There are a number of theories and stories connected with the Hausa people, who today live in northern Nigeria, parts of Ghana, Niger and Togo. Some centre on the idea of migration.

Lake Chad

For example, there is a theory that all the Hausas once lived by Lake Chad, but had to move west when the lake shrank. Certainly, oral and musical traditions connect Kanem-Borno (by Lake Chad) with the Hausas.

There's also a shared Islamic history. The Hausa skill in horse riding is also thought to come from Kanem-Borno. And finally there is music. The musicians of the court of the present Emir of Zazzau in Zaria say their instruments derive from Bornu.

North Connection

Another theory identifies the Hausas as originally desert people, living in the Sahara. The connection goes even further north; the palace at Daura contains a sword, which people believe, came from the Pharaohs.

Ethiopian Connection


The Dan Masanin of Kano, Maitama Sule, is a historian and leading figure in the Kano Emirate. He believes there is a connection, spanning the continent, linking the Hausas and the people of Ethiopia. He cites as evidence, linguistic similarities, and a shared worship of the sun, prior to Islam and Christianity arriving.

Baghdad royalty

Setting a bad example
"One of the ways of their government is succession to the emirate by hereditary right and by force to the exclusion of consultation... whomsoever they wish to kill or exile or violate his honour or devour his wealth, they do so in pursuit of their loss without any right in the Sharia.

"One of the ways of their government is their imposing on the people monies not laid down by the Sharia being those which they call Jangali (cattle tax) and Kudinsala (annual gifts to rulers).

"Therefore do not follow their way in their government and do not imitate them, not even in the titles of their kings." - Shehu Usman dan Fodio's denunciation of the Hausa emirates
Many other Hausas subscribe to the view that they had a common Arab ancestor whose descendants founded the Hausa city-states. According to this, the King of Baghdad's son, Bayajidda or Abuyazidu, quarrelled with his father, left Baghdad and ended up in the state of Daura (directly north of Kano in present day northern Nigeria). There, the people were terrorised and deprived of water by a snake which lived in a well.

Gratitude

Bayajidda gained the gratitude of the king of Daura by killing the snake. In return the king gave his daughter's hand in marriage. Bayajidda and his wife had a son, Bawo, who married and in turn had six sons who then became rulers of Kano, Zazzau (Zaria), Gobir, Katsina, Rano and Daura; a seventh state Biram is added to the list. These are the Hausa Bakwai, the seven Hausa states.

There is also an extension to this story, which can be seen as a way of explaining a number of other states, which fell under Hausa influence, while retaining some of their own customs. This story tells of Bawo having a further seven sons by his concubine. These became rulers of the Banza Bakwai, or seven 'illegitimate' Hausa states: Zamfara, Kebbik, Nupe, Gwari, Yauri, Yoruba and Kororofa.

Enclosed

There is a general consensus that Hausa city-states were founded some time between the end of the 900s and the beginning of the 13th century. It is thought they emerged out of a number of small communities, typically surrounded by stockades, enclosing not only houses but also agricultural lands.

Eventually these various communities grouped together to form larger groups, which in turn acquired the size and status of city-states. The custom of creating a fortified surrounding wall was maintained. These city walls can still be seen today.

Tension

Initially there seemed to be harmony between the states and a good deal of trade. Each city-state had its own speciality. For Kano it was leatherwork and weaving (later dyeing), for Zazzau it was slaves. Slave labour was used to maintain city walls and grow food. In time, the city-states began to fight with each other. Internally, their rulers and administration became corrupt.

Jihad

By the 18th century a number of jihads were being launched by Fulbe. (The Fulbe are nomadic people who today travel through much of northern West Africa.) These were mounted from the states of Futa Jalon and Futa Toro.

This set the scene for the son of a Fulbe teacher, Usman dan Fodio from Gobir, to launch a much more far-reaching jihad among the city-states. One of his initial goals was to convert Fulani pastoralists who had so far resisted Islam. But his jihad challenged the old Hausa aristocracy. The region was ripe for reform and the peasants had long felt badly used by their rulers.

Sokoto

Uprisings sprung up in Katsina, Kano, Kebbi, Zamfara, Zaria and finally Gobir. The old Hausa aristocracy fell and Usman dan Fodio established a caliphate at Sokoto in 1809, which had authority over all the city-states.

He retired to a religious life and his son Mohammed Bello took up the reigns of government. By the time Mohammed Bello died in 1837, the empire of caliphate of Sokoto had a population of ten million.

Origin Of The Language Itself.

The Hausa language is arguably the most important indigenous language throughout the area of West and Central Africa. Spoken by an estimated 40 to 50 million people as a first or second language, it is believed to be one of the most commonly spoken African languages, alongside Swahili.
Hausa is classified as a member of the Western subdivision of the Chadic branch of the Afro-Asiatic family of languages. A subdivision of the African language family, the Afro-Asiatic group is comprised of an estimated 400 languages.

The Chadic branch of the Afro-Asiatic family consists primarily of languages found in northern Nigeria. Hausa is without a doubt the best-known and most important member of the Chadic branch. It is the most widely used in the fields of education and commerce, and lays claim to a significant body of Hausa language literature.

The Hausa language has a significant number of loanwords from the Arabic language, as well as the Tamajaq language of the Tuareg peoples, the Nilo-Saharan language of Kanuri and the Niger-Congo language of Mande.

Since the time of colonialism, English and French have also come to contribute to the Hausa language – English primarily on the Hausa spoken in Nigeria, and French on the Hausa of Niger. Although a variety of outside influences can be seen in the Hausa language, its longstanding contact with the Arabic language has had greater influence over Hausa than any other language.

It is believed that the Hausa were animists until contact with the Arab-speaking world exposed them to Islam. Today the majority of Hausa practice Islam. A small minority of Hausa people known as Maguzawa practice religions other than Islam. Contact with the Arab-speaking world also allowed for the development of one of the earliest forms of the written Hausa language.

Development of the Written Hausa Language

Hausa was initially written using script known as ajami, which utilizes a modified Arabic alphabet.

Thanks to British colonial influence, in the early 20th century an alternate script based on the Latin language alphabet was also developed. Known as “boko” (from the English word for book), this alphabet is primarily used in formal education. Although the Arabic-based ajami script is still in limited use, the more modern boko script is generally more popular.