THE QUAKE
We have received many requests through emails urging us to
do a piece on Africa. Since the director of Sparrowlite INC. is a Nigerian,
collectively we have decided to start a series on selected tribes from Nigeria.
We shall extend this exposition on Nigerian tribes to other African states but
first, tribes in Nigeria will be looked at. This series is titled The Quake and
we shall begin with a visit to Northern Nigeria.
HAUSA STATE 1
The Hausas are peculiar group of people occupying the plains
of north-west and north central Nigeria. Their major language is Hausa, interestingly
Hausa language is spoken widely across Africa even among those who are totally distinct
from Hausa tribe.
Not much is known about the ancient lives of most African
tribes, this is as a result of relentless efforts to portray western
civilization in the brightest light and thus neglecting the study of Ancient
African tribes. Apart from Egypt which has seen more archaeological excavations
no other African country has seen a quarter of such archaeological interest.
From the little we know, the Hausas of old have a long
history of city life. We can even equate such life to that of Greece though the
later excelled more in philosophy and crafts. Hausamen are mostly farmers
though they also have a good number of traders and craftsmen.
HAUSA ORIGIN
The oral tradition of the origin of the Hausas centers on
Bayajidda(Abuyazida) a refugee prince from Baghdad. The Hausas are said to be
descendants of this refugee prince. According to oral tradition, Bayagidda
first settled in Kanem where he married the daughter of the Mai. The relationship
between the Mai and Bayajidda began to wane causing the later to flee westward
in order to save his life. On reaching Biram-ta-Gabas he abandoned his wife who
later gave birth to a son. Continuing his journey he reached Gaya where he met
a community of highly skilled blacksmiths, these blacksmiths forged a special sword
for him. Bayajidda proceeded to the village of Daura where he killed a snake in
a well which prevented the villagers from drawing water except on Fridays. He was
allowed to marry the queen of Daura as a reward for killing the snake, thus he
became the ruler of Daura.
Bayajidda fathered seven sons, the seven sons gave rise to
the pure Hausa states. The seven sons founded the states which bore their names.
These were; Biram, Daura, Kastina, Zaria, Kano, Rano and gobir, they are
collectively known as the Hausa Bakwai or pure Hausa states. The seven sons
were given specific tasks in the Hausa family; the youngest Gobir was the war
leader, Daura and Kastina were in charge of trade, Kano and Rano were
responsible for industry and Zaria was the chief of slaves.
Bayagidda also fathered seven illegitimate sons through a
slave girl named Gwari. The seven illegitimate sons gave rise to the seven
states; Zamfara, Kebbi, Gwari,Yauri, Nupe, Yoruba and Kwararafa.
The above story might not be true accordingly but we know it
has a deep meaning. We must now take time to digest the above story to get its
likely meaning. We know the role of oral tradition most times is to
dramatically explain the important facts in the development of a people.
The story of Bayagidda may represent the Habe class who
migrated to the areas now known as Hausaland. The Habe immigrants are believed to
have met local dwellers who were organized into villages. The first wave of
immigrants is believed to have settled in Daura where they gained political
power through diplomacy and service to the community. The immigrants intermarried
with the locals. They brought their culture to bear on the locals causing
changes in the local traditions. This change in culture represents the slaying
of the snake by Bayagidda. Some of the cultural changes might have taken place
in religion, marriage, constitutional change from matrilineal to patrilineal
succession.
In the coming parts of the first series we shall look at the
different Hausa states and their dynasties……
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