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What does this mean for West Africa now a reinvigorated france is coming out of political turmoil? Also, what's happening with the Netherlands being apparently completely seiged out???
A new power has arised in France now and it may look to Sokoto.
Netherlands was sieged out for the independence of Luxembourg I think

Thankyou very much for commenting man
:)
 
A professional military, a professional postal / courier service, and now even a professional (if still rudimentary) meteorological bureau. Sokoto is making impressive strides in the domestic realm.

And we finally see Usman Amadu take his final bow (at least officially...). The nation is truly entering a new era, now that all of the members of the old guard are leaving the stage.
 
A professional military, a professional postal / courier service, and now even a professional (if still rudimentary) meteorological bureau. Sokoto is making impressive strides in the domestic realm.

And we finally see Usman Amadu take his final bow (at least officially...). The nation is truly entering a new era, now that all of the members of the old guard are leaving the stage.
Yes Sokoto is now entering the consolidation and empire building stage
Actually I got the idea for these reforms from not only European but also the accounts of Mughal Sultans of India.

As for the old guard. Retirement from military means more time for politics!

Thankyou very very much for commenting man
Comments are the best!
:):):)
 
Reminds you of how early you still are in the game even after 19 pages of updates that you e just reached the 1850s. It could well be another 30 years before you see the European scrambling for your lands on a major way - how large will Sokoto be by then?

A bigger concern perhaps is the possibility that you will expand into non-Muslim areas and find the Caliphate destabilised.
 
A series of sensible reforms, and we're finally going after the last few coastal states. Good moves by the Caliphate, and sure to pay off soon. But Europe does bear keeping an eye on. Napoleon may prove happy enough to busy himself in Europe and Indochina, but the Gulf of Benin will always be a tantalising prospect for the colonialists.
 
Reminds you of how early you still are in the game even after 19 pages of updates that you e just reached the 1850s. It could well be another 30 years before you see the European scrambling for your lands on a major way - how large will Sokoto be by then?

A bigger concern perhaps is the possibility that you will expand into non-Muslim areas and find the Caliphate destabilised.

Yeah that is true for the most part but the more land we take, the more of it the Europeans can lands on right now. Basically we're in danger of becoming too big to ignore and will have to find an imperial sponsor or get attacked.
 
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Drought seekers are a very interesting detail and it seems a sensible job for the government to invent. Sokoto is getting more modern and organised every year.
 
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Whats the liklihood we see some efforts at industrialization? I know there are some industrial reforms states can take before westernizing in Vic2. I feel as though with the continued contact with the europeans, Sokotan aristocracy would have an increased interest in building factories, at least for the production of these european weapons they are so interested in.
 
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Whats the liklihood we see some efforts at industrialization? I know there are some industrial reforms states can take before westernizing in Vic2. I feel as though with the continued contact with the europeans, Sokotan aristocracy would have an increased interest in building factories, at least for the production of these european weapons they are so interested in.
Thankyou very much for commenting and you are right. But I feel it's too soon for industrialization. Maybe in the 60s we can start

Btw as a person from that part of Africa do you think my Hausa words like 'drought seekers' (masu neman fari' )sound correct?
 
Thankyou very much for commenting and you are right. But I feel it's too soon for industrialization. Maybe in the 60s we can start

Btw as a person from that part of Africa do you think my Hausa words like 'drought seekers' (masu neman fari' )sound correct?


Woah, I dont believe I ever said I am from that part of the world. I am actually Lebanese hah.

In regard to the first thing, what makes you say they are too early for industrializing? Parts of the aristocracy are already very interested in what these Europeans can do, and there is high demand for at least European weaponry. Why wouldnt they try to start making their own at this point? I mean obviously they dont have the know how, but why wouldn't they try their hardest to obtain it?
 
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Reminds you of how early you still are in the game even after 19 pages of updates that you e just reached the 1850s. It could well be another 30 years before you see the European scrambling for your lands on a major way - how large will Sokoto be by then?

