Arab Influences on Kano City

 

 

 

Muhammadu Uba Adamu

 

 

Arab Influences on Kano City

 

This book ([1]) explores the intricate growth and development of the cultural relationships between the North African Arabs in general, and the people of Kano, with the particular reference to the contributions and influence of the Libyan Arabs in the political, economic and religious life of the Kano Emirate at least from the Jihad period to the present day. The approach taken was to contextualize the contributions of North African Arabs within the overall history of Kano, although focusing specific attention to the roles they played in the development of the city.

 

The region of North Africa in its historical connection with old empires attracted different names. The Romans called the region Barbary, the land of Barbarians or the people who were pushed southwards to the fringe of the desert by the colonists. The Arabs, on the other hand, called the region the Maghib, which means West; which was then the Western part of their world. Thus we had Maghrib‑al‑Aksa which meant Morocco, (Hogben and Kirk­Green, 1966). This region stretches from Bilad al Shinjil Mauritania in the West to the southern borders of Egypt in the East.

 

Despite the risks encountered in desert crossings, the people of North Africa and the inhabitants of Hausaland had established ethnic and cultural relationships for a long period of time, which survived centuries of cultural and social changes. The relationships were first established through migratory patterns, trade and scholarship. For instance, Bovill (1958) argues that;

 

For centuries black slaves were carried across the desert to end their days as domestic servants, as concubines, as laborers, or as soldiers among the communities of the Maghrib: and with them came other products of the Sudan: ivory, ostrich feathers, hides, Kolanuts and above all gold...From the North there came, transported by the camel caravans organized by North African merchants, the good craved by the people of the Sudan, fine clothes, paper swords, and other merchandise that might be counted luxuries, together with that necessity of life—salt, mined in the depths of Sahara. It was not only material goods that the merchants brought with them, but also the knowledge and culture of a wider world, the world of Islam, new concepts of religion, of law and government, new forms of learning, new words to enrich local languages, new styles of architecture, new crops, new crafts and skills (Bovill 1 958: p.xi).

 

North Africa of today contains five modern states. They are Mauritania, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya. Between North Africa and Bilad al Sudan, or West Africa south of Sahara, to which Hausaland belongs, lies the great Sahara desert which cuts off the later region from the Western world.

 

The people of Hausaland and the inhabitants of North Africa have been closely connected for many centuries through the caravan routes. The main tie has been commercial but the Arabs have also introduced a number of exotic elements in dress, food and religious practices. The link was strengthened in the eighteenth century when Katsina was the commercial centre for the trans‑Saharan trade and an important centre of learning.

 

However, long before this and right through antiquity, the migratory corridor linking Hausaland and North Africa had served to ferry thousands of traders, clerics and merchants to various areas.

 

The migratory influx to Hausaland continued beyond the various amirs who ascended the Kano throne, particularly during the reigns of Yakubu ]an Abdullahi Barja (1452-1463) to Babba Zaki (1768-1776). However, it was during Rumfa’s reign (1463-1469) that the Maghrib, particularly Tripoli became identified with Kano with the coming of Al-Maghili. The settlement of Tripolitanians in Kano radically altered the character of the territory. A tradition had been established; that of making Kano a hospitable place for all migrants — particularly those willing to live in, and identify with, the cultural environment of their hosts. So far history has not recorded any influx of migrants with radically different ideological stands which may warrant an internal conflict between settlers and immigrants.

 

The pockets of wandering clerics, traders and scholars who moved in and out of the territory from all directions established a series of caravan routes between the Hausa territories and the Maghrib. Since late 16th century Katsina had established itself as the chief trans-Saharan caravan center of the Hausa states and an important center of learning and remained so until about 1815. The jihad of 1804 further opened up Hausaland to more migrants, established the supremacy of Islam, and conveyed impressions of great wealth. These were enough to attract more Maghrib scholars, adventurers and merchants, especially Tripolitanians.

 

For most of its history, Tripolitania had served as a scene of violent conflicts between different peoples all in attempt to control the Mediterranean trade route this vital city controlled. For instance in 1510 Tripoli was captured by the forces of Ferdinand the Catholic of Spain, who turned it over to the Knights of St. John in 1530. The latter lost the region in 1551 to the Ottoman Turks, who ruled it either directly or through suzerains for the next 360 years. In 1711 the local governor, Ahmad Karamanli, won recognition from the Ottomans as hereditary pasha (governor), and his dynasty ruled Tripolitania for all but a few years until 1835. Under the Karamanli rulers, Tripoli levied tribute on and plundered shipping in the Mediterranean, a practice that led to the Tripolitan War with the United States in 1801-05. In 1835 Ottoman Turkey resumed direct rule of Tripolitania in an effort to forestall further French expansion in North Africa.

 

This created a vast pool of refugees who moved southwards and settled in northern Chad ([2]) area from where many joined the lucrative caravan routes that radiated from Bornu to all other parts of Bilad al-Sudan. As a result of the Italo-Turkish War of 1911-12, the Italians occupied Tripoli in 1911 and acquired all of Tripolitania from Turkey in 1912 — establishing one of the most brutal colonial regimes in history. The ensuing struggles for independence created yet more refugees who fled the embattled land and sought for a more peaceful land to settle. Kano, in addition to being a great trading center, was also an important entrepôt from which trade routes radiated westwards through Gwandu and Fada Ngurma to Wagadugu , south-westwards through Bussa and Nikki to Salaga in Ghana[3]. Further, the city was already host to Tripolitanians since Yakubu ]an Abdullahi Barja (1452-1463). It therefore became their second home. As Paul Staudingher reported in 1885 (during the reign of Muhammad Bello, 1882-1893):

 

Kano is the capital of the richest and most flourishing province of present-day Hausaland. A tremendous quantity of treasures, that is according to the standards of the natives, lies stored within its walls…The reason for the prosperity of this metropolis is to be found…in the fact that Kano is the trade emporium for the whole of Hausaland and moreover the southern-most market of the Arabs. Perhaps sixty to eighty North Africans are permanent residents, but during the dry season several hundred of them live here. It is also then that huge caravans from different Tuareg tribes arrive with one of the most indispensable items of trade amongst all people — salt…So here is a confluence — all the articles of trade from the English and the French, from Niger and the Benue, together with all the European and local articles which the Arabs bring…A good many of the skilled Semitic traders own permanent houses and live here married to natives.([4])

 

And although the tie with the Arabs had been commercial, the Arabs in Kano introduced a number of exotic elements in dress, food and religious practices that were to transform the city, as clearly Staudinger’s further accounts show. It is not surprising that the most radical contribution to the changing social and cultural character of Kano was made by North Africans, particularly Libyans ([5]). To this end, they used at least four document caravan routes to getting to Hausaland.

 

1.      Morocco-Toademi-Timbucku (with a branch consisting of Mabruk-Tuat)

2.      Tripoli-Fezzan-Bornu

3.      Cyrenaica-Kufra-Wadai

4.      Ghadames-Air-Kano

 

The Morocco route diminished in importance with the outbreak of hostilities in the Songhai empire in 1590s and the subsequent territorial rivalries between competing forces of Tuareg, Fulani, Arab, Bambara and Moorish made the route insecure. Similarly internal wars in the Bornu empire in 1830s reduced the security of the Bornu route and diverted its traffic to the Kano route. The remaining two routes, Ghadames and Wadai survived the ravages of Sudanic wars and became the main trade and migratory routes to Kano and Hausaland in general. They eclipsed only with the coming of colonialism from 1900 to central Sudan.

 

The Wadai route was virtually religious as it was used mainly by the Sanusiyya brotherhood especially after 1843. Zawiyas (lodging, headquarters) of the brotherhood littered the route ([6]) and served as the main pathway through which the brotherhood philosophy filtered to Hausaland. The Ghadames-Kano route was the most commercially important and was protected by Azger and Kel Owi Tuareg militia whose livelihood depend on the commercial success of the route; so they chose to defend it rather than, as was usually their practice, raid it.

 

Just as Kano was an important terminus and entrepôt, Ghadames was an important starting point where caravans from Tripoli, Tunis and Algeria assembled there before they departed to Kano. A report noted that

 

The pioneers of the caravan trade were the merchants of Ghadames, then as now a small unimportant town without local trade, near the Tunisian frontier, about 20 days from Tripoli, who by their superior intelligence, capabilities and honesty, and aided by the geographical position of their birth-place in reference to the caravan routes, established themselves many years ago in the town of Tripoli and enjoyed the monopoly of the trade. They sent periodically consignment of goods to their agents in Ghat, Kanem, Bornu, Kan and Timbuctu, receiving in exchange ivory, ostrich feathers and god dust for sale in Tripoli and subsequent export to European markets.([7])

 

Ghadames still retained in the 19th century the position it enjoyed in the days of Leo Africanus as the home of most of the bankers and wholesalers and the headquarters of most of the trading firms operating in the interior. ([8])

 

The Ghadames- Aïr-Kano Route

The Ghadames to Kano route ([9]) was laboriously slow. The daily travel rate rarely exceeded 12 miles. It was six or seven weeks with costs and risks through places such as Zinder, Agades, Arlit, Ghat and Ghadames. In peaceful times, the caravan journey used to take about eighteen months, and the profits could be as high as 50%.

