Whilst revisiting various sources on Dagachi and the question of Sayfawa relations with Kano and Hausaland in the 1300s and 1400s, we were naturally drawn to a speculative essay by John Lavers. Entitled "A Note on the Terms "Hausa" and "Afuno"" and published in Kano Studies, Lavers endeavored to trace the period of Kanem-Borno involvement in Kano to the 1300s. Our evidence for this is, understandably, limited and problematic. But, Lavers raised a legitimate question of an earlier Sayfawa interest in Kano based on how Ibn Battuta and al-Maqrizi refer to Kanem-Borno as well as the sending of tsare from Kano during the 1400s. If the rulers of Kano were sending gifts to Borno's ruler in the 1400s, particularly in an era before Ali b. Dunama successfully stabilized the Sayfawa state in that region, this could possibly be based on earlier moments when the Sayfawa were active in Kano or the west. This could very well explain why Ibn Battuta, for instance, referred to Idris b. Ibrahim (c. 1342-1366) as ruler of Borno, even before the Sayfawa permanently relocated to Borno from Kanem. It would also explain why there was a Sayfawa ruler called Kaday Afnu in c. 1388. Perhaps he had been raised there or possibly had a mother from the western lands. Of course, it would further elucidate why Uthman b. Dawud (c. 1421-1422) later moved to Kano after his deposition.
If close relations between Kanem-Borno and the area of Kasar Kano were apparent by the 1300s, it also explains the tradition heard by Benton for the origin of the word afuno. Although oral tradition by the time of P.A. Benton associated the ruler who initiated the use of this word for the Hausa with Idris b. Ali, it is likely that another Sayfawa mai named Idris is intended. For example, from the chronicle of Ahmad b. Furtu translated by Lange, we know that Idris b. Ali, who ruled from c. 1564-1596, had a kaigama named Muhammad Kaday during the campaign against the Sau-Gafata. During the reign of an earlier Idris b. Ali, 1497-1519, Palmer included a mahram in Bornu Sahara and Sudan naming the kaigama as Muhmmad ibn Sugu while another witness was named Dallatu Abd ul Lahi. This Idris could be the one recalled in tradition for attacking Kano, an event recorded in the Kano Chronicle in the context of Muhammad Rumfa's successor's reign.
Yet Lavers could be correct about Idris b. Ibrahim (c. 1342-1366) as the Sayfawa ruler recalled in the tradition for another reason. When one consults the Diwan, one can see that Bir b. Idris, whose rule extended from c. 1389-1421, engaged in a civil war with kaigama named Muhammad b. D.l.t. Since Muhammad b. D.l.t. was certainly the son of a man named Dalatu, and the position of kaigama was held by princes or those of royal blood, it is actually conceivable for there to have been a kaigama named Dalatu during the reign of Idris b. Ibrahim (c. 1342-1366). Based on the Diwan, however, the position of kaigama was not clearly inherited in a hereditary fashion. Nonetheless, Barth's history of the reign of Ali b. Dunama (c. 1465-1497) indicates that the title of kaigama was held by powerful elites whose children were seen as princes or princesses. They may not have inherited the position of kaigama directly from their fathers, but may have been able to claim the title after other relatives from other branches occupied the post (perhaps collaterally?). This suggests that there likely was a kaigama named Dalatu sometime in the mid-14th century. This official may have been the one recalled in tradition as attacking Afnu, or the arse-clothed people, to the west of Borno.
Ultimately, Lavers was writing based more on speculation than anything, but his reasoning is not without merit. The notion of Sayfawa campaigning in the area of Kasar Kano in the mid-1300s is certainly plausible. It also has some support for the existence of a kaigama named Dalatu in the Diwan. Of course, the tradition reported by Benton could also be alluding to Idris b. Ali (1497-1519), although the reference to a kaigama named Dalatu seems to be a figure who lived in the 1300s.