Northern Nigeria
Encyclopedia
Northern Nigeria is a geographical region of Nigeria
. It is more arid and less densely populated than the south. The people are largely Muslim
, and many are Hausa
. Much of the north was once politically united in the Northern Region
, a federal division disbanded in 1967.
were often mixed with the practice of Islam
. In the early 1808, Usuman dan Fodio, the head of the Sokoto Caliphate warned the Hausa rulers that if they don't separate religion from paganism, a war will be waged against them. By failure to cleans Islam from the pagan practices, the Hausa state was finally conquered by Usuman dan Fodio and incorporated into the Sokoto Caliphate. The leadership of Sokoto has helped unite the people into a centralized state. The second and the most obvious leadership of Sokoto was to unite people so people become responsible to each other and to avoid ethnic violence.
and mixing in with the local Northern and Central Nigerian
population, established a number of strong states in what is now Northern and Central Nigeria and Eastern Niger. With theo, {sic} who had previously controlled Central and Northern Nigeria between 800 BCE and 200 CE, the Hausa were able to emerge as the new power in the region. Closely linked with the Kanuri people of Kanem-Bornu (Lake Chad
), the Hausa aristocracy adopted Islam in the 11th century CE. By the 12th century CE the Hausa were becoming one of Africa's major powers. The architecture of the Hausa is perhaps one of the least known but most beautiful of the medieval age. Many of their early mosques and palaces are bright and colourful and often include intricate engraving or elaborate symbols designed into the facade. By 1500 CE the Hausa utilized a modified Arabic script known as Ajami
to record their own language; the Hausa compiled several written histories, the most popular being the Kano Chronicle.
and Mali
. The primary exports were leather
, gold
, cloth
, salt
, kola nuts, animal hides, and henna
. Except for minor alliances, the Hausa city-states functioned independently. Rivalries generally inhibited the formation of one centralized authority.
There were fourteen Hausa Kingdoms: The "Hausa Seven" and the "Bastard Seven"
The Hausa Kingdoms began as seven states with a shared mythology with its founders being the sons of a Queen. They are known as the Hausa Bakwai meaning Hausa Seven. The states included:
The growth and conquest of the Hausa Bakwai resulted in the founding of additional states with rulers tracing their lineage to a concubine of the Hausa founding father, Bayajidda
. Thus they are called the 'Banza Bakwai meaning Bastard Seven. The Banza Bakwai adopted many of the customs and institutions of the Hausa Bakwai but were considered unsanctioned or copy-cat kingdoms by non-Hausa people. These states include:
. The Fulani Empire
was under the overall authority of the Commander of the Faithful, all of whom after Usman dan Fodio also used the title Sultan of Sokoto. Under him the Empire was bicephalous and divided into two territories each controlled by an appointed vizier
. Each of the territories was further divided into autonomous Emirate
s under mainly hereditary local Emir
s. The Bornu Empire
was initially absorbed into the Fulani Empire
of Usman dan Fodio, but broke away after a few years later.
, whose interior territories spread north from about where the Niger River
and Benin River joined at Lokoja
. The Royal Niger Company's territory did not represent a direct threat to the powerful Fulani empire.
Northern Nigeria was a British
colony formed in 1900. The basis of the colony was the 1885 Treaty of Berlin
which broadly granted Northern Nigeria to Britain, on the basis of their protectorates in Southern Nigeria.
Britain's chosen Governor, Frederick Lugard
, with limited resources, slowly negotiated with ,and sometimes coerced, the emirates of the north into accepting British rule, finding that the only way this could be achieved was with the consent of local rulers through a policy of indirect rule
which he developed from a necessary improvisation into a sophisticated political theory. Lugard left the protectorate after some years, serving in Hong Kong
, but was eventually returned to work in Nigeria where he decided on the merger of the Northern Nigeria Protectorate with Southern Nigeria in 1914.
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
. It is more arid and less densely populated than the south. The people are largely Muslim
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
, and many are Hausa
Hausa people
The Hausa are one of the largest ethnic groups in West Africa. They are a Sahelian people chiefly located in northern Nigeria and southeastern Niger, but having significant numbers living in regions of Cameroon, Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire, Chad and Sudan...
. Much of the north was once politically united in the Northern Region
Northern Region, Nigeria
The Northern Region was one of Nigeria's federal divisions. It was created before independence in 1960, with its capital at Kaduna. In 1962 it acquired the territory of the British Northern Cameroons, who had voted to become part of Nigeria....
