Given Soverihn's posts here about how the Sokoto Caliphate was a relatively advanced African country in the late 19th century, I was wondering this: Could the Sokoto Caliphate have survived and maintained its independence during the Age of Imperialism (late 19th and early 20th centuries) and beyond by playing off Britain and France against each other?
If so, how would the Sokoto Caliphate have developed throughout the 20th and early 21st centuries?
Any thoughts on this?