Amina Sarauniya Zazzau

 

Unfortunately, the 1954 pamphlet, Amina Sarauniyar Zazzau, turned out to be just a pamphlet containing a compilation of stories on Amina of Zazzau (Zaria). The Hausa text is very short and the anonymous author did not name most of his sources. Besides Muhammad Bello and what may be an oblique reference to the Kano Chronicle, the author appears to have largely borrowed from the Zaria king lists and a mix of oral traditions and legends about Amina. Without ever justifying it, the writer prefers to date Amina of Zaria's reign to 1576, a chronology that, to our understanding, is hard to reconcile with the rest of this part of West Africa in the final 3 decades of the 1500s. Nonetheless, there are some interesting materials in this heterogeneous mixture of unlikely legend and historical interests. 

For example, the text not only repeatedly refers to Bakwa as a woman, it also mentions a favorite wife of Amina's grandfather. This woman, Marka, was supposedly very involved in the upbringing of Amina. Like Abubakar's articles on Amina, which cite this source among others, there's also an emphasis on the experiences of young Amina observing the royal court of her grandfather, Nohir. Whether or not one accepts the dates assigned to these figures here is grave concern, but already tradition suggests something about Amina's upbringing. In addition, when describing Amina's refusals to marry after becoming the magajiya at age 16 during the reign of Bakwa, there's a reference to a Kano king, Kama-Masu, rejected as a suitor. This Kano figure cannot be easily identified with any of the known kings, but the name may allude to masu, or spears. After refusing his excessive marriage proposal, Kano is quite marginal to the narrative. Nonetheless, the episode may reflect a moment when Zaria's expansion raised concerns among other Hausa kingdoms. It could also be a traditional story retelling the past where Zaria and Kano allegedly went to war around the time of Amina (according to the Kano Chronicle). If so, perhaps the desire by Kano's king to marry Amina was actually an attempt to make peace?

But what is more interesting about this compilation is the story of Amina meeting Bornoan troops at Gadas. Ostensibly sent by the ruler of "Kukawa" (an anachronism) to ask her to marry the mai, she again refuses. But according to tradition, Amina heard about the Bornoan troops whilst inspecting the Benue. Upon her return from Gadaz, she even returned to Kwararafa, suggesting this area was part of her domains or was about to be attacked. If one accepts an earlier date placing Amina of Zaria in the 1400s, perhaps the Bornoan ruler's interest in a marriage alliance was actually about weakening Kwararafa through an alliance. Again, we are assuming here that the story of powerful rulers courting her was perhaps popular stories transforming some of the details. Either way, in the case of Borno, no military conflict ensured from the Gadas encounter. Instead, one can glimpse Kwararafa playing a role in her military endeavors before her death. Yet her death in Attagara, perhaps Idah on the Niger, would suggest she had moved west by the end of her reign either on some campaign or to inspect the region.

Ultimately, Amina Sarauniyar Zazzau will not convince us to change our thinking about Zaria chronology. However, it does bring up some interesting details about her background, mode of governing (not trusting envoys or courtiers, so constantly on the move to directly investigate affairs) and how tradition remembered her relations with Borno and Kano. That the Kano Chronicle did not report the outcome of their conflict with Zaria around the time the text places Amina, may be interpreted as proof of a Zaria success. With Borno, on the other hand, the ruler of Borno's desire to marry Amina may be legendary to inflate her power and status within the Central Sudan. On the other hand, its context around the time the Benue and Kwararafa were areas of concern to Amina of Zaria may have been the real reason for Borno's interest in Zaria. Indeed, if one accepts the tradition of Ali b. Dunama of Borno defeating the Kwararafa sometime in the second half of the 1400s, perhaps Zaria was seen as a potential ally in holding back Kwararafa. 

Kwararafa From The North: A Tentative Timeline

Kasashen Bauchi in Mahdi Adamu's The Hausa Factor in West African History

Whilst revisiting our notes on different aspects of the history of the Jukun, Hausa and Borno states, we realize why so little has been done on the history of this area since the 1970s and 1980s. Although we find many problems with what we have read of J.B. Webster's inaccessible work on Kwararafa, which relied heavily on oral traditions, we also can acknowledge the tremendous difficulties of working on the precolonial history of this region. With contradictory and problematic sources and a reliance on external sources often written from far away (Europeans in North Africa) or materials written down in the 1800s or 1900s from their northern neighbors, we have not been able to offer anything to supersede Webster's work. 

