17th Century–Early 19th Century: (The Wandering Fulani — Pastoral Nomads Drifting Eastward from the Middle Senegal Across the Savannah Over Several Centuries…

17th Century–Early 19th Century: (The Wandering Fulani — Pastoral Nomads Drifting Eastward from the Middle Senegal Across the Savannah Over Several Centuries, Embracing Islam as Protection Against Oppressive Agricultural Rulers, Becoming the Leading Muslim Scholars of the Region, and the Hausa City-States Torn by Warfare and Illegal Enslavement of Fellow Muslims That Set the Scene for Holy War): By the seventeenth century, much of the West African savannah was at least nominally Muslim, but it was not only trade that facilitated Islam’s spread — the migration of peoples over several centuries resulted in much cultural interaction. The Fulani or Fulbe, originating in the area of the middle Senegal, drifted eastward over several centuries, vulnerable to climatic change, migrating slowly in search of better pasture. By the beginning of the nineteenth century they were most numerous in modern northern Nigeria. The Fulani mostly retained their distinctive language and culture, but in some places came under pressure from agricultural populations who resented the intruders and restricted their grazing rights. This sense of isolation may explain their readiness to embrace Islam, which offered common purpose and protection in the midst of potential enemies — Islam provided an alternative model of government and a belief system with which to confront oppressive rulers. They were largely Islamized by the early eighteenth century, and from their number were drawn many leading Muslim scholars. Among their future enemies were the Hausa, a group that had emerged from a mixture of southern Saharan nomads and northern Nigerian savannah farmers, exposed to Islam through trans-Saharan trade. Hausaland was torn by warfare between city-states, resulting in heavy taxation of the peasantry, while rulers increasingly resorted to the illegal capture of fellow Muslims as slaves. In the eyes of the Muslim Hausa peasantry, their rulers were corrupt, oppressive, and ever less mindful of Islamic law.