HAUSA MYTH

The Hausas are believed to be the people who settled between the Niger and Benue territory, the city of the Hausa people was known as a trading center. They acted as middlemen in the trade of slaves, ivory and kola nuts between the trans-Saharan caravan trades which led from Libya to Egypt. During the sixteenth century the religion of Islam was being adopted by their rulers. The Hausa kingdom is divided into two which are the Hausa bakwai (the seven true sons), and the banza bakwai (the seven bastards). The first part of the essay gives a summary of the Hausa myth showing how the Hausa states all began and who started it where as the second page answers some questions based on today Hausa states which is being compared to the myth.

BAYAJIDA AND DAURA

Bayajida was a son to the king of Baghdad who settled in the land of Egypt but was forced to leave after disobeying the king’s commands because of his love for horses. He left Egypt with a marvelous sword which was engraved with Quran verses which could cut through stones as the verses are being recited.
After leaving Egypt he came to the town of Daura which was ruled by a queen named Queen Magira at that time. The city obeyed and feared a great serpent called Dodo which lived in the well and controlled their water supply, on arriving at the town he killed the serpent with his great sword and kept its tail as an evidence , the next morning the word was everywhere saying the serpent has been killed, the Queen made enquiries to learn who killed the serpent and several men claimed credit but they were exposed as frauds and liars, but finally someone told her of the stranger in town, so demanded to see him, she summoned Bayajida and he admitted to killing the serpent with its tail as an evidence, she praised him for his brevity and offered to marry him, he accepted immediately without hesitating, they got married and had a son called Bawo and Bawo grew up and had six sons who became kings of the other cities of the Hausa kingdom.

Today in the Hausa states, these myths still do exist but probably in different forms. A very good example is in the political system, in the early Hausa states leadership was based on ancestry, all royal kings today in the Hausa states are regarded royal if their relations could be traced back to Bayajida. Today the Hausas are divided into states or emirates which are been ruled by Emirs. Emirs are selected from the ruling family by a council of elders known as Mallamai.
These Emirs due to the change in modern society only make rulings based on the religious aspect because of the modern change like the governors and presidents unlike that of the olden days where there were only the kings that make rules and regulation but today in the modern Hausa community the kings known as the Emirs only react to religious cases, and most Hausas today are devoted to the Islamic faith, where they worship Allah and believe in the prophet Muhammad ( S.A.W), fast during the month of Ramadan and give donations to the poor.
This has made it clear on the geography, time and place of which the Hausa kingdom emerged, which makes us certain that the Hausa kingdom emerged in the 13th century as a trading centre in Africa and Daura was the first Hausa State to come into existence.
Today Hunting in the Hausa community is regarded as a traditional activity as well as a hobby, these hunters are referred to as “yan farauta” and in every group of hunters there is a leader that is been referred to as “mai dawa”.
In conclusion this myth conveyed to us how strong the kings were and how people obeyed them and what consequence could follow as a result of disobeying the ruler, like in the case of Bayajida where he was forced to leave the city of Egypt as a result of disobeying the king’s order. It also points out what the story tells us about the geography, time and place of the in which the Hausa kingdom all started, as well as what it says about the structure of the Hausa society, and in some situation shows us what the myth is trying to teach.