Muhammad Alwali II
Muhammad Dan Yaji, known as Muhammad Alwali II was the last sultan of the Sultanate of Kano. His reign coincided with a period of upheavals in Sudanic History that saw a series of religious Jihads waged by the Fula People. In 1807, after a protracted struggle with Fula clans, Muhammad Alwali was ambushed and assassinated at Burum-Burum in modern Kano. His death marked the end of the Kutumbawa line of Hausa aristocrats in Kano and the fall of the 800 year old Bagauda Dynasty.
Accession
Muhammad Alwali was the son of Sultan Yaji II and Baiwa. In 1781 he succeeded his brother, Dauda Abasama II, to become the third successive son of Yaji II to ascend the throne of Kano.Reign
The Kano Sultanate was consistently at war to maintain hold of trade routes and his reign came at a time when famine was a regular occurrence. These factors coupled with increased taxation by the aristocracy saw dwindling fortunes for the Sultanate. Traders were abandoning the state for more favorable conditions in the Sahel. When Alwali became Sultan, he immediately collected grains of sorghum and millet to prepare for war and famine. However, a famine devastated the city soon after.Dirki
Dirki was a fetish object that was held sacred in Kano. It was made of a Quran covered in multiple layers of goat skin or cow hide introduced around the 16th century in the reign of Muhammad Zaki. Alwali was asked to provide forty cows as a sacrifice to Dirki but he refused. He went as far as attacking the object with an axe and exposing its contents. The people then murmured that he will be expelled from Kano just as he as expelled the Quran from Dirki.Ciroma Dan Mama
Over time, the Kano royal family had been divided into multiple factions. Since the first civil war in 1565, internal strife had ravaged the Kano royal house. A second civil war broke out after El Kutumbi's death in 1648.Alwali's father Yaji, endured a bitter relationship with his brother, the then Sultan Muhammad Sharefa and his sons who succeeded him. Yaji was exiled to a desolate life of penury. During this time, he heavily relied on a local farmer and tobacco seller from Katagum. When Yaji ascended the throne after the death of Alhaji Kabe, he adopted this figure as his son and gave him the prestigious title of Ciroma, and entrusted the resources needed for the ascension of his sons in his hands. It is believed that this figure or his son, called Dan Mama was stripped of the title of Ciroma during Alwali's reign who instead gave the title to his son. The deposed Ciroma, though scorned, continued to play a role in the Sultan's court and would later play a pivotal role in his downfall. Tradition relates that his treachery sealed Alwali's fate.
War with the Fula
Background
Alwali was already facing a struggle in securing his throne and the ascension of his son against the faction loyal to the lineage of his uncle Muhammad Sharefa and another faction that contained the remnants of the Rumfawa in Kano who had engaged in a series of rebellions since Sharefa's time. While he was able to successfully squash a revolt by the Rumfawa, unbeknownst to him, a more serious threat was looming. When Shehu Usman Dan Fodio's Jihad began in Gobir, he sent a letter to all Hausa Kings who had already sworn to support the King of Gobir. It is related that Muhammad Alwali was on the verge of accepting the Shehu's message when he was dissuaded by Ciroma Dan Mama. The Ciroma is said to have then written to the Shehu offering his support in exchange for a hundred towns.Kano was home to a number of Fula clans who had begun settling since the 14th century including the Jobawa, Sullubawa, Danejawa, Yolawa, Yerimawa, Modibawa, Gyanawa, Zarawa, Toronkawa, Mundubawa, and Dambazawa. Many Fula chiefs had assumed various powerful titles in Kano, including the leadership of various towns and in the time of Kumbari Dan Sharefa, he had to extinguish a revolt by the Fula chief of Ringim, Ada Gauro and send him into exile but his descendants played a role in the war that ensued. The Kutumbawa Kings had alienated themselves from their masses through their heavy taxation and open syncreticisms and the Fula also found allies in hausa Muslims and aggrieved peasants in Kano, led by Alkali Mallam Usman. These Hausas according to WF Gowers may have been just as many as the Fula. Muhammad Bakatsine, the leader of the Jobawa, who were one of the most established Fula clans in Kano, had been with Dan Fodio in Gobir but returned to Kano after the Fulas defeat by Gobir at Tsuntua. The Shehu soon sent a letter to his supporters in Kano after which they withdrew from their communities and assembled in preparation for Jihad.
