Yoruba

Question 1

The Myth of Origin

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The Bayajidda legend is the most important single source of

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Hausa history. It deals with the founding of Daura

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traditionally the oldest city of Hausaland

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and by extension

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also with the establishment of other Hausa states by foreign

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immigrants. The legend describes the arrival of two different

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groups in Hausaland

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the bulk of the people are said to have

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come from Canaan and the founding Prince is believed to

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have fled from Baghdad. A version of the legendary creation

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story claims that this hero

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Bayajidda

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queen of Daura and that his descendants founded the different

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Hausa states. This is couched in terms of what may appear to

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be a biblical descent scheme

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claiming as it does that the

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seven authentic Hausa originated from the sons of Bayajidda

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and his legitimate wife Magajiya (Sarah) and the seven

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inauthentic states originated from the sons of Bayajidda and

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his wife’s slave-maid Bagwariya (Hagar). To Biram

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(Abraham)

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the first son of Bayajidda

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having founded the eponymous small town of Biram at the

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western margins of Hausaland. It therefore appears that the

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biblical descent scheme may have been diverted from its

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original Israelite meaning by being given a new dimension

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reflecting major historical developments in the Near East and

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in the Central Sudan.

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Bayajidda is the mythical ancestor of the Hausa who was said

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to migrate from Baghdad in some other versions of creations

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story. It is said that after stopping at the kingdom of Bornu

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he

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fled west and helped the king of Daura slay a dangerous

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snake. As a reward

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he was given the Queen of Daura in

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marriage. Bayajidda's son

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Bawo

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He had six sons who became the rulers of other Hausa city-

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states. Collectively

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these are known as the Hausa bakwai

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(Hausa seven). The Hausa land

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before 1804

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fourteen towns grouped into two. The first group of seven was

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called Hausa Bakwai while the other group of seven was

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balled Banza Bakwai. The Fulani took over the political

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leadership of the Hausa or Habe states in the early 19th

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century. The Jihad that preceded this occupation was seen as

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religious as well as political. Uthman Dan Fodio led the

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Fulani Jihad and took over the political leadership of the

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Hausa/Habe and established the Sokoto caliphate with

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outstanding centralised political system of government. He

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introduced a new system of selecting and appointing rulers

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described as Emirs to rule the caliphate. Each of the Emirs

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owed allegiance to Dan Fodio and his two representatives at

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Sokoto and Gwandu. The Fulanis settled in Hausa land and

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intermarried with the Hausa people after conquering them and

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this was how the name Hausa-Fulani came about. The

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Bayajidda legend is a tradition of origin which is chiefly kept

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by people attached to the royal palace in Daura. On account of

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this royal setting it must be considered principally as a

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dynastic legend

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dealing with the origin of the town and city-

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state of Daura and by extension the origin of the Seven Hausa

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(Hausa bakwai) and Seven Banza (Banza bakwai) states in

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Central Sudan. Though the main focus of the Bayajidda

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legend is Daura

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traditionists of the Seven Hausa states in

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Katsina

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Gobir

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beginning of their own state tradition. However

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compared

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with the local dynastic traditions

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it is only of marginal

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importance in these states. On account of the transmission of