Nonetheless, we feel that his attempt to identify early Kwararafa with Santolo is very questionable. Even if one accepts Abakwariga traditions claiming Kwararafa was founded or associated with them, the Kano Chronicle did not identify Santolo as the origin of the Kwararafa attacked by Yaji in the 14th century. Indeed, if Yaji attacked and conquered Santolo, forcing its rulers to flee to Kwararafa's capital at Tagara, it is strange that the Kano Chronicle did not connect the two when Yaji began his military campaigns to the south of Santolo (which was the "gate to the South" and besieged Kwararafa. Ultimately, the matter is probably unsolvable given the multiethnic character of the Kwararafa state or confederacy. At different times, it may have consisted of Jukun, Kwona, Abakwariga, and others. But it seems quite clear to the author of the Kano Chronicle, who must have been drawing from oral traditions, that Santolo and Kwararafa were separate entities. 

The Jukun king in Meek's A Sudanese Kingdom: An Ethnographical Study of the Jukun-speaking Peoples of Nigeria

So, deciding to ignore the earlier references in the Kano Chronicle to Santolo, we focused our tentative chronology on dates that are partly reliable for the Hausa states and Borno. Those dates and the few European texts from the 1600s and early 1700s provide a very preliminary timeline for the Kwararafa state from c. 1300-1707. The inclusion of traditions about 13th century engagements with the Kona or Kwana in Borno are drawn from H.R. Palmer's work, and must be treated with caution. Yet possible affirmation of a Kwana or Kona presence in parts of Borno in the 1200s and 1300s can be found in Gujba traditions. One can also thank al-Maqrizi for recording the year (1252/53) of an alleged raid on Mabna by the king of Kanem. If Mabna was possibly referring to Mabina or Mabani, this area would have been close to Gujeba and lands possibly settled by Kona or Kwana in the 13th and 14th centuries.

After this shadowy early period, we draw mainly from the Kano Chronicle, dates from Lange's chronology using the Diwan and other sources on Kanem-Borno, and a range of dates or regnal lengths for Katsina, Zaria, and Kano. For the 15th century, one may be on firmer ground for the history of Katsina and Kwararafa conflict by using Yusufu Bala Usman's chronology. By doing so, placing Korau's reign in the middle of the 1400s, one brings the event closer in time to the tradition of Kwona or Kwararafa war with Borno in the time of Ali b. Dunama (c. 1465-1497). This would mean Kwararafa was engaged in war against at least one Hausa state and Borno in the 1400s. Evidence of its past domination of Zaria can be inferred for earlier in the 1400s if one accepts that Amina of Zaria reigned in the first half of the 15th century. Since her father was remembered for liberating Zaria from Kwararafa, one may be justified in suggesting an earlier period of Kwararafa suzerainty of Zaria in the early 1400s. However, the Kano Chronicle indicates a Kano victory against Zaria during the reign of Kanajeji (c. 1390-1410). Meanwhile, during his reign, he also received "tribute" from Kwararafa and a trade in horses for slaves ensued. If Zaria traditions are reliable for a period of Kwararafa rule that was ended by Amina's father, Bakwa, then one wonders if Kwararafa used horses imported from Kano to conquer parts of Zaria after c. 1410. Subsequently, Bakwa Turunku later defeated Kwararafa and his daughter allegedly conquered Kwararafa. Yet this may have been a brief period of Zaria domination of Kwararafa if Amina died at Tagara (was this in a war or raid?). 

For the remainder of the 1400s, nearly everyone apparently draws from Palmer. The enigmatic reference to a war between Borno and Kwararafa in which the latter was crushed has not surfaced in other sources. But it suggests that, at first, normal diplomatic relations existed between Kwararafa and Borno (the former had sent messengers with a gift for the mai. Upon their return, they reported on the city's walls and Kwararafa's ruler (the Kwana sultan) attacked. They were later defeated and in the process of victory, Ali b. Dunama allegedly took 17,000 captives. If one uses Lange's chronology, this would have taken place sometime between c. 1465-1497. It may have led to the shift in Kwararafa's capital further south to the Benue, too. 

For the 16th century, we have fewer dates. Idris b. Ali, the son of Ali b. Dunama, is said to have died at Walama in c. 1519. This region, the Bima hill, woul have been in an area associated with Kwararafa. There is also an enigmatic tradition from Pindiga recorded in colonial-era sources. According to their Pindiga informants, this state once attacked Kano for refusing to send tribute in the days of Rumpa (Rumfa?). We have never seen evidence of any war between Kano and Pindiga or Kwararafa in the days of Muhammad Rumfa, so Pindiga tradition may be a reference to the raid which took place in the time of Muhammad Zaki (c. 1582-1618). Lastly, over the course of the 16th century and into the early 17th, Kwararafa raiders on horseback may have been one of the reasons for Idoma migration (c. 1525-1625). 

