Magana Jari Ce

Did You Know?

• Abubakar Imam won a literary competition organised by Rupert East in 1933.
• His debut novel, Ruwan Bagaja, was published in 1934.
• Imam wrote the Magana Jari Ce series during a six-year stay in Zaria.

Plot

The novel follows a young prince named Musa, whose father, Emir Abdurahman, had long been without an heir. A traditional sheikh dreamed that if the emir gathered forty imams to pray for forty days, God would bless him with a child, and Musa was born. When Musa was about twelve, an emir from the Sinari kingdom sent his vizier to propose a marriage between his daughter Princess Sinaratu and Musa. Emir Abdurahman was upset by this proposal, disgraced the vizier, and sent him away. The vizier of Sinari then allied with his own emir to attack Abdurahman, using a slave to guide them via an unknown route. The plan failed, and Abdurahman prepared to retaliate. Before leaving for war, he left his own vizier in charge of the kingdom, unaware that this vizier was a traitor. The vizier plotted to kill Prince Musa and, hoping the emir would die in battle, seize the throne. Abdurahman had ordered trusted slaves to protect Musa. Meanwhile, Musa's pet parrot Aku, who knew the past, present, and future, told the prince stories to keep him from leaving the palace and exposing himself to danger.

Characters

Sarki Abdurahman is the royal emir and father of Crown Prince Musa. Waziri is the vizier to Sarki Abdurahman who secretly allies with Sarkin Zinari to overthrow the kingdom in exchange for becoming emir. Musa is the crown prince and son of Sarki Abdurahman. Mahamudu is the son of Sarki Abdurahman's daughter and a childhood friend of Musa, also the son of the seventy-year-old commander of the kingdom; as a boy, he would need to fight alongside the emir in war to inherit his father's position. Waziri Aku is Musa's pet parrot, who later becomes vizier to the royal emir; he tells stories to distract the prince from leaving the palace. Sarkin Zinari, Abdulaziz dan Shehu Mukhtar, is the rival emir who was angered by the rejection of his marriage proposal and the disgrace of his vizier. Sinaratu is the daughter of Sarkin Zinari, whom he wants to marry Prince Musa. Wazirin Sinari is the vizier to Sarkin Zinari, who remained loyal to his emir after being disgraced by Sarki Abdurahman.