, a federal division disbanded in 1967.
Hausa States
The Hausa States or Hausa Kingdoms were a collection of independent city-states situated in what became Northern Nigeria. Although, the people have been muslims for many centuries, traditional beliefs and paganismPaganism
Paganism is a blanket term, typically used to refer to non-Abrahamic, indigenous polytheistic religious traditions....
were often mixed with the practice of Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
. In the early 1808, Usuman dan Fodio, the head of the Sokoto Caliphate warned the Hausa rulers that if they don't separate religion from paganism, a war will be waged against them. By failure to cleans Islam from the pagan practices, the Hausa state was finally conquered by Usuman dan Fodio and incorporated into the Sokoto Caliphate. The leadership of Sokoto has helped unite the people into a centralized state. The second and the most obvious leadership of Sokoto was to unite people so people become responsible to each other and to avoid ethnic violence.
Arrival of the Hausa
Between 500 CE and 700 CE Hausa people, who had been slowly moving west from NubiaNubia
Nubia is a region along the Nile river, which is located in northern Sudan and southern Egypt.There were a number of small Nubian kingdoms throughout the Middle Ages, the last of which collapsed in 1504, when Nubia became divided between Egypt and the Sennar sultanate resulting in the Arabization...
and mixing in with the local Northern and Central Nigerian
Middle Belt
The Middle Belt is a human geographical term designating the region of central Nigeria populated largely by minority ethnic groups and stretching across the country longitudinally. The Middle Belt is indeterminate in that it lacks designated "borders" and is charactized by a heterogeneity and...
population, established a number of strong states in what is now Northern and Central Nigeria and Eastern Niger. With theo, {sic} who had previously controlled Central and Northern Nigeria between 800 BCE and 200 CE, the Hausa were able to emerge as the new power in the region. Closely linked with the Kanuri people of Kanem-Bornu (Lake Chad
Lake Chad
Lake Chad is a historically large, shallow, endorheic lake in Africa, whose size has varied over the centuries. According to the Global Resource Information Database of the United Nations Environment Programme, it shrank as much as 95% from about 1963 to 1998; yet it also states that "the 2007 ...
), the Hausa aristocracy adopted Islam in the 11th century CE. By the 12th century CE the Hausa were becoming one of Africa's major powers. The architecture of the Hausa is perhaps one of the least known but most beautiful of the medieval age. Many of their early mosques and palaces are bright and colourful and often include intricate engraving or elaborate symbols designed into the facade. By 1500 CE the Hausa utilized a modified Arabic script known as Ajami
Ajami script
The term Ajami , or Ajamiyya , which comes from the Arabic root for "foreign" or "stranger," has been applied to Arabic alphabets used for writing African languages....
to record their own language; the Hausa compiled several written histories, the most popular being the Kano Chronicle.
The Fourteen Kingdoms
The Hausa Kingdoms emerged in the 13th century as vibrant trading centers competing with Kanem-BornuKanem Empire
The Kanem Empire was located in the present countries of Chad, Nigeria and Libya. At its height it encompassed an area covering not only much of Chad, but also parts of southern Libya , eastern Niger and north-eastern Nigeria...
and Mali
Mali
Mali , officially the Republic of Mali , is a landlocked country in Western Africa. Mali borders Algeria on the north, Niger on the east, Burkina Faso and the Côte d'Ivoire on the south, Guinea on the south-west, and Senegal and Mauritania on the west. Its size is just over 1,240,000 km² with...
. The primary exports were leather
Leather
Leather is a durable and flexible material created via the tanning of putrescible animal rawhide and skin, primarily cattlehide. It can be produced through different manufacturing processes, ranging from cottage industry to heavy industry.-Forms:...
, gold
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
, cloth
Textile
A textile or cloth is a flexible woven material consisting of a network of natural or artificial fibres often referred to as thread or yarn. Yarn is produced by spinning raw fibres of wool, flax, cotton, or other material to produce long strands...
, salt
Salt
In chemistry, salts are ionic compounds that result from the neutralization reaction of an acid and a base. They are composed of cations and anions so that the product is electrically neutral...
