with the anti-'jihad' forces in Kano and of being an opportunist. The present author believes that these distortions have resulted from an uncritical use of colonial sources. He shows that Mallam Bakatsine was in the forefront of the 'jihad', that he was not slow to act, that he was neither an opportunist nor a hypocrite, and that the struggle was not an easy one. Bibliogr., notes, ref. [ASC Leiden abstract]