 

The goods carried southwards by the Saharan caravans in the 1890s were similar to those carried earlier in the centuries. The British consul in Tripoli estimated in 1891 that Manchester cottons, white longcloths formed 70% of the total. Others included Austrian wool and sugar, satin from Bohemia, tea from China (via Malta), Bulgarian perfume (via Constantinople), beads, jewelry and a small quantity of hardware, and some arms and ammunition[10]. The northbound cargo from Kano to Tripoli was Kano cloth, ivory, ostrich feathers, hides and leather, and slaves (most of which came from Bornu, helped in great measure by Rabah’s invasion).[11] According to Johnson,

 

the most interesting of the business houses in Tripoli was that of El Haj Mohammed; the father was resident at Ghat, one of his sons, Mahomed (sic) el-Assouad [‘the black’] of Ghadames was at Tripoli, and another son was at Ghadames; seven sons made purchases in the Sudan; ‘they are all negroes’ — evidently they have been marrying in Hausaland for some generations. [12]

 

Other famous trading houses with branches in Kano included the family business of Ganaba brothers (who later became central figures in Sanusiyya tariqa), El-Tseni family of Ghadames who intermarried with Tuareg families. When the caravans arrived in Kano,

 

Quarters are taken up by the Arabs and goods opened for sale and native produce bought. The length of stay, varying from six months to twelve months, depends upon the scarcity or otherwise of native products. A rude currency, consisting of strings of small shells of different values, is much used, also a few Maria Theresa dollars, but bartering is also frequent. From this point some few Arabs make their way to Sokoto and Timbuktu, but he trade there is not important. [13]

 

In order to meet the demand of Hausaland for North African goods and services, and at the same time expand their own trading activities therein, the Tripolitanians took with them a large number of Hausa apprentice workers to Tripoli and trained them in various trades. At the beginning of their training, the workers would be taught religious knowledge and Arabic language after which they would be divided into four groups.

 

The first group were taught tailoring — general cloth making and embroidery. The second group learnt leatherworks — such as shoe-making, and horse riding accouterments. The third group were given charge of shops to learn the art of buying and selling as well as keeping the records of the commodities and stores. They were taught simple arithmetic in order to keep accounts and record weight and measures. The women workers who made the fourth group were taught how to cook various North African dishes and sweets. They learnt how to prepare dishes such as Alfatat, Alkubus, Gurasa, Kuskus, Kudun-Kurno, Sunnasir and sweets like Alkaki, Algaragis, Tammaset, Greba and Bakilawa — which all soon enough became part of standard Kano cuisine.

 

Along with this training program the Arabs established some trading posts in Tripoli, Ghat, Ghadames, and Zinder as depots where commodities from Tripoli and Kano met and changed hands and destination. Trained workers were settled in these posts for various assignments.

 

The trained leather workers who were brought to Kano were also settled at the following wards — where shoes and horse tackles were made — near their mentors:

 

1.      Dala

2.      Chiromawa

3.      Dukurawa

4.      Mandawari

5.      Marmara

6.      Alfindiki and

7.      Zangon Kofar Mata.

 

The tailors were settled at the following areas which supplied the markets with Arab ready-made clothes.

 

1.        Lungun-Bulala, near Dala hill,

2.        Dandalin Turawa and

3.        Zauran Mallam in Danbazzau wards amongst others.

 

The third group, the shop keepers, appeared to be the most important group among the Arab apprentice workers. This group represented their mentors in all their trading undertakings, traveling with the wares of their mentors from one place to another selling and buying. It was they who took Arab good and commodities to places like Borno, Bida and Ilorin. They bought cattle from Chad and Adamawa and sold them in the south.

 

It should be pointed out that not all of the North African traders preferred to settle permanently in Hausaland for trading purposes. As a matter of fact, there were some who had very large trading interests in Kano but never came to see it. For example, a Trabulus businessman, Zumit, entrusted all his trading enterprise to his trained Hausa worker, one Abubakar who settled at Kofar Mata ward in the city. It was this Abubakar who took the trade caravan of his mentor from Kano to Tripoli and back. Abubakar also recruited his own workers and trained them in order to help him carry out successfully the business of his mentor in Kano.

 

According to Dumber (1971), the Tuareg of Agades, the Bugaje of Damargu (Tanut) and the Agalawa (Nigeriène Tuareg) donkey breeders had a big role in making the North African trade a success in Hausaland. Apart from their own trade, in salt and potash from Agades and Bilma (Arklet), the Tuareg provided camels for transport. The Agalawa and the Bugaje were employed as camel and donkey drivers. The Agalawa soon became guides in caravan routes all over Hausaland.

 

The Tripoli caravan trade established many camping areas (Zango) from Kano to Tripoli. Some of these Zangos such as Zinder (Damagaran) and Damargu (Tarut), grew as important towns which tried to become commercial rivals to Kano.

 

The Cyrenaica-Kufra-Wadai Route

The second caravan route was eastwards leading from Kano to Chad and peripheral regions. There were three groups of traders that used this route for trading activities from their countries to Kano. The first were Arabs and Tubu traders. The second were the Kanuri and the third were Udawa and Fulatamare. The first group, the Arabs among them the bakkara tribes of the Sudan brought large herds of cattle from the following towns in Sudan and Chad:[14]

 

1.      Atiye

2.      Bargazal (Bahrnal-Ghazal)

3.      Dagana

4.      Abashe

5.      Wadai

 

This was the route which led through Borno Wadai Darfur, Nile and Egypt[15]. The traveling organization of Sudanese Arabs were similar to those of their counterparts who followed the first route: Tripoli-Kano. They too employed a number of apprentice workers who followed the cattle while the mentors remained at home. Some goods and other provisions were carried by Dan-Bahari breed of donkeys, by far larger and stronger than the normal Hausa donkeys, with tremendous body power and ability to carry heavy loads and endure long travels.

 

The Sudan-Chad cattle traders made many camping places along their routes. For example, when they entered Borno they always stopped at Gaidam and Nguru before they moved to the next camp at Mallam-Madori in Hadejia Emirate. From Mallam-Madori their next camping place was Danzomo town in Tumbi (now Gumel Emirate). It was from this town Danzomo, that the traders used to split into two groups. Those who would like to sell their cattle quickly so that they could get their money and buy their needs in the city and go back home earlier would head for Wudil market. On the way they would pass through many towns like Kaugama, Ringim, Zugaci, Alitini, Gogen and lastly Wudil. On reaching Wudil market, the traders would meet their customers among whom were the cattle dealers from Ilorin and Bida. As the Wudil market was held every Friday of the week, it was much more convenient for the Ilorin and Bida cattle buyers who came through Zazzau emirate. In that respect, the buyers would not have to come to Kurmi market to make their purchases. Further, cattle in Wudil market were cheaper especially towards the end of the day when the cattle owners were anxious to sell and go to the city.

 

The other group which intended to reach the Kurmi market in Kano city would continue their journey and encamp at Gabari. It was from Gabari that the caravans would enter the city through Kofar Mata gate. Immediately after the city gate and still a little distance from the Kurmi market was a shallow muddy stream, a tributary of ‘Yar Zage river. In order to make their passage easier logs of trees were felled down across the shallow stream so that people and animals could pass without getting stuck in the mud. The Arabs named this place Al-Kantara meaning a bridge in Arabic — thus unwittingly giving the area a name. The journey always terminated at ‘Yan Shanu, east of the Kurmi market.

 

The Sudan-Chad traders bought the following, amongst other things, in  Kano:

 

1.   Tea and Sugar

2.   Horse Tackle

3.   Swords and coral Beads

4.   Earrings, Bangles and Anklets.

 

They also bought the famous Kano woven cloths such as Kore and Tukurdi dyed cloth for women (Marra-Wahada), white and blue color gown (Dawingashau) black gown (Chilin), shoes and many other items.

 

The second group the Kanuri brought to Kano potash of different qualities such as Ungurnu and Gwangwarasa. They also came with mats for different uses; made grass-fiber containers such as Sanho and Cukurfa as well as twisted ropes. The Kanuri camping area in the city was (also) in the eastern part of the market. The place is now called Zangon-Barebari (the encampment of the Kanuri) after their Hausa name. Their trade site was always adjacent to ‘Yan Shanu on the Northern part of the market, just across the Jakara river. The Kanuri trades in Kano was very much local and their articles were sold by Hausa traders in many old markets throughout the Emirate.

 

The last, but by far not the least, were the Uda tribes who came from Gegemi in Dabinanci, or Dabinuwa Island bordering Chad from the Republic of Niger. These tribes came to Kano with their flocks of sheep and goats. They also brought ostriches with their ornamental feathers. These ostrich feathers were among the articles that the North African Arab exported from Kano to other parts of the world.

