The History of Hadejia Emirs 1805-1906

The History of Hadejia Emirs 1805-1906

1. Umaru Bin Abdure, 1788 - 1808

Umaru bin Abdure was the first Sarkin Fulanin
Haɗejia. He was appointed by Sarkin Haɗejia
Abubakar, the last Habe ruler of Kasar Haɗejia. Umar was credited with planning and leading the Jihad in Haɗejia-Auyo territories. He actually cleared the ground and laid the foundation for Haɗejia Emirate. He did that by the authority of the leader of the jihad movement in Hausa land, Shehu Usman Danfodio, who sent him a flag via his brother Muhammadu Sambo. Umaru, who theoretically could be regarded as the first flag bearer in Haɗejia, died at Rinde in 1808.

2. Mamman Kankiya, 1808-1808

Sarki Umaru was succeeded by his eldest son Mamman Kankiya. Sarkin Haɗejia Mamman Kankiya did not live long, but died a few months after and in the same year he was appointed.

3. Malam Sambo Digimsa, 1808-1845

With the death of Umar bin Abdure and his short-lived successor, Mamman Kankiya in 1808, the mantle of Haɗejia’s leadership fell on the shoulders of Malam Muhammadu Sambo Digimsa, the person who three years earlier led the bay’a delegation to the Shehu. The Shehu therefore approved his appointment. With Sambo’s assumption of office, the emirate of Haɗejia formally came into being. He was the real founder of the emirate, from whom sprang all the successive Emirs to this day. It was Sambo who made Haɗejia the capital of the emirate when he moved there from Rinde together with his patriots and members of his family. On entering the town from one gate in 1810, Abubakar, the Hausa Chief, and some of his followers moved out of the town from the opposite gate, later settling just outside the eastern gate at a place called Fantai. Emir Sambo thereby made Haɗejia his capital. He enlarged the town and constructed the Haɗejia city wall (Maigari, unp). Also, Sambo was credited with the building of a Friday mosque in Haɗejia and the appointment of an Imam from among the learned Ulama in the town. Sambo made some key appointments of masu sarauta such as Chiroma, Galadima, and Madaki among others. There is no doubt that Sambo was responsible for the final collapse of the Hausa sarauta system in Haɗejia and the establishment of the Fulani emirate government. (Taskar Suleiman Ginsau)

4. Garko bin Sambo, 1845-1847

In 1845, Sambo abdicated the emirship of Haɗejia due to ill-health and old age after a long reign of thirty seven years, and retired to Mairakumi. With the approval of Caliph Aliyu Babba (1842-59), Sambo appointed his eldest son Mahammadu Garko in 1845 to succeed him as the new Emir of Haɗejia. Emir Garko‘s reign was as short as it was uneventful. He died two years later in 1847.

5. Abdulkadir bin Sambo, 1847-1848

As soon as Emir Garko died in 1847, Sambo sought for another permission from Sokoto to appoint chiroma Abdulkadir (Kade) as the new Emir of Haɗejia. Approval was given and Abdulkadir was installed to succeed Garko. One year after his accession to the throne Emir Abdulkadir died in 1848. His reign, like that of his predecessor, was short but, unlike it, was tumultuous, with desperat fighting between Haɗejia, Machina and Damagaram.(Taskar Suleiman Ginsau). It is said that Sambo then returned to the throne after the death of Abdulkadir in order to ensure the appointment of Ahmadu as the new emir of Haɗejia, as opposed to Chiroma Garba Buhari, who, as Chiroma, was the heir apparent, and much more popular than Ahmadu, but was perceived by his father as too troublesome and dangerous to be allowed on the throne.

6. Buhari bin Sambo, 1848-50 &1851-1863

Abubakar Buhari bin Muhammad Sambo Digimsa was the 4 th Emir of Haɗejia in the post Jihad years. His reign was the most turbulent and indeed best remembered in the history of Haɗejia. Sambo died in 1848, and Buhari, at the death bed of his father, schemed to get all the instruments of power transferred to him rather than to Ahamadu whom Sambo favoured to become the Emir after his death.
Although Buhari succeeded to the Emirship of Haɗejia by default, his accession was subsequently approved by Sokoto. No sooner had Buhari assumed the Emirship of Haɗejia than he had his cousin, Nalara Sarkin Auyo, killed – a cruel act which gave authorities in Sokoto the grounds they had been looking for to remove Buhari from the throne. 
Consequently in 1850, having failed to remove Buhari via diplomatic means, the Caliph ordered the Wazirin Sokoto, backed by forces from Katagum, to install Buhari’s brother, Ahamadu, as the new Emir of Haɗejia Emirate, by force if necessary. 

Ahamadu was thus installed in 1850, and Buhari retired to Machina area only to bounce back a year later. In 1851, after mobilizing considerable forces and resources, Buhari returned to Haɗejia to confront his brother. Ahamadu’s forces, even with the backing of a contingent from Katagum, were routed by Buhari outside Haɗejia, and Ahamadu was killed in the battlefield without much difficulty. Buhari thus resumed the Emirship of Haɗejia against the will of the authorities in Sokoto. This act marked the beginning of the Buhari revolt. (Taskar Suleiman Ginsau). 

