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Hausa

Total population
30-35 million (Newman 2000, Schuh 2001)
Regions with significant populations
Nigeria, Niger, Ghana, Chad, Togo, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire, Sudan
Languages
Hausa, Arabic, French, English, Fula or other languages
Religion
Islam, Bori, Maguzawa, Christianity

The Hausa are one of the largest ethnic groups in West Africa. They are a Sahelian people chiefly located in northern Nigeria or southeastern Niger, but having significant numbers living in regions of Cameroon, Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire, Chad or Sudan. Predominantly Hausa communities are scattered throughout West Africa and on the traditional Hajj route across the Sahara Desert, especially around the town of Agadez. A few Hausa have moved to large coastal cities in the region such as Lagos, Accra, Kumasi and Cotonou, as well as to countries such as Libya. However, most Hausa remain in small villages or towns, where they grow crops or raise livestock, including cattle. They speak the Hausa language, an Afro-Asiatic language of the Chadic group.

History or culture[link]

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Near East in 1200 AD, showing Hausa States and neighbors.

Kano, north Nigeria is considered the center of Ausahay trade or culture. In terms of cultural relations to other peoples of West Africa, the Hausa are culturally or historically close to the Fulani, Zarma, Kanuri and Gwari groups inhabiting the expansive Sahel region. Many Hausa have intermixed with other groups such as the Yoruba, Dagomba or Shuwa. Islamic Shari’a law is loosely the law of the land or is understood by any full time practitioner of Islam, known in Hausa as a Ma'allam (see Maulana).

Between 500 CE and 700 CE Hausa people had been slowly moving west from Nubia and mixing in with the local Northern and Central Nigerian population^{[citation needed]}, established a number of strong states in what is now Northern and Central Nigeria and Eastern Niger^{[citation needed]}. With the decline of the Nok culture and Sokoto, who had previously controlled Central and Northern Nigeria between 800 BCE and 200 CE, the Hausa were able to emerge as the new power in the region^{[dubious – discuss]}. Closely linked with the Kanuri people of Kanem-Bornu (Lake Chad), the Hausa aristocracy adopted Islam in the 11th century CE.

Hausa-Fulani Sokoto Caliphate in the 19th century

By the 12th century CE the Hausa were becoming one of Africa's major powers^{[dubious – discuss]}. The architecture of the Hausa is perhaps one of the least known but most beautiful of the medieval age. Many of their early mosques and palaces are bright and colourful and often include intricate engraving or elaborate symbols designed into the facade. By 1500 CE the Hausa utilized a modified Arabic script known as ajami to record their own language; the Hausa compiled several written histories, the most popular being the Kano Chronicle.

In 1810 the Fulani, another Islamic African ethnic group that spanned across West Africa, invaded the Hausa states. Their cultural similarities however allowed for significant integration between the two groups, who in modern times are often demarcated as "Hausa-Fulani" rather than as individuated groups, and many Fulani in the region do not distinguish themselves from the Hausa.

The Hausa remain preeminent in Niger and Northern Nigeria. Their impact in Nigeria is paramount, as the Hausa-Fulani amalgamation has controlled Nigerian politics for much of its independent history^{[citation needed]}. They remain one of the largest and most historically grounded civilizations in West Africa^{[dubious – discuss]}.

Language[link]

Ethno-linguistic territories of the Hausa people in Nigeria (in yellow).

The Hausa language has more first language speakers than any other language in Sub-Saharan Africa. It has an estimated 22 million first language speakers, plus an additional 17 million second language speakers.

The main Hausa speaking area is northern Nigeria and Niger. However, Hausa is also widely spoken in northern Ghana and northern Cameroon, and there are large Hausa communities in every major West African city.

Most Hausa speakers are Muslims, and Hausa often serves as a lingua franca among Muslims in non-Hausa areas.