 

It was not surprising to find that all these three groups of traders who followed the same routes lived near each other occupying a very large area east of the Kurmi market. Thus places such as ‘Yan Shanu, ‘Yan Awaki and ‘Yan Kanwa in the Kurmi market are still known by such trade-linked names.

 

All these groups were under the protection of Sarkin Zango. The office of Sarkin Zango was usually held by a distinguished trader who traveled far and wide and can speak a variety of languages — a necessary qualification to understand the various linguistic groups under his domain. This type of defacto official was at certain times an interpreter in the Amir’s palace as well as in the Alkali courts. Sarkin Zango was not an official of the Emirate like village or district head, but he was recognized by the Amir to host the traders and protect their business against unscrupulous native traders who might have been tempted to exploit the strangers. For this reason, the Amir appointed four of his own body guards (Dogarai) to help Sarkin Zango, so that the general public would know that the Sarkin Zango was de facto official of the palace. He hosted the Sudan-Chad traders, arranged for the sale of their cattle and other articles of trade and finally guided them to buy all their needs without being cheated by bad local traders. The Sarkin Zango fed his guest from the commissions he collected from the trade transactions.

The Consolidation of the North African Community in Kano

The affairs of North African traders in Kano were under the control of a palace-appointed host, Galadiman Kano. This was because before the death of Sarkin Kano Dabo (1819-1846), the position of the Arabs was strengthened by a letter sent to Ibrahim Dabo by the Sultan of Sokoto to recognize a Ghadames merchant named Abande — more of whom later — as the leader of the Arabs in Kano.

 

As far back as the reign of Sarkin Kano Abdullahi Barja (1438-52), Kano Chronicle records that the North African merchants were coming to Kano for trade. But the second Fulani Amir of Kano after the Jihad, Mallam Ibrahim Dabo (1819-1846)[16] encouraged some of the Arabs to move to Kano from Katsina. This happened after the battle of Maradi in which Kano contingents under the leadership of the Amir participated. After the jihad the old Hausa dynasty of Katsina was driven away[17] and finally settled in Maradi from where they continually raided the northern and western parts of the territory[18].

 

It was the inability of Katsina rulers to protect the Sahara trades that made the entire community, both Arabs and their Katsina middlemen and agents migrate to Kano[19] under their leader Abdullahi Kutkut. The newcomers settled at Kulkul on the western side of the Kasuwa-n- Kurmi[20] the main city market. The area became Kulkul due to the inability of the Kanawa to pronounce Abdullahi Kutkut’s name properly.[21]

 

The arrival of Katsina and Wadai Arabs in Kano swelled the number of the North African traders already resident in Kano. Amir Ibrahim Dabo, realizing the importance of the old Kano tradition of respecting guests, entrusted the affairs of the Arabs in the hand of Galadiman Kano. Under the Galadima also there was an officer called Gado-da-masu, who as the protocol officer in the palace became the host of the Arabs. He was the one who would usher in all the foreign visitors to the palace for audience with the Amir. He looked after the accommodation of the Arabs in the following wards around the Kurmi market:

 

1.      Dandalin Turawa

2.      Durmin Kulkul (Yalwa)

3.      Shatsari

4.      Dala

5.      Dukurawa

6.      Jingau

7.      Alfindiki

8.      Zaitawa

9.      Kofar Wambai

10. Yan Awaki.

 

A token number of fighting men under the command of Gado-da-Masu were always prepared to protect the Arab traders to and from the borders of the Emirate.

 

Social Organization

The North African Arabs in Kano were divided into two racially separated groups. The first group were the citizens of Morocco, Tunisia, Libya and some parts of the Sudan. These controlled the trade process in Kano. The second group was composed of African trade agents who worked for the Arabs. The members of the first group were mostly Arabs, and that of the second group were Hausa and Kanuri. The two groups were not known to have inter-married, and from all records it seemed that they maintained superior-subordinate relationship. However, there were many instances of intermarriages between the North Africans and their Hausa hosts, especially drawn from the Hausa elite class.

 

The Arabs made the decisions, employing their African agents to implement them. Both Arab financiers and African agents meet regularly to work out various commercial strategies. Gradually the African agents adopted the Arab culture — wearing Arab cloth and bearing Arab names; in effect, becoming Black Arabs. Thus names such as Gashash, Bin Howaid, Zumit and Talib, were common among contemporary families in Kano.

 

In their relationships with the Emirate administration, the Arabs enjoyed respect and confidence in the Amir’s palace especially at the time of the Amir Abdullahi who was their host when he was the Galadiman Kano. The Palace gates were opened to them, and they used to pay their respects every Friday after offering the Friday prayers. It was during such occasion that new arrivals from North Africa were introduced to the Amir.

 

The Arabs settlers in Kano greatly admired and respected entire leadership of the jihad of Shehu Usman Danfodiyo, and were especially comfortable with the Islamic leadership of Kano Emirate. They respected all the famous Ulama of Hausaland and regarded them as their own Ulama. As for the Amir of Kano they addressed him the same way they used to address the Turkish sultans. Thus they addressed the Amir in such Arabic words as Maulana Sultan Kano, meaning Lord the Amir of Kano. An example of the high regards which the North African Arabs had for the Amirs of Kano was seen in the will of a Moroccan merchant who fell sick in Kano. The merchant, realizing that he was dying in Kano and had no relation around to hand over to him his properties, wrote a letter to the Amir of Kano Abdullahi Bin Dabo requesting the Amir to take over the property and put it into Baital Mal for the benefit of all the Muslims in the Emirate if none of his blood relation came to claim the property.

 

Further, in their relation with Government of Kano, the Arabs proved themselves loyal and reliable friends, refraining from undue political interference in the Emirate affairs, since by and large, not only were they made welcome in the community, but had all the privileges of high status foreigners. For instance, when the Arabs were asked to choose their representative in the palace, the Arabs in most cases choose one of their African agents to be their representative in anything affecting both the palace and the entire Kano community. This representative at the Amir’s palace was Mai Unguwar Larabawa, who used to liaise between them and the palace.

 

Thus the Arabs always refrained from direct interference in internal affairs of the kingdom; preferring to allow their African agents to deal with all the matters concerning the community. These African agents, representing the Arabs, were trusted with the office of the Emirate treasury, Ma’ajin Kano, throughout the period of Jihad until 1963. Thus these Arab representatives in the palace were very successful in bringing harmonious relationship between the Arabs and the Kano community. One of the famous among them was Mas’ud Al- Faqih Bin Bubakar. Mas’ud was given the name of Al-Faqih because of his rich knowledge of Islamic jurisprudence.

 

Commercial Activities

The establishment of the Jihad Government in Hausaland increased the demand for Arab products and merchandise. The Ulama and their disciples needed papers to write their dissertations; members of aristocratic class needed popular North African textile materials for their robes and turbans. The embroidered North African Jubba and its Tunisian trousers as well as their Kalabus hat were also in great demand. The Arab trading activities soon covered a very wide area across Hausaland from Chad in the east to Ilorin and Bida in the West. Some of the articles the Arabs brought across the desert could be put into following categories:

 

1.      Horse Tackle: With decorated robes and embroidered saddle covers ready made embroidered cloth such as jubba, Fulmuran, Zubuni, Jauha and Alkyabba.

2.      Textile Materials: Such as white and brown calico, Silken materials, pink and sky blue (Hatsaya and Muwambal), Turbans of different colors including white harsa.

3.      Thread and Natural: Such as Warwar which was used for weaving barage cloth in Sakkwato, Al-harini Mahudon, used for embroidered native gowns, perfume and increase, paper, tea, sugar, and other materials.

 

The North African Arabs on the other hand, dealt in many articles of trade from Hausaland, not only for the North African markets, but also for both internal and external trades, in and outside their homeland. For example they dealt in:

 

1.        Hides and Skins

2.        Ostrich feathers

3.        Elephant tusk, and rhinoceros’ horn.

4.        Dyed shinning blouse gowns and turbans – Kore and Turkudi

5.        White and blue woven blankets

6.        Millet and guinea corn

7.        Calabash of different uses

8.        Mortars and pestle

9.        Wooden soup bowls

10.    Straw-made food covers – faifai.

11.    Cattle

12.    Sheep and Goats

13.    Borno Horses

 

Thus by this time a well-established community comprising of Arab elements from North Africa, the Sudan and Yemen had fully established itself in Kano. Subsequently there was the second influx of Arabs from Katsina and Zinder. One group settled at Dandalin Turawa[22] which became an extension of the Kulkul ward. Another settled at Jingau — an area to the north west of the Amir’s palace where they kept their camels. Yet another group — of Wadai origin and shoemakers by profession — also came from Zinder and Katsina to settle at the foot of Dala hill where they established shoe factories principally to supply the needs of other Arabs. These latter arrivals were not the only shoemakers in the now bustling community since there were many local shoe merchants earlier trained as apprentices in North Africa by their Arab mentors. The earlier Arabs of Ghadames also established factories at Jingau where they made Lantami[23] shoes for the Amirs of the western Sudan, some of which were even exported to Tripoli.[24]

 

Like every newly emergent community in a strange land, the new settlers felt the need for a place where they could obtain their own sort of food so an inn called Al-findiki (from the Arabic al-Funduq an inn) was built and there such wheat-based foods as al-kaki,[25] al-kubus,[26] al-Garagis,[27] Gurasa,[28] Kuskus, and many other dishes were first introduced to Hausaland. These new foods attracted the attention of the Amir and ruling classes who sent their female slaves to be taught the new techniques. Thus from Kano al-Kama or wheat foods spread to the rest of Hausaland.