For fifteen Buhari remained a rebel, and pulled Haɗejia Emirate out of the Caliphate, defying all attempts to get the Emirate back into the Caliphate fold. One of the most notable acts of defiance of Buhari against the Sokoto authorities was the encounter at Kaffur village. In 1853, the Caliphate organized the most elaborate expedition against Buhari in order to once and for all put a stop to his increasingly rebellious behaviour. All the major emirates of the Caliphate were drafted into this endeavour which had by then assumed an air of desperation. 

Apart from Sokoto itself, there were contingents from Zaria, Kano, Katagum, Bauchi, as well as Gombe, Misau and Jama’are. The force, which was one of the largest ever to be assembled to quell an internal rebellion within the Caliphate, rendezvoused in Kano from where it moved on Haɗejia, camping at Kaffur village about ten 10k kilometers south of Haɗejia town. However, Buhari did not stay around to be besieged in his palace, but instead intercepted the contingent and launched a surprise attack against it. The allied forces of the Caliphate were comprehensively defeated in a battle that was something of a “walkover” for Buhari and a seriousembarrassment and set back to the Caliphate. In fact, a 19 th century Kano historian referred to the battle of Kaffur as the origin of Haɗejia’s greatness, “as from then onwards Haɗejia was renowned in war”. That encounter further underlined Buhari’s independence, with Haɗejia remaining outside the control of the Caliphate and becoming an expansionist military power in the eastern part of the Caliphate till 1863 when Buhari died in a campaign against Bedde land (for details see Ruwan Atafi Ginsau S.). Some of the areas which suffered from Buhari’s incessant raids included Miga, Kwanda, Sankara, Ringim and Gabasawa in Kano emirate, as well as several villages in Katagum, Misau, Jama’are, and Gumel territories. (Taskar Suleiman Ginsau)

7. Ahamadu bin Sambo, 1850-1851

Ahamadu was the seventh emir of Haɗejia in the Fulani dynasty. As indicated above he was installed by Sokoto after Buhari was forced to withdraw from the emirate. His reign was very short and unsettled as the looming threat of Buhari never allowed him to have the required tranquillity to contribute to the development of the emirate. In 1851 Buhari fought his way back to the Haɗejia throne, ending both the reign and life of Ahmadu in the process.

8. Umaru bin Buhari, 1863-1865

With the death of Buhari at the battle field, his son Umaru became the seventh Fulani ruler of Haɗejia at the tender age of 18. He assumed the emirship with the active support of Sarkin Arewa Tatagana and Sarkin Yakin Haɗejia Jaji, the two most powerful and trusted slave officials of Buhari. (Taskar Suleiman Ginsau). The Caliph in Sokoto approved his appointment in a desperate move to get Haɗejia back to the Caliphate fold. Umaru reigned for two years only. But those were eventful years indeed. Haru, his uncle, had his eye on the throne, and was secretly plotting against Emir Umaru. Tatagana and Jiji, Umaru’s most loyal and powerful supporters, were first eliminated as part of the grand plot to get Umaru deposed. Subsequently, when Umaru went out on one of his usual pleasure rides to the Haɗejia river side, he was deserted by a conspiratorial entourage and refused entry back into Haɗejia town. Umaru made good his escape to Kano emirate; he took refuge in chamo, Kano Emirate, where he lived for the rest of his life, and died in 1920. (Taskar Suleiman Ginsau)

9. Haru bin Sambo, 1865-1885

With the successful removal of Umaru from power, Haru ( Babba ) assumed the emirship of Haɗejia. Haru reigned for 20 years, during which he introduced many far reaching changes in the emirate. He enlarged the wall of Haɗejia town to its present size. He pursued a policy of Islamization of the emirate by opening schools and inviting the Ulama (Islamic Scholars) from other emirates. He was even said to have been in the habit of intercepting many scholars on their way to the holy land and persuading them to settle in Haɗejia, in a bid to spread Islamic education. He was also credited with the re-construction of a much bigger Friday mosque in Haɗejia town. In the socio-economic sphere, Emir Haru pursued a policy which attracted foreign traders into Haɗejia markets. He did that by levying lower import duties on certain imports. He waged jihad wars against non-Muslims areas of Kare-Kare and Bade country, leading to the conquest and subsequent incorporation of the border town of
Adiani to Haɗejia emirate. Also, it was during Haru’s reign that the incessant conflicts between Haɗejia and Gumel came to an end with a full blown war at the battle of Zaburam in 1872, in which Sarkin Gumel Abdu Jatau was killed. This success brought to an end the hitherto frequent Haɗejia-Gumel wars. Haru died in 1885.(Taskar Suleiman Ginsau)

10. Muhammadu bin Haru, 1885-1906

Haru was succeeded by his eldest son Muhammadu, who previously held the titles of Chiroma and Sarkin Marma. Muhammadu, popularly known as Maishahada was an Islamic scholar and a warrior king who spent most part of his reign fighting wars and battles. His militaristic policies were likened to that of Emir Buhari. He organized and personally led many battles, including six battles fought in Kare-Kare and Badde country; intervened in the Kano and Katagum civil wars; forcefully seized two neighbouring districts of Kano Emirate, namely Miga and Kwanda, and held them till the British conquest of Haɗejia, when they were returned to Kano. Finally, he confronted the British forces militarily in the defence of his Emirate. He was killed in the ensuing battle with theBritish in 1906. (Taskar Suleiman Ginsau)