Formed in the aftermath of the Fulani Jihad, the Sokoto Caliphate was one of the major countries in Africa during the Victorian era. It was known particularly well for being proficient in both military and scholarly pursuits, and the ruling family - the dan Fodios - were just as good at writing poetry as they were lopping the heads off of their enemies. In 1836, the Sokoto Caliphate is a mostly isolated empire, with the Hausa culture dominating the landscape after the death of dan Fodio's son Bello. News trickles in of whites colonizing nearby lands, but so far only a few have made it far enough inland to encounter the Sokoto Caliphate. Those that do either assimilate or are killed.
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Diary of Nicholas Cooke
January 8th, 1836
I was dragged this morning before what a ruler passes for in these parts of the savage African wilderness. They speak in a strange tongue, but a few have encountered other traders and officials from Cape Coast and translate for me in a stilted form of English. The gist of the ruler's tirade seemed to be that I could either translate historical documents for him into English or be forced to work with the slaves on farms.
I figured, despite not knowing the language, I could always rely on translators to give me the gist of whatever document they wanted me to translate. Then I'd fill in the gaps. Despite reviling my captors and situation, these savages are far more civilized than I thought. The documents ended up being the record of some kind of war between teacher and pupil. I haven't got very far in the document, due mostly to my tenuous grasp of their language, but I have been told enough to understand the result: the creation of this empire. This "Sokoto Caliphate". I pray my comrades find me soon.
Diary of Nicholas Cooke
February 21st, 1836
I have finished the basic translation of the document, which I have labeled "Annals of the Fulani Jihad." I was rather incorrect in assuming it was as simple as a fight between student and master. It is actually the conquest of the native peoples, the "Hausa," by what amounts to a reformer from the wilderness.
The Hausa had apparently been taxing and oppressing the "Fulani," another native group, and despite major setbacks, the Fulani ended up conquering the Hausa. They established their leader, Usman dan Fodio, as the new ruler of the country, and when he died, his son took over and refounded it as the Sokoto Caliphate.
Despite my misgivings, I found myself becoming engrossed in the document. dan Fodio was a cultural and political reformer, and his rule brought relative prosperity to the region. Nothing quite as impressive as our own Empire, of course, but certainly no small feat for this corner of the world.
I still miss Britain, however. I miss the amenities of the Empire. While I'm certainly beginning to be more comfortable here, I find myself longing to sail on one of Her Majesty's ships again.
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The Sokoto Caliphate starts out in, quite honestly, one of the worst positions in Victoria 2. It is landlocked and has empty provinces on every side, rendering excursions to take territory or engage in border skirmishes to raise prestige essentially useless.
Production is almost entirely non-technological goods, like fabric, cattle, and wheat. This is great for making sure my population gets the food and necessities they need, but essentially kills any attempts to produce soldiers internally. If I want to get more troops, I'm going to need money to buy all of the goods necessary. Thankfully, Sokoto starts out with an incredibly strong economy that, even after the early-game bubble bursts, provides plenty of cash flow.
Other things to note at the start are the strong military (Sokoto starts with a military score of 11 and the ability to recruit quite a few brigades, which is essential to westernization), the low literacy rate (1.4% at start, although it quickly begins to rise), and the lack of any unrest. Sokoto is, essentially, a blank slate.
As far as my position in the world goes, I've only got one major threat: Egypt. Tripoli is absorbed by the Ottoman Empire fairly quickly, and the European colonies nearby are too weak to support large armies from the mainland. If anybody attempts to take Sokoto, they will be fighting a war of attrition against the terrain, not me. This gives me the perfect chance to bolster myself before striking out into the world.
Morocco normally proposes an alliance a few days into the game, but didn't this time.
Unfortunately for me, out of my 5 provinces, three (denoted by the red arrows) do not start as full provinces. This includes the region my capital is located in. If I hit secondary power status and finish colonizing those provinces, I will have to reform them to statehood. It's a painful slowdown, but a necessary one if I intend to perform an African unification.
Technology-wise, I start with essentially nothing. The few things I do have, like Flintlock Rifles, don't do much for me. I don't own a single tech required for Westernization, which means that this is going to be a long struggle uphill for the necessary techs.
I immediately set out to research Romanticism. I realize this is a non-standard move, but given Sokoto's position, it's practically the only acceptable one. Researching Romanticism as early as possible gives you access to Romanticist Art/Lit/Music, which all give you a significant amount of prestige. As I can't make border wars (attrition en route will be too high) to drive my prestige up, I have to get it through tech.
It's worth noting that, in POP Demand, westernization requires 100 prestige rather than 40. In Vanilla, you can get the required prestige for Westernization entirely from researching Romanticism as your first tech.
I spend my only national focus point to encourage Clergy in my most populous (and most valuable) province, Zaria. This, naturally, has the dual effect of increasing literacy gain and my research points, both of which are essential on the road to westernization.
Just a glimpse at my starting statistics. Here's the important bits:
- I can't build factories because I'm not westernized, which means that for around ~30 years my industry score will stay at a resounding 0.
- I'm not gonna be pushing through reforms for a while. The only reform I really need is slavery outlawed, but it's going to be a long time with an Upper House primarily composed of Conservatives and Reactionaries.
- Sokoto is one of the most populous minor uncivs, with a default population of 1.35M. It also starts with no influence, no allies, no diplomatic ties, and no diplomatic points. Once again, blank slate. This is also important as starting as Sokoto means that the AI will
never add me to their sphere of influence. I'm just not valuable enough to bother with. By the time I reach Westernization, and subsequently a valuable target, I'll be out of reach.
- Most of my populace are farmers and slaves. I have no intention of changing this, as almost all of my RGOs depend on those two.
- I start with a strong budget, but a starving middle class. This will quickly correct itself.
These are the only relatively close holdings I can reach without accruing massive losses. All of these holdings are held by major powers. If I really want to get a port province, I can probably take the Portuguese one, but the lack of a port makes me both less susceptible to attack and means the AI can't drive war score with blockades. I'll be leaving them alone.
Just a little bit of context for world events. Britain has begun to annex Indian holdings, and are unopposed by any of the major powers.
That's quite an ambitious set of goals you have there! Still, excellent choice. Unciv AARs, when properly done, tend to be very entertaining indeed (one guy pulled off a world conquest in EU3 with the Iroquois). Good luck with your AAR, and kudos on delurking yourself. I'll try and follow this one, if time allows.
