War and Diplomacy in 19th Century West Africa: Analyzing the Sokoto Jihad from the Perspective of Diplomacy
Ibrahim Khaleel Abdussalam, PhD

Abstract
The objective of this paper is to construct an aspect of West African history from the perspective of international relations and diplomacy, using the Reform (Jihad) and the state that emerged from that development (The Sokoto Caliphate) as a case study. International Relations were simply diplomatic history up to the 19th century in all regions of the world including West Africa. The paper demonstrates that many aspects of this major revolutionary phenomenon of 19th century West Africa and the formation and consolidation of the state were about international relations and diplomacy. The paper analyzes the narrative of the Jihad and the Caliphate from the perspective of the interplay of diplomacy. Extended result of this approach suggests that other historical developments in the region during the period can be viewed from the perspective of diplomacy.

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