XIIᵉ siècle – XVIᵉ siècle
Southern Hausaland, central Sudan
Traduction non disponible · Original (anglais) · français indisponible
Zazzau was a Hausa polity whose emergence is disputed. One reconstruction places long-established Hausa communities in the region before centralized rule developed at Turunku; another proposes an earlier Kangoma federation associated with Kamuku groups and the Nok cultural heritage. A more cautious account describes the consolidation of Turunku and Kufena under Bakwa, followed by the establishment of Zaria as capital. In the early sixteenth century, Zazzau expanded westward and southward, with Princess Amina associated with military campaigns and fortifications.
Poursuivre l’exploration
Le récit
The early history of Zazzau is described as especially uncertain because the surviving materials are limited and contradictory. One interpretation holds that Hausa communities had lived in the region for more than a millennium before a central government emerged at Turunku. From there, rulers expanded over neighbouring chiefdoms and later established a headquarters at the site of present-day Zaria.
Murray Last proposed a different reconstruction. He suggested that a kingdom called Kangoma, or Kwangoma, existed as early as 1200 and was ruled by Kamuku rather than Hausa leaders. This federation was described as heir to the Nok culture, with an economy based on metal trade. After its breakup, a kingdom at Turunku became known in the sixteenth century as Zegzeg or Zazzau, but the excerpt presents this interpretation as conjectural.
The more cautious reconstruction centres on two towns, Turunku and Kufena, which were initially independent. At the end of the fifteenth century, Bakwa, ruler of Turunku, seized authority at Kufena as well. The rulers then established a permanent capital at the eastern end of the Kufena birni, naming it Zaria after Bakwa's daughter. The merger of the two centres marked the formation of the Zazzau kingdom.
From the beginning of the sixteenth century, Zazzau expanded toward the west and south. Historical tradition associates some campaigns with Princess Amina, daughter of Bakwa, who also fortified Zaria and Kufena with broad walls. The excerpt stresses that Amina was remembered as an influential princess and warrior, not as a queen: she does not appear on the lists of Zazzau kings. Traditions place her campaigns as far as Nupeland and Kwararafa.
XIIᵉ siècle – XVIᵉ siècle
Southern Hausaland, central Sudan
Traduction non disponible · Original (anglais) · français indisponible
Zazzau was a Hausa polity whose emergence is disputed. One reconstruction places long-established Hausa communities in the region before centralized rule developed at Turunku; another proposes an earlier Kangoma federation associated with Kamuku groups and the Nok cultural heritage. A more cautious account describes the consolidation of Turunku and Kufena under Bakwa, followed by the establishment of Zaria as capital. In the early sixteenth century, Zazzau expanded westward and southward, with Princess Amina associated with military campaigns and fortifications.
Poursuivre l’exploration
Le récit
The early history of Zazzau is described as especially uncertain because the surviving materials are limited and contradictory. One interpretation holds that Hausa communities had lived in the region for more than a millennium before a central government emerged at Turunku. From there, rulers expanded over neighbouring chiefdoms and later established a headquarters at the site of present-day Zaria.
Murray Last proposed a different reconstruction. He suggested that a kingdom called Kangoma, or Kwangoma, existed as early as 1200 and was ruled by Kamuku rather than Hausa leaders. This federation was described as heir to the Nok culture, with an economy based on metal trade. After its breakup, a kingdom at Turunku became known in the sixteenth century as Zegzeg or Zazzau, but the excerpt presents this interpretation as conjectural.
The more cautious reconstruction centres on two towns, Turunku and Kufena, which were initially independent. At the end of the fifteenth century, Bakwa, ruler of Turunku, seized authority at Kufena as well. The rulers then established a permanent capital at the eastern end of the Kufena birni, naming it Zaria after Bakwa's daughter. The merger of the two centres marked the formation of the Zazzau kingdom.
From the beginning of the sixteenth century, Zazzau expanded toward the west and south. Historical tradition associates some campaigns with Princess Amina, daughter of Bakwa, who also fortified Zaria and Kufena with broad walls. The excerpt stresses that Amina was remembered as an influential princess and warrior, not as a queen: she does not appear on the lists of Zazzau kings. Traditions place her campaigns as far as Nupeland and Kwararafa.