 

The Arab enrichment of Hausa culture of Kano did not end there. When the Hausa leather workers saw the newly established shoe factories of Dala and Jingau-Alfindiki they were not slow in learning the new methods and styles. Indeed, so well and so quickly did they learn that they came to dominate the trade. It was they who introduced the silk embroidered slippers which were exported to Sokoto, Gwandu, Nupe and Adamawa for use by the upper classes.

 

Commercially industrial patronage the Arabs stimulated the growth of industries in Kano. They financed local craftsmen by giving them advanced payments which enabled them to produce the desired commodities for the Arabs. One area that enjoyed this form of advanced-fee stimulus is the dyeing industry. For long time in the history of Kano the only dyeing industry known by the outsiders was the famous Kura-Bunkure dyeing industry which produce Turku]i or ]an Kura and other colored materials. But with strong Arab patronage and capital, other dyeing industries sprang-up in the Kano city near the Arabs wards — in addition to Karofin Kura and Karofin Bunkure in Rano district — especially in the following places:

 

1.      Karofin {walwa

2.      Karofin Sheshe

3.      Karofin {ofar Mata

4.      Karofin Zage

5.      Karofin Wanka da Shuni

6.      Karofin Sudawa

7.      Karofin Dagauda and

8.      Karofin Dala

 

Another industry that received special attention of the Arabs was the leather industry. To stimulate the production of hides and skin in large quantities, the Arabs helped the establish tanning industries in the following wards of the city, among many others

 

1.      Majemar Adakawa

2.      Majemar Arzai

3.      Majemar Kirfi and

4.      Majemar {ofar Wambai or Dukaui

 

Other craftsmen that benefited from the development of trade in Kano were the woodworkers, black smiths and calabash decorators.

 

Political Leadership

Before the Amir of Kano, Ibrahim Dabo died in 1846, he received a letter from his overlord, the Sarkin Musulmi of Sokoto ordering him to recognize one al-Hajj Abande as the permanent agent of the Ghadames government in Kano. As the majority of the Arabs in Kano were originally from Ghadames or Ghat, the Ghadames authorities felt that there was a need for a consulate to look after the commercial and personal interests of their people. The appointment of al-Hajj Abande gave the Arabs greater confidence and a feeling of security with the result that their markets in Dandali and Al-Findiki expanded greatly. Trade goods from Middle East and Europe became commoner than ever before[29] to their extensive North African contacts. Local traders were employed as agents — they were given goods and money with which to trade. Long distance traders (fatake) traveling to Borno and Chad in the East were financed as were others who traveled to Bida, Borgu, Gwanja and Dagombe. These activities resulted in the city of Kano becoming one of the busiest and wealthiest markets in West Africa[30]. By 1855 there were a number of masu ku]i or men of sufficient wealth to be distinguished from their fellows in both the Arab and Hausa communities.

 

It should be recalled that the predominantly Arab mercantile community in Kano had hitherto remained neutral from the political intrigues of the Kano Emirate; preferring to concentrate their attention purely on commercial activities. However, the appointment of al-Hajj Abande as some sort of Consul dragged them into the political matrix of the Emirate.

 

As an Ambassador or Consul of a foreign government, al-Hajj Abande became a great friend of the Kano Court; the rulers of Kano, especially Abdullahi, the fourth Amir,[31] made him their confident. This favor brought the Arabs to the palace frequently, either to pray for the success of a war-like expedition or to give gifts of swords and other military hardware to the Amir’s war machinery. As the friendship between the Arabs and the Abdullahi became so close, the former enjoyed a considerable amount of security and protection for their activities. Perhaps not unexpectedly, this close association with foreign powerful influence and the local political forces brought the Arabs deep into a series of Kano palace political controversies.

 

The Arabs and the Kano Civil War

In 1882 Amir Abdullahi died at Karofi on his way to Sokoto and was succeeded by his brother Muhammad Bello.[32] The new Amir was not only hostile to the Arabs but also to the family of his elder brother, the late Amir. Immediately on his return to Kano after his appointment, he deposed Yusufu, his brother’s eldest son, from his post as Galadima and replaced him with his own son, Muhammad Tukur.[33] This in itself was not an unusual action by a newly appointed ruler, who came into the throne with his own personal agenda; but he went on further to order all his officials who had married daughters of Abdullahi to divorce them, after which he ordered a total boycott of the family. Tradition states that the sons and daughters of Abdullahi at that time numbered more than three hundred, all of them packed into the house of their senior brother Yusufu. The story of Muhammadu Bello’s persecution of his brothers’ family may be exaggerated by tradition, but it is clear that he wished to prepare the way for his own son Tukur to succeed him. But neither the Arabs nor the people of Kano were prepared to allow that to happen.

 

In the face of the Amir’s hostility and his prosecution of Abdullahi’s family al-Hajj Abande and his fellow Arabs considered themselves bound to aid the family of their old patron. They were not alone; most of the inhabitants of Kano were sympathetic towards the Maje Karofi[34] family as the members of Yusufu’s lineage were called. Money, cloth and food were packed into sacks and thrown into Yusufu’s compound at night. As a result of this moral and material support from their sympathizers the family was able to survive their times of trouble.

 

During the ten year reign of Muhammad Bello the Maje Karofis refused to raise a finger against him. However, things changed when Bello died in 1893, and his son Muhammad Tukur[35] was appointed Amir by Sarkin Musulmi Abd ar-Rahman[36] better known as [anyan kasko (the Unbaked Pot). This appointment led to the beginning of the Kano Civil War (Basasa).[37]

 

Yusufu himself did not seek the throne even though he was the rightful successor and at the same time commanded a lot of respect and following in Kano. However, four of his brothers who were more sanguine than him and less prepared to accept the declining family fortunes decided reverse their marginalization. These were Alu, Abbas, Mamman Unkulu and Idrisu. Led by Idrisu and Abbas they came to Yusufu and asked him to leave Kano and lead a revolt. They felt that they no longer owed any loyalty to Sokoto and that they must regain their father’s throne by force of arms. Yusufu was unable to stand against the demands of his brothers and the followers of his family and led his people out of Kano. A court was set up at Takai, a town east of Kano, and Yusufu was proclaimed Amir.[38]

 

Meanwhile the Arabs in Kano sympathized with the rebels and knowing that they were ill-equipped, smuggled arms and ammunition to them from their own stores. Al-Hajj Abande solicited support from the Arab community to help him finance the rebels in memory of their patron who had been good to them. In addition to money and arms, special breed of horses from Bornu and food items were also collected by the Arab community on the behalf of the rebels. Yusufu sent two of his brothers from Takai to Kano, Abbas to collect the supplies from the Arabs, and Aliyu, on account of his learning,[39] to gain the support of the Kano Ulama. The rebels soon won the support of the most sections of the Kano community, and the local tradition recorded a series of anecdotes to reflect the socio-political status of Kano at the time. For instance, the new Amir was said to be so helpless that many a time his dishes were stolen as he was eating! The Arabs were also said to have set two rams fighting, naming the stronger Yusufu and the weaker Tukur; when the animals were fighting the onlookers would yell “Shuja! Shuja!”[40] to the one called Yusufu. This was done to make sure that it would be Yusufu the winner.

 

The rebel army became strong enough under the leadership of Aliyu, Yusufu having died[41], and advanced against Kano. In the meantime Tukur had learnt of the part played by al-Hajj Abande and the Arabs in the revolt, and naturally made al-Hajj Abande a target to be eliminated. However news of this decision reached the Yusufawa who warned Abande to go into hiding.

 

Early one morning in the rainy season of 1894, the Yusufawa broke down the wall and entered the city.[42] Abande sent his Arab gunmen, ostensibly to aid Tukur, but the letter was aware that this was only a ruse so, as he was escaping from the city he passed by Abande’s house in order to kill him. Al-Hajj Abande managed to get onto roof from where he was rescued by the rapid approach of Abbas and his men. Tukur escaped by one of the northern city gates to Macinjim.[43] He was captured months later but died before he could be brought to Kano.[44] When it was seen that the Maje Karofi had triumphed, Aliyu was officially recognized as Amir by the Sarkin Musulmi.[45] The Kanawa were well pleased and the Arabs celebrated by killing many camels; thousands of cups of gahwa and chi[46] were distributed.