, kola nuts, animal hides, and henna
Henna
Henna is a flowering plant used since antiquity to dye skin, hair, fingernails, leather and wool. The name is also used for dye preparations derived from the plant, and for the art of temporary tattooing based on those dyes...
. Except for minor alliances, the Hausa city-states functioned independently. Rivalries generally inhibited the formation of one centralized authority.
There were fourteen Hausa Kingdoms: The "Hausa Seven" and the "Bastard Seven"
The Hausa Kingdoms began as seven states with a shared mythology with its founders being the sons of a Queen. They are known as the Hausa Bakwai meaning Hausa Seven. The states included:
- DauraDauraDaura is a city, emirate, and Local Government Area in Katsina State, northern Nigeria. It is the spiritual home of the Hausa people.The University of California's African American Studies Department refers to Daura, as well as Katsina, as having been "ancient seats of Islamic culture and...
? - 1806 - KanoKanoKano is a city in Nigeria and the capital of Kano State in Northern Nigeria. Its metropolitan population is the second largest in Nigeria after Lagos. The Kano Urban area covers 137 sq.km and comprises six Local Government Area - Kano Municipal, Fagge, Dala, Gwale, Tarauni and Nassarawa - with a...
998 - 1807 - KatsinaKatsinaKatsina is a city , and a Local Government Area in northern Nigeria, and is the capital of Katsina State. Katsina is located some 160 miles east of the city of Sokoto, and 84 miles northwest of Kano, close to the border with Niger. As of 2007, Katsina's estimated population was 459,022...
c. 1400 - 1805 - ZazzauZazzauThe Zazzau, also known as the Zaria Emirate is a traditional state with headquarters in the city of Zaria, Kaduna State, Nigeria.As of 2010 the emir was Alhaji Muhammad Bello Idris.-Early Hausa kingdom:...
(Zaria) c. 1200 - 1808 - GobirGobirGobir was a city-state in what is now Nigeria. Founded by the Hausa in the eleventh century, Gobir was one of the seven original kingdoms of Hausaland, and continued under Hausa rule for nearly seven hundred years. Its capital was the city of Alkalawa...
? - 1808 - RanoRanoRano is a Local Government Area in Kano State, Nigeria. Its headquarters are in the town of Rano.It has an area of 520 km² and a population of 145,439 at the 2006 census.The postal code of the area is 710....
- Biram c. 1100 - 1805
The growth and conquest of the Hausa Bakwai resulted in the founding of additional states with rulers tracing their lineage to a concubine of the Hausa founding father, Bayajidda
Bayajidda
Bayajidda is a character from the tradional history of the Hausa people of Nigeria and the central figure of the Bayajidda Legend. The various versions of the legend differ on major points, but generally agree that early immigrants came to the western region of Lake Chad from the Near East.Most...
. Thus they are called the 'Banza Bakwai meaning Bastard Seven. The Banza Bakwai adopted many of the customs and institutions of the Hausa Bakwai but were considered unsanctioned or copy-cat kingdoms by non-Hausa people. These states include:
- ZamfaraZamfara StateZamfara State is a state in northwestern Nigeria. Its capital is Gusau and its Governor is Abdul'aziz Abubakar Yari, a member of the All Nigeria Peoples Party . Until 1996 the area was part of Sokoto State....
- Kebbi
- Yauri (also called Yawuri)
- GwariGwariGbagyi are an ethnic group in central Nigeria. They are predominantly found in the Niger and Kaduna States and the Federal Capital Territory...
(also called Gwariland) - KwararafaKwararafaKwararafa was a multiethnic state and/or confederacy centered along the Benue River valley in what is today eastern Nigeria. It was located southwest of the Bornu Empire and south of the Hausa States, and much of what we know of the Kwararafa come from these sources...
(a Jukun state) - NupeNupeThe Nupe, traditionally called the Tapa by the neighbouring Yoruba, are an ethnic group located primarily in the Middle Belt and northern Nigeria, and are the dominant group in Niger and an important minority in Kwara State.-History:...
(of the Nupe people) - lLorin (a Yoruba state)
Fulani Empire and Bornu Empire
Usuman dan Fodio led a jihad against the Hausa States and finally united them into the Muslim Fulani EmpireFulani Empire
The Sokoto Caliphate is an Islamic spiritual community in Nigeria, led by the Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’adu Abubakar. Founded during the Fulani Jihad in 1809 by Usuman dan Fodio, it was one of the most powerful empires in sub-Saharan Africa prior to European conquest and colonization...
