The Kano Emirate was a Muslim state in northern Nigeria formed in 1805 during the Fulani jihad when the Muslim Hausa people-led Sultanate of Kano was deposed and replaced by a new emirate which became a vassal state of the Sokoto Caliphate. During and after the British colonial period, the powers of the emirate were steadily reduced. The emirate is preserved and integrated into modern Nigeria as the Kano Emirate Council.
From 1893 until 1895, two rival claimants for the throne fought a civil war. With the help of royal slaves, Yusufu was victorious over Tukur and claimed the title of emir.
After sporadic fighting outside the walls of the fort, the British managed to penetrate the defensive parameters of the capital. Kano was mostly left defenseless at the time. The emir, Aliyu Babba, was away with its large contingent of cavalry for the autumn campaign at Sokoto. Madakin Kano, a local noble, rallied whatever troops there were still in the city to defend it. Despite his efforts, the British successfully took over the city after heavy fight wherein the defenders sustained 70 casualties. News of the British capture of Kano in February 1903 sent the cavalry in a long march to retake the city.
After successfully defeating the British in three encounters, on 27 February 1903, Ahmadu Mai Shahada, Grand Vizier of Kano, and much of the Kano cavalry was ambushed at Katarkwashi. The death of the vizier and subsequent capture and exile to Lokoja of Emir Aliyu Babba spelled the formative end of the Kano Emirate. The British made Kano an important administrative centre and kept most of the emirate's institutions in the form of the Kano Emirate Council, subject to the British crown in a newly formed state called Northern Nigeria.
Emirs
Emirs of Kano under Sokoto vassalage
See also
Further reading
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