So it is not surprising that the Zarma Land was one of the primary goals in the great jihad of Usman dan Fodio (1790–1809) and was partially conquered by the Fulani jihadists.
Large parts of the population of Zarma Land turned to Islam during these years, which increasingly established itself as the main religion in these areas.
Dagbon was also engulfed in a civil war between Yakuba, the reigning Ya Naa,[3] and his sons, and "punitive expeditions" were organized against neighboring peoples under the pretext that they had supported the other side.
Subsequently, at the time of Alfa Gazari's inauguration as Hanno's successor, Andani, the chief of Savelugu, had been tasked by the Ya Naa to invade Gurunsi land and "bring back" the Zarmas, which violated a holy oath that the leaders of Dagbon and the Zarma had sworn on the Qur’an never to raise their hands against each other.
The political result of this Zarma campaign was that the Bona (Boya) residing in the West Gonja area signed a friendship and protection treaty with the British on April 12, 1894.
Despite this, due to the onset of the rainy season, the approaching Zarma army was forced to retreat without reaching the capital of the Lalle Naba.
As a result, the Mogho Naba (Mossi Emperor) signed a friendship and protection treaty with the British on July 2, 1894, in Ouagadougou.
[5] As part of the Heligoland-Zanzibar Treaty negotiations, the governments in London and Berlin discussed a possible border between the British and German spheres of influence.
As a result, the Dagbamba and large parts of Mamprusi land were divided into British and German spheres of influence, dissolving the Neutral Zone.
This approach initially worked out well for both of them since, as long as they did not pose a threat to the British government based in Cape Coast, they were left alone.
In December 1895, Sarankye-Moré's soldiers entered the western Gonja region and left behind widespread destruction and depopulation, as was their custom.
The British now felt compelled to act if they did not want to give up their positions north of the Ashanti Empire and leave the areas to the French and Germans.
Although the Asantehene signaled his willingness to participate, Braimah, the new Imam of Bondoukou north od present Ivory Coast, rejected the proposal despite a generous offer to his person.
In 1896, the British established a garrison at Kintampo on the northwest border of the Ashanti heartland, while simultaneously a British military detachment led by Donald William Stewart marched northeast and occupied Gambaga in Mamprusi land, located northwest of the Dagbamba core area.
However, the Dagbon anti-European uprising failed, and German troops defeated their army in the Battle of Adibo on December 4, 1896, occupying the capital, Yendi, the following day, and destroying much of it in the process.
However, muslim Dyula merchants, through whom trade in Kong almost exclusively ran, refused the deal due to the ravages of Samorian Sofa gang, which had not spared other Islamic believers on their raids.
His Sofa gang plundered and looted extensively, capturing and selling a large part of the population into slavery.
[8] This move was intended to prevent the French and Germans from occupying the lands north of Ashanti as they battled against the pirate kings.
[9] [10] From an ethnic point of view, the Zabarma Emirate was a very heterogeneous entity in which the Zarma who founded the state were actually only a minority.
It was mainly Hausa, Fulani, Mossi, and members of the peoples of Gurunsi country who had joined the Zarma since their early campaigns.
The current head of the Zarma in Ghana, however, still bears the title Sarkin Zabaramawa' and is a relative of the patrilineal lineage of the Babatu.