Hausa Kingdoms (Masarautun Hausa), also known as Hausaland (Kasar Hausa),
Hausa oral traditions detail the Bayajidda legend, which describes the adventures of the Baghdadi hero, Bayajidda, culminating in the killing of the snake in a well at Kusugu and his marriage to the local queen Daurama. According to the legend, Bayajidda's descendants founded the Hausa Bakwai (seven "true" states), as well as the Hausa Banza ("bastard" or "illegitimate" states).
Mythology
According to the
Bayajidda legend, the Hausa states were founded by the sons and grandsons of Bayajidda,
a prince of
Baghdad who married
Daurama, the last Kabara of
Daura, and heralded the end of the matriarchal monarchs that had erstwhile ruled the Hausa people. According to the legend, Bayajidda travelled through
Bornu Empire, arriving at Daura, where he went to the house of an old woman called Waira 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 Daurama the people started to call him
Bayajidda which means "he didn't understand (the language) before".
Hausa Bakwai
The
Hausa Bakwai were the seven "true" states (
birane) that all Hausa people are said to derive from. According to tradition, Bayajidda and Daurama's son, Bawo, had six further sons with three wives (two per wife) who each founded a kingdom. Biram, the seventh kingdom, was founded by another son of Bayajidda, who he had had with a
Kanuri people princess (called Magira)
while he was at Bornu. Daura is the "mother city" of the Hausa states.
Hausa Banza/Banza Bakwai
The
Hausa Banza or
Banza Bakwai were referred to as the "bastard" or "illegitimate" states. According to tradition, Bayajidda had a third son with his
concubine called Mukarbigari. Mukarbigari's descendants are then said to have founded seven other states which bordered the Hausa Bakwai to the west and south. Hausa tradition often refers to these as inferior to the Hausa Bakwai.
Apart from Zamfara and Kebbi, the members of the Hausa Banza were neighbours of Hausaland, although notably it omits
Kanem-Bornu and
Songhai Empire.
is sometimes included in the Hausa Banza.
They are:
History
Origins and rise
Hausa
oral traditions hold that settlements were first established where
iskoki (
nature spirits) were found.
had great agricultural potential, and early positions of authority related to control of the land, fostered by kinship relations. Hausa chiefs were either
Family head (
gidaje) or religious officials tasked with
rituals intended to ensure agricultural prosperity (
sarkin noma; "kings of farming").
The date of the foundation of the Hausa kingdoms is unknown, however
urbanisation in northern Nigeria led to the formation of states, with fortified capital cities becoming centres of power and rule. The kingdoms controlled trade in the region,
and were possibly first mentioned by Ya'qubi in the 9th century.
Hausa traders founded quarters (
sabon gari) in various places, building an elaborate and efficient trading network.
Civilians would sometimes follow their armies as traders or to provide services, and settle abroad, contributing to the diaspora.
Hausa tradition describes the division of roles between the states, where Kano and Rano were centres of the textile industry (and thus called sarakuman babba; "kings of indigo"), Katsina and Daura were trade centres (called sarakuman kasuwa; "kings of the market"), Zazzau supplied slave labour to the other states (called sarkin bayi; "king of the slaves"), and Gobir, as the northernmost city, was tasked with the defence of Hausaland from foreign invaders (called sarkin yaki; "king of war").
During the reign of Kano's Yaji I (1349-85) he conquered and occupied Rano for two years, after which Rano continued to exist but never regained its sovereignty.
16th century onwards
By the 15th century, the Hausa kingdoms were trading centers which competed with
Kanem Empire and the
Mali Empire.
[Hogben/Kirk-Greene, Emirates, 82-88; Lange, Kingdoms, 216–221, 554 n. 25.] The primary exports were
slaves,
leather,
gold,
Textile,
salt,
kola nuts, animal hides, and
henna. At various moments in their history, the Hausa managed to establish central control over their states, but such unity has always proven short. During the reign of King
Yaji I (1349–85) Islam was first introduced to Kano via
Dawah from
Soninke Wangara, and Islamisation often
syncretised with
Hausa animism.
Many Muslim traders and clerics used to come from Mali, from the Volta region, and later from
Songhai Empire. King Yaji appointed a
Qadi and Imam as part of the state administration.
Muhammad Rumfa (1463–99) built mosques and madrassahs. He also commissioned Muhammad al-Maghili to write a treatise on Muslim governance. Many other scholars were brought in from
Egypt,
Tunisia, and
Morocco. This turned Kano and Katsina into centers of
Islamic sciences.
facilitated the expansion of trade and was the basis of an enlarged marketing network. The
Ulama provided legal support, guarantees, safe conducts, introductions and many other services. By the end of the 15th century,
Muhammad Korau, a cleric, took control of Katsina 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, built mosques, kept up the five obligatory prayers, and gave alms (
zakat) 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 State 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.
became very common during this period and the
engaged in heavy taxation to fund their wars. Though the vast majority of its inhabitants were
Muslim, by the 19th century, they were conquered by a mix of
Fula people warriors and Hausa peasantry, citing
syncretism and social injustices. By 1808 the Hausa states were finally conquered by Usuman dan Fodio and incorporated into the Hausa-Fulani
Sokoto Caliphate.
[Smith, Daura, 419-421.]
Government
Fulani pastoralists and foreign
Islamic cleric were permitted to control their own administration under the supervision of the
sarki (king).
Culture and society
Ideals on social order were based on
kinship, and foreign civilians were incorporated into the system by intermarriage, social reclassification, or were granted special privileges. Commerce between the states facilitated a common
Hausa language, without mutually unintelligible dialects. Despite the conversion of rulers to Islam, many commoners continued to practice
Hausa animism, or
Syncretism it with Islam, which was considered acceptable up until the
Fula jihads in the 19th century. Commoners (
talakawa) comprised units of farms operated by two or more families (
gandu) which were headed by a legal representative (
maigida). The
maigida administered the unit and was tasked with reconciling disputes and ritualistic roles in ceremonies. New
gandu were set up by a father adding to their son's land, to eventually be recognised as a distinct unit for tax purposes. This ideal patrilineal system was often disrupted by divorce (due to polygynous marriage being common), strong matrilineal bonds, and occupational specialisation. Men had titles corresponding to their occupations outside of farming season. Unmarried adults were considered social outcasts.
See also
Notes
Further reading
External links
