Hausa Kingdom

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. Learn about the Hausa Kingdoms, their rise, and their downfall here.

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.

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.

Fig. 1 - Map showing the Huasa Kingdoms' location relative to other major precolonial African states.

A Summary of Hausa History

The Hausa Kingdom lasted as small, independent city states for a long time, especially considering their proximity to other kingdoms and empires.

Hausa Kingdoms' Time Period

There is evidence of the emergence of settlement and complex societies in Hausaland between 500 and 700 CE. They first appear in the historical record of Muslim geographers from North Africa in the 9th Century, and by the 1500s, they were major trade centers.

The Hausa Kingdoms were conquered around 1808 by the rising Sokoto Caliphate. That means the Hausa Kingdoms' time period lasted roughly one thousand years, although its peak years were from 1500-1800.

Early Foundations of the Hausa Kingdoms

According to the oral tradition of the Hausa people, the Hausa Kingdoms were established by a Muslim prince from Baghdad named Bayajidda. According to the legend, he killed a giant snake that was tormenting the people of the city of Daura and married the local queen.

The queen had 6 previous sons, and the couple had a 7th. These 7 sons became the rulers of the 7 city-states of Hausaland.

Historians doubt the accuracy of this legend, believing it to have been created later as a mythical origin story. Some believe the cities may have been founded by Berber tribesmen coming from the north who integrated with local peoples, but others believe they may have been founded by immigrants from East Africa.

Fig 2 - Illustration of the city of Kano in 1851 by Heinrich Barth.

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.

We know little of the early history of the Hausa Kingdom. However, Muslim chroniclers discuss the cities' importance in trade networks by the 9th Century, and by the 15th Century, it is clear they were major trade centers.

The towns that became the great city states all began as small, walled towns known as birni made up primarily of peoples that spoke the Hausa language.

Trade brought in immigrants from North and East Africa, and these transplants as well as indigenous peoples to the area worked on the farms around the cities, allowing each to become powerful city-states that provided protection to the area under their control.

Fig. 3 - Remains of the ancient city walls of Kano.

The Hausa States operated as a sort of loose confederation, at times cooperating, but also at times seeking to dominate one another.

We do know that each of the cities seemed to specialize in different goods or roles in the Hausa Kingdoms. For example, Biram and Gobir were known for having the best soldiers and their location on the edge of Hausaland meant they took responsibility for protecting the Hausa States from foreign invaders.

Meanwhile, Kano and Rano were known for their growth of cotton and production of textiles and became particularly famous for their use of indigo as dye. Zaira was known for its trade of grain and slaves, and Katsina and Daura were important trade links to the trans-Saharan caravans, meaning they primarily traded goods produced in the other states for foreign goods like salt.

Fig. 4 - Hausa people dying textiles with indigo in the 18th Century.

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.

Decline and Conquest of the Hausa Kingdoms

Historians have proposed a number of explanations for the decline and ultimate fall of the Hausa Kingdoms. They include:

• Failure to unify under one central political leader.
• Frequent rivalry and fighting between the different kingdoms, leaving them susceptible to internal and external threats.
• Ethnic, cultural, and religious differences and rivalry.

The Fulani people were a minority ethnic group who were treated as second class citizens by the Hausa elite. In the early 1800s, a Fulani cleric in Gobir began to challenge the Hausa rulers, eventually declaring jihad on the Hausa Kingdoms.

The Fulani forces, along with Hausa peasants upset over famine and high taxes, conquered the Hausa States one by one.

This new empire became known as the Sokoto Caliphate, which ruled the area until British and German colonists arrived in the first years of the 1900s. However, Hausa culture continued to survive under the Sokoto Caliphate.

Fig. 5 - A Hausa family in traditional clothing.

Hausa Culture and Tradition

We know little of the ancient Hausa culture and traditions, only that left to us through oral traditions and information usually considered to be of a secondhand nature from Muslim geographers and scribes who traveled through Africa.

We do know that Islam became the dominant religion, at least of the ruling class, and that some of the Hausa Kingdoms, Kano especially, became centers of Islamic learning and culture.

Hausa Kingdoms' Religion

The Hausa Kingdoms' religion was a mixture of Islam and traditional polytheistic animist religions.

Many of the Hausa Kingdom ruling class adopted Islam, likely for the status it gave them in the eyes of their trade partners.

King Yaji I of Kano adopted it in the late 14th Century and made Kano a center of Islamic life. By the end of the 15th century, it had been adopted more widely in the Hausa Kingdom due to the work of Islamic missionaries, although many of the rural population continued to practice traditional religions into the 19th Century.

Hausa Kingdoms' Significance

The Hausa Kingdoms' significance as trade and cultural centers came close to rivaling that of the Mali Empire and Songhay Kingdom. Their long period of hegemony in the region as a confederation of city-states is unique compared to these larger, more centralized empires.

However, it was this failure to unify that also contributed to their decline and downfall. Still, they stand as an important testament that a vibrant culture and economy had flourished in West Africa before the arrival of Europeans.