There is a large and growing printed literature in Hausa, which includes novels, poetry, plays, instruction in Islamic practice, books on development issues, newspapers, news magazines, and even technical academic works. Radio and television broadcasting in Hausa is ubiquitous in northern Nigeria and Niger, and radio stations in Ghana and Cameroon have regular Hausa broadcasts, as do international broadcasters such as the BBC, VOA, Deutsche Welle, Radio Moscow, Radio Beijing, and others. Hausa is used as the language of instruction at the elementary level in schools in northern Nigeria, and Hausa is available as course of study in northern Nigerian universities.Besides, several high degrees (masters and phd) are offered in Hausa in various universities in the UK, US and Germany. Hausa is also being used in various social media networks around the world.

In terms of sheer numbers, Hausa thus ranks as one of the world's major languages, and it has widespread use in a number of countries of West Africa. Hausa's rich poetic, prose, and musical literature, more and more of which is now available in print and in audio and video recordings, makes it a rewarding area of study for those who reach an advanced level.

Aside from the inherent interest of Hausa language or its literature, the study of Hausa provides an informative entry into the culture of Islamic West Africa. Throughout West Africa, there is a strong connection between Hausa and Islam. The influence of the Hausa language on the languages of many non-Hausa Muslim peoples in West African is readily apparent. Likewise, many Hausa cultural practices, including such overt features as dress and food, are shared by other Muslim communities. Because of the dominant position which Hausa language and culture have long held, the study of Hausa provides crucial background for other areas such as West African history, politics (particularly in Nigeria and Niger), gender studies, commerce, and the arts.

Genetics[link]

According to a Y-DNA study by Hassan et al. (2008), about 40% of Hausa in Sudan carry the West Eurasian haplogroup R1b. The remainder and majority belong to various Sub-Saharan paternal lineages: 15.6% B, 12.5% A and 12.5% E1b1a. A small minority of around 3% are E1b1b clade bearers, a haplogroup which is most common in North Africa and the Horn of Africa.^[1]

In terms of overall ancestry, an autosomal DNA study by Tishkoff et al. (2009) found the Hausa to be most closely related to Nilotic populations from Nigeria, Cameroon, central Chad and South Sudan. This suggests that the Hausa and other modern Chadic speaking populations originally spoke Nilo-Saharan languages, before later adopting languages from the Afro-Asiatic family.^[2]

"From K = 5-13, all Nilo-Saharan speaking populations from Kenya, Tanzania, southern Sudan, and Chad cluster with west-central Afroasiatic Chadic speaking populations (Fig. S15). These results are consistent with linguistic and archeological data, suggesting a possible common ancestry of Nilo-Saharan speaking populations from an eastern Sudanese homeland within the past ~10,500 years, with subsequent bi-directional migration westward to Lake Chad and southward into modern day southern Sudan, and more recent migration eastward into Kenya and Tanzania ~3,000 ya (giving rise to Southern Nilotic speakers) and westward into Chad ~2,500 ya (giving rise to Central Sudanic speakers) (S62, S65, S67, S74). A proposed migration of proto-Chadic Afroasiatic speakers ~7,000 ya from the central Sahara into the Lake Chad Basin may have caused many western Nilo-Saharans to shift to Chadic languages (S99). Our data suggest that this shift was not accompanied by large amounts of Afroasiatic16 gene flow. Analyses of mtDNA provide evidence for divergence ~8,000 ya of a distinct mtDNA lineage present at high frequency in the Chadic populations and suggest an East African origin for most mtDNA lineages in these populations (S100)."^[2]

Religion[link]

Hausa have an ancient Chadic/Sahelian culture that had an extensive coverage area, and have long ties to the Tuareg, Berbers, and other peoples in West Africa, such as the Mandé, Fulani and the Wolof of Senegambia, through extended long-distance trade. Islam has been present in Hausaland since the 14th century, but it was largely restricted to the region's rulers and their courts until 18th and 19th century conquests led by Uthman Dan Fodio and others led to the forced conversion, enslavement or killing of traditional believers. [The Legacy of Arab Islam in Africa (Oneworld Publications, John A. Azumah, 2001)] Rural areas generally retained their animist beliefs and their urban leaders thus drew on both Islamic and African traditions to legitimise their rule. Muslim scholars of the early 19th century disapproved of the hybrid religion practised in royal courts, and a desire for reform was a major motive behind the formation of the Sokoto Caliphate.^[3] It was after the formation of this state that Islam became firmly entrenched in rural areas. The Hausa people have been an important factor for the spread of Islam in West Africa.