 

The loyalty of the Arabs towards Aliyu’s family was rewarded by the new Amir who opened the gates of the palace for them and allocated the office of Ma’aji or treasurer[47] to them. From that time until 1963 when D.J. Muffet came to Kano as Sole Commissioner to inquire into the Native Authority finances, the Arabs were the traditional holders of this Sarauta, except for one or two short periods.

 

Arabs and Sufism in Kano

The Arabs contribution to its religious life was as important. The Arabs had their own Ulama who used to perform various religious ceremonies for the Arab community such as marriages, funeral and naming ceremonies as well as Eid and Friday prayers. Some of their Ulama were Hudana of Jingau who was an authority in Jewish History; Talib at-Tuwat, the Imam of their mosque; and Sheikh Abdul-kareem Muradal-Marakishi who lived in ‘Yan Awaki wards.

 

Long before the arrival of the Arabs as a forceful community, the Qadiriyya tariqa[48] had many followers in Kano. Yet it was the Arabs who regularized the process through the establishment of regular weekly prayer meetings for new members of the movement. The Arabs also emphasized the use of bandiri — a sort of tambourine without the jingles — drums[49], which were played every Thursday evening following afternoon meeting.

 

Muhammadu Bello, first Sarkin Musulmi[50] in his two books on the Qadiriyya, Miftah al-Sadad fi aqsam hadhihi ‘l-bilad and al-Durar al-zahiriya al-salasil al-qadiriya outlined all the procedures of the hadra[51] although there were no attempts to hold the weekly meetings by him or anyone else. And it should be noted that while Bello, like his father Shaykh Uthman, received the wird of the Qadiriyya from al-Mukhtar al-Kunti,[52] he had also been received into the Sammaniyya[53] branch by an unacknowledged Shaykh from Ghadames. It was not until three Arabs from different parts of North Africa settled in Kano and began to hold weekly meetings of their individual tariqa, sometimes after 1883, that the practice of bandiri spread.

 

The first of these men was al-Hajj Muhammad Sagaiya al-Ghadamsi, who founded his zawiya[54] in his house in the Alfindiki ward. The second was Shaykh Talib at-Tuwati[55] who introduced the Sanusiyya tariqa after settling in Dandalin Turawa. The third was Aliyu Musa, the first leader of the Shadhiliyya[56] in Kano.

 

Of these three turuq only the Sanusiyya ultimately failed to attract the people of Kano and this was because its leaders were not settlers but traders who only remained for short periods before returning to their homes.[57] However, to begin with its member were active. When Shaykh Talib returned to his home he was succeeded by al-Hajj Ali Bishir. The new leader raised funds and constructed the first proper zawiya to be built. According to the practice of the Sanusiyya, the ikhwan or brothers had to build and maintain their own mosque and meeting place but, as their number was small, Ali Bishir appealed to the other Arabs to take some responsibility towards its upkeep. The Arabs maintained the mosque and used it for their id celebrations and Friday prayers, until the Amir Abbas (1903-1919)[58] asked them to use the main city Mosque and to integrate with the other Muslims. This was not without some international reasons.

 

For example, in 1909 — about six years after the British conquest of Kano —the French army in Niger Republic intercepted a group important wealthy Kano traders of Tripoli origin on their way to Kano for their usual trading purposes. Fika (1968)[59] gave the names of these merchants as Muhammad Nassauf, El-Ghazla, Hadi Bushaghour, and Sa’id Ganaba. These merchants were arrested by the French on the suspicion of being Sanusiyya adherents. Although they were later released, an intelligence report was sent to the British Resident in Kano alerting him to the possible dangers of these new Tripolitanian arrivals waging a jihad against British and French colonial interests. A careful discussion between the then British Resident, Mr. Temple and the then Amir Muhammad Abbas confirmed the baseless nature of these allegations as the Tripolitanian Arabs had been living in Kano for decades without incident.

 

Thus to allay the fears of the British, who may now start feeling uneasy with the activities of highly mobile and resourceful members of a society without much control, Amir Abbas then requested the Arabs to integrate their religious activities in the main Central mosque, to further confirm to the British and their allies that there was no hidden agenda in the Arab presence in Kano.

 

When Ali Bishir finally left Kano for his own country, he left the mosque in the charge of the Shadiliyya leader Ali Musa. The Shadiliyya ikhwan undertook responsibility for its maintenance and held their weekly meetings there up to the present time.

 

The Growth of Qadiriyya in Kano

Although the Shadiliyya enjoyed some success and had a number of branches it was the Qadiriyya in its North African Form[60] which won the most followers. When al-Hajj Muhammad Sagaiya died there was a dispute over his successor, some favored his son al-Hajj Abd al-Qadir, others preferred Shaykh Sa’ad who was the most devoted Sufi among the Arabs. A letter was sent to the leader of the Qadiriyya in Tripoli, Shaykh Siyala, who recommended Shaykh Sa’ad. The new leader opened his hadra in front of his house to attract the local Ulama. While Aliyu was still the Amir[61] many of the Kano Ulama went to Sa’ad; for the first time they were attracted to this branch of the Qadiriyya. But is also attracted others; the bandiri drums although used for religious purposes, were also fine musical entertainment. Every Thursday evening the local people gathered in Alfindiki to listen to the Arabs beating their drums and at the same time reciting the names of Allah. They developed great skills in incorporating the rhythm of the bandiri according to the meter of the qasida [62] and they were also skilled at chanting a qasida while at the same time giving the chorus a simple headline to echo. The excitement caused by the chorus, the sweetness of the music produced especially by the sahana [63] drum and the remembrance of God moved many to spiritual ecstasy. For these reasons the Arabs became popular and respected as religious leaders; but they were ultimately superseded by local people for two reasons. The first was that the bandiri, which they regarded as their exclusive right, was taken up by the Hausa who soon excelled in it. Secondly the Arabs, in spite of the respect that they received from the Ulama, were less educated in Islamic affairs than their local followers.[64]

 

Local Initiatives

Among the Hausa who joined the Qadiriyya at this time (1937) was young lad, Muhammad Nasir Kabara, who was destined to bring great changes in the tariqa and not only to introduce the celebration of the birthday of Shaykh Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani,[65] a festival which was not practiced by the North Africans, but also to carry the use of bandiri to every corner of Hausaland.[66]

 

At the age of seventeen, Muhammad Nasir was really too young to be accepted as a member of the Qadiriyya but, as his grandfather, Mallam Nakabara — an extremely well learned Mallam — wished him to enter the order, Shaykh Sa’ad had a little choice but to give him the wazifa. Although a youth, Nasir was not only well read in classical Arabic literature and sciences but he was also conversant with the learning of Sufism and the works of the leading sufi scholars of the time.

 

When the Amir of Kano Abdullahi Bayero[67] went on the hajj Nasir sent a letter through Wali Sulaiman to the Khalifa of the Qadiriyya, Shaykh Abu al-Hassan as-Sammani, the grandson of the founder of the Sammaniyya,[68] asking him to give him an ijaza[69] to become muqaddam[70] of his own zawiya. The Shaykh was astonished to hear of such a highly learned youth and he sent a jubba[71] and cap to Nasir together with a letter of appointment as a muqaddam. Although Nasir did not immediately separate himself from the community in Alfindiki, as Shaykh Sa’ad was still alive, his actions were regarded as innovations by the Arabs. In 1949 Nasir made the Hajj and met the new Khalifa, Shaykh Hashim and Shaykh Muhammad of Mauritania. On his return journey, he visited the Sudan, where he met with Shaykh Muhammad al-Fatih b. Shaykh Qarib Allah, Khalifa of the Sudanese Samaniyya;[72] He also visited other Arab countries where he learnt many things concerning the hadra and bandiri organization. By 1950 Sheikh Nasir was in many ways far more versatile and eclectic than his teachers; and having successfully made Sufism acceptable to wider audience, he was thus able to make Qadiriyya penetrate into every part of the country.

 

Migrant Lebanese in Kano, Syrian Quarters and Fage-Ta-Kudu

The British occupation of Kano in 1903 dealt more on creating an effective colonial machinery that allowed for the maximum exploitation of colonized peoples. Whereas other people who have arrived and settled in the Kano territory more or less integrated with the society, thus contributing to its rich diversity, the British came strictly as overlords, with a specific mission and agenda: that of control and economic exploitation.

 

Right on their heels was another group of Arab settlers whose presence had a lot of impact on Kano. These were the Lebanese. They, working in close cohort with the British (albeit the British with considerable disdain and reluctance), significantly altered the economic structure of the territory. However, unlike the Tripolitanian Arabs a century before them, the Lebanese refused to integrate in the mainstream Kano social fabric. Indeed the only thing that made them different from the British was the fact that instead of coming to rule and exploit, as the British did, the Lebanese came to exploit. Like the British, they were indifferent to the mainstream life of Kanawa, although unlike the British they were ready enough to go and live into every nook and corner of the territory in the pursuit of their commercial interests. As Albasu noted,[73]

 

The Lebanese in Kano are secretive about their motives for migration. The bulk of the Lebanese came to Kano in the 1930s and they were Muslims. It was a period when Lebanon fell under French rule and was also a period of the Great Depression. So it was not clear whether they came in protest (or anticipation) of a repressive French rule or in response to the Depression and its attendant economic difficulties.