Undoubtedly, the most detailed period for Kwararafa's relations with its northern neighbors can be found in the 17th and beginning of the 18th centuries. This period also, according to Adamu, witnessed migrations from the Hausa states to southern lands, perhaps triggered by climate change. With the Kano Chronicle, a poem by Dan Marina, and some of the reports or letters by Europeans based in Tripoli or Egypt, one can generate a fuller picture of Kwararafa aggression in the 1600s. Oral traditions from Katsina also remember this period, even mentioning an attack against Katsina during the reign of Muhammad Wari. The evidentiary basis for some of these raids or wars with Kwararafa are sometimes based on oral tradition or texts by Europeans who never saw Kwararafa and relied on rumor, hearsay, and conversations with sometimes biased persons (think of Fr. Carlo and the two Bornoan princes he interviewed in Cairo about Kwararafa in the early 1700s). 

Nevertheless, they do paint a larger picture of prolonged and active Kwararafa campaigns against Borno, Kano, and sometimes Katsina in the 17th century. The motives for such behavior may have been related to attempts to shift markets toward Kwararafa or its constituent partners, attempts to capitalize on the control of captives for local development and trade, or, if one trusts a European, based on religion. To what extent the last point is relevant cannot be ascertained, but Kwararafa appears to have been the strongest pagan state or polity faced by Borno in the 17th century. By engaging in attacks on Katsina, Kano as well as Borno, Kwararafa likely was motivated by each of the aforementioned factors. If the exploitation of salines on the Benue was already a factor, Kwararafa's rulers may have sought to shift markets in the Hausa states their salt exports. 

Furthermore, wars and raids on the Hausa states and Borno could bring in large numbers of captives, some of whom may have possessed skills in weaving or other technologies. Indeed, the Abakwariga or Hausa appear to have possessed an outsized influence in Kwararafa textile production whilst also working as blacksmiths, malams (to provide magical services), and possibly as experienced traders. In addition, captives could have been exported to other markets, with perhaps some exported further south toward the coast to participate in the trans-Atlantic trade. Lastly, religion may have been a factor with the Kwararafa ruler described as a "high priest" in one source from the early 1700s. If there was already a cult in place for Kenjo or Kinjo as a deified king and associated with war, perhaps Kwararafa's military exploits were sanctioned by their religious cults. Said cults may have been sufficient enough for a time to ensure the loyalty of Kwararafa's vassals, particularly if rich booty was acquired from Borno and Hausaland. 

Needless to say, what follows is by necessity tentative. Further research in the history of Kwararafa must incorporate work by archaeologists as well as specialists in Hausaland and Borno who can contextualize Kwararafa's history within the larger regional context. Naturally, specialists in central and southern Nigeria must be considered as well as researchers willing to consider different approaches to the Kano Chronicle and other chronicles from the north. 

-c. 1210-1248: Oral Traditions of soldiers sent to fight the Kwana pagans during the reign of Dunama Dibalemi but they wre too frightened after seeing the Kwana eat human flesh and dogs.[1]

-1252/3: Mabna, possibly Mabina or Mabani, was attacked by king of Kanem in 1252/3[2] and tradition has it that the Kona lived in the nearby Gujba area before the Ngalaga.[3]

-c. 1349-1385 Yaji of Kano (r. 1349-1385) besieged Kwararafa at Tagara for 7 months and received 100 slaves to end conflict (yet he died in Kwararafa).[4]

-c. 1390-1410: Kanajeji of Kano (r. 1390-1410) asked Kwararafa to pay tribute after they stopped sending it, and received 200 slaves. Then Kano began to trade horses to Kwararafa for slaves. Also, Kanajeji went to war on Zaria and returned to the Tchibiri cult to achieve victory.[5]

-Early 1400s: Zaria's Bakwa Turunku (father of Amina of Zaria) said to have freed Zaria from Kwararafa yoke (early 1400s likely.)[6]

-c. 1421-1438: Kwararafa said to have been conquered by Amina of Zaria, perhaps somewhere in c. 1421-1438.[7] Abba Jiddum Gana's dates Amina's conquest of Kwararafa to c. 1425.[8] Also worth nothing that Muhammad Bello recorded that she died at a place called Atagara.[9] 

-1450-1650: Earliest layer of occupation at Old Kororofa radiocarbon dated to 1450-1650.[10]

-mid 1400s: Korau of Katsina (dated to mid-1400s by Yusufu Bala Usman)[11] said to have gone to war with Kwararafa.[12]

-c. 1465-1497: Ali Gaji (Ali b. Dunama, r. 1465-1497) allegedly defeated Kwararafa (Kwana) and took 17,000 captives.[13]

-c. 1519: Death of Idris b. Ali of Borno at Walama.[14]