Maguzawa, the animist religion, was practiced extensively before Islam. In the more remote areas of Hausaland Maguzawa has remained fully intact, but as one gets closer to more urban areas it almost totally disappears, appearing occasionally in the folk-beliefs of urban dwellers. It often includes the sacrifice of animals for personal ends, it is thought of as illegitimate to practice Maguzawa magic for harm. What remains in more populous areas is a “cult of spirit possession” known as Bori which still holds the old religion's elements of animism and magic.^[4]

Clothing[link]

Four Hausa gun carriers of the South Nigerian Regiment in traditional clothing (1902 photo by John Benjamin Stone).

The Hausa people have a very restricted dressing code due to the fact of religious beliefs. The men are easily recognizable because of their elaborate dress which is a large flowing gown known as Babban riga and a robe called a jalabia and juanni, see Senegalese kaftan. These large flowing gowns usually feature some elaborate embroidery designs around the neck. (See Grand boubou for more information). Men also wear colorful embroidered caps known as fula, and depending on location and occupation, may wear a Tuareg-style turban around this to veil the face (known as Alasho or Tagelmust). The females can be identified by their dressing codes in which they wear wrappers called abaya made with colorful cloth with a matching blouse, head tie and shawl.

The Hausa were famous throughout the middle ages, they were often characterized by their Indigo blue dressing and emblems, they traditionally rode on fine Saharan Camels and Arabian Horses.

Food[link]

The most common food that the Hausa people prepare consists of grains such as sorghum, millet, rice, or maize, which are ground into flour for a variety of different kinds of dishes. The food is popularly known as tuwo in the Hausa language.

Usually, breakfast consists of cakes made from ground beans which are then fried—known as kosai -- or wheat flour soaked for a day then fried and served with sugar—known as funkaso. Both of these cakes can be served with porridge and sugar known as koko. Lunch or dinner are usually served as heavy porridge with soup and stew known as tuwo da miyan taushe. The soup and stew are usually prepared with ground or chopped tomatoes, onions, and a local pepper sauce called daddawa. While preparing the soup, most of the times spices and other vegetables such as spinach, pumpkin, or okra are added to the soup. The stew is prepared with meat, which can include goat or cow meat but not pork due to Islamic religion restrictions. Beans, peanuts, and milk are also served as a complementary protein diet for the Hausa people.

Population[link]

Ethno-linguistic territories of the Hausa people in Niger (in yellow).

Table of Hausa population by country^[5][6]

Country	Population
Benin	?
Burkina Faso	500
Cameroon	23,500
Ghana	?
Niger	5,000,000
Nigeria	28,525,000
Sudan	418,000
Togo	9600

Hausa ethnic flag[link]

A proposed Hausa ethnic flag is a banner with five horizontal stripes—from top to bottom they are red, yellow, indigo blue, green, and khaki beige.^[7] There is no political entity which uses this flag.

See also[link]

• Hausa-Fulani
• Bayajidda
• Baba of Karo

References[link]

Bibliography[link]

• Mary Wren Bivins, Telling Stories, Making Histories: Women, Words, and Islam in Nineteenth-Century Hausaland and the Sokoto Caliphate (Portsmouth, NH, Heinemann, 2007) (Social History of Africa).

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Hausa people

• Hausa.info
• Hausa Information at Art and Life in Africa Online
• [1]