Fulani

Member of a West African people from the southern Sahara and Sahel. The Fulani language is divided into four dialects and belongs to the West Atlantic branch of the Niger-Congo family; it has more than 10 million speakers. Traditionally they are nomadic pastoralists and traders; many are now settled agriculturalists or live in cites. Fulani groups are found in Senegal, Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria, Chad, and Cameroon.

Many became Muslims at an early date and helped to spread Islam over West Africa. At the end of the 18th century they waged a jihad (holy war), under Usman Dan Fodio, against the rulers of the Hausa states, which led to the establishment of many Fulani emirates, with the religious capital at Sokoto. By the end of the 19th century the power of the Fulani Empire was declining and this aided the establishment of British rule