 

While the other Arabs, especially the North Africans came to Kano through the Sahara, the Lebanese came through the Niger delta down south. By then the British had already established full control and thus their movements were carefully recorded. But since they were not in sufficient quantity to constitute a threat to British interests, they were largely ignored by the British, who treated them with the same contemptuous disdain they reserve for any other race.

 

The railroad link between Lagos and Kano, completed in 1911 opened up the territory to penetration from the coastal in full force. The Lebanese have been steadily migrating from Lebanon to various parts of the world in droves since the 19th century. The age of exploration, and stories of fabulous wealth to be made in uncharted lands by those few who settled in these lands served to attract yet more others, who established a large settlement in Lagos colony. Their penetration into the interior was hampered by the British who controlled access to the area, and were not willing to allow any interest other than their own into the act.

 

The first Lebanese whose migration was recorded by the colonial officers were two brothers who came to Kano from Lagos in 1903, although they did not settle in the territory until 1907. [74]  However, the first migrant to settle permanently in Kano city was recorded as Seman Naoum in 1912. Like all the other Lebanese that were to follow, he was basically a trader in European goods.

 

The cultural aloofness of the Lebanese in early Kano were noted in the fact that when the British decided to implement the policy of racial separation and create their own reservation areas, the few Lebanese settlers applied for permission to leave the city and settle in the European areas. The British refused to allow the Lebanese to be their neighbors. Instead, in “1913 an area consisting of twelve plots was marked out west of the railway for “colored traders”, meaning the Lebanese.” [75]

 

This area eventually became the Syrian Quarters in 1915 and a home to any non-European who wish to pitch his business in the area; although it was dominated by the Lebanese. Seman Naoum the first Lebanese to settle in the city, almost immediately moved to the new settlement — ending perhaps the shortest duration of migrant stay in the territory.

 

From Albasu’s accounts, the first main business the Lebanese got involved in was cattle run from Kano to Lagos via Ibadan. They were, however, forced to pull out due to hostilities from long-established Hausa cattle dealers. Further, the success of the cattle-trade relied heavily on the credit system, which the Lebanese were unfamiliar with. Their next focus was kolanut trade — running smack into the same ethnic monopoly they encountered in cattle-trading. The kolanut trade had been dominated by the Hausa caravans. It was made clear to the few Lebanese adventurous enough to join the caravans that they were not welcome. They then attempted to create alternative sources for the kolanut by bringing different species from what was (and possibly still is) their main home base in Africa — Sierra Leone, especially through the coastal routes. This failed when the Sierra Leone variety of kolanut started to be grown in large quantities in western Nigeria. They had to pull out of that also. They struck lucky, however, with the boom in groundnut demand.

 

The demand for, of all things, soap, led to demands for groundnut oil which was found by European industrialists to be a better ingredient than animal fat. Demand for groundnut shot up with the use of groundnut oil in margarine manufacture. Large export of groundnuts however began after the railroad was opened in 1911.

 

Right from the beginning the trade was dominated by European firms. The Lebanese got involved only as dealers for the firms. Local Hausa were used as middlemen to procure the commodity. These middlemen such as Alhasan Dantata, Umaru Sharubutu, Maikano Agogo and Adamu Jakada and others were to form the nucleus of an oligarch class in the economic history of Kano, neatly supplanting the Europeans when they leave.

 

However, in 1925 the European firms resolved (for an undocumented and therefore unknown reason) to stop dealing with Hausa middlemen — which created a gap quickly filled by the Lebanese. With accumulated capital from their previous commercial forays, they now become groundnut buyers. With the Europeans buying only from the Lebanese, the latter formed a cartel which dictated the prices of purchase from the farmers (usually low) and sale to the firms (usually high). In addition, the Lebanese had by then made significant inroads into the road haulage. Thus a combination of European preferential patronage, Lebanese monopoly on the most lucrative trade deal of the decade, coupled with ownership of the haulage mechanism created a pull-factor that attracted more Lebanese to Kano as settlers from 1925 .

 

While clearly maintaining a racial aloofness from the local populace,[76] the Lebanese were nevertheless ready to settle in areas no European would; adapt a life-style similar to that of the environment. More significantly, they were also ready to learn the local language if only to gain the confidence of the “natives”, in the process driving a hard bargain for the products they wanted to purchase. Throughout the colonial interregnum, the Lebanese adaptability remained a constant source of irritation to the British — who encounter them in whatever economic activity they engage.

 

The indigenous merchants with the capital to compete with the Lebanese, seeing that they have been effectively marginalized, protested to the Emir Abdullahi Bayero (1926-1953) who in turn lodged a complaint with the colonial authorities which led to the relaxation of the laws.

 

In compliance, and to break the Lebanese monopoly in the groundnut trade, the European firms opened canteens in various rural locations such as Daura, MaiAduwa, Dambatta, Malam Madori, Kazaure, Gagarawa and others. Surprisingly enough, this was to enable the European firms to buy groundnut directly from the source — in the hands of the same people (Hausa) that they resolved not to buy a few years earlier. This was perhaps due to the policy change instituted as a result of the protests of indigenous merchants to the Emir. Sensing a change in action (and possible fortunes), the Lebanese moved quickly in 1929 to acquire plots in the same canteen locations as the European firms. Since they have already penetrated deep into the hinterland, it living there was quite an easy task.

 

The world-wide recession of the 1930s, followed by the onset of World War II reduced the value of Nigeria’s agricultural products. When the groundnut boom ended, the Lebanese next attempted to go into beans and maize production — facing the same stonewall of ethnic dominance and monopoly from the Hausa, so they abandoned that. Ironically, during the war years, the European firms formed a cartel which refused to patronize non-European traders, particularly the Lebanese. Saul Raccah (not really a Lebanese, though associating with them), was the first to be allowed to join the cartel in 1941 — and only after a legal protest. Constitutional changes and politics ensured the complete pull-out of the Lebanese from the agricultural commodities to textiles and industrial concerns.

 

The Lebanese and Industrial Development

The British had no real intentions of encouraging industrial development in Kano, and only consented to semblance of industrial activity when it became clear that independence was not far off. This was motivated by the pressures from the Lebanese to be allowed to experiment in small-scale industrial activities. Again right from the beginning of the “industrialization” of Kano the indigenous merchants do not seem to be interested in the new venture. The lucrative groundnut trade created intense competition between the Lebanese and local merchants. Nationalist activities created a barrier to continued Lebanese participation in the areas that the indigenous merchants also wanted to be involved in.

 

The Lebanese then shifted their focus to industrial production due to the hostility of local merchants in agricultural commodities, especially with the background to nationalist activities.[77] In the early 1950s the Nigerian government introduced incentives to industrial investment through the Aids to Pioneer Industries Ordinance and Income Tax (Amendment) Ordinance. Both these laws attracted the Lebanese and others to the industrial sector by providing generous tax relief and other incentives. Thus between 1954 and 1961 many private Lebanese companies were formed. These included A. J. Karouni (Transport), Akle Brothers (General Business), Steel Construction Co. (Steel), Habis Travels (Travel Agents), and Gazal Industrial Enterprise (Tiles etc). Strikingly none of them had a Nigerian director. [78]

 

The Nigerian civil war (1967-1970) and the creation of Kano State in 1967 opened up more windows of opportunities for both indigenous and Lebanese businessmen when there was a mass exodus of Igbos from Kano — leaving wide open a lot of enterprises they were predominant. This further stimulated industrial investments by the Lebanese (but not indigenous merchants who do not seem ready for the corporate structure of industries). Thus more industries sprung up, such as Moukarim Metalwood and Fawaz Steelwork which supplied the mushrooming government schools and hospitals with furniture. Nigerian Spinners and Dyers, Kanotex, and Kano Textile Industries cornered the supplies of linen, uniforms and general apparels to schools and hospitals in Kano. By then those Lebanese who had become wealthy remained virtually untouchable and have continued to dominate some of the most profitable sectors of the Kano economy.[79] Thus before March 31, 1974, the Lebanese owned almost all the leading manufacturing concerns in Kano. According to Albasu, they owned 10 out of 14 steelworks, 5 out of 7 sweets manufacturing, and 3 out of 5 leading oil mills. The only plastics company, Metalloplastica (which later became Kano Plastics) was owned by the Lebanese. By 1970,the Lebanese were dominant force in the textile trade.

 

In fact there was not a single shop in Fagge-Ta-Kudu that was not owned by a Lebanese…About 80% of the buildings in Fagge-Ta-Kudu, Ado Bayero Road and Beirut Road were owned by the Lebanese. The famous wholesale center on Hull Road (now Ado Bayero Road) next to the Singer Sewing Machine Company, Kwanar Singer was owned by a Lebanese.[80]

 

Even when the Kano State Government established the Kano State Investment Company in 1971 to look after the investments it inherited from the defunct Northern Region, the first General Manager of the company — Mr. K. R. Kazandijan — was Lebanese, recruited after an interview direct from Beirut!

