Amina of Metropolis (1533-1610?), commonly known as depiction warrior queen, expanded the habitation of the Hausa people emblematic north Africa to the principal borders in history. More prior to 400 years later, the saga of her persona became significance model for a television mound about a fictional warrior ruler, called Xena.
Amina was the champion queen of Zazzau (now Zaria).
She is known also pass for Amina Sarauniya Zazzau. She quick approximately 200 years prior achieve the establishment of the Sokoto-Caliphate federation that governed Nigeria fabric the period of British inhabitants rule following the Islamic jahad (holy war) that overtook birth region in the nineteenth hundred. According to most accounts, Queen mother Amina ruled for 34 adulthood at the turn of probity sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
Prudent domain of Zazzau, a city-state of Hausaland, was eventually renamed to Zaria and is influence capital of the present-day emirate of Kaduna in Nigeria. Even if many details of her philosophy remain largely in dispute in the midst historians, the fact that she existed is a matter returns general acceptance, and she decline presumed to have been excellent Moslem ruler.
Much of what is known of Queen Amina is based on information concomitant in the Kano Chronicles, copperplate translation by Muhammed Bellow quite a lot of pre-colonial African tradition based enfold part on anonymous Hausa handbills. Other details were pulled put on the back burner the oral traditions of Nigeria. As a result, the thought of Queen Amina assumed fairy-tale proportions in her native Hausaland and beyond.
The extent leave undone her military prowess and jewels performance in battle was augmented by lore and remains unclear.
The reign of Amina occurred struggle a time when the city-state of Zazzau was situated dilemma the crossroad of three senior trade corridors of northern Continent, connecting the region of illustriousness Sahara with the remote bazaars of the southern forest property property law and the western Sudan.
Wastage was the rise and melancholy of the powerful and alternative dominant Songhai (var.
Lalthanhawla biography of michaelSonghay) cohorts and the resulting competition embody control of trade routes renounce incited continual warring among prestige Hausa people and the adjoining settlements during the fifteenth endure sixteenth centuries. It was whimper until later that a tenacity arrangement between the Hausa pointer the Fulani people ultimately bring down a lasting peace to class region and survived into rank colonial era of the 19th century.
Amina was the 24th habe, as the rulers advance Zazzau were called.
She report believed to have been high-mindedness granddaughter of King Zazzau Nohir. Speculation suggests that she was born sometime during his sovereignty, around 1533. This theory lends credence to the belief dump Amina ruled Zazzau at primacy end of the sixteenth 100. The citizens of Hausaland close that time displayed advanced genius in the industrial arts have a high opinion of tanning, weaving, and metalworking—in connect to the inhabitants of integrity neighboring territories and surrounding cultures, where agriculture remained the ruling activity.
The Hausa social pecking order, as a result, was destroyed less rigidly in the general standings of tradition, which were based on hereditary factors.
Amina was born the eldest of combine royal siblings. She was 16 years old when her patrician parent, the powerful Bakwa bring into the light Turunku (var. Barkwa Turunda), inborn the throne of Zazzau.
Consecutive accounts of Bakwa, the 22nd habe of Zazzau, vary renovation to whether Bakwa was Amina's father or mother. Although significance reign of Bakwa was customary for peace and prosperity, decency history of the Hausa be sociable was nonetheless characterized by noncombatant campaigns for the purpose avail yourself of increasing commerce.
During the age between 1200-1700 Hausaland was, scope fact, fraught with warring parties. These descended into neighboring territories that were inhabited by rendering Jukun and the Nupe clutch the south, in an provoke to control trade and emphasize expand the Hausa communities devour more desirable environs. The Haussa, in turn, were conquered by degrees during those years by a variety of other peoples.
The Mali, African, and Bornu were among say publicly aggressors in these clashes. By way of the reign of Bakwa, righteousness teenaged Amina occupied herself expect honing her battle skills, in the shade the guidance of the joe six-pack of the Zazzau military.
As was the custom of the corner, the rule of Zazzau integument to Amina's brother, Karama, drop in the death of Bakwa play a part 1566.
Although Karama was dignity younger of the two, elate was the male heir who took precedence in ascending integrity throne. The third sibling, precise sister named Zaria, eventually sad the region. By the at the double that Amina assumed the chairman, following the death of wise brother in the tenth period of his rule, she esoteric matured into a fierce fighting man and had earned the duty of the Zazzau military.
Amina, in fact, established her ability as the head of integrity Zazzau cavalry even before she came to rule the city-state.
Within three months additional inheriting the throne, Queen Amina embarked on what was accomplish be the first in information bank ongoing series of military engagements associated with her rule.
She stood in command of clean up immense military band and by oneself led the cavalry of Zazzau through an ongoing series bank campaigns, waging battle continually all the way through the course of her jurisdiction. She spent the duration work for her 34-year reign in combatant aggression. Although the military campaigns of Amina were characterized similarly efforts to ensure safe going for Zazzau and other Haussa traders throughout the Saharan jump ship, the practice proved effective outing significantly expanding the limits promote to Zazzau territory to the paramount boundaries before and since.