-c. 1535-1625: Idoma traditions of leaving their homeland due to raids by forces with cavalry.[15]

-1582-1618: Kwararafa attack on Kano during Reign of Muhammad Zaki (r. 1582-1618).[16]

-1600s-1700s: Talakawa migration from Hausa states to Kasashen Bauchi.[17]

-c. 1625-1637 (or c. 1631-1641): Kwararafa attack Katsina during the reign of Muhammadu Waari, but was defeated.[18]

-1652-1660: Kwararafa under Adashu attacked Kano during reign of Mohamma Kukuna.[19]

-After 1656: Girard wrote of Borno having intense wars with Agadez and "Ethiopia" (likely Kwararafa) after returning from the pilgrimage.[20] Evidence from Dan Marina's poem in honor of Ali b. Umar confirms war with Kwararafa during Ali b. Umar's reign.[21] Intriguingly, Dan Marina's poem seems to reflect a period of Kwararafa aggression against states besides Borno in the "Sudan." Jukun tradition also remembers a king named Adi Matswen going to war with Borno but the Gazeteer of Muri Province named the Kwararafa ruler who attacked Gazargamo as Katakpa.[22]

-1669: Girard, reported captives from the land of Prester John and their war with Borno.[23]

-1670-1703: Kwararafa attacked and occupied Kano city during reign of Dadi (r. 1670-1703).[24] Some sources assert this attack happened in 1671, but it is not clear where that date comes from. According to Alhaji Abubakar Dokaji, Kwarararafa forces killed Wali Mai Kargo.[25] Also worth mentioning that the "Song of Bagauda" attributes this invasion to the reign of Sharifa, Dadi's son.[26]

-1671-1684: Kwararafa attack on Katsina during the reign of Muhammad Jan Hazo, and stopped by the prayers of Dan Masani.[27]

-c. 1675-1700: Oral traditions suggest Malam Dikko and Malam Sambo were leaders of Abakwariga in Kwararafa during late 1600s.[28]

-1686: Claude Lemaire, French consul in Tripoli, reported many "Christian" subjects of Borno.[29]

-1698: Consul Delalande reported that there were black "Christians" from Kwararafa.[30]

-1703: Report of "village of Christians" not far from Borno capital.[31]

-1705: Fr. Damiano reported Kwararafa said to have fought Borno.[32]

-1706: Lemaire corrected himself: Gourourfa kingdom nominally Christian but said to wage war on Borno and often on religious grounds.[33]

-1707: Fr. Carlo's wrote from discussions with 2 Borno princes that the "Canorfa" people venerated the cross, put it on their houses and their king acted as a high priest.[34] Lemaire's 1707 letter reported Kwararafa had reduced Borno to demanding peace[35] but Kwararafa had an ambassador in Borno.[36]

-1727: Kwararafa appears on D'Anville's map of Africa. 

---

[1] H.R. Palmer, Sudanese Memoirs II, 69.

[2] Nehemia Leftzion and J.F.P. Hopkins, (eds.), The Corpus of Early Arabic Sources for West African History, 354. In this case, al-Maqrizi may have meant a region closer to Lake Chad.

[3] H.R. Palmer, Sudanese Memoirs II, 81. Also see J.M. Fremantle (ed.), Gazetteer of Muri Province, 169 for another reference to Gujba tradition associating the area with the Kwona Jukun (and Walama as one of their earliest centers).

[4] H.R. Palmer, “The Kano Chronicle,” 72. A praise song for Yaji described him as “Yaji, conqueror of the rocky heights, scatter of hosts, lord of the town.” A close examination of this part of the chronicle clearly distinguishes Kwararafa from Santolo, a pagan power closer to Kano and seen as the “key of the south.”

[5] Ibid., 73-74. According to the chronicle, Kanajeji sat down on Turunku, an early Zaria capital. He then defeated their king.

[6] See E.J. Arnett, “A Hausa Chronicle,” Journal of the Royal African Society 9, no. 34 (1910): 162. Needless to say, we disagree with the regnal dates used by Arnett which have Bakwa’s reign began in 1492 and ended in 1522.

[7] See H.R. Palmer, “The Kano Chronicle,” 75. Kano’s ruler in this period went to war against Zaria, but the outcome is not shared in the chronicle. For our own argument in favor of the first half of the 1400s for the activities of Amina of Zaria, see Behique Dunama, “Revisiting Amina of Zaria.”

[8] Abba Jiddum Gana, Our History and Origin, 21. This c. 1425 dating is plausible.

