![AFRhausalandas](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f6/AFRhausalandas.PNG)
The Hausa Kingdoms, also known as Hausa Kingdom or Hausaland, was a collection of states started by the
Hausa people
The Hausa ( autonyms for singular: Bahaushe ( m), Bahaushiya ( f); plural: Hausawa and general: Hausa; exonyms: Ausa; Ajami: ) are the largest native ethnic group in Africa. They speak the Hausa language, which is the second most spoken language ...
, situated between the
Niger River
The Niger River ( ; ) is the main river of West Africa, extending about . Its drainage basin is in area. Its source is in the Guinea Highlands in south-eastern Guinea near the Sierra Leone border. It runs in a crescent shape through ...
and
Lake Chad
Lake Chad (french: Lac Tchad) is a historically large, shallow, endorheic lake in Central Africa, which has varied in size over the centuries. According to the ''Global Resource Information Database'' of the United Nations Environment Programme, ...
(modern day northern
Nigeria
Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...
). Hausaland lay between the Western Sudanic kingdoms of
Ancient Ghana
The Ghana Empire, also known as Wagadou ( ar, غانا) or Awkar, was a West African empire based in the modern-day southeast of Mauritania and western Mali that existed from c. 300 until 1100. The Empire was founded by the Soninke people, an ...
and
Mali
Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mali ...
and the Eastern Sudanic kingdoms of
Kanem-Bornu. Hausaland took shape as a political and cultural region during the first millennium CE as a result of the westward expansion of Hausa peoples. They arrived to Hausaland when the terrain was converting from woodlands to savannah. They started cultivating grains, which led to a denser peasant population. They had a common language, laws and customs. The Hausa were known for fishing, hunting, agriculture, salt-mining, and blacksmithing.
By the 14th century,
Kano
Kano may refer to:
Places
*Kano State, a state in Northern Nigeria
* Kano (city), a city in Nigeria, and the capital of Kano State
**Kingdom of Kano, a Hausa kingdom between the 10th and 14th centuries
**Sultanate of Kano, a Hausa kingdom between ...
had become the most powerful city-state. Kano had become the base for the trans-Saharan trade in salt, cloth, leather, and grain. The Hausa oral history is reflected in the
Bayajidda
Bayajidda (Hausa: Bàyā̀jiddà) was, according to the legends surrounding most West African states before the 19th century, the founder of the Hausa states.
Most accounts say that Bayajidda came from Baghdad. Bayajidda came first to Borno where ...
legend, which describes the adventures of the Baghdadi hero Bayajidda culminating in the killing of the snake in the well of
Daura
Daura is a town and Local Government Area in Katsina State, northern Nigeria. It is the spiritual home of the Hausa people.
The emirate is referred to as one of the "seven true Hausa states" (Hausa Bakwai)
because it was, (along with Biram, Kan ...
and the marriage with the local queen
Magajiya Daurama. According to the legend, the hero had a child with the queen, Bawo, and another child with the queen's maid-servant, Karbagari.
Though the Hausa states shared the same lineage, language and culture, the states were characterized by fierce rivalries with each other with each state seeking supremacy over the others. They constantly waged war on each other and would often work with invaders to the detriment of their sister states, hindering their collective strength.
Mythology
According to the
Bayajidda
Bayajidda (Hausa: Bàyā̀jiddà) was, according to the legends surrounding most West African states before the 19th century, the founder of the Hausa states.
Most accounts say that Bayajidda came from Baghdad. Bayajidda came first to Borno where ...
legend, the Hausa states were founded by the sons and grandsons of Bayajidda, a prince whose origin differs by tradition, but official canon records him as the person who married
Daurama
Daurama or Magajiya Daurama (c. 9th century) was a ruler of the Hausa people who, as the Last Kabara of Daura, presided over the upheaval that saw a transference of power from the matriarchal royal system of the Hausa people. Oral traditions re ...
, the last
Kabara of Daura, and heralded the end of the matriarchal monarchs that had erstwhile ruled the Hausa people. According to the most famous version of the story, the story of the Hausa states started with a prince from Baghdad called "Abu Yazid". When he got to Daura, he went to the house of an old woman and asked her to give him water but she told him the predicament of the land, how the only well in Daura, called ''Kusugu'', was inhabited by a snake called Sarki, who allowed citizens of Daura to fetch water only on Fridays. Since "Sarki" is the Hausa word for "King", this may have been a metaphor for a powerful figure. Bayajidda killed Sarki and because of what he had done the queen married him for his bravery. After his marriage to the queen the people started to call him Bayajidda which means "he didn't understand (the language) before ".
