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500
Rise
The queen of Daura gave herself in marriage to Bayajidda,the founder of Hausaland, to show her appreciation. The two gave birth to seven healthy sons. Each son ruled one of the seven city states that make up Hausaland. -
Period: 500 to
Hausa Kingdom
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Mar 29, 1000
City- States
Textiles, glass, leather, and metal work were among their crafts, and they had an extensive trade. By the 16th century the state of Kano was the largest and most properous, with trade in ivory, gold leather, and slaves. Arab and Berber traders, as well as local merchants lived there, and it was a center of Islamic culture. That Hausa states survived until the early 19th century. -
Mar 29, 1000
Religion
11th century, Islam was brought to Hausa territory by Muhommad Al-Maghili, an Islamic cleric, teacher, and missionary, who came from Bornu toward the end of the 15th century. Early Islamization proceeded peacefully, mainly at the hands of prophets, pilgrims, and merchants. It was not until the early 1800s that the Fulani began to put pressure on the Hausa to undergo large scale conversion. Through a series of holy wars the northern part of what is today Nigeria was unified in the name of Islam. -
Mar 29, 1200
Zenith
The Hausa Kingdoms emerged in the 13th century as vibrant trading centers competing with Kanem-Bornu and the Mali Empire. The primary exports were leather, gold, cloth, salt, kola nuts, animal hides, and henna. Except for minor alliances, the Hausa city-states functioned independently. -
Mar 29, 1300
Islam
In the late 1300’s Islam began to filter into Hausa land through traveling merchants. But the pace was relatively slow. It was not until the 1450's that a group of people from the Senegal River, known as the Fulani, began immigrating in large numbers into Hausaland that a strong Islamic presence arrived. -
Mar 29, 1400
Prosperity
Besides adopting Islamic script, they adopted methods of rulership, and standing armies. They also had a requirement of free labor for land cultivation,and building of palaces. This brought great prosperity to Hausa states. -
Mar 29, 1500
Ajami
By 1500 C.E. 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 Chronicles. Many manuscripts have also been discovered that describe constellations and calenders. -
Holy Wars
A Fulani preacher, Othman dan Fodio, began a holy war that resulted in the subjugation of the old Hausa city states of northern Nigeria. Having conquered the Hausa, the Fulani adopted their language and merged with their ruling classes to create a Hausa-Fulani ethnic group under the rule of what was now the Sokoto Caliphate. The history of the area is intricately tied to Islam and the Fulani who wrested political power from the Hausa. -
Fall
Despite relatively constant growth, the city-states were vulnerable to aggression and, although the vast majority of its inhabitants were Muslim by the 16th century, they were attacked by Fulaniji-hadists from 1804 to 1808. In 1808 the last Hausa state was finally conquered by Usuman dan Fodio and incorporated into the Hausa-Fulani Sokoto Caliphate . In 1906 the British restored the old Hausa dynasty in Daura. -
Folklore
Hausa folklore includes tatsunya— stories that usually have a moral. They involve animals, young men and maidens, and heroes and villains. Many include proverbs and riddles.