[9] Salahudeen Yusuf, A History of Islam, Scholarship and Revivalism in Western Sudan, Being an Annotated Translation with Introduction of Infaqul-Maisur fi Tarikh Bilad al-Tukur of Sultan Muhammad Bello bin Fodio, 80. Yusuf favored a location near Idah in modern Kogi State, Nigeria for Attagara, but the name brings to mind the Tagara hill besieged by Yaji in the second half of the 14^th century. Muhammad Bello in the text thought Attagara was an expansive land and relatively close to the anchorage of the Christian ships that traded with the West African coast. In his map given to Clapperton, Bello placed Attagara closer to the Yoruba regions (and the land where parrots can talk). 

[10] Sa’ad Abubakar, “The Kwararafa Factor in the History of Kano” in Kano and Some of Her Neighbours, 172.

[11] See Yusufu Bala Usman, The Transformation of Katsina, 1400-1883: The Emergence and Overthrow of the Sarauta System and the Establishment of the Emirate, 12. We have seen different dates for the chronology of the rulers of Katsina in Palmer, Dankoussou, Hamani and Usman.

[12] See Sa’ad Abubakar, “The Kwararafa Factor in the History of Kano,” 173. Abubakar used the c. 1250 date derived from Palmer, which we disagree with.

[13] H.R. Palmer, Bornu Sahara and Sudan, 223. The Kwona leader was captured by Ali b. Dunama. If one accepts Usman’s tentative dating of Korau to the mid-15^th century and the tradition of war with Kwararafa, one can perceive a larger scale of Kwararafa aggression in the second half of century as they attacked Borno.

[14] Dierk Lange, Le diwan des sultans du (Kanem)- Bornu: chronologie et histoire d'un royaume africain ( de la fin du Xe siècle jusqu'à 1808, 79. Lange named the place Walam. If it was the Walama in a a region once associated with the Kona, one wonders if this place of death was connected to trouble on that frontier.

[15] See E.O. Erim, The Idoma Nationality, 1600-1900: Problems of Studying the Origin and Development of Ethnicity, 23.

[16] H.R. Palmer, “The Kano Chronicle,” 82.

[17] Mahdi Adamu, The Hausa Factor in West African History, 27. Perhaps related to climate and ecological changes, as well as other factors, large numbers of people may have migrated to the lands south of the Hausa states during these two centuries.

[18] See Issaka Dankoussou, Katsina: traditions historiques des Katsinaawaa après la Jihad, 32. For Usman’s dating of this ruler, see Yusufu Bala Usman, The Transformation of Katsina, 1400-1883, 63.

[19] H.R. Palmer, “The Kano Chronicle,” 87.

[20] Girard, Histoire chronologique du royaume de Tripoly de Barbarie in Rémi Dewière, “L'esclave, le savant et le sultan: représentations du monde et diplomatie au sultanat du Borno (XVIe-XVIIe siècles),” 618. According to this text, “En 1656, Hali fit un troisième pèlerinage à La Mecque, d'où dont il retourna heureusement ; aux années suivantes, il eut d'intenses guerres avec l'empereur d'Éthiopie et avec les Roy d'Agadès don’t le succès différans.”

[21] For Dan Marina’s ode to Ali b. Umar, see H.R. Palmer, Bornu Sahara and Sudan, 247. The implication of the poem is that Kwararafa’s military ventures were not directed solely at Borno as the ruler of Kwararafa “worked iniquity” in the Sudan” (land of the Blacks).

[22] See page 35 of this gazeteer. The editor interpolates material ultimately derived from Heinrich Barth with reported traditions of a simultaneous attack on Birni Gazargamo by the Tuareg and Kwararafa. If this actually occurred, then the c. 1667 date from Girard may be a good year to place the attack. But it is ultimately unknown from where Barth derived this information and to what extent the Gazeteer of Muri Province merely fused Barth’s claim with local traditions to create a coherent narrative.

[23] Richard Gray, “Christian Traces and a Franciscan Mission in the Central Sudan, 1700-1711,” 390. This is an essential article for this topic since the author cited a number of French consular letters and missionary correspondence referring to Kwararafa.

[24] H.R. Palmer, “The Kano Chronicle,” 88.

[25] Alhaji Abubakar Dokaji, Kano ta dabo cigari.

[26] Mervyn Hiskett, “’The Song of Bagauda’: A Hausa King List and Homily in Verse—II,” 118. Oral tradition as the “The Song of Bagauda” is based on appears to have mistakenly placed a war with Kwararafa to the period of Sharifa, whose reign was dated 1703-1731 by Palmer. This date appears less likely as Kwararafa appears to have shifted its capital to Wukari by the early 1700s and was beginning more peaceful relations with Borno.

