Kano documentary

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The history of the Hausa city-states (1100-1804 AD): Politics, Trade and Architecture of an African mercantile culture during west-Africa's age of empire.
an African urban civilization

isaac Samuel
Oct 31, 2021
3
Hausa language, civilization and culture are all intertwined in the term Hausa, first as a language of 40 million people in northern Nigeria and west Africa and thus one of the most spoken languages in Africa, second as a city-state civilization; one with a rich history extending back centuries and found within the dozens of city states in northern Nigeria (called the Hausalands) that flourished from the 12th to the 19th century characterized by extensive trade, a vibrant scholarly culture and a unique architectural tradition. Lastly as a culture of the Muslim and non-Muslim populations of northern Nigeria and surrounding regions, these populations included traders, scholars, religious students and the Hausa diaspora in north Africa, west Africa (from the upper Volta region of Ghana to Cameroon) and the Atlantic world. 1

The formative period of state formation in the Hausalands begun in the 12th century with the appearance of the city walls of Kano and the 13th century burials at Durbi Takusheyi. The process of state building and political consolidation of various chiefdoms into large kingdoms in the Hausalands culminated with the emergence of seven “prominent” city states; Kano, Daura, Gobir, Zazzau, Katsina, Rano and Hadeija, along with the "lesser" states; Kebbi, Zamfara, Nupe, Gwari, Yauri, Yoruba (Oyo) the latter of which comprise both Hausa and non-Hausa populations. This process became enshrined in the Hausa origin myth; the so-called Bayajida legend which is a sort of Hausa foundation charter repeated in oral and written history that links the dynasties of the seven Hausa city-states.

Gold earrings, pendant, and ring from Durbi Takusheyi, Katsina State, Nigeria (photo from NCMM Nigeria)

According to the Bayajida legend, a price from the east married a princess from Bornu and the queen of Daura both of whom gave birth to the seven rulers of the seven Hausa cities, he also had a concubine who gave birth to the rulers of the "lesser" states. Interpretation of this allegory is split with some historians seeing it as a reflection of the embryonic Hausa polities2 while others consider the Bornu (empire) elements of the story as an indication of Bornuese influence on early Hausa state formation3 or even outright concoction by Bornu by legitimizing the latter’s imperial claim over the Hausalands,4 while the narrative of seven founding rulers has parallels in several African Muslim societies like the Swahili and Kanem.

Owing to their position between the storied empires of the “western Sudan” and “central Sudan” ie: the Mali and Songhai empires to its west and Kanem-Bornu empire to the east, the Hausa developed into a pluralistic society, assimilating various non-Hausa speaking groups into the Hausa culture; these included the Kanuri/Kanembu from the 11th century (dominant speakers in the kanem-bornu empire), the Wangara in the 14th century (Soninke/Malinke speakers traders from the Mali empire), the Fulani in the 15th century, and later, the Tuaregs, Arabs, Yoruba and other populations5. It was within this cosmopolitan society of the Hausalands that the Hausa adopted, innovated and invented unique forms of social-political organization especially the Birni -a fortified city which became the nucleus of the Hausa city-states.6

