The Fulani and Their Nomadic Historical Nature

The Fulani people are one of the most predominant nomadic groups in West Africa. Most of them can be found in most countries in West Africa. Though of recent some of them have taken up settled status in some countries in West Africa mainly Nigeria. They have inter-married with some locals their changing some of their distinct characteristics. Basically most of them are cattle herders which move from place to place in search of good pastures for their flock. Their language can be classified as one from the West Atlantic sub-family which can be traced and still was spoken by the Wolof, the Serer and the Toucouleur around the Senegal area.

One major theory of their origin was the actions of the Berber migration. The Berber herdsmen from North Africa infiltrated the Senegal area and started mingling with the locals. They adopted the language, intermarried with them but never shown much interest to the political system of their host because such political structure did not appeal to their way of life. When the pastures in that region become less for them, they started spreading out. This brought about another round of migration to other parts of West Africa. This movement made them the most recognized pastoralists in West African sub-region. The nomadic Fulani depend entirely on their herds of cattle for their livelihood. They exchanged their diary products with grains and other important needs in the local markets.

Most of them were good Muslims and did their best in spreading Islam in West Africa. Notable among them was Uthman Dan Fodio who was very instrumental to the strengthening of Islam in what is known today as Nothern Nigeria. He with his follower attacked and conquered most Kingdoms in Hausa land and established the Sokoto Caliphate. The establishment of the Sokoto Caliphate brought about the Fulani domination in the political structure of the Northern Nigeria.

Get an ebook copy of KANEM-BORNO EMPIRE: A great Political Geographic Location that existed in Africa Written by Onuh Fortunatus the Moderator of this website. To get it click the link below.
Support independent publishing: Buy this e-book on Lulu.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Geographic Analysis of Africa

Image
Africa in a Geographic Analysis POSITION AND SIZE Africa is believed to be the second largest continent on earth. Africa’s area is approximated to be about 11.5 millions square miles. It stretches for around 35o on each side of the equator and it is crossed by both Tropics. This makes the bulk of the continent to be in the tropical latitudes. Base on the shape of Africa, the north of the equator is bigger than that to the south. PHYSICAL FEATURES The continent has Atlas Mountains in the north-west which form part of the old-world fold mountain system. There is also the existence of a huge plateau rising by steep escarpments from narrow coastal plains. A line of the plateau slightly convex towards the south-east, extending from the mouth of the Congo to Port Sudan on the Red Sea, divides the plateau into two regions differing in elevation. The north-west of the plateau portion of the plateau is comparatively low plateau consisting mainly of the Sahara Desert crossing from south-e...
Read more

Queen Nzinga Mbande: The Warrior Queen of Angola (1583–1663)

Image
  Queen Nzinga Mbande, who is also known as Anna Nzinga, was a legendary ruler of the Mbundu kingdoms of Ndongo and Matamba in the present-day Angola. She will forever be remembered with pride among her people because of her fierce resistance to the advances of the Portuguese colonizers and the transatlantic slave trade throughout the 17th century. A skillful diplomat and visionary military strategist, Nzinga ruled over her people for more than 30 years, emerging as a symbol of African resistance and endurance. Nzinga was born to king Kiluanji of Ndongo in 1583, who discovered her great intelligence and educated her in the kingly art. In the process, she followed her father to wars and learned both the art of ruling and warfare. To him followed a brother who took over from their father and continued producing zer0 alliances with the Portuguese, which allowed the Portuguese to increase their slave-trading operations in the area. In the year 1617, damage was inflicted on Ndongo by th...
Read more

Rop Rockshelter in West Africa: Evidence of the Late Stone Age

Image
  One of the Rock shelters discovered in West Africa is Rop rock shelter. It is located some 50km southwest of Jos, Nigeria. This rockshelter was excavated in 1944 by Bernard Fagg and his team.   Bernard Fagg was a British Archaeologists and Museum curator who undertook series of extensive works in the Nigerian area before and after the Second World War.   In 1964, Ekpo Eyo and Robert Soper of the National Museum and University of Ibadan respectively embarked on further research works in the site.   The results of these early excavations were basically contradictory. This led to the 1974 excavations carried out by Nicholas David and his team. Nicholas David was a Professor of Archaeology at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria.   According to S. Oluwole Ogundele, the materials found in Rop rockshelter are in two clear cultural phases. They are Aceramic and Ceramic.       Aceramic: They are made of microliths such as lunates...
Read more