Relations between Hausa societies and Kanuri groups began while the latter were still based in Kanem, but they acquired new political significance after the establishment of Bornu southwest of Lake Chad. In the second half of the fifteenth century, Bornu reached a period of stability associated with a permanent walled capital at Ngazargumu. That capital provided a base for the later extension of Bornu power westward into Hausaland.

Around 1425, the deposed Bornu ruler ‘Uthman Kalnama sought refuge in Kano with his retinue. He played an important role under Dauda, who ruled from 1421 to 1438, and under Abdullahi Burja, who ruled from 1438 to 1452. The mai of Bornu treated the political danger from Hausaland seriously and reduced Kano and other parts of Hausaland to vassal status, requiring tribute from a number of towns.

Katsina was also subject to Bornu to some degree and was reportedly forced to send an annual tribute of one hundred slaves to Ngazargumu. The passage gives competing assessments of the extent of Bornu authority: one view limits the initial vassal relationship to Biram and Kano, while another reports tribute reaching Bornu through Zaria and Daura. The true nature and duration of the suzerainty remain unresolved.

From this period onward, Bornu’s influence strengthened and was channelled mainly through Kano, contributing to the cultural development of Hausaland. During the sixteenth century, Kebbi’s rise as the most warlike state of the central Sudan brought it into prolonged conflict with Bornu. Muhammad Kanta’s victory, directed in part toward control of Air and its trans-Saharan crossroads, appears to have imposed Kebbi authority over at least some Hausa city-states and weakened Bornu’s political tutelage.