Brief History of Hausa Speaking People

It is difficult to Narrate the history of hausa speaking people compresively in a short chapter of this nature. However, efforts will be made to only bring to light the salient points that will make and introduce the reader to the background of Hausa language and its speakers.

The Hausa speaking people can be said to form the majority of the people inhabiting Nigeria's most northern states with concentration in kano, Kaduna and Sokoto States. It must, however, be noted that in common with other people of the Suden, it is difficult to trace the true origin of the Hausa people, even though many attempts by historians were made to explain through traditions, their origin. Whatever the case, it is certain that at the present location of Kano City, the capital of an Hausa city-state bearing the same name, there existed a flourishing sedentary community by about 635 A.D. This is further confirmed by the presence of an iron-working furnace from that community's civilisation. Be that as it may, most traditions have ascribed the origin of the hausa states to the marriage of an old legendary hero, a certain Bayajidda Prince of Baghdad, to a certain pre-historic Queen of Daura and their offspring are said to have founded the authentic seven Hausa state (Hausa Bakwai).

Going by the various traditions especially of the above legend, the founders of the seven Hausa states were all direct descendants of Bayajidda. Biram, the son of Bayajidda by a certain princess of Borno, is said to have founded a ruling dynasty, while Bawo, the son from the cohabitation of Bayajidda and the famous Queen of Daura, is said to have resulted into fathering the founders of the remaining dynasties. By all means, our source of information on the origin of the said city state is limited as history can only talk much on few of the city states namely Gobin, Daura, Zazzau or Zaria, Katsina and Kano.

It is by all means suggested that despite these rationalized traditions, the Hausa people seemed to have been the result of the arrival and gradual integration of waves of immigrants into an indigenous community or communities. It must be admitted that the rise in farming and other professional association led to the foundation of villages, which later on developed, into walled cities a prominent feature of most cities in the northern states.

Whatever interpretation one might give the Hausa speaking people, they are and can be found all over the country practicing one profession or another and thereby spreading their language. Hausa is said to be the most widely spoken language in Africa.

Reference: Lang. Study of Corps Members