Sultan, Caliph, and the Renewer of the Faith

‘A ‘whodunit’ par excellence! Nobili’s engagement with the Tarikh al-Fattash and the Caliphate of Hamdullahi unravels their complicated, intertwined historiography. He reshapes our understanding of the whole Middle Niger region in the early-to-mid- 19th century and convincingly argues for a re-articulated meaning of authority and power as contested at the time. This book is seminal to the field.’ E. Ann McDougall, University of Alberta, Canada‘A compelling work of historical and literary detective work, Nobili’s study of the Tarikh al-Fattash is an important exploration of the role of Islamic literature and the unseen, in the legitimation of political authority in 19-century Africa. Focusing on the Sultanate of Ahmad Lobbo, Nobili demonstrates not only that the famed Tarikh was a work of relatively recent vintage based on earlier works, but that it was composed at least in part to substantiate Lobbo’s claims to authority based on earlier esoteric prophecy. This timely work constitutes a substantial addition to the literature on the intersection between political authority and the Islamic ‘unseen’. It will be important reading for anyone interested in Islamic political authority, historiography or the esoteric.’ Scott S. Reese, Northern Arizona University‘A major contribution to the study of West African history.’ Ousmane Kane, Cahiers d’études africaines

Mauro Nobili is Assistant Professor at the Department of History and the Center for African Studies at the University of Illinois. A historian of pre-colonial and early-colonial West Africa, he has published on West African chronicles and Arabic calligraphies including in the journal History of Africa. He has been the recipient of several prestigious awards, including a National Endowment for Humanities grant.