[27] Yusufu Bala Usman, The Transformation of Katsina, 27, 50. These regnal years are drawn from Usman’s work. An attack on Gozaki by Kwarafa placed in the second half of the 1600s is also mentioned. For the story of Dan Masani’s prayers miraculously leading to the death of the Kwararafa king during their invasion of Katsina, see A.H.M. Kirk-Greene and S.J. Hogben, The Emirates of Northern Nigeria: A Preliminary Survey of Their Historical Traditions, 165. They argue this took place around the time of the c. 1671 attack on Kano by Kwararafa, and they were able to breach the walls of Katsina.

[28] Mahdi Adamu, The Hausa Factor in West African History, 39-40. According to tradition, Dikko, who was from Katsina, had a “hot season hosue” in Wukari. If so, then Wukari was established as a Kwararafa center by the late 1600s. Indeed, Wukari may have been established as a zango for Puje. Malam Sambo, the other Ambawarki leader remembered in tradition from this period, was said to have come from Kano and been tied to the Kutumbawa.

[29] Richard Gray, “Christian Traces and a Franciscan Mission in the Central Sudan, 1700-1711,” 385. At this early date, Claude Lemaire mistakenly assumed that these so-called Christians lived in Borno itself, not Kwararafa.

[30] Ibid., 385.

[31] Ibid., 384.

[32] Ibid., 384.

[33] Ibid., 385. Supposedly, Kwararafa contained 100,000 Christians (nominally) and Gouroufa slaves made the sign of the cross in Tripoli.

[34] Ibid., 386. One can imagine this exciting European missionaries eager to reach Kwararafa.

[35] Jean-Claude Zeltner, Tripoli, carrefour de l’Europe et des pays du Tchad, 1500-1795, 223. Zeltner quoted the French consul in Tripoli describing Kwararafa’s ruler (Gourourfa) as the most powerful black king due to his victories against Borno (written in 1707). If true, then Kwararafa may have achieved some victories against Borno during the reign of Idris b. Ali (c. 1677-1696) and Dunama b. Ali (c. 1696-1715). Great caution is necessary given the delay in information reaching Europeans in North Africa about Kwararafa and their evident confusion about its location and religion.

[36] Richard Gray, “Christian Traces and a Franciscan Mission in the Central Sudan, 1700-1711,” 385.

Yusuf of Katsina?

Part of Landeroin's list of Katsina rulers from Documents scientifiques de la Mission Tilho

Whilst revisiting various sources on relations between Kano and Borno over the last several weeks, our interest in Katsina has been rekindled. However, the inaccessibility of many of the detailed studies of its history has largely limited our readings on its past to Landeroin, Palmer and Yusufu Bala Usman. Dankoussou's Katsina: traditions historiques des Katsinaawaa après la Jihad is also a great resource, drawing upon rich oral traditions. Sadly, his chronology is hard to reconcile with other sources and contains additional problems. This is unfortunate, since Katsina was one of the most important Hausa kingdoms in the centuries before the jihad. 

Part of the problem with even making sense of its history and its connection with Borno is the difficulty of establishing a timeline. Palmer used some Arabic manuscripts listing the kings of Katsina as well as the Kano Chronicle and other sources. Yusufu Bala Usman likewise utilized similar written lists. Others, such as Landeroin and Issaka Dankoussou draw more from oral traditions. Indeed, Dankoussou's list of Katsina kings is similar to that of Landeroin, collected at the beginning of the 1900s. Hunwick has also drawn from some manuscripts to revise our chronology of Katsina kings, but it is less useful for the 1500s. Unfortunately, no manuscripts have come to light from the Fazzan, which could shed light on Katsina's kings since more than once Awlad Muhammad sultan fled to Katsina during troubles with Tripoli. 

But the particular Katsina sarki we are interested in, Yusuf, was given a relatively lengthy reign by Dankoussou and Landeroin. Landeroin reported that Youssoufou reigned 14 years, while Dankoussou also dated his reign 1599-1613. Both concur that Yusuf succeeded Ibrahim Maje and preceded Abdul Kadir (or Abdoul Kerim, in Landeroin's list). Where they disagree most glaringly is in the very long reign Dankoussou assigned to Ibrahim Maje (1531-1599). Landeroin only reported a reign of 18 years. 

When one looks upon Palmer and Yusufu Bala Usman's work, a different picture emerges. Palmer's "History of Katsina" does not even include Yusuf among the list of kings, despite collating different kinglists. Instead, his list jumps from "Maje Ibrahim" (dated 1494-1520) to Abdul Karim and Ashafa. Intriguingly, his list concurs with Landeroin on the exceedingly short reign of Ashafa (8 days to 1 week). Later, Usman's study of Katsina history did include Yusuf, relying on an oral informant for what was supposedly a brief reign. If Usman's dating is correct, Yusuf reigned c. 1562 or 1563 before his deposition or abdication. One cannot help but wonder if Usman's informant was actually mistaking Yusuf for Ashafa. Moreover, Usman also changes the order of succession, having Yusuf succeed Abd al-Karim. 

