A Geography of Jihad : : Sokoto Jihadism and the Islamic Frontier in West Africa / / Stephanie Zehnle.

• VerfasserIn: Zehnle, Stephanie,
• Place / Publishing House: Berlin ;, Boston : : De Gruyter, , [2020]; ©2020
• Year of Publication: 2020
• Edition: Erstausgabe
• Language: English
• Series: ZMO-Studien : Studien des Leibniz-Zentrum Moderner Orient ; 37
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (VIII, 718 p.)

This book addresses the Jihad movement that created the largest African state of the 19th century: the Sokoto Caliphate, existing for 99 years from 1804 until its military defeat by European colonial troops in 1903. The author carves out the entanglements of jihadist ideology and warfare with geographical concepts at Africa’s periphery of the Islamic world: geographical knowledge about the boundary between the “Land of Islam” and the “Land of War”; the pre-colonial construction of “the Muslim” and “the unbeliever”; and the transfer of ideas between political elites and mobile actors (traders, pilgrims, slaves, soldiers), whose reports helped shape new definitions of the African frontier of Islam. Research for this book is based on the study of a very wide range of Arabic and West African (Hausa, Fulfulde) manuscripts. Their policies reveal the persistent reciprocity of jihadist warfare and territorial statehood, of Africa and the Middle East.

This book addresses the Jihad movement that created the largest African state of the 19th century: the Sokoto Caliphate, existing for 99 years from 1804 until its military defeat by European colonial troops in 1903. The author carves out the entanglements of jihadist ideology and warfare with geographical concepts at Africa’s periphery of the Islamic world: geographical knowledge about the boundary between the “Land of Islam” and the “Land of War”; the pre-colonial construction of “the Muslim” and “the unbeliever”; and the transfer of ideas between political elites and mobile actors (traders, pilgrims, slaves, soldiers), whose reports helped shape new definitions of the African frontier of Islam. Research for this book is based on the study of a very wide range of Arabic and West African (Hausa, Fulfulde) manuscripts. Their policies reveal the persistent reciprocity of jihadist warfare and territorial statehood, of Africa and the Middle East. Stephanie Zehnle is Assistant Professor (JProf) of Extra-European History at Kiel University (Christian-Albrechts-Universität). Her work on African and trans-continental history includes research on the history of Islam, human-animal relations, and comics in Africa.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Content -- Acknowledgements -- Note on Translation and Transcription -- List of Figures -- I. Introduction -- II. The Course of the Jihad: Historiography, Literature, Sources -- III. Sokoto Scholars Measuring This World -- IV. Mobile Actors and the Transfer of Jihadist Knowledge on Space -- 1. Ancestral Travelers: »Reformers in Corrupt Times« -- 2. Pilgrims: »Camel Driver, Urge Them towards the East!« -- 3. Travelers by Profession: »Water and Its Threats« -- 4. Pastoralists of the Sahel and Sahara: »Colonizing Dead Land« -- 5. Migrants of War: Precarious and Sacred Routes -- V. Conclusions: Jihadist Geography and Geographical Jihad -- Archives and Collections -- Dictionaries -- Online Repositories -- Manuscripts -- Edited Sources and Translations -- Secondary Literature -- Index