 

When the Nigerian Government introduced in the Indigenization decree from March 31, 1974, the entire industrial landscape of Kano was forced to change, and the Lebanese were forced to acquire indigenous partners in all their firms. The indigenous merchant class, hitherto uninterested in industrial production, suddenly find themselves being sought by the Lebanese industrialists to comply with the decree. For instance, Dantata brothers had interests in more than a dozen industries as a partner to Lebanese companies; Alhaji Baba Danbappa was a principal shareholder in Star Sweets of Nigeria, International Tanners and several others. Similarly, Nababa Badamasi, Inuwa Wada, Sani Marshall and Garba A. D. Inuwa, all became partners in many Lebanese firms to such extent that

 

It is not exaggeration to say that most of the companies in Kano are registered in the names and partnerships of these oligarchs and their foreign partners.[81]

 

Thus, significantly, only few of the emergent oligarch industrial magnates totally own the industrial establishments associated with them — most being mere fronts for Lebanese Svengalis who operated behind the scenes and reap the profits to the maximum. Further, it would appear that the manufacturing concerns were mere assembly pre-fab units, rather than full blown industrial establishments capable of transforming Kano into a truly industrialized city. The cheap labor, corrupt government officials, lack of sustained Research and Development practices typical of industrial development, as well as lack of enforcement of industrial safety and regulations are attractive enough for many aspiring “industrialists” to pitch up the industrial tent in the State.

 

Kano Arabs and British Arrival

Although unsettled by the British conquest of Kano in 1903, the Tripolitanian Arabs did not feel threatened since they had been so entrenched in the city culture to be easily removed. However, two factors motivated a movement of quite a few of them from the city to a new-layout at the outskirts of the city created by the British. First, with the arrival of railroad to Kano in 1911 it was clear that the trans-Saharan trade route of camels, donkeys and mules is now a dead-end. The Tripolitanian Kano Arabs, already aware of world-wide trends in trade through their Mediterranean links, clearly perceive the new rail as heralding an era of improved movement of goods; more volume more variety all brought faster, cheaper and more efficiently. As noted in 1909,

 

The Arab traders at Kano already appreciate the advantages of comparatively rapid transport, and the more valuable imported articles of trade are now forwarded from England, Morocco and Tripoli by means of the parcel post. These traders will not be slow to recognize the benefits that the railway will confer by reducing the risks to loss and facilitating the realisation of their more bulky exports, and it seem more than probable that the large trans-Saharan trade to Tripoli will be diverted to the Niger.[82]

 

Thus quite a few of the Kano Arabs seized the opportunity of enhanced commercial participation and moved out of the city. Although large scale movement did not probably happen until after 1949 when the lay-out was fully completed, nevertheless many did move to the Syrian Quarters initially in 1919. To the British, the Lebanese and the Tripolitanian Kano Arabs are variations of the same theme, and as such are combinable[83]. The commercial focus of those who chosed to remain in the city changed to Bornu and the Chad basin.[84]

 

Secondly, the movement of some of the Kano Arabs out of the city would have been encouraged by the British to clearly stem any “mahdist” inclinations these more aware citizens may incite among ordinary “natives”. This was made all the more evident by the fact that when the British opened the first western type school in 1909, among the first set of “commoners” to attend the school were some Kano Arabs[85] — at a time when the school was being experiment on Kano Mallams or the children of the ruling houses[86].

 

The British apprehension was strengthened by the concern that traditional links — never really military — between the Kano Arabs and North Africa might facilitate the transfer of some of the tensions in the Maghrib to northern Nigeria at the eve of World War I (1914-1918).[87]

 

To appease local merchants (essentially the oligarch cartel, but with an eye also on the Kano Arabs), the British created Fage-Ta-Kudu, intended as a trading and residential area for indigenous traders so as to enhance their participation in the modern trade. The rather stringent building conditions specified for residency in Fage-ta-Kudu made it difficult for many of the first allottees — all Kanawa — to actually utilize the land. Further, the location of the site at a valley (thus kwari, depression) made it unattractive to the indigenous oligarchs.

 

The Lebanese, already entrenched in the also newly created Syrian Quarters and thus looking for areas to expand, seized up the opportunity and entered into agreements with the allottees where they built the houses according to the colonial specifications, and could stay for as long as 20 years rent-free, after which they were to relinquish the house to the allottee. Changes in laws in 1953 however gave the Lebanese occupants the right of perpetual occupancy in these plots — giving them both Syrian Quarters and Fage-ta-Kudu, and in the process automatically dispossess the original Hausa allottees. Thus with the few Tripolitanian Kano Arabs already settled, both Fage Ta Kudu and the Syrian Quarters became more or less Arab quarters. Incidentally, Fage-Ta-Arewa, north to Fage-Ta-Kudu, was to also have its own “Arab Quarters” in the form of Yemenites.

 

Contemporary Yemenite Arrivals in Kano

In addition to the Tripolitanian Arabs, now fully Kanawa, another set of Arabs (beside the Lebanese who remained culturally monolithic and as such, as much outsiders to Kano’s cultural makeup as the inhabitants of Sabon Gari) that enriched the urban ecology of Kano were the Yemenite Arabs[88].

 

The contemporary Yemenite settlement in Kano, like that of the Lebanese, was a colonial phenomena. It may be recalled that it was hypothesized that there were waves of Yemenite migrations — as a result of the collapse of Ma’arib dam in Yemen — to the Kano territory through the Gaya migratory corridor in antiquity; and that they were most likely to have introduced dry-season farming, certainly introducing new Middle-eastern crops such as albasa (onion), alkama (wheat) etc. to Kano agricultural system. The hypothesis of Yemenite migration in antiquity traces the settlers from Aden region near the Ma’arib dam — thus their familiarity with advanced agricultural practices. A circle therefore completes itself: Ma’arib, Aden, Kano.

 

The Yemenite arrival in Kano was a direct result of demand for skins and hides in European markets, particularly the United States. Towards late 19th century, Max Klein, an American industrialist established buying stations for leather and hides at Aden, Mogadishu, Mombasa and Dar es Salaam. Local merchants under a European manager made the trade effective, prosperous and lucrative by penetrating into the hinterland and buying the product. By 1905 when he re-located, he had established an effective network for the purchase of hides and leather. The popularity of “morocco leather” and the realization that it was actually Sokoto leather made Klein shift his operations from East Africa to North Africa. However, unable to repeat his success of using local agents to secure skins and hides in North Africa, he appointed his East African Agent, Luigi Ambrosini, to set up a buying station in the British occupied territories of Northern Nigeria[89].

 

On arrival in Kano — for that was effectively Northern Nigeria in the early stages of the occupation, Kaduna became ready as a newly built capital only in 1917 — Ambrosini decided to repeat his East African formula by using local agents to purchase skins and hides. By now, however, he was working for the UAC. Realizing the Islamic nature of Kano and the surrounding territories, Ambrosini decided to import Yemenites nationals, where he had a strong base and use them as the local buying agents.

 

Thus perhaps not surprisingly, virtually all the Yemenites imported by the British in Kano were from South Yemen — with capital city of Aden — which itself was a part of the British Empire from 1839 to 1967.[90] The Yemenite choice, beside existing bureaucratic network already in place by Ambrosini, was based on the Yemenite experience with raising goats, sheep and cattle on a far more massive scale than Kanawa. They therefore effectively knew the leather trade.

 

Also their being Arabic and Muslim (unlike the Lebanese who, although with a lot of Christian members, were avoided in all transactions by the British as much as possible) means that they would be more acceptable in the hinterland than the British. Again the British avoided the Lebanese in this partnership because the Yemenites were hired and therefore worked for the UAC or other subsidiaries of UAC. This was to lay the foundation for the subsequent engagement in the civil service. The Lebanese, on the other hand, were independent free-agents, also trying to cut in the where ever the British trade direction goes. Never really having accepted themselves as Nigerians (despite the Nigerian passports which made it easy to use Nigeria as a base), the Lebanese showed little inclination to be employed in the civil service like the Yemenites.

 

The first Yemenite arrival was Hassan Ali from Aden who settled first at Abuja Road (House No J6 in former France Road) Sabon Gari in 1919, followed by Abdulmalik who later became a P.Z. agent[91].

 

Al Halaf, another Yemenite came from Aden through Lagos and rail to Kano in 1928[92], and later encouraged others to follow him. Even though the British were willing to experiment with importing people from other parts of the world to help them exploit colonized territories, they were not ready to do it on massive scale, as they did with the establishment of Sabon Gari. This was possibly because the Yemenite would come to Kano with an enhanced awareness of what they want, and with a their militant background of historical conflicts, could easily constitute a security risk of imported on large scale. The earlier arrivals were therefore quite few, and carefully selected by L. Ambrosin.

