Yauri (or Yawuri) is an

emirate An emirate is a territory ruled by an emir, a title used by monarchs or high officeholders in the Muslim world. From a historical point of view, an emirate is a political-religious unit smaller than a caliphate. It can be considered equivalen ...

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 ...

Kebbi State 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 ...

, occupying the Yauri Local Government Area. Today, Yauri is one of the smallest historical emirates in Northern Nigeria. In 1972, the population was about 112,000 people inhabiting a land area of about and scattered over six major districts.

History

The area was first settled by an eastern group around early 1000-1200 AD, predominantly by a Benue–Congo linguistic group, the Kamberis. Then for a brief period of time, Yauri was invaded by

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 it incorporated a few Songhai invaders into its social structure. The increasing agricultural surplus exhibited by the early settlers and the availability of fertile land near a river brought in a diverse and malleable group of migrants seeking fertile land to farm, and the groups were initially dominated by the Gungawas. This became the second wave of migration into Yauri. Around the seventeenth century, this group waged a war over the Kamberis and became the dominant political group in the area under the first

Emir Emir (; ar, أمير ' ), sometimes transliterated amir, amier, or ameer, is a word of Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person possessing actual or cerem ...

of Yauri, Sarkin Yauri Garba. However, by the eighteenth century, slave raiding had clipped the political and economic structures of the area. The need for a much more powerful political entity became necessary in order to strengthen the emirate against slave raiders from without. A movement by the ruling and malleable Gungawas to assimilate with the dominant Hausas in the region led to a gradual inter-ethnic political relationship with Hausas. However, in early nineteenth century, the success of the Funlani jihad made Yauri a tributary state of

Gwandu Gwandu, also called Gando, is a town and emirate in Kebbi State, Nigeria. The seat of government for the emirate and district of this name is in Birnin Kebbi, which is the capital of Kebbi State and was capital of the historical Kingdom of Kebbi. ...

Independent rulers

Following were the independent rulers (Sarkin Yawuri) in the 19th century.

Colonial and post colonial rulers

P.G. Harris was a colonial administrator in

and

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

. He was born in Liverpool and studied at St Bees School,

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is a historic county in the far North West England. It covers part of the Lake District as well as the north Pennines and Solway Firth coast. Cumberland had an administrative function from the 12th century until 1974. From 19 ...

. In 1916, he was made lieutenant of the Infantry, Nigeria regiments. In 1919, he joined the Nigerian administrative service. In 1935, he was made the senior resident Sokoto, a position which included Yauri. Sarkin Abdullahi was a native ruler of Yauri after the disastrous rule of Aliyu, a fulani ruler. He was quite educated and was a teacher before his coronation as Sarkin. He was known for his meticulous dedication to education, health and generally most services under his emirate. He was born in 1910, and was educated at the Provincial School Kano.Frank A. Salamone, Indirect Rule and the Reinterpretation of Tradition: Abdullahi of Yauri. African Studies Review > Vol. 23, No. 1 (Apr., 1980) Following were the independent rulers (Sarkin Yawuri) in the colonial and post-colonial period.

References

{{Nigerian traditional states Kebbi State Nigerian traditional states Emirates