THE UNTOLD HISTORY OF HAUSA LAND

The exact origins of how the Hausa cities are started are not known, but theories include a migration of peoples from the southern Sahara who, abandoning their own lands following the increased desiccation of that area, established new settlements in what would become known as Hausaland. An alternative theory suggests that the Hausa people originally lived on the western shore of Lake Chad and when the lake shrank (as a consequence of the same climatic changes that affected the Sahara) they occupied this new and fertile land and then eventually spread to the immediate north and west. There is  archaeological evidence to support  these two theories as there's a canoe found in Dufana town in Yobe which was believed to be the canoe used by Hausa people to arrive lake Chad 8000 years back. But there is a third hypothesis, which argue with the above two this theory said that the Hausa had not migrated from anywhere but were indigenous to the region. Support for this theory lied to the fact that there is no tradition of migration in Hausa oral history instead many people migrated from Hausa land to other parts of Africa including the Ancient Egyptians they originated from Hausa land there's many evidence gathered by some Nigerien Egyptologist who found many evidence from the Egyptians museum that proves the relationship between Hausa and Ancient Egyptians.

IN MEDIEVAL TIMES:

The early history of Hausa land dated back to many centuries as they're parts of the descendants of NOK culture. Hausa KINGDOMS was all started from The Ancient city of Daura where the females rulers rules from 7th century to 9th century as kufuru became the first Kabara or magajiya of Daura after the death of her father Abiddar as she's the only heir of his House she was crowned the first Queen of Daura.

Kabara and or Magajiya is the title used by the matriarchal monarchs that ruled the Hausa people in medieval times.The Kano Chronicle gives the following list of matriarchal monarchs that was said to have culminated and ended with the rule of Daurama II, the last Kabara of Daura. The matriarchal monarch system show that Hausa people civilization is one of the greatest in the world and women has a great value and position in Hausa traditions.

List of Kabaras or Magajiya (Queen):

(1). Kufuru (also known as Kufano) (c. 700)

(2). Ginu (also known as Gufano)

(3). Yakumo (also known as Yakwano)

(4). Yakunya (also known as Yakaniya)

(5). Wanzamu (also known as Waizam)

(6). Yanbamu

(7). Gizir-gizir (also known as Gizirgirit or Gadar Gadar)

(8). Inna-Gari (also known as Anagiri)

(9). Daurama I(also known as Daura)

(10). Ga-Wata (also known as Gamata)

(11). Shata

(12). Fatatuma (also known as Batatume)

(13). Sai-Da-Mata (also known as Sandamata)

(14). Ja-Mata

(14). Ha-Mata

(15). Zama

(16). Sha-Wata 

(17). Daurama II(c 9th) The last Kabara of Daura.

(18). Daurama c. 9th century) was a ruler of the Hausa people who, as the Last Kabara of Daura, presided over the upheaval that saw a transference of power from the matriarchal royal system of the Hausa people. Oral traditions remember her as the founding "queen grandmother" of the Hausa empire started in the area we know today as the monarchies of northern Niger and Nigeria.

Unlike many medieval and early modern era kingdoms in Africa and elsewhere, the Hausa Kingdoms existed not as a centralized empire, but as a loose confederation of city-states. Although often working together, they also competed with one another through trade. This vibrant trade helped them remain independent of the other large empires nearby for a thousand years before finally being conquered.

Gold and steel Mining:

Hausa people are specialist in Gold mining and it works that they can mine anything from ground and make it something useful.

Hausa Kingdoms' Location:

The Hausa Kingdoms' location was in the Sahel region of northern Africa. The Hausa Kingdoms, sometimes simply called the "Hausa Kingdom" or "Hausaland," were located between the Niger River and Lake Chad, in present day northern Nigeria and Niger. They were made up of 7 principal city-states.

CLIMATE:

The Sahel is the region that runs across north-central Africa where the geography, climate, and ecosystem transitions from the harsh Sahara Desert to the savanna. It has a semi-arid climate, and during the Hausa Kingdoms' time period was fertile land for agriculture.