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accounts of the reigns of the Fulani emirs who followed Alwali make little
reference to the rebellions and revolts they had to deal with.
In short, the Chronicle by itself is neither a fully reliable nor a compre-
honsive guide to the history of Kano under its Hausa or Fulani chiefs.
Fortunately it is now no longer the only source; and we shouldP
theret;re"
exploit it with all others available to us, such as the Asl al Wanqariyin, the
Al-ilan bi tarikh Kano, Kano ta Dabo Cigan:, Alkali Zangi's Taqyid al-Akbar,
and any others, local or 'foreign', which can check, enrich or shed light on
these dark centuries of Kano and Hausa history. It would of course be quite"
absurd to treat any single document as the sole and authentic account of
French or British history before or after the Roman witlldrawal. Yet if so,
why then, and for how much longer, will we discuss the Chronicle as though
it is the sole document or source of information on Kano's history before
the Fulani conquest?
The Chronicle does to an extraordinary degree document the historical
derivation of various hereditary offices (sarautu) which together provided
the administrative framework of the chiefdom, distinguishing those of royal
rank from others of clerical, noble, commoner, slave or eu**ch rank, and
distinguishing women's titles from others. It documents their emergence,
status and roles, noting the various lapsed offices that formed part of the
Hausa officialdom in Alwali's day and in previous reigns. The Chronicle
by no means. supplies a comprehensive account of the Hausa polity at Kano.
As noted, it says very little about Baba Zaki's fundamental reorganization of
the officialdom and its communication structure, though fortunately Mallam
Adamu records this, and in 1959 details could still be recovered from oral
accounts.
Alone, the Chronicle can neither fully and accurately report the political
history of Hausa Kano nor its political ethnography at Alwali's day. How-
ever, for any understanding of the development and vicissitudes of the
Hausa chiefdom or its organization on the eve of the Fulani jihand, it is not
merely indispensable but irreplaceable. Without it, allowing for all the other
available documents and sources of information, we should not have suffi-
cient data to check externally the validity of any reconstruction we might
make of the Hausa polity at Kano on the eve of its conquest and replace-
ment. Neither would we be able to trace the processes of its evolution as a
formation developed over several centuries to resolve struggles between an
aggressive patrimonial chiefship and the oligarchies of competing aristocrats
and slaves on which its rule was based, and with which the chiefship was
closely associated. In the absence of a successor-state to Kano, the Chronicle
still provides the finest and fullest independent check on the validity of
historical reconstruction derived from inquiries within the contemporary
state that scholars could ever hope for or expect. Moreover, as mentioned
above, the Chronicle nicely documents the rebellions, revolts, civil wars and

(48)
Following the Askia we know that Kana, having formerly been subject
to Borno,86 fell under the domination of Kebbi, which under Kanta first
threw off Songhai's yoke in 1516 A.D. and then rapidly established its
dominion over western Hausaland, namely Gobir, Katsina, Yauri, Zamfara,
Zazzau and Kano.8 7 Nowhere does the Chron£cle mention this, though the
extraordinary singing which Muhammadu Kisoke launched on the walls of
Kano folloVving the- wlthdrawal of the king of Borno celebrates Kano's
independence from them both.88 Neither .does it record any famine from
Barbushe's day to Alwali's (1781-1807), who is the rirstruler reported to
have experienced famine. Nor does it mention the plague (waba) that swept
Kano for four years on the death of Kisoke (1565 A.D), and took his succes-
sors Yakubu and Dauda Abasama in less than a year. 8 9
However, parallel omissions also occur in the Chron£cle's account of 18th
century Kano. For example, was are told there that in Kumbari's time
(1731-1743 A.D.) the 'Mai Ali' of Borno came to Kano to war. "He en-
camped at Faggi (Fage) for three nights without a battle being fought, since
Shehu Ahiru ~d Shehu Bunduu prevented it. He returned to Borno.,,9 0 We
are not told that Kano then lost its independence and became for a second
time a vassal state of Barno, and remained thus until the Fula.Tli jihad. 9 1
Thus at least the Chron£cle's omissions are not restricted to any period. It
says far less about Baba Zaki (1768 1776) than Mallam Adamu does, and gives
an extraordinarily terse account of the Fulani jihad at Kana. "In Alwali's
time the Fulani conquered the seven Hausa states on the plea of reviving the
Islamic religion. The Fulani attacked Alwali and drove him from Kano,
whence he fled to Zaria.,,9 2 No briefer history of the jihad exists.
As for later errors and omissions, to substantiate my interpretation,
Muhammadu Bello's extension t,o the Chron£cle says that Al""",ali's sucessor,
the first Fulani Emir Suleiman, went to ask the Shehu Usman dan Fodio's
permission to o,ccupy the Hausa palace.9 3 Palmer's text corrects this in a
footnote - "He did not go to Sokoto but sent a message.,,94 As for
omissions, Bello's extension totally omits the major attack on Kano ill 1826
by the Shehu El Kanemi of Borno which threw the caliphate into great
fear. 95 It omits any mention of the treachery of the Sarkin Filani Dambarta
Dan Tunku and of Alwali's Ciroma Dan Nama, which ensured his defeat at
the final battle of Dan Yayya.96
At the other extreme, the Chronicle illustrates the Muslim identity and
bias of its authors. At its very beginning we are told that "Barbushe never
descended from Dalla except on the two days of Idi when he would nor-
mally sacrifice either black dogs, fowls or he-goats at popular request.,,9 7
In effect the Chronicle reinterprets the history of Kano in Muslim terms to
conform with Islamic models of heathenism and reform in religion and
government. Prematurely from Yaji's day and more securely from Muham

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