The Zulu and Sokoto
Caliphate
Emma Verstraete
AP World History
7th Hour
Discuss the process by which the Zulu and the Sokoto Caliphate were created.
How typical were these examples of African state-building in this era?
Creation of the Zulu State
 Started by a young military genius named ‘Shaka’
 As power and population increased surrounding areas
became demoralized
 To protect themselves from the Zulu outlying regions
occasionally created small states
 Shaka created a new national identity by dividing people into
age ‘regiments’
 Regiment members lived and worked together to learn new
customs and lore of Zulu society.
Creation of the Sokoto
Caliphate
 Occurred under the Hausa states
 Demanded religious reform, tolerating older religions no
longer accepted
 The main point of a jihad– or holy war
 Muslims unhappy with their social or political position were
large factors, they formed armies and forcibly took over the
surrounding areas in the name of preserving Islam
African State Building
 Typically happened due to war fare
 Another way it happened was due to an attempt to protect
from war nations, such as the Zulu
 Old traditions blended together to create new cultures as
territories were conquered