Hausaland divided

Overview

In 1890 Britain and France split the central Sudan along a line from Say on the Niger to Barruwa on Lake Chad, with Britain claiming “all that fairly belongs to the Kingdom of Sokoto”. Nobody asked the region’s rulers. The French took the northern Hausa lands by force from 1898. The convention of 8 April 1904 then set the frontier that still divides Hausaland, 20 km north of Birnin Konni and 15 km south of Maradi. It was surveyed in 1906 and marked on the ground in 1910. Most of the line followed old divides. The states left on the French side had mostly resisted Sokoto: the Katsina rulers in exile at Maradi, Gobir at Tsibiri, Konni, and the sultanate of Damagaram at Zinder. Their kin in Katsina, Sokoto and Kano stayed British, and today Hausa speakers are the majority on both sides of the border. In the east, German Kamerun took most of the caliphate’s Adamawa lands.^{[1],[6],[2],[7],[4],[5],[3]}Medium confidence

The rings outside Nigeria are rough and clipped at the border. The 1904 figures (20 km north of Konni, 15 km south of Maradi) are from the US State Department’s boundary study as quoted in a search summary.

Who took part

• British forces· Colonial force
• French forces· Colonial force
• Sokoto Caliphate· Defended

What happened

1. 5 August 1890 · Say

   The Say–Barruwa line

   Britain claims Sokoto’s lands; France takes the land north of a line from Say to Barruwa, which ran further north than today’s border.^[1],[2]High confidence

2. 1898 · Birnin Konni

   Birnin Konni sacked

   The French Voulet–Chanoine mission sacks Birnin Konni on its way east.^[3]High confidence

3. 1899 · Maradi

   Maradi destroyed

   The French arrive at Maradi, seat of the Katsina rulers in exile, and destroy the town in bloody fighting.^[4]High confidence

4. 30 July 1899 · Zinder

   Zinder falls

   At Tirmini, 10 km from Zinder, French and Senegalese troops beat the Sultan of Damagaram and take his capital. Damagaram loses its trade partner Kano to the British side.^[5]High confidence

5. 8 April 1904

   The line that holds

   A new convention moves the frontier south of the 1890 line, to 20 km north of Konni and 15 km south of Maradi. It is surveyed in 1906 and marked on the ground in 1910.^[6],[1]High confidence

Kingdoms involved

• Sokoto Caliphate

Sources

Every claim carries a confidence level: high (well attested), medium (one source or approximate) or disputed (sources disagree).

1. Wikipedia contributors. Niger–Nigeria border
2. The Sokoto Caliphate and the European Powers, 1890–1907. Paideuma (cited elsewhere, not yet checked directly)
3. Wikipedia contributors. Konni (Hausa state)
4. Wikipedia contributors. Maradi, Niger
5. Wikipedia contributors. Sultanate of Damagaram
6. US Department of State, Office of the Geographer. (1969). International Boundary Study No. 93: Niger – Nigeria Boundary (cited elsewhere, not yet checked directly)
7. Wikipedia contributors. Sokoto Caliphate