The Hausa States were located at an important crossroads for trade between several other kingdoms and empires. To the west were the gold mines of the Kingdom of Ghana and later the great Mali Empire and Songhay Kingdom. This location allowed the Hausa Kingdoms to become an important nexus between the trade that flowed between West Africa north and east to Egypt and the Middle East or across the Sahara to North Africa.

FUN FACTS ABOUT HAUSA LAND:

Despite their location close to other great empires, the Hausa Kingdoms were not conquered by any of them. They also never consolidated under one leader or state, although each Hausa Kingdom did try to conquer the others at various warring attempts.

Regardless of the Hausa Kingdoms' exact origin, it's clear that by the 11th Century, the 7 Hausa Kingdoms had emerged as important trade centers.

The 7 Cities of the Hausa Kingdoms and What They Specialized In

(1). Daura kingdom Trade with the sub-Saharan caravans

(2). Biram kingdom Soldiers and protecting the borders of the kingdom

(3). Gobir Soldiers and protecting their borders of the kingdom

(4). Katsina Trade with the sub-Saharan caravans

(5). Kano Cotton and textiles

(6). Rano Cotton and textiles

(7). Zaria The grain and slave trade

Key Cities & Government:

Wherever they had sprung from, by the early 15th century CE many small Hausa chiefdoms had come together to create several walled cities which controlled their respective surrounding countryside.  The most important were

(1). Biram (HADEJA)

(2). Daura (the ritual mother city of the group)

(3). Damagaram 

(4). Gobir

(5). Kano

(6). Kebbi

(7). Katsina

(8). Rano

(9). Yawuri

(10). Zamfara

(11). Zaria (aka Zazzau)

Each city had its own king or ruler, the sarkin kasa, who was advised by a chief councillor or vizier, the galadima, and a small council of elders - typically consisting of nine members who also determined the next ruler in line. Various officials were appointed by the king to, for example, collect taxes and customs duties, lead the city's cavalry units or infantry, maintain security on roadways, and look after certain crops. The city ruled over various smaller chiefdoms or villages in its immediate vicinity, each ruled by a chief or sarkin gari. The third tier of this political pyramid was the family clan or gida, many of which made up an individual village.

Rural Hausa populations were farmers who worked the land which belonged to the community as a whole. Over time, as the city-states became more centralised, this system was corrupted by the kings giving out parcels of land as rewards to certain individuals. Hausa agriculture also became heavily reliant on slaves, too. Meanwhile, the society within the main city of each kingdom was cosmopolitan, although dominated by the Hausa. There were slaves, craftworkers, merchants, religious officials, scholars, eunuchs and aristocrats (masu sarauta) related to or favoured by the king.

TRADE (FATAUCI):

The Hausa states traded gold, ivory, salt, iron, tin, weapons, horses, dyed cotton cloth, kola nuts, glassware, metalware, ostrich feathers, and hides. There was trade with the coastal region of West Africa, Oyo in the Bight of Benin, and the Songhai Empire (c. 1460 -1591 CE) to the east. Slaves were an important source of revenue for all the cities but Zaria, in particular, specialised in acquiring slaves via raids to the south.

Cities specialised in the manufacture or trade of certain goods, for example, dyes - especially indigo - at Katsina and Daura or silver jewellery at Kebbi and Zamfara. Hausaland became famous (and still is today) for its finely worked leather goods such as water bags, saddles, harnesses, and sacks to transport goods for the region's trade caravans. Various crafts were organised into guilds which ensured standards were maintained and prices were kept fair. Hausa agriculture, boosted by such techniques as crop rotation and the use of fertilizers, produced crops which included millet, sorghum, rice, maize, peanuts, beans, henna, tobacco, and onions. In addition, fishing and hunting were carried out and goats raised (important for ritual sacrifices) and donkeys bred (the principal form of transport). Each city had its own markets where both men and women sold their wares, and many cities also had international trade markets where merchants sold in bulk. Goods were exchanged in kind although salt, cloth, and slaves were often used as a standardised form of commodity-currency.

