Back ممالك الهوسا Arabic Estaos ḥausa AST Estats hausses Catalan Hauské městské státy Czech Hausastaaten German Estados hausa Spanish Hausa Erresumak Basque Royaumes haoussa French Estados hausa Galician Hausa Bakwai Hausa
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Hausa Kingdoms, also known as Hausa Kingdom or Hausaland,[1] was a collection of states started by the Hausa people, situated between the Niger River and Lake Chad (modern day northern Nigeria). Hausaland lay between the Western Sudanic kingdoms of Ancient Ghana, Mali and Songhai and the Eastern Sudanic kingdoms of Kanem-Bornu. Hausaland took shape as a political and cultural region during the first millennium CE as a result of the westward expansion of Hausa peoples. They arrived to Hausaland when the terrain was converting from woodlands to savannah. They started cultivating grains, which led to a denser peasant population. They had a common language, laws and customs. The Hausa were known for fishing, hunting, agriculture, salt-mining, and blacksmithing.
By the 14th century, Kano had become the most powerful city-state. Kano was the base for the trans-Saharan trade in salt, cloth, leather, and grain. The Hausa oral history is reflected in the Bayajidda legend, which describes the adventures of the Baghdadi hero, Bayajidda culminating in the killing of the snake in the well of Daura and the marriage with the local queen Magajiya Daurama. According to the legend, the hero had a child with the queen, Bawo, and another child with the queen's maid-servant, Karbagari.
Though the 7 Hausa states shared the same lineage, language and culture, the states were characterized by fierce rivalries with each other with each state seeking supremacy over the others. They constantly waged war on each other and would often work with invaders to the detriment of their sister states, hindering their collective strength.[2]
- ^ Lapidus, Ira M. (2014). A History of Islamic Societies (3rd ed.). New York: Cambridge University Press. pp. 458–459. ISBN 978-0-521-51430-9.
- ^ Palmer, III, 132-4; Smith, Daura, 52-55