A bigger concern perhaps is the possibility that you will expand into non-Muslim areas and find the Caliphate destabilised.
A series of sensible reforms, and we're finally going after the last few coastal states. Good moves by the Caliphate, and sure to pay off soon. But Europe does bear keeping an eye on. Napoleon may prove happy enough to busy himself in Europe and Indochina, but the Gulf of Benin will always be a tantalising prospect for the colonialists.
Yeah that is true for the most part but the more land we take, the more of it the Europeans can lands on right now. Basically we're in danger of becoming too big to ignore and will have to find an imperial sponsor or get attacked.
Drought seekers are a very interesting detail and it seems a sensible job for the government to invent. Sokoto is getting more modern and organised every year.
Whats the liklihood we see some efforts at industrialization? I know there are some industrial reforms states can take before westernizing in Vic2. I feel as though with the continued contact with the europeans, Sokotan aristocracy would have an increased interest in building factories, at least for the production of these european weapons they are so interested in.
Yo @mad orc, everything alright? Its been a long while since you made a post.

@Specialist290
@mike the knight


Everyone
I generally post atleast one chapter per 2 weeks
But for the last month I was very busy and was also spending most of my free weekend time on helping my younger cousin in her admission process. Preparing CV, preparing for interviews etc

But now the paper work is almost over and I am back
New chapters will resume from this week and now I feel a new hunger to write more and more after a month of not writing

I am also gonna try to write so that maybe I may get a third or fourth position in the yearly awards

Thank you and let's put on our Jihadi armour and unfurl the Green banner again!
Get ready
:cool::cool::cool::cool:
 
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It took me better part of a week to read all the way to finish, but it was very much worth it. I like the worldbuilding. I'm not sure how much of it is actually true or realistic, but I love it all nevertheless :) Great job OP, looking forward for more.
 
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It took me better part of a week to read all the way to finish, but it was very much worth it. I like the worldbuilding. I'm not sure how much of it is actually true or realistic, but I love it all nevertheless :) Great job OP, looking forward for more.
Thankyou so much for commenting man
I love comments. They always inspire me to write more
Glad you are enjoying
:)
 
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Next chapter was planned for today but due to bad weather and abysmal internet quality, imgur images aren't uploading at all! I tried more than 10 times but they just aren't uploadin today. So next chapter will come tomorrow. Till then pls go over the previous chapters once so you can catch up better tomorrow.
 
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Next chapter was planned for today but due to bad weather and abysmal internet quality, imgur images aren't uploading at all! I tried more than 10 times but they just aren't uploadin today. So next chapter will come tomorrow. Till then pls go over the previous chapters once so you can catch up better tomorrow.

An AAR with homework for the reader, that's new :D No worries, take your time.
 
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Chapter 34

December 1851. The first of the southeast Jihads was declared against the Kingdom of Benin.

Benin had been established as a state in the late 13th century and had become an 'empire' in the 15th century. It was not so much a state as a protection agency. The Oba(emperor) of Benin served as a protector. His population paid him taxes and labored for him in exchange for his protection. Otherwise they were free to do anything. The language and culture was not enforced as the empire remained heterogeneous and localized according to each group within the kingdom, though a local Enogie (or duke) was often appointed by the Oba for specific ethnic areas.

1601918988477.png

The first Europeans to reach Benin were the Portuguese under João Afonso de Aveiro in 1485. This painting of a Portuguese captain meeting the Oba is from a slightly later date

Thus by 1851, Benin was a weak and decentralized little state ruled by the newly crowned Oba Adolo(His father Oba Osemwende had supported Dahomey against Sokoto a few years ago). The question then naturally arises, why then did the Oba so foolishly humiliate the Jihadi flag? The answer to this lies within himself. The Oba of Benin was considered to be a god. There was a cult of the Oba and in fact anyone caught saying that the Oba did such human things as eating, sleeping and bathing would be beheaded(despite those things being true obviously). Thus had the Oba submitted to the Sokotans, his empire would have crumbled anyway. Additionally the Oba did not expect the Sokotan army to march on another conquest so soon after their massive campaigns in the west. Like many others, he failed to understand the force of religious zeal.

