Hausa chiefdom · West Africa: the Sudan and Guinea · as at first light, 1 January 1200

Zazzau

Zazzau is the southern frontier state of the Hausa, later famous for raiding the peoples to its south for slaves.

Its kings sat at Turunku before Zaria was founded about 1536; Kufena hill by Zaria, with its old walls, is remembered as an earlier stronghold. UNESCO III notes that Turunku, about 300 km from the Niger at Tada, may already have served as a raiding and trading base toward the south. Nothing written describes Zazzau in 1200.

Who rules

Title
sarki of Zazzau
Since
Not known
Family
Tradition traces the Zazzau kings to Gunguma, son of Bawo
Confidence
low

The Zazzau king list has no reliable dates; Zaria city was founded about 1536 by Bakwa of Turunku; Islam came in the late 1450s. Turunku and the hill site of Kufena are the earlier centres of tradition; Turunku is unexcavated.

Overlord

None recorded

What the realm holds

  • Turunku and the hill of Kufena (tradition)
  • Farming villages of the upper Kaduna basin

The realm that morning

A chiefdom of tradition, not attested in 1200; drawn as a small block round Turunku and Kufena.

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: Tradition only.

On the map: May anticipate a later state.

Primary sources for this realm

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

  1. Wikipedia: Zazzau (Zaria founded about 1536; Islam from the late 1450s)
  2. 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)
  3. Wikipedia: Hausa Kingdoms (Bayajidda legend, Hausa Bakwai and Banza Bakwai, foundation dates unknown)

Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.