 

The Yemenite agents were given monthly stipend and given food rations – all which doubled if the agent gets married, especially to a local woman. Marriage bonds the agent to the community, and makes more acceptable — which in turn makes him more productive to the colonial machination. What makes it particularly easier was the fact that the Yemenite, unlike the Lebanese in Kano, married out of desire to be part of the community. The Lebanese, on the other hand married local women principally to negotiate access into hinterland markets. Once they become well established and rich, they divorce the local wives and import Lebanese wives from Lebanon[93]. It is the Yemenite adaptability to life in Kano, as distinct from a preserved Aden[94] that make the Yemenite indelible streaks in the cultural configuration of Kano ([95]). What makes it even more variegated was the trans-Arab marriage relationships between the Yemenite Arabs and the Tripolitanian Arabs many of whom were literally neighbors, leading to the emergence of a distinct Kano Arab.

 

While it was principally the UAC that took the bulk of the responsibility for the importation and welfare of the Yemenite in Kano, other subsidiaries such as GBO, PZ and John Holt also got involved in the skins and hides and employed the Yemenites. Eventually, however, they become the sole licensed agents of PZ only.

 

Further, their responsibilities were widened to include other articles of trade. They thus became outlets through which manufactured and imported goods brought into the country by PZ are now sold at the village level. In spreading them to the rural areas, the European firms settled them into the already created canteens (which came to be referred to as kanti). Commodities sold in the kanti stores include textile, salt, sugar, detergents, spices. Upon sale of these commodities, the Yemenite agents were then required to purchase hides and leather for the parent company and send it via either road transport or railroad link to Kano. This was facilitated by the network of rail terminals in most of the major villages.

 

After World War II the demand for groundnut seemed to suddenly explode, and Kano, being a major agricultural basin, was poised to provide a hungry Europe with the base material needed to re-build bodies battered by the years of war. The colonial administration, using the existing company structure, now aided by a series of locally absorbed oligarch agents readily got involved[96].

 

With the prospects of Nigerian gaining independence by the end of the decade to 1950s, it was clear that some alterations to British-Yemenite arrangement would have to be made. As a process of disengagement, the status of the Yemenite agents was changed to Factor in 1956. Under this arrangement, the Yemenite were not longer in the employee of the companies they represented. Initially there were protests against being called Factor. But an elaborate explanation from the authorities seemed to palliate their fears. The Factor status gave them independent to sell their hides, leather and groundnut to any company or anyone they wish, but they must first seek clearance from the main company. This gave them some freedom to transact with whoever they liked. Those who accepted this arrangement had the name FACTOR stenciled on their frontage of their shops in the various locations.

 

In 1960s when Nigeria gained independence, the status of the Yemenites was not clear. First the Yemeni Government sent a delegation to Nigeria specifically to the Yemenite communities asking them to repatriate to Yemen. Many chose to stay in Nigeria. This was as a result of an earlier meeting held between the community members and the Premier of the Northern Region, Sir Ahmadu Bello Sardauna where their future plans were discussed. At the meeting the Premier assured that by the virtue of religion, and now inter-marriage patterns, the Yemenite are de facto Nigerians (at least Northern Nigerians). The Sardauna drew parallels to the earlier arrivals of the Tripolitanian Arabs, and in antiquity, the Yemenite migratory cluster to indicate that for all the Yemenites, Kano is home, and has been home for centuries. They were therefore asked to consider Kano (or other territories) their home. However, those who wanted to go back to Yemen were quite free to do so; but there were urgings that they should all stay. To make it even easier for them, the Indigenization Decree promulgated excluded them; thus treating them as full Nigerians.

 

The British stopped bringing the Yemenite agents in 1956. The total number that came was about 300 although by late 1970s I was only able to trace 10 of the original early arrivals. The Yemenite population has tremendously increased, and racial distinctions, due to intermarriage, are rather hard to make amongst the more recent generations.

 

Later Arrivals

After independence from British colonialism, more opportunities for increasing the bilateral cultural and political relationships between Arabs and Kano were opened up. This was demonstrated by a series of cultural associations which further cemented the relationship between Kasar Kano and Arab world. Two of the most notable of these organizations are described below:

 

The United Arab Republic Cultural Center (Al-Markaz al-Thaqafi al-Arabi)

The United Arab Republic Cultural Center was opened in 1960, From the nature of the Center and the environment in which it operates, it is obvious that its aims main focus was to revive the already existing cultural and religious relationships between Arabs and Kano people, the Nigerian people.

 

In order to achieve its objectives, the center organizes lectures and seminars and invites the Ulama from the city to give talks in the Arabic language. It also arranges Islamic sermons in Friday mosque as well as readings from the Holy Qur’an. Experts in Qur’an are sent from Cairo to tour schools, mosques and Emirs’ Courts to teach the reading of the Holy Qur’an. The Center has also books facilities including newspapers and periodicals in Arabic and English languages. The Egyptian famous official news paper Al-Ahram is always available to readers. Evening classes were also opened for the study of Arabic language and high Islamic learning. This class is always full as the Kano youth especially students of Islamiyya Schools.

 

World Islamic Call Society (Libya)

The World Islamic Call Society, an independent non‑governmental society, was established in Libya on 13th May 1972, in implementation of the general resolutions taken by the First Congress of the Islamic Call, held in Tripoli, in December 1970. [97] The Society has Callers for the Faith in all continents. It is active both inside and outside the Islamic Countries. A branch of the society was established in Kano in 1998.

 

The Society has a college, called the College for Islamic Call, which was established in 1974. Its students are selected from various parts of the world. The students study for four years, following which they get the “Higher Diploma” in Islamic call, equivalent to B.A. Degree. It includes a higher studies department that gives the Degree of Master of Arts (MA). It also has a subsidiary, the Jihad Fund.

 

The Goals of the Society

The Society aims at spreading the Islamic Call in all parts of the world by all possible methods, particularly the following:

 

(a)     Introducing the Holy Qur’an, promoting its learning, recitation and publication by all possible methods.

(b)     Introducing the Prophet’s life and to clarify his ideals.

(c)      The comprehensive presentation of the Islamic faith, including the Dogma, Ethics, Religious Duties, interdealings with people, in a clear way avoiding all alien and distorted concepts, polemics, and interpretation that contradict the essence of Islam.

(d)     Providing interpretation (Tafsir) of the Qur’an, that keeps up with the tenets of science and human knowledge.

(e)     Training the Callers for the faith in order to assume the duty of calling for Islam.

(f)        Preparation and publication of Islamic periodicals, literature, books, and encyclopaedias which present the tenets of Islam, the life of the Prophet, and the values of Islamic Civilization, along with translation of these publications into various languages.

(g)     Organizing the meetings between Muslim students and youth for presenting Islam and spreading the Islamic Call.

(h)      Communicating with various societies, religious and scientific institutions in order to spread the Islamic Call.

(i)        Spreading the Arabic Language, as it is the language of the Holy Qur’an, and asking the Islamic Countries to adopt it as a formal language to be taught in all stages of education.

(j)        Prompting Islamic States to adopt the Holy Qur'an as the Law of the Islamic Society, and to amend their laws in line with its principles.

 

Thus far Kano has been a melting pot. Race, tribe or religion have not been serious factors in preventing people from migrating and settling in the territory in a mutual community. The coming of the British suddenly changed all that, and emphasized the different racial, religious and cultural differences of the various peoples that have found homes there.

Appendix 1: Ward Settlement of Arabs in Kano City

 

Of the 124 wards in the old Kano city, at least 25 were settled mainly by Tripolitanian Arabs and their variants. The settlement pattern of the 25 I given below

 

 

Appendix 2: Informants

 

1.      Sidi Muhammad bin Hajj Abdulkadir bin Haji Muhammad Sagaiya Ghadamsi the first Qadiriyya leader at Al-Fundiki quarters

2.      Sharif Mahdi Ganaba bin Sharief Ahmed Ganaba of Fagge ta Kudu.

3.      Alhaji Al-Bature dan Abdulkaremu dan Mallam Mai Kano Sarkin Zango during the reign of Sarkin Kano Alu (1895-1903). Al-Bature lived in Zangon Kofar Wambai House No. 108, Chiromawa, Kano city, July 1954.

4.      Sidi Muhammad b. Hajj Abdulkadir b. Muhammad Sagaiya, 1968.

5.      Mallam Sidi b. Shehu Sa'ad the Second Mukaddam of Qadiriyya, April, 1968.

6.      Shehu Nasir Kabara the then Headmaster of Kano Judicial School and Mukaddam of Qadiriyya, May 1968.

7.      Sullubawa Oral Tradition Stories Narrated to the Author by Mallam Adamu b. Abdullah and Fulani Hawa'u Mamman Unkulu on several occasions.

8.      Salim Bil-Alowa, June 1987, Fagge ta Kudu, Kano.

 

Appendix 3: Notable Kano Arabs