Muri Mountains

Prior to the twentieth century, the Muri Mountains served as a place of refuge for populations moving to escape slave raiding. This was especially true after a jihad in 1804 created the Caliphate of Sokoto, in which a Fulani aristocracy ruled over significant parts of modern Northern Nigeria; numerous groups fled slave raids near the borders of the caliphate into impassable areas such as the Muri Mountains. After the caliphate was established the area around the Muri Mountains was raided for slaves by nearby emirates within it. Additionally, the Fulani emirates depended heavily on cavalry, which was ineffective in the mountains. Most European travelers at the time went around the mountains rather than pass through them. The societies within the Muri Mountains were never conquered by the nearby emirates, but were subjugated by the British in the early 1900s, who sent in punitive expeditions. The British conquest of the mountains was carried out by successive expeditions and patrols sent into the area and occurred over several years. == References ==