Song of Bagauda
Hausa oral kinglist poem from Kano, recited by beggars.
The Hausa oral poem known as the Song of Bagauda (Waƙar Bagauda) originates from Kano. It is believed to contain a very old core of material that was expanded over generations. Functioning as a homiletic kinglist, it records the names and actions of rulers stretching back centuries. The poem is well known throughout Kano, where it is traditionally chanted by beggars on the city's streets.
Scholars consider it a genuinely native Hausa tradition, largely because its imagery is drawn heavily from the Hausa peasant economy. As such, it offers a Hausa perspective on history, particularly on the clash between Islam and indigenous pagan practices. This viewpoint is significant because earlier academic work on the region's past relied mostly on documents written by Fulani scholars, with little input from the Hausa, especially the common peasantry.
The earliest written versions of the poem date from around the 1920s, but the song itself is likely much older. Local tradition in Kano holds that it originates from the time of Bagauda, the city's first chief, who reigned in the 11th century. The poem has been passed down orally, and a couplet or stanza was reportedly added upon the death of each subsequent chief. The kinglist's chronology differs from the more authoritative Kano Chronicle by roughly two and a half centuries, and while the two sources show some convergence for later rulers, scholarly sources note discrepancies even for the reign of Alwali, who was driven from Kano in 1807, so claims of exact agreement are not supported by standard academic literature.
The poem's text was recorded in 1960 by the Hausaist Isa Kurawa, then a sub-editor for the Kano Native Authority newspaper *Sodangi*. In 1962, Kurawa informed the scholar Mervyn Hiskett of the poem and gave him his compiled version. Kurawa had obtained this version from an elderly Hausa woman named Hawwa, who claimed to be 100 years old. She had learned the poem as a girl from the grandfather of a certain Malam Mu'azu, an Islamic scholar in Kano. Mu'azu himself possessed a manuscript of his grandfather's version, which differed slightly from Hawwa's. Hiskett also independently obtained a third manuscript from Muhammadu Nasiru, then headmaster of the Shahuci Judicial School in Kano.
- Type
- Oral poem
- Language
- Hausa
- Region
- Kano
- Earliest written version
- c. 1920s
- Recorded by
- Isa Kurawa (1960)
- Published by
- Mervyn Hiskett (1964–1965)
- Known for
- Preserving a Hausa kinglist and commentary on Islam vs. paganism
Lore & Background
The Song of Bagauda is believed by local tradition in Kano to date to the time of Bagauda, the first chief of Kano, who reigned in the 11th century. It has been handed down from generation to generation, and on the death of each chief, a couplet or stanza is added. The chronology of its kinglist diverges from the more reliable Kano Chronicle by about two and a half centuries. Although the two sources show some convergence for later rulers, scholarly sources note discrepancies even for the reign of Alwali, who was driven out of Kano in 1807, so claims of exact agreement are not supported by standard academic literature.
The text was recorded in 1960 by Hausaist Isa Kurawa, sub-editor of the Kano Native Authority newspaper Sodangi. In 1962, Kurawa informed Mervyn Hiskett of the poem and gave him his compiled version, obtained from the dictation of an old Hausa woman named Hawwa, who claimed to be 100 years old.
Reader's Guide
The Song of Bagauda is significant as a rare native Hausa historical source, offering a peasant perspective on the region's past, in contrast to the Fulani-dominated scholarship that preceded its documentation. Its extensive use of imagery from the Hausa peasant economy marks it as an indigenous tradition, and its homiletic structure—including a kinglist, a section on the vanity of the world, and rulings on Muslim law—reflects the interplay of pre-Islamic and Islamic elements in Hausa culture. The poem's divergence from the Kano Chronicle by centuries for early rulers, yet agreement for later ones, highlights the challenges of oral tradition in preserving accurate chronology. Its preservation by streetside beggars and its eventual recording by Isa Kurawa and Mervyn Hiskett ensured that a voice from the Hausa peasantry entered the historical record, providing a counterpoint to elite Fulani chronicles. The poem's composition, influenced by the Arabic metre wāfir and the Classical Arabic qasida, also demonstrates the deep integration of Islamic literary forms into Hausa oral culture.
Did You Know?
- The poem is recited by streetside beggars around Kano.
- The earliest known written versions date from around the 1920s.
- The poem's chronology diverges from the Kano Chronicle by about two and a half centuries.
- The text was recorded in 1960 by Isa Kurawa from the dictation of a 100-year-old Hausa woman named Hawwa.
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