PvaBbXU.png


The Jihad was led by Umaru Bin Ali's clique of generals. The Oba could only recruit some 15000 mostly untrained warriors against the mighty Sokotan army. The campaign itself was nothing out of the ordinary. Umaru surrounded the entire kingdom with troops but left one route open for the Oba to retreat. Despite having never read Sun Tzu(obviously) he knew that it was better to let the enemy retreat than have him fight to the death.

ABhp7e6.png


Then the Sokotan army marched into Benin and swiftly occupied it. It was the events after the fall of Benin that were interesting. The Oba, now stuck outside the kingdom and surrounded by hostile forces found himself in a precarious position. He was god incarnate. He could not just give up his kingdom and the Sokotans were asking for just that, in exchange for his life and that of his family which had been captured by Umaru Bin Ali's army. Umaru wanted to capture the Oba alive and convert him to Islam. He wanted to force the population to convert by converting their god. Until now in its entire history, the Obas of Benin had given up small bits of territory here and there but never their entire kingdom. The Oba still had some 14000 troops and could have continued the war....................but then he heard about the incident at Akure.

1601916615090.png

A view of Akure from the hill

Akure was an important town to the north of and had competed with Benin for being the capital city throughout its history. The incident at Akure through native perspective was like this,
The Sokotans, after taking the town had decided to rest for the night. The local chief had seemingly agreed to convert to Islam and had been spared but he had other ideas. The chief had a large stable in the town full of huge elephants. At midnight, as the Sokotans occupied various houses in the city, the chief drugged his elephants and let them loose to rampage. Now there was one particular home where more than 30 Sokotans were camping and this home was about to be charged by several elephants at once. But even as the natives watched, the Sokotans climbed up on the roof and arranged themselves in neat ranks. Then they fired their guns. As one rank finished, it sat down to reload and the second fired. Once the second finished, the first fired again while the second reloaded. Nearly 7 elephants were shot point blank before they could reach the house. The local chief was later crushed under an elephant's foot as a warning but Umaru refused to kill the people of Akure for their chief's mistake. This incident shocked the natives and it became a legend.

When the Oba heard this story, he held a meeting with his chiefs to discuss surrender. But so impossible was this thought that the chiefs instead arrested the Oba and had him strangled to death. In their eyes, his discussion of surrender had proved that he wasn't a real Oba. How could a god surrender?
Nevertheless, after the Oba's death, the leaderless army surrendered anyway.

1601918793038.png

A painting of the last Oba Adolo of Benin by a contemporary British painter

In reality those soldiers in Akure were just a few of the many who had been training in Lagos since the past year. Denton Sinclair had managed to atleast train them to 16th and 17th century European skill levels if not modern. He would never know that his actions would lead to a radical social and political change.

The campaign was a success. Umaru Bin Ali had achieved total victory with minimum bloodshed and upon his return to Sokoto, he was highly felicitated. Usman Amadu however criticized the whole episode as a successful campaign but an unsuccessful Jihad. In his eyes, Umaru had lost the initiative by letting the Oba retreat just to prevent bloodshed. He pointed out that by doing so, he had given up the one good chance that Sokoto had of rapidly converting the population to Islam. Further he also stated that since Umaru hadn't rectified his mistake by slaughtering the population, Sokoto now had a provinceful of pagans inside the Jihad.

He wasn't entirely wrong. The 'Oba' tradition would continue and the locals would continue to support the Oba's son as the new Oba despite the latter's forced conversion to Islam by the Sokotans after their conquest.
Lastly Usman Amadu also pointed out how the campaign had strained the Sokotan army and treasury further. As it turned out, he was right about the economy. The next Jihad would not be possible until more than a year later as many of the Fulani and Hausa troops hadn't returned to their fields and livestock in years!

Many members of the Ulema agreed with Usman Amadu and this diminished the reputation of Umaru's victory. Umaru made the mistake of insulting the Vizier for trying to protect his son-in-law from the noble Jihad and thus diminishing his masculinity. A furious Usman Amadu immediately called back Tukur Zaki from Lagos and had the Sultan give him the title of 'Haji'. The battle lines in the Sokotan court were swiftly drawn. A new era of internal strife was beginning.
 
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I finally managed to write it. The quality may not be good as I am coming back from a one and a half month break. But once I get back into the flow, the quality will certainly improve.