Divinity Atlas

Sacred Correspondences
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The Sword of Truth: The Life and Times of the Shehu Usuman dan Fodio

Mervyn Hiskett, Oxford University Press, 1973

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Mervyn Hiskett's academic biography of the Fulani Islamic scholar and reformer Usman dan Fodio, long the standard English-language treatment of his life, teaching and the 1804 to 1808 jihad he led against the Hausa states of what is now northern Nigeria, which founded the Sokoto Caliphate. Hiskett draws extensively on dan Fodio's own Arabic and Fulfulde writings and on the chronicles of his son Muhammad Bello, situating the jihad within the wider West African tradition of Islamic reform movements rather than treating it as an isolated uprising.

Facts
Citation
Author
Mervyn Hiskett 1
Publisher
Oxford University Press 1
Publication Year
1973 1
Source Type
academic monograph 1
Assessment
Reliability Tier
1
A widely cited academic biography published by a major university press, drawing directly on the subject's own Arabic and Fulfulde writings and on his son's chronicles, and long treated as the standard English-language scholarly treatment of the jihad and the founding of the Sokoto Caliphate.
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Associated With

This source names Usman dan Fodio directly: "Fulani Islamic scholar and reformer Usman dan Fodio, long the standard English-language treatment of his life, teaching and the 1804 to 1808 jihad he led against the Hausa states of what is now..."

Sources
Claims Backed By This Source (31 claims)

This source backs 31 claims across the atlas. As facts: 24 well-attested. As cited relationships: 1 holds, 2 connected. Plus 4 entities citing it as a general reference with no single fact or relationship attached.

Disposition By Topic

  • Articles, 14 claims: 10 well-attested, 2 connected, 2 general references.
  • Wars & Conflicts, 10 claims: 8 well-attested, 1 holds, 1 general references.
  • Open Questions, 7 claims: 6 well-attested, 1 general references.
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