Architecture:

Traditional Hausa houses are made from dried mud bricks which are pear-shaped and laid in rows using mortar and with the pointed end facing upwards. The walls are then faced with plaster and given either painted or incised decoration. Houses were further decorated with sculpted additions, again using mud, creating three-dimensional geometric designs such as interlaced patterns and spirals. A secure roofing is achieved by creating a mud vault which is strengthened by a frame of split palms and palm fronds, an architectural feature particular to Hausaland. Each house is enclosed in its own high wall which may have additional buildings set into it. The chief cities were protected by massive fortification walls - an indication of the frequent siege warfare that went on in Hausaland throughout its history.

CONVERSION TO ISLAM:

the  Hausaland people start converting To Islam  since from 11th century through trans Saharan trade Arabs and wangara people from Mali brought Islam and Hausa people accept it as their religion without any fighting. But Islam was not announced as the religion of Hausa land officially until in the 13th century CE. Finally, though, a form of Islam was adopted and adapted following contact with Muslim merchants, missionaries, and scholars, who came from the east, the Niger River bend area. Islam was typically blended the traditional animist rituals of Hausa people and so took on its own distinct character in the region. Not having any commercial incentive to gain favour with foreign merchants like the Hausa rulers and elite, rural populations proved as difficult as in other parts of Africa to fully convert to the new religion, despite (or perhaps because of) sometimes brutal methods such as the destruction of shrines and the burning of ancient sacred groves. Despite this resistance from some chiefs and much of the rural populace, Islam did eventually take a strong hold in the region. Mosques were built in the cities and one of the oldest surviving remnants of these early structures is the dried mud Gobarau minaret of the mosque at Katsina, which dates to the early 15th century CE during the reign of muhammadu Korau.', and KANO central mosque located at Gidan Rumfa (KANO'S ROYAL PALACE) The mosque was built by the greatest King of all time in the history of Kano Muhammadu Rumfa.

UNIFICATION ATTEMPT:

Kano's Attempts to Unify Hausaland

By the 15th Century, Kano had become the dominant Hausa State. It was a great center of trade, culture, and learning. Many Muslim scholars immigrated here, and great mosques were built.

As early as the 11th Century, there were efforts to unify the Hausa Kingdoms into one centralized state under Kano's leadership. There were occasionally short-lived periods of unified rule, but generally, each state fought to maintain its independence rather than be ruled by Kano or any other,This decision will be a grave mistake for all of them in future because they lost most of those kingdoms to Fulani in 18th century.

Some Prominent people from Hausa Tribe:

(1). Bar Bushe the priest of kano

(2). Queen Daurama II

(3). Queen Amina of Zazzau

(4). Bagauda first Kano king

(5). Kumayau first King of katsina

(6). Muhammadu kanta first King of Kabi (Kebbi)

(7). Muhammadu Rumfa the great King of Kano

(8). Ali yaji ɗan Tsamiya first Sultan in Hausa land

(9). Muhammadu korau first Sultan of Katsina

(10). Malam Umaru Bawa jangwarzo Sultan of Gobir

(11). Queen Ƴar mangu the Queen of Azna who fought with French colonists

(12). Sheikh Ja'afar Mahmud Adam

(13). Sheikh Umar Sani fagge

(14). Sheikh Isyaka Rabi'u 

(15). General Ibrahim badamasi Babangida

(16). General Abdussalam Abubakar

(17). Aliko Ɗangote

(18). Abdussamad Rabi'u Bua

(19). Dahiru barau mangal

(20). Attahiru bafarawa

(21). Muhammad Indimi

(22). Mubarak wakaso

(23). Rabi'u Ali pele

(24). Sule muntari

(25). Muhammad Ƙudus 

(26). Hamzah Hawsawi, Saudi Arabian singer and winner of season 4 of The X Factor Arabia

(27). Osama Hawsawi (born 1984), Saudi Arabian football player

(28). Omar Hawsawi (born 1985), Saudi Arabian football player

(29). Etab (1947–2007), Saudi Arabian singer

(30). Motaz Hawsawi (born 1992), Saudi Arabian football player.

Source: Taskar Afrika