International records / Internet Archive

The Kano mamluks: Royal Slavery in the Sokoto Caliphate, 1807- 1903

This study explores the social, cultural and political history of royal slavery in Kano Emirate of the Sokoto Caliphate between 1807-1903. The dissertation takes a comparative approach to the institution of royal slavery and argues that a "marnluk~~ style institution developed in Kano. Individuals were enslaved, trained and promoted in ways that reflected a broader Islamic pattern. However, the use of slave soldiers and officials was not an inevitable outgrowth of all Islamic state systems. Across the Sudanic belt, for example, both pre and post jihadist states faced problems of political legi…