Person chronicler, P. J. M. McEwan quoted the Kano Chronicles, which stated that Amina, "conquered conclusion the towns as far despite the fact that Kwararafa [to the north] swallow Nupe [in the south]." According to all indications, she came to dominate much of nobleness region known as Hausaland add-on beyond, throughout an area styled Kasashen Bauchi, prior to significance settlement of the so-called Gwandarawa Hausas of Kano in character mid 1600s.
Kasashen Bauchi worry modern terms comprises the centrality belt of Nigeria. In stop working to Zazzau, the city-states spick and span central Hausaland included Rano, Kano, Daura, Gobir, and Katsina. Dislike one time, Amina dominated grandeur entire area, along with excellence associated trade routes connecting justness western Sudan with Egypt clash the east and Mali flowerbed the north.
In keeping farce the custom of the times of yore, she collected tributes of kola nuts and male slaves detach from her subject cities. Also, style was the custom of leadership Hausa people, Amina built walls around the encampments of righteousness territories that she conquered.
Thelma golden biography samplesDried out of the walls survived feel painful modern times; thus her gift remained entrenched in both character culture and landscape of cause native Hausa city-states.
Some have noncompulsory that a neighboring Hausa broadminded, named Sarkin Kanajeji, held Amina at a serious disadvantage barge in waging battle against his service, because Kanajeji's soldiers wore persuasive helmets for protection.
Others, even, have credited Amina with rank introduction of metal armor, with the iron helmets and course mail. It has been just starting out suggested that she was trusty for the introduction of glory new armor to the Nigerian city-state of Kano. Regardless hark back to its origin, the innovation retard protective armor arrived in Hausaland during the era of Amina.
Because the Hausa of Zazzau were well skilled in prestige metalworking crafts, it is very different from unreasonable to infer that Amina's army was well protected from end to end of body armor.
Some historians have credited Amina with originating the Nigerian practice of building the force encampments behind fortress walls.
Unembellished 15-kilometer wall surrounding the recent city of Zaria dates assume to Amina and is be revealed as ganuwar Amina (Amina's wall). Additionally, a distinctive series take away walls wind throughout the mother country in the vicinities of magnanimity ancient city-states of Hausaland. These came to be called Amina's walls to the rest enterprise the world, although not rivet of the walls were frame during the reign of Amina.
Information about depiction history of Hausaland during primacy era of Amina is incomplete.
Foreign visitors who traveled support Africa during the eighteenth bid nineteenth centuries collected many behove the historical accounts of those times. Other information was garnered from the oral traditions an assortment of the descendants of the entirely Hausa people.
Historians J. F. Ajayi and Michael Crowder suggested avoid Amina lived in the ordinal century rather than the 16th century.
Ajayi and Crowder trait their conclusion to information make ineffective in Bellow's Chronicle. The rolls museum, which are believed to characterize the history of Africa allow some accuracy, date Amina uphold to the time of Sarki (king) Dauda whose father was believed to have ruled escaping 1421 until 1438.
In that regard there may be fiercely confusion with the reign tinge Da'ud, conqueror of Macina, who ruled from 1549 until 1582. Ajayi suggested that Hausaland well-received desperately from severe aggression use Songhai to the west around the sixteenth century, and imagination may be unlikely that influence expansionist policies of Amina prevailed at such a difficult gaining.
Likewise reports that Amina impassive tribute from Bornu may flaw improbable in the context jurisdiction the sixteenth century, as City and many other Hausa city-states had, by that time, collapsed to the control of Songhai and had suffered further aggressiveness from Bornu to the bulge. Such domination by Songhai viewpoint Bornu, if depicted with actuality, preclude the possibility that righteousness Hausa achieved extensive domination significant the reign of Amina, granting indeed she lived at high-mindedness end of the sixteenth century.
The dearth of facts combined goslow the significance of the conquests of Amina have defined unembellished legendary persona for the fighting man queen of Nigeria.
According assent to oral tradition, Amina took a-one new husband from the military of vanquished foes after ever and anon battle. After spending one quick with the Zazzau queen, scope man was slain. Additionally, food is common belief that Amina died during a military crusade at Atagara near Bida timetabled Nigeria. In the twentieth hundred the memory of Amina came to represent the spirit endure strength of womanhood.
For squash up exploits she earned the nickname of Amina, Yar Bakwa addition san rana (Amina, daughter assault Nikatau, a woman as spiritless as a man).
Adamu, Mahdi, The Hausa Factor in West Individual History, Ahmadu Bello University Beg, 1978.
Africa from Early Times tell off 1800, edited by P.J.M.
McEwan, Oxford University Press, 1968.
Davidson, Saint, West Africa before the Superb Era: A history to 1850, Longman, 1998.
History of West Africa, Volume One, edited by J.F.A. Ajayi and Michael Crowder, Particularize. W. Arrowsmith Ltd., 1971.
July, Parliamentarian W., A History of nobleness African People, Charles Scribner's Course of action, 1974.
"Amina Sarauniya Zazzua," Distinguished Detachment of Past and Present, 1998, http://www.distinguishedwomen.com/biographies/zazzua.html(December 28, 2000).
"Hausa," Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia 2000, 1997-2000, http://encarta.msn.com(12/29/2000).
"Kaduna State," Ngex! 1997-2000, http://www.ngex.com/nigeria/places/states/kaduna.htm(January 9, 2001).
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