Kingdom of Kano

Home , Bagauda, Dauda (sultan), Muhammad Rumfa

Kingdom of Kano

Country Nigeria

Kingdom Kano

The Kingdom of Kano was a Hausa kingdom in the north of what is now Nigeria that dates back before 1000 AD, and lasted until the Fulani jihad in 1805. The kingdom was then replaced by the

Kano Emirate, subject to the Sokoto Caliphate. The capital is now the modern city of Kano in

Kano State.[1]

Contents

[hide]

1 Location

2 Early history

3 Rumfa dynasty

4 See also

5 References

Location

Kano lies to the north of the Jos Plateau, located in the Sudanian Savanna region that stretches across the south of the Sahel. The city lies near where the Kano and Challawa rivers flowing from the southwest converge to form the Hadejia River, which eventually flows into Lake Chad to the east. The climate is hot all year round. Rainfall is variable, ranging from 350mm to

1,300mm annually with the mean around 950mm, almost all falling during June–September period. Traditionally agriculture was based on lifting water to irrigate small parcels of land along river channels in the dry season, known as the Shadouf system. At the time when the kingdom was flourishing, tree cover would have been more extensive and the soil less degraded than it is today.[2]

Early history

Our knowledge of the early history of Kano comes largely from the Kano Chronicle, a compilation of oral tradition and some older documents composed in the nineteenth century, as well as more recently conducted archaeology.

In the 7th century, Dala Hill, a hill in Kano, was the site of a community that engaged in iron- working. It is unknown whether these were Hausa people or speakers of Niger–Congo languages.[3] Some sources say they were Hausa speaking hunter/gatherers known as Abagayawa who migrated from Gaya.[1] The Arab geographer al-Yaqubi, writing in 872/873 CE (AH 259), describes a kingdom called "HBShH" with a city named "ThBYR" ruled by a king called "MRH"

(none of these words are vocalized, so their actual pronunciation can vary), located between the

Niger Bend and the Kingdom of Kanem.[4] If the kingdom's name is vocalized as "Habasha" it would correspond with other Arabic language texts that also appear to refer to the Hausa, and would be the earliest reference to the Hausa region.

Kano was originally known as Dala, after the hill, and was referred to as such as late as the end of the 15th century and the beginning of the 16th by Bornoan sources.[5] The Kano Chronicle identifies Barbushe, a priest of a Dalla Hill spirit, as the city's first settler.[6] (Elizabeth Isichei notes that the description of Barbushe is similar to those of Sao people.)[7] According to the Kano

Chronicle, Bagauda, a grandson of the mythical hero Bayajidda,became the first Hausa king of

Kano in 999, reigning until 1063.[8][9][10][11][12] His grandson Gijimasu (1095–1134), the third king, began building city walls at the foot of Dalla Hill, and Gijimasu's son, Tsaraki (1136–

1194), the fifth king, completed them during his reign.[11] The Bagauda family steadily extended the kingdom through conquest of nearby communities. They established numerous sub-rulers, with titles starting with "Dan", of which the most important was "Dan Iya".[1][13]

Yaji (1349–85) conquered Rano, introduced Islam, bringing in holy men from Wangara, presumably Mali. He extended Kano's reach and launched an unsuccessful expedition into the

Kwarafa region.[14] According to the Kano Chronicle, Queen Amina of Zaria and Kano fought during the reign of Dauda (1421–38), though other sources put her reign in the sixteenth century.[15] One of the features of his reign and particularly that of his successor Abdulahi Burja

(1438–52) was nearly constant war to the south, in which thousands of people were enslaved and brought to Kano, greatly expanding its population.[16]

Rumfa dynasty

Muhammad Rumfa ascended to the throne in 1463 and reigned until 1499. Some historians consider that he was a member of the Bagauda family, while others consider he was an invader, since he was called Balaraban Sarki, the Arab King.[1] During his reign, he reformed the city, expanded the Sahelian Gidan Rumfa (Emir's Palace), and played a role in the further

Islamization of the city as he urged prominent residents to convert.[17][18] The Kano Chronicle attributes a total of twelve "innovations" to Rumfa.[19] The most notable was the council of state made up of nine titled officials. Rumfa introduced ceremonies such as Hawan Sallah, a procession on the days of Muslim festivals, and regalia that are still part of the Kano heritage.

The noted Arabic scholar and jurist Shaykh al-Maghili of Rumfa's reign was perhaps the first of the Sharifai, scholars and descendants of the prophet who still hold positions of honor in modern- day Kano.[1]

According to the Kano Chronicle, the thirty-seventh Sarkin Kano (King of Kano) was

Mohammed Sharef (1703–1731). His successor, Kumbari dan Sharefa (1731–1743), engaged in major battles with the Sokoto Caliphate. Sokoto finally established control during the Fulani jihad, when followers of Shehu Usman dan Fodio, a religious reformer, rose across what is now northern Nigeria. Muhammad al-Walid, the last Sarki of the Kutumbi Dynasty, was deposed in

1805 and Kano became an emirate subject to Sokoto.[1]