Pre-colonial Hausa-Fulani administration and cultural features

If you enjoy learning about Nigerian history, here is a little course into pre-colonial administration Hausa-Fulani. This ethnic group has a rich and interesting past, and there is certainly a lot to talk about. Learn the facts you never knew about the pre-colonial administration in Nigeria and dive deep into the history of Hausa people.

Hausa-Fulani pre-colonial administration

The ethnic group called Hausa-Fulani resides in northern Nigeria, and currently, the geographical location of it includes the Nigerian states like Sokoto, Kaduna, Zaria, Kano, and Katsina. The pre-colonial administration in Hausa-Fulani land had a complicated structure and was strongly centralized.

In 1804, the great Jihad war broke out, and it finally ended six years later in 1810. The Fulani Jihad was led by Usman Dan Fodio, who then proceeded to take over the political leadership of Hausa. He established two caliphates, which were started in the place of former Hausa states. The states were merged, and Gombe, Zaria, Yola, Kano, and Katsina were united under the eastern caliphate with the capital of Sokoto, while Argungun, Kontagora formed the western caliphate, the capital of which was Gwandu.

The Emirate – the caliphate territory was divided into emirates, each of which was run by the Emir. The Emir’s responsibilities were making and enforcing the law (and basically ruling the country’s law system), preserving order and peace in his native emirate. He did not rule alone – there were a lot of officials who helped him to lead the country.
The Waziri – the person in this position was responsible for all the officials and their ventures.
The Galadima – this person was in charge of caliphate’s capital.
The Madaki – this official was ruling the army, where he was a commander.
The Dogari – commonly known as the head of police.
The Maaji – was responsible for the country’s treasures.
Sarkin Ruwa – this official body was in charge of fishing.
Sarkin Fada – was known as the ruler of palace workers.
Sarkin Pawa – was famous as a head of butchers.

Nigeria Hausa Fulani pre-colonial administration worked in the following way:

The caliphates were divided into emirates for the easier administration, and each one of them had its own Emir, who was chosen from one of the ruling families. As we have already mentioned, there were two main caliphates: Sokoto and Gwandu. Both caliphates had an Emir who ruled everything. There was an Emir of Gwandu, who was in charge of western states, along with the Emir of Sokoto, who was in control of the eastern part of the empire.
As for the emirates, they were divided into many smaller districts, each one of which was led by the administrative head. Usually, this head was responsible for taxes. The officials who led the district were known as Hakimi.
The Hakimi was in charge of appointing the village heads, who would help him with the tax collection. Most often, the taxes were collected in form of land and cattle from people who lived in the districts.
As for the legislative system, the emirate lived by the Islamic laws, which were supreme in the land.
The executive functions were performed by the Emir himself, who had the absolute power over the land. However, he had a couple of advisors, who could give him a consultation on the important matters. It was up to Emir whether he chose to accept their advice or ignore it.
The judicial system was based on the Sharia law. The courts were called Alkali Courts, and this is where the judges made their decisions regarding various public disputes. They took care of the disagreements that concerned marriage and divorce, cases of theft, debt payment. They also carried out the murder trials and decided on the punishment, according to Sharia law. Quite often, the Emir took care of the cases in his own court, referred to as Emir’s court. The cases covered by Emir were usually those that Alkali Courts did not cover.
The Emirs had almost unlimited powers in the emirates. They could make changes to any part of common life. The caliphate was basically an authoritarian country with a controlling ruler.