Hausa Bakwai
The Hausa Kingdoms began as seven states founded according to the
Bayajidda
Bayajidda (Hausa: Bàyā̀jiddà) was, according to the legends surrounding most West African states before the 19th century, the founder of the Hausa states.
Most accounts say that Bayajidda came from Baghdad. Bayajidda came first to Borno where ...
legend by the six sons of Bawo and himself, the son of the hero and Magajiya Daurama in addition to the hero's son, Biram or Ibrahim, of an earlier marriage. The states included only kingdoms inhabited by Hausa speakers:
*
Daura
Daura is a town and Local Government Area in Katsina State, northern Nigeria. It is the spiritual home of the Hausa people.
The emirate is referred to as one of the "seven true Hausa states" (Hausa Bakwai)
because it was, (along with Biram, Kan ...
*
Kano
Kano may refer to:
Places
*Kano State, a state in Northern Nigeria
* Kano (city), a city in Nigeria, and the capital of Kano State
**Kingdom of Kano, a Hausa kingdom between the 10th and 14th centuries
**Sultanate of Kano, a Hausa kingdom between ...
*
Katsina
Katsina, likely from "Tamashek" eaning son or bloodor mazza enwith "inna" otheris a Local Government Area and the capital city of Katsina State, in northern Nigeria.
*
Zaria
Zaria is a metropolitan city in Nigeria which at the present time lies within four (4) local government areas in Kaduna state; it happens to be the capital city to the Zazzau Emirate Council, and one of the original seven Hausa city-states ...
(Zazzau/Zegzeg)
*
Gobir
Gobir (Demonym: ''Gobirawa'') was a city-state in what is now Nigeria. Founded by the Hausa in the 11th century, Gobir was one of the seven original kingdoms of Hausaland, and continued under Hausa rule for nearly 700 years. Its capital was the ci ...
*
Rano
Rano is a Local Government Area and headquarters of Rano Emirate council in Kano State, Nigeria. Rano is a local government area in Kano State with administrative headquarters in the town of Rano. Rano local government area is a Hausa-Fulani com ...
*
Hadejia
Haɗejiya (also Haɗeja, previously Biram) is a Hausa town in eastern Jigawa State, northern Nigeria. The population was approximately 105,628 in 2006. Hadejia lies between latitude 12.4506N and longitude 10.0404E. It shared boundary with Kiri Ka ...
(Biram)
Since the beginning of Hausa history, the seven states of Hausaland divided up production and labor activities in accordance with their location and natural resources. Kano and Rano were known as the "Chiefs of Indigo." Cotton grew readily in the great plains of these states, and they became the primary producers of cloth, weaving and dying it before sending it off in caravans to the other states within Hausaland and to extensive regions beyond. Biram was the original seat of government, while Zaria supplied labor and was known as the "Chief of Slaves." Katsina and Daura were the "Chiefs of the Market," as their geographical location accorded them direct access to the caravans coming across the desert from the north. Gobir, located in the west, was the "Chief of War" and was mainly responsible for protecting the empire from the invasive Kingdoms of Ghana and Songhai.
Banza Bakwai
According to the
Bayajidda
Bayajidda (Hausa: Bàyā̀jiddà) was, according to the legends surrounding most West African states before the 19th century, the founder of the Hausa states.
Most accounts say that Bayajidda came from Baghdad. Bayajidda came first to Borno where ...
legend, the Banza Bakwai states were founded by the seven sons of Karbagari ("Town-seizer"), the son of Bayajidda and the slave-maid, Bagwariya. They are called the Banza Bakwai, meaning "bastard/bogus seven", on account of their ancestress' slave status.
*
Zamfara
Zamfara (Hausa: Jihar Zamfara Fula: Leydi Zamfara 𞤤𞤫𞤴𞤣𞤭 𞤶𞤢𞤥𞤬𞤢𞤪𞤢) is a state in northwestern Nigeria. The capital of Zamfara state is Gusau and its current Governor is Bello Matawalle. Until 1996, the area was ...
(state inhabited by Hausa-speakers)
*
Kebbi
Kebbi state ( ha, Jihar Kebbi; Fulfulde: Leydi Kebbi 𞤤𞤫𞤴𞤣𞤭 𞤳𞤫𞤦𞥆𞤭) is a state in the northwestern Nigeria, Kebbi state is bordered east and north of Sokoto and Zamfara states, and to the south by Niger state while i ...
