Turunku was the seat of Zazzau's rulers before Bakwa of Turunku founded Zaria about 1536; it lies in the Igabi area south of Zaria (the point is a stand-in, not checked to the village).
Unexcavated; UNESCO III suggests it may have served early as a base toward the south. Not attested for 1200.
Who holds it
- Title
- sarki of Zazzau
- Confidence
- low
How things stand that morning
Not attested.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Tradition only.
Primary sources for Zazzau
Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.
- The Kano Chronicle (about 1880 to 1890, from older written lists and oral tradition). The only narrative of the Hausa towns, but a nineteenth-century compilation whose dates for early kings are reckoned back from reign lengths. Read online
Sources and studies
- UNESCO General History of Africa III, pp. 91, 100, 470-471, 508 (the Bayajidda legend and Abu Yazid; Yaji's Islam; Hausa city-states later than Kanem; Turunku about 300 km from the Niger at Tada, possibly a slave-raiding base, unexcavated)
- Wikipedia: Zazzau (Zaria founded about 1536; Islam from the late 1450s)
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.