The Kamuku are an ethnic group in central

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 ...

. The

Kamuku language The Cinda-Regi language (commonly known as Kamuku and also known as ‘Yara or Cinda-Regi-Kuki-Kuru-Maruba) is a language complex of Nigeria belonging to the Kamuku branch of Kainji languages. Geographic distribution The Kamuku language is s ...

belongs to the Kainji family and is related to

C'lela Lela or C'lela (Clela) is a Kainji language of Nigeria. It is known as Chilela in Hausa, and it is also known as Dakarkari, because it is spoken by the Dakarkari people Location The Lela live mostly in Kebbi State and Niger State. However, there a ...

Duka Duka is a village in Vas County, Hungary. Famous people The poet Judit Dukai Takách was born in Duka in 1795. Zádor György was born there in 1799. Others have even taken the name of their village as their surname. References External links ...

, and

Kambari The Kambari or Kamberi languages) are a cluster of Kainji languages spoken in northwestern Nigeria (Kebbi State and Niger State). Geographic distribution The Kambarri languages are spoken in Kebbi and Niger States, Nigeria. There are also some sp ...

. They mainly live in the west-central region of Nigeria, particularly in

Kwara State Kwara State ( yo, Ìpínlẹ̀ Kwárà), is a state in Western Nigeria, bordered to the east by Kogi State, to the north by Niger state, and to the south by Ekiti, Osun, and Oyo states, while its western border makes up part of the internation ...

. Their population in 1996 exceeded 35,000 people, found in the

Sokoto Sokoto is a major city located in extreme northwestern Nigeria, near the confluence of the Sokoto River and the Rima River. As of 2006 it has a population of over 427,760. Sokoto is the modern-day capital of Sokoto State and was previously the c ...

division of

Sokoto State Sokoto State (Hausa: Jihar Sokoto Fula: Leydi Sokoto 𞤤𞤫𞤴𞤣𞤭 𞤧𞤮𞥅𞤳𞤮𞥅𞤼𞤮𞥅) is one of the 36 states of Nigeria, located in the extreme northwest of the country on the national border with the Niger, Republic o ...

, the

Birnin Gwari Birnin Gwari is a Local Government Area in Kaduna State, Nigeria. Its headquarters are in the town of Birnin Gwari. It has an area of 6,185 km and a population of 252,363 at the 2006 census. The postal code A postal code (also known loc ...

division of

Kaduna State Kaduna State ( ha, Jihar Kaduna جىِهَر كَدُنا; ff, Leydi Kaduna, script=Latn, ; kcg, Sitet Kaduna) is a state in northern Nigeria. The state capital is its namesake, the city of Kaduna which happened to be the 8th largest city in ...

and the

Kontagora Kontagora is a major town on the south bank of the Kontagora River in north-west Niger State, Nigeria. It is the capital city of the Kontagora Emirate. The current Niger state governor, Alh. Abubakar Sani Bello hails from Kontagora. On December 1 ...

and

Minna Minna is a city in Middle Belt Nigeria. It is the capital city of Niger State, one of Nigeria's 36 federal states. It consists of two major ethnic groups: the Gbagyi and the Nupe. History Archaeological evidence suggests settlement in the ...

divisions of

Niger State Niger is a state in the North Central region of Nigeria and the largest state in the country. Niger state has three political zones, zone A,B and C. The state's capital is at Minna. Other major cities are Bida, Kontagora and Suleja. It was fo ...

. The Kamuku may have been the dominant people of the kingdom of Kankuma (also Kwangoma or Kangoma), a people whom

Al-Makrizi Al-Maqrīzī or Maḳrīzī (Arabic: ), whose full name was Taqī al-Dīn Abū al-'Abbās Aḥmad ibn 'Alī ibn 'Abd al-Qādir ibn Muḥammad al-Maqrīzī (Arabic: ) (1364–1442) was a medieval Egyptian Arab historian during the Mamluk era, kn ...

(d.1442) called Karuku in his book ''The Races of the Sudan''. One historian speculates that Kankuma may have been the precursor to the

Hausa Hausa may refer to: * Hausa people, an ethnic group of West Africa * Hausa language, spoken in West Africa * Hausa Kingdoms, a historical collection of Hausa city-states * Hausa (horse) or Dongola horse, an African breed of riding horse See also * ...

state of

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 ...

. The ''Gazetteers of the Northern Provinces of Nigeria: The Central Kingdoms'', published in the early 1920s, described the Kamuku people as industrious agriculturalists who keep livestock, are of a somewhat timid and retiring nature and are thoroughly amenable to authority. They did not seem to recognize a central authority above the level of a village head. The Kamuku share some customs with the neighboring

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 ...

people, such as shaking peas in a tortoise shell and drawing marks according to the result so as to divine the future.

References

Ethnic groups in Nigeria {{nigeria-ethno-group-stub pt:Gwari