(state inhabited by Hausa-speakers)
*
Yauri (also called Yawuri)
*
Gwari
Gbagyi or Gbari (plural - Agbagyi/Agbari) is the name and the language of Gbagyi/Gbari ethnic group who are predominantly found in Central Nigeria, with a population of about 1 million people. Members of the ethnic group speak two dialects. While ...
(also called Gwariland)
*
Kwararafa
Kororofa (Kwararafa in Hausa) was a multiethnic state and/or confederacy centered along the Benue River valley in what is today central Nigeria. It was southwest of the Bornu Empire and south of the Hausa States. They rose to prominence before ...
(the state of the
Jukun people)
*
Nupe Nupe may refer to:
*Nupe people, of Nigeria
*Nupe language, their language
*The Bida Emirate, also known as the Nupe Kingdom, their former state
*A member of the Kappa Alpha Psi
Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. () is a historically African Amer ...
(state of the Nupe people)
History
Zenith
The Hausa Kingdoms were first mentioned by
Ya'qubi
ʾAbū l-ʿAbbās ʾAḥmad bin ʾAbī Yaʿqūb bin Ǧaʿfar bin Wahb bin Waḍīḥ al-Yaʿqūbī (died 897/8), commonly referred to simply by his nisba al-Yaʿqūbī, was an Arab Muslim geographer and perhaps the first historian of world cultu ...
in the 9th century and they were by the 15th century trading centers competing with
Kanem-Bornu and the
Mali Empire
The Mali Empire ( Manding: ''Mandé''Ki-Zerbo, Joseph: ''UNESCO General History of Africa, Vol. IV, Abridged Edition: Africa from the Twelfth to the Sixteenth Century'', p. 57. University of California Press, 1997. or Manden; ar, مالي, Māl ...
. The primary exports were
slaves
Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
,
leather
Leather is a strong, flexible and durable material obtained from the tanning, or chemical treatment, of animal skins and hides to prevent decay. The most common leathers come from cattle, sheep, goats, equine animals, buffalo, pigs and hogs, ...
,
gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...
,
cloth
Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...
,
salt
Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quantitie ...
,
kola nuts
The term kola nut usually refers to the seeds of certain species of plant of the genus ''Cola'', placed formerly in the cocoa family Sterculiaceae and now usually subsumed in the mallow family Malvaceae (as subfamily Sterculioideae). These co ...
, animal hides, and
henna
Henna is a dye prepared from the plant ''Lawsonia inermis'', also known as the henna tree, the mignonette tree, and the Egyptian privet, the sole species of the genus ''Lawsonia''.
''Henna'' can also refer to the temporary body art resulting fr ...
. At various moments in their history, the Hausa managed to establish central control over their states, but such unity has always proven short. In the 11th century the conquests initiated by Gijimasu of Kano culminated in the birth of the first united Hausa Nation, although it was short-lived. During the reign of King
Yaji I
Ali Dan Tsamiya known as Yaji I or Ali Yaji Dan Tsamiya was a king and later the first Sultan of Kano, a state in what is now Northern Nigeria. Yaji I ruled from 1359 to 1385 CE. A prominent figure in the state's history, Yaji used a religious rev ...
(1349–85) Islam was first introduced to
Kano
Kano may refer to:
Places
*Kano State, a state in Northern Nigeria
* Kano (city), a city in Nigeria, and the capital of Kano State
**Kingdom of Kano, a Hausa kingdom between the 10th and 14th centuries
**Sultanate of Kano, a Hausa kingdom between ...
. Many Muslim traders and clerics used to come from Mali, from the
Volta region
Volta Region (or Volta) is one of Ghana's sixteen administrative regions, with Ho designated as its capital. It is located west of Republic of Togo and to the east of Lake Volta. Divided into 25 administrative districts, the region is multi-et ...
, and later from
Songhay. King Yaji appointed a
Qadi
A qāḍī ( ar, قاضي, Qāḍī; otherwise transliterated as qazi, cadi, kadi, or kazi) is the magistrate or judge of a '' sharīʿa'' court, who also exercises extrajudicial functions such as mediation, guardianship over orphans and mino ...
and Imam as part of the state administration.
Muhammad Rumfa
Muhammad Dan Yakubu, known as Muhammad Rumfa was the Sultan of Kano from 1463 until 1499. His reign was characterized by wealth and opulence and signaled the rise of the Sultanate's commercial dominance in the region. Under the guidance of famed ...
