HADEJIA RULER'S (3)

HADEJIA A YAU

DAGA ISMAILA A SABO!



9. Haru bin Sambo, 1865-1885
With the successful removal of Umaru from power, Haru (Bubba) assumed the emirship of Hadejia.


Haru reigned for 20 years, during which he introduced many far reaching changes in the emirate. He enlarged the wall of Hadejia 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 Hadejia, in a bid to spread Islamic education.


He was also credited with the re-construction of a much bigger Friday mosque in Hadejia town. In the socio-economic sphere, Emir Haru pursued a policy which attracted foreign traders into Hadejia 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 Hadejia emirate. Also, it was during Haru's reign that the incessant conflicts between Hadejia and Gumel came to an end with a full blown war at the battle of Zaburam in 1872, in which Sarkin Gumel Jatau was killed.

This success brought to an end the hitherto frequent Hadejia-Gumel wars. Haru died in 1885.

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 neighboring districts of Kano Emirate,
namely Miga and Kwanda, and held them till
the British conquest of Hadejia, when they were returned to Kano.

Finally, he confronted the British forces militarily in the defense of his Emirate. He was killed in the ensuing battle with the British in 1906.

8. Umaru bin Buhari, 1863-1865 With the death of Buhari at the battle field, his son Umaru became the seventh Fulani ruler of Hadejia at the tender age of 18. He assumed the emirship with the active support of Sarkin Arewa Tatagana and Sarkin Yakin Hadejia Jaji, the two most powerful and trusted slave officials of Buhari. The Caliph in Sokoto approved his appointment in a desperate move to get Hadejia 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 Hadejia river side; he was deserted by a conspiratorial entourage and refused entry back into Hadejia 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.

HADEJIA RULER'S (2)

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 Emir of Hadejia. Approval was given and Abdulkadir was installed to succeed Garko. One year after his accession to the throne Emir Abdulkdir died in 1848. His reign, like that of his predecessor, was short but, unlike it, was tumultuous, with desperate fighting between Hadejia, Machina and Damagaram.

It is said that Sambo then return to the throne after the death of Abdulkadir in order to ensure the appointment of Ahmadu as the new Emir of Hadejia, as opposed to Chiroma Garba Buhari.

6. Buhari bin Sambo, 1848 – 50 and 1851 – 1863 Abubakar Buhari bin Muhammad Sambo Digimsa was the 4th Emir of Hadejia in the post jihad years. His reign was the most turbulent and indeed best remembered in the history of Hadejia. Sambo died in 1848and 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 Buharisucceeded to the Emirship of Hadejia by default, his accession was subsequently approved by Sokoto. No sooner had Buhari assumed the Emirship of Hadejia 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 Hadejia 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 Hadejia to confront his brother. Ahamadu's forces, even with the backing of a contingent from Katagum, were routed by Buhari outside Hadejia, and Ahamadu was killed in the battlefield without much difficulty. Buhari thus resumed the Emirship of Hadejia against the will of the authorities in Sokoto. This act marked the beginning of the Buhari revolt. For fifteen years Buhari remained a rebel, and pulled Hadejia 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 Hadejia, camping at Kaffur village about ten kilometers south of Hadejia 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 serious embarrassment and set back to the Caliphate. In fact, a 19th century Kano historian referred to the battle of Kaffur as the origin of Hadejia's greatness, "as from then onwards Hadejia was renowned in war" (Ja'afar in Palmer's papers).That encounter further underlined Buhari's independence, with Hadejia 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 (Wakili, 1989/94).

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.

7. Ahamadu bin Sambo, 1850-1851 Ahamadu was the seventh emir of Hadejia 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 tranquility to contribute to the development of the emirate. In 1851 Buhari fought his way back to the Hadejia throne.