Early encounters
A group of the Shehu's followers made for Kwazzazabo where they frightened the villagers and seized their grains and in the ensuing scuffle slew one of the farmers who had refused them access to his stock of grains. The Sarkin Bebeji immediately alerted Sultan Alwali who was then situated at the newly reinforced Takai. The Sultan in trying to assess the situation sent a small force led by Gainaku and instructed him to burn the Fula compounds and seize whatever he pleased from them. Gainaku though succeeding in killing some of the fula was forced to retreat. Alwali then sent for Muhammad Bakatsine and accused him of treachery. The clan leader however denied any involvement and swore his innocence on a Quran but on his way back proceeded to seize the town of Gogel.After consultation with his advisers, Alwali who still underestimated the severity of his situation then sent a military general, Barde Bakori with a force he deemed sufficient to disband the rebels but was also turned back. When the Barde returned to Alwali who had at that point left Takai and returned to Kano, the Sultan faced different opinions from his advisers with one faction calling for a declaration of war and the other faction seeking a more diplomatic approach. The Sultan had initially wanted to accept the Shehu's call and he opted for the latter view. He put together a delegation which included Arab and local scholars who were granted an audience by the rebels but publicly humiliated and turned back. One of the delegates was said to have died of fright shortly after returning to Kano.
Kano's first assault
After rejecting his offer for peace, Alwali and his advisers decided to summon a faction of his troops led by the Sarkin Dawaki Ali and ordered them to capture the fula leaders and women but to slay everyone else. Before they got to the Fula stronghold in Kwazzazabo, the rebels had already shored up their defenses while their leaders had withdrawn to Kogo in anticipation. When the Sarkin Dawaki and his troops broke initial resistance and made it into the fula settlement, he instructed the Barde to set their huts on fire but the Barde insisted that they had to collect the Shehus flag first. This hesitation proved costly; As soon as the Barde collected the flag, he was greeted by a hoard of Fula warriors and even women. The hausa horses were spooked by the pandemonium and in their retreat, the cavalry was confined to a narrow space due to trenches built by the Fula and were chased by a rain of arrows and spears. A lot of their soldiers fell off their horses and died, the Sarkin Dawaki barely escaped. The Fula gained horses, muskets, coats of mail, armors, swords, quilted armors, and many other weapons.Expansion of the Jihad
In the wake of the Fula victory against the Sarkin Dawaki, Sarkin Fulanin Dambarta, Malam Maiyaki, also known as Dan Tunku, who later founded the Kazaure Emirate switched his allegiance from Alwali to the Shehu. Alwali did not learn of this perfidy until it was too late. The Fula now also had the confidence and firepower to move across Kano. They soon made for the town of Godiya but were repelled with many losses by Dan Tama, the ancestral ruler of Godiya. They eventually broke their defenses and burnt the city to the ground and neighboring towns submitted to avoid the same fate. During their expeditions, they also pillaged Fula herders who wouldn't join their Jihad. They then took Karaye after a small resistance but immediately saw an army led by the Dan Tama of Godiya and Barde Bakori. Neither side expected to encounter the other. The Dan Tama and Barde attacked nonetheless but the Fula had taken up strong positions around the river bed and repelled their attackers. Karaye was the first major town to fall to the Fula. While in Karaye, Mallam Musa arrived and was given the Flag for the Jihad against Zazzau after which he proceeded to his destination.In order to use their superior mobility and field knowledge, as well as to avoid the possibility of facing the combined forces of Kano, Katsina, and Daura, the fula dispersed their armies to force Alwali to do the same. They soon converged near Tofa and were promptly attacked by a small Hausa force from Tatarawa and Damargu which they repelled and captured many horses from. The Fula captured Tofa, Bichi and then Tatarawa.