(1463–99) built mosques and madrassahs. He also commissioned
Muhammad al-Maghili
Muhammad ibn Abd al-Karim al-Maghili (), commonly known as Muhammad al-Maghili (14401505) was a Berber 'alim from Tlemcen, the capital of the Kingdom of Tlemcen, now in modern-day Algeria. Al-Maghili was responsible for converting to Islam the ru ...
to write a treatise on Muslim governance. Many other scholars were brought in from Egypt, Tunis, and Morocco. This turned Kano into a center of Muslim scholarship. Islamization facilitated the expansion of trade and was the basis of an enlarged marketing network. The '
Ulama
In Islam, the ''ulama'' (; ar, علماء ', singular ', "scholar", literally "the learned ones", also spelled ''ulema''; feminine: ''alimah'' ingularand ''aalimath'' lural are the guardians, transmitters, and interpreters of religious ...
provided legal support, guarantees, safe conducts, introductions and many other services. By the end of the fifteenth century, Muhammad al-Korau, a cleric, took control of
Katsina
Katsina, likely from "Tamashek" eaning son or bloodor mazza enwith "inna" otheris a Local Government Area and the capital city of Katsina State, in northern Nigeria. declaring himself king. 'Ulama were later brought in from North Africa and Egypt to reside in Katsina. An 'Ulama class emerged under royal patronage. The Hausa rulers fasted
Ramadan
, type = islam
, longtype = Religious
, image = Ramadan montage.jpg
, caption=From top, left to right: A crescent moon over Sarıçam, Turkey, marking the beginning of the Islamic month of Ramadan. Ramadan Quran reading in Bandar Torkaman, Iran. ...
, built mosques, kept up the five obligatory prayers, and gave alms (
zakat
Zakat ( ar, زكاة; , "that which purifies", also Zakat al-mal , "zakat on wealth", or Zakah) is a form of almsgiving, often collected by the Muslim Ummah. It is considered in Islam as a religious obligation, and by Quranic ranking, is ne ...
) to the poor. Ibrahim Maje (1549–66) was an Islamic reformer and instituted Islamic marriage law in Katsina.Generally Hausaland remained divided between the Muslim cosmopolitan urban elite and the local animistic rural communities. During this time period, Leo Africanus briefly mentions in his book ''
Descrittione dell’Africa'' descriptions of the political and economic state of Hausaland during that time although it is unknown if he actually visited it; Hausaland seems to have been mostly of a tributary status by Songhai as in his description of Zamfara he comments that "their king was slaughtered by the Askiya and themselves made tributary" and the same is said for the rest of the region.
Fall
Despite relatively constant growth from the 15th century to the 18th century, the states were vulnerable to constant war internally and externally. By the 18th century, they were economically and politically exhausted. Famines became very common during this period and the Sultans engaged in heavy taxation to fund their wars. Though the vast majority of its inhabitants were
Muslim
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
, by the 19th century, they were conquered by a mix of Fulani warriors and Hausa peasantry, citing syncretism and social injustices. By 1808 the Hausa states were finally conquered by
Usuman dan Fodio
Usman Ɗan Fodio ( ar, عثمان بن فودي, translit=ʿUthmān ibn Fodio; 15 December 1754 – 20 April 1817) was a Fulani scholar, Sunni Islamic religious teacher, revolutionary, and philosopher who founded the Sokoto Caliphate and ruled ...
and incorporated into the Hausa-Fulani
Sokoto Caliphate
The Sokoto Caliphate (), also known as the Fulani Empire or the Sultanate of Sokoto, was a Sunni Muslim caliphate in West Africa. It was founded by Usman dan Fodio in 1804 during the Fulani jihads after defeating the Hausa Kingdoms in the Ful ...
.
[Smith, ''Daura'', 419-421.]
References
Bibliography
* Hogben, S. J. und Anthony Kirk-Greene: ''The Emirates of Northern Nigeria'', London 1966 (pp. 145–155).
* Lapidus, Ira M. ''A History of Islamic Societies''. 3rd ed. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 2014. pg 458-459.
* Nicolas, Guy: ''Dynamique sociale et appréhension du monde au sein d'une société hausa'', Paris 1975.
* Palmer, Herbert R.: ''Sudanese Memoirs'', vol. 3, Lagos 1928 (Bayajidda legend, pp. 132–146).
* Smith, Michael: ''The Affairs of Daura'', Berkeley 1978.
External links
Map showing Bornu and the Hausa BakwaiPart II
Britannica
BBC
{{Sahelian kingdoms
Countries in medieval Africa
History of Northern Nigeria
Sahelian kingdoms
Hausa