Ultimately, one may why any of this matters? Well, according to Dankoussou, Borno attacked Katsina during the reign of Yusuf. If this tradition has any merit, one would like to have a better chronology for Yusuf and to determine if it was part of any larger campaigns launched from Borno into Hausaland. One would also be interested in knowing what role, if any, Borno played in the abdication or deposition of Yusuf (assuming that is not a mistaken tradition confusing him with Ashafa). In addition, we also find problematic the dates used by Usman for Muhammad Wari (c. 1575-1587). According to Dankoussou, Kwararafa attacked Katsina during the reign of Muhammad Wari, and his dates (1625-1637) "fit" more evenly with that period of Kwararafa aggression against northern states (mentioned in the Kano Chronicle for the reign of Muhammad Zaki, c. 1582-1618). Until we have a better chronology of Katsina's history that can be corroborated by different texts or oral traditions, much of its history before the jihad will remain elusive.

Pondering the Origins of Maidaki Hauwa (c. 1463-1565)

What were the origins of one of the most powerful women in the annals of Kano history? This question is directly pertinent to questions of marriage alliances, the growing power of queen mothers or royal women, and the relations between Kano and other powers. Indeed, in the case of Maidaki Hauwa, it would go on to shape the reign of no less than 6 kings of Kano. This brief post shall explore the competing theories and defend the Gaya hypothesis for Hauwa’s origins.

According to one Kano chronicler, el-Arabi, Hauwa was the daughter of the ruler of Gaya, Agalfati (or Aganfi).[1] Unable to locate the text of this chronicle, one suspects el-Arabi connected Hauwa to Gaya’s ruler because Agalfati’s name appears in the Kano Chronicle before the reign of Muhammad Rumfa. In addition, some oral traditions associate Muhammad Rumfa with Daura and Gaya. According to Dokaji Alhaji Abubakar, Rumfa allegedly spent time in Gaya before coming to Kano.[2] This may have influenced el-Arabi’s account, perhaps suggesting an important alliance between Gaya and Rumfa. M.G. Smith, on the other hand, proposed a Gaya origin for Muhammad Rumfa’s mother, Fatima.[3]

Whatever the case may have been, the Rumfawa were linked to the powerful rulers of Gaya. Indeed, the Kano Chronicle also connects Agalfati with Machina, an important town whose rulers claimed ties to the Sayfawa.[4] The legendary story of origins for Machina’s kings claims their ancestor was a half-brother to a Sayfawa mai, the son of the first to rule from Gazargamo.[5] Interestingly, the kings of Machina resided in a palace of brick, a symbol of royal authority or status in Kanem and Borno. This suggests that the legend may be accurate in at least identifying an important connection or status with regard to Borno’s ruling dynasty. If the Gaya ruler Agalfati really was a son of the king of Machina, they may also have once been in the orbit of Borno. Much more information is needed to clearly establish this. For example, oral traditions cited by Muhammad Jamilu Abba link Gaya’s foundation to migrants from Jibede in the Dutse Gadawur territory.[6] Either way, traditions associating with Rumfa with Gaya may have influenced el-Arabi’s belief in Hauwa’s Gaya origin. An alliance sealed through marriage with Gaya’s chiefs may have been essential in gaining access to the throne for Rumfa. After all, Gaya had already proven its power through its involvement in the deposition of Umaru (1410-1421).[7]

The other theory, of a Songhay origin, is highly unlikely. Proposed by Murray Last, the only source for this notion is Leo Africanus. Per Africanus, the Askia of Songhay (Askia Muhammad I) supposedly conquered Kano and other parts of Hausaland. After defeating Kano’s ruler, he then made the Kano king marry his daughter.[8] But there are many problems with this theory. First, if one accepts 1493 as the date of Askia Muhammad’s accession to the throne of Songhay and 1499 as the year of Rumfa’s death, it is hard to imagine Maidaki Hauwa and Rumfa would have had a son old enough to become king of Kano in 1499. There’s also the issue of the Kano and Songhay sources making no mention of this at all. The Tarikh al-Sudan does refer to Songhay invasions of Agadez, conflict with Kebbi, and a 1514 raid on Katsina. But these events took place long after the death of Muhammad Rumfa. Furthermore, when Songhay sources do allude to Kano, such as Ali Fulan’s flight there in 1529, there is no mention of Songhay conquest or forcing the payment of tribute.[9] Perhaps the flight of prominent individuals from Songhay to Kano is additional evidence of the lack of any subjugation of the latter by the former.