. The Fulani Empire
Fulani Empire
The Sokoto Caliphate is an Islamic spiritual community in Nigeria, led by the Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’adu Abubakar. Founded during the Fulani Jihad in 1809 by Usuman dan Fodio, it was one of the most powerful empires in sub-Saharan Africa prior to European conquest and colonization...
was under the overall authority of the Commander of the Faithful, all of whom after Usman dan Fodio also used the title Sultan of Sokoto. Under him the Empire was bicephalous and divided into two territories each controlled by an appointed vizier
Vizier
A vizier or in Arabic script ; ; sometimes spelled vazir, vizir, vasir, wazir, vesir, or vezir) is a high-ranking political advisor or minister in a Muslim government....
. Each of the territories was further divided into autonomous Emirate
Emirate
An emirate is a political territory that is ruled by a dynastic Muslim monarch styled emir.-Etymology:Etymologically emirate or amirate is the quality, dignity, office or territorial competence of any emir ....
s under mainly hereditary local Emir
Emir
Emir , meaning "commander", "general", or "prince"; also transliterated as Amir, Aamir or Ameer) is a title of high office, used throughout the Muslim world...
s. The Bornu Empire
Bornu Empire
The Bornu Empire was an African state of Nigeria from 1396 to 1893. It was a continuation of the great Kanem Empire founded centuries earlier by the Sayfawa Dynasty...
was initially absorbed into the Fulani Empire
Fulani Empire
The Sokoto Caliphate is an Islamic spiritual community in Nigeria, led by the Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’adu Abubakar. Founded during the Fulani Jihad in 1809 by Usuman dan Fodio, it was one of the most powerful empires in sub-Saharan Africa prior to European conquest and colonization...
of Usman dan Fodio, but broke away after a few years later.
Royal Niger Company Territory
Initially the British involvement in Northern Nigeria was predominantly trade-related, and revolved around the expansion of the Royal Niger CompanyRoyal Niger Company
The Royal Niger Company was a mercantile company chartered by the British government in the nineteenth century. It formed the basis of the modern state of Nigeria....
, whose interior territories spread north from about where the Niger River
Niger River
The Niger River is the principal river of western Africa, extending about . Its drainage basin is in area. Its source is in the Guinea Highlands in southeastern Guinea...
and Benin River joined at Lokoja
Lokoja
Lokoja is the capital city of Kogi State, in central Nigeria, and is a port on Niger River.-History:Founded by William Balfour Baikie according to European historical records, although there have been indigenous people living in the area for thousands of years...
. The Royal Niger Company's territory did not represent a direct threat to the powerful Fulani empire.
History of the Protectorate of Northern Nigeria
Northern Nigeria was a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
colony formed in 1900. The basis of the colony was the 1885 Treaty of Berlin
Berlin Conference
The Berlin Conference of 1884–85 regulated European colonization and trade in Africa during the New Imperialism period, and coincided with Germany's sudden emergence as an imperial power...
which broadly granted Northern Nigeria to Britain, on the basis of their protectorates in Southern Nigeria.
Britain's chosen Governor, Frederick Lugard
Frederick Lugard
Frederick John Dealtry Lugard, 1st Baron Lugard GCMG, CB, DSO, PC , known as Sir Frederick Lugard between 1901 and 1928, was a British soldier, mercenary, explorer of Africa and colonial administrator, who was Governor of Hong Kong and Governor-General of Nigeria .-Early life and education:Lugard...
, with limited resources, slowly negotiated with ,and sometimes coerced, the emirates of the north into accepting British rule, finding that the only way this could be achieved was with the consent of local rulers through a policy of indirect rule
Indirect rule
Indirect rule was a system of government that was developed in certain British colonial dependencies...
which he developed from a necessary improvisation into a sophisticated political theory. Lugard left the protectorate after some years, serving in Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
, but was eventually returned to work in Nigeria where he decided on the merger of the Northern Nigeria Protectorate with Southern Nigeria in 1914.
See also
- Agricultural sustainability in northern NigeriaAgricultural sustainability in northern NigeriaAgricultural sustainability in northern Nigeria requires flexibility in both ecological management as well as economic activity. Rainfall occurs only seasonally – and there is a pronounced dry season – however, rainfall is often intensive when it does come, making it necessary for farmers to employ...