Ali Babba bin Bello

Ali Babba bin Bello (1804–1859 - aged 55) was the fourth Sultan of the Sokoto Caliphate from 1842 to 1859.

Ali bin Bello is known by a variety of different names in different sources, including: Ali bin Bello, Aliyu Babba (not to be confused with his grandson and namesake, the Emir of Kano from 1894 to 1903 with the same name), and Mai Cinaka.

Early life Ali Babba bin Bello was born in 1804 the son of Ladi, a Hausa concubine to Muhammed Bello, the second Sultan of Sokoto, and the grandson of Usman dan Fodio, the first Sultan. Although he was not born from one of the wives of Bello, he was treated as from Bello's lineage and was able to become the successor to Abu Bakr Atiku in 1842. In his selection as Sultan, he was selected instead of three other sons of Muhammadu Bello and one of his uncles for the position. In addition, the tension in the Adamawa Emirate, with Emir Adama threatening to leave the Sokoto Caliphate, a conflict which had reached a highpoint in the last months of his predecessors reign, was quickly resolved with Ali Babba reasserting the authority of Adama and ending recognition of his rivals. However, during his term, the Hadejia Emirate successfully rebelled from the Caliphate. The Emir of Hadejia, Buhari, had refused to submit to questioning by Ali Babba in regards to Buhari's brutality which resulted in a decade long struggle with Hadejia maintaining independence until Buhari's death.

At the same time, violence between Sokoto and Bornu had been ongoing for most of his predecessor's reign. Ali Babba was able to end slave raids by his forces into Bornu territory, grant Bornu some lands back, and negotiate a cessation of hostilities.

In 1853, explorer Heinrich Barth and Ali Babba negotiated an extensive trade agreement between the British and the Sokoto Caliphate.