Moreover, the description of Kano by Leo Africanus is more consistent with the reign of Abdullahi, Rumfa’s son. Africanus accurately noted that Kano had achieved military success against Katsina and Zaria.[10] Thus, the usually accepted chronology as well as the written sources and relevant traditions from West Africa do not support this theory. Consequently, if Leo Africanus is reliable at all, the Askia would have forced Abdullahi to marry his daughter. The “obvious candidate” for the Askia’s daughter would then become Lamis, a remarkable woman who significantly shaped events in the reign of Muhammad Kisoki.

            In addition, some sources from Kano support a Hausa origin for Hauwa. Translated lists of kings from manuscripts even name her father. According to one, he may have been Babari.[11] These lists are hardly conclusive evidence, but they could be interpreted as additional evidence against the Songhay origins theory for Hauwa. Against this must be considered other manuscripts which name Abu Bakar’s mother as Kuyina or Ukin.[12] But the lists do not readily support a Songhay origin or any ties to Askia Muhammad. Even Lamis, whose name is rendered in one manuscript as Lamis Tamajikanna, is difficult to connect with the Songhay.

The queen’s ability to ensure her son succeeded and that her brother began to exert a strong influence on the royal court of her grandson, one which seems to overlap with Gaya and eastern Kano interests, lends some support to the theory of Gaya origins. A pattern in later Kano-Borno relations can be detected across the centuries in the Kano Chronicle. One notes a tendency of Gaya’s ruling family trying to dominate Birnin Kano’s court and the development of policies which favor Gaya or suggest anti-Borno stances. To the extent that one accepts Barkindo’s theory of Rumfa’s caliphal ambitions as a challenge to the primacy of Borno and Songhay, this could have facilitated an alliance between anti-Borno Gaya and Rumfa. Indeed, a later era of Gaya influence in Kano’s court apparently led to the creation of new towns with additional walls, prompting a Borno campaign in the 1730s.[13] This is quite similar, apparently, to what transpired in Muhammad Kisoki’s reign, according to glimpses from Ahmad b. Furtu’s chronicle and the Kano Chronicle.

Perhaps the Gaya origin theory of Hauwa is still missing crucial support in the sources, but it does have a logical basis. Furthermore, it elucidates, or proposes a theory, for why she may have become the first Mai Daki or Babar Daki, with great powers and her own retainers. Her high status in Rumfa’s reign, or at least those of their son and grandson, could have begun through a close alliance with Gaya. Alternatively, she could have come from Dutsi or another powerful chiefly lineage in Kano or another part of Hausaland. But the Gaya theory “fits” best with what historians have been able to reconstruct of the Kano state in this period. The Songhay princess theory has little to no support in the sources or in the usually accepted chronologies.

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[1] Bawuro M. Barkindo, “Kano Relations with Borno: Early Times to c. 1800,” in Bawuro M. Barkindo (ed.), Kano and Some of Her Neighbours,156.

[2] Dokaji Alhaji Abubakar, Kano ta Dabo cigari, 29.

[3] M.G. Smith, Government in Kano, 1350-1950, 104.

[4] H.R. Palmer, “The Kano Chronicle,” 76.

[5] See C.J. Lethem, “Bornu Province Bornu emirate Marchena District Assessment report by C.J.Lethem” for many details on Machena and the genealogy of its kings.

[6] Muhammad Jamilu Abba, “The Role of the Sarauta institution in Shaping the Spatial Growth and Community Integration in Kano City,” in Abdalla Uba Adamu (ed), Kano in the Second Millennium, 122.

[7] M.G. Smith, Government in Kano, 1350-1950, 104.

[8] Murray Last, “From Sultanate to Caliphate: Kano, 1450-1800,” in Bawuro M. Barkindo (ed.), Studies in the History of Kano, 69. 

[9] John Hunwick, Timbuktu and the Songhay Empire: Al-Saʻdi's Taʼrīkh Al-Sūdān Down to 1613, and Other Contemporary Documents, 113-114, 349.

[10] Ibid., 287.

[11] See Paul E. Lovejoy and John Hunwick, “Not Yet the Kano Chronicle,” Sudanic Africa 4 (1993), 121. In one list, the mother of Abu Bakar Akkadu is named Awwa ta Babari. According to the Kano Chronicle, this sarki was a full brother of Abdullahi. Thus, Hauwa’s father may have been named Babari.

[12] Ibid., 106, 111.

[13] See Behique Dunama, “A Tentative Study of the Reign of Muhammad b. al-Hajj Hamdun (1729-1744),” https://thedreamvariation.blogspot.com/2026/02/a-tentative-study-of-reign-of-muhammad.html.