Dikwa used to be part of the kingdom of Borno before being captured by Rabih in 1893. The latter had the place fortified and Dikwa became the capital of his kingdom from 1893 to 1900.In 1900, the French defeated Rabih and captured Dikwa. The town was handed over to the Germans in 1902 because of a treaty signed in 1893 between the Germans and the British which stipulated that the town of Dikwa should become German. This treaty is at the origin of the Dikwa Emirate.

Between 1902 and 1916, Dikwa was the capital of what the Europeans called German Borno. After the First World War until 1961, the town and the Dikwa Emirate were administered by the British under a League of Nations Mandate and a United Nations Trusteeship agreement. In 1942, Dikwa ceased to be the capital of the Dikwa Emirate. Bama became the capital of the Emirate which kept its name as Dikwa Emirate.