| Capital: |
Kaduna |
| Area: |
7,627.20sq
kilometres |
| Population: |
4,652,989
(1997 FOS est.) |
| Language: |
Igbo |
History
It is generally
believed that Zaria is one of the seven Hausa
States of the early 15th century and among the
largest. The other name for Zaria is Zazzau and
the inhabitants are called Zage-zage or
Zazzagawa.
Tradition has it
that the name Zazzau is derived from a famous
sword which was honoured in those days by the
Zazzagawa and helped to give a kind of ethnic
identity years before the recognition of any
king by Zaria people.
There were sixty
"Habe" (the name given to Hausa people
before the Fulani conquest of Hausaland in 1804)
rulers (Kings and Queens) who rules Zaria town.
The first ruler was called GUNGUMA, and the 22nd
was called Bakwa Turunku (it is still not
certain whether Bakwa Turunku was a male or a
female).
Bakwa Turunku had
two daughters and their names were always linked
to the history of Zazzau. The older daughter was
called Amina, after whom the original wall,
which has a length of about 15 kilometres round
the city of Zaria is called. Zaria the younger
daughter gave her name to the modern emirate and
its capital.
Aminna ruled
Zaria had was known as a great warrior, her
territories stretching as far to Bauchi in the
east and extending as far south as the River
Niger. She build a walled town wherever she
conquered. Tradition also maintains that Queen
Amina was nnever married to a fulltime husband
all her life. She took a temporary husband where
ever she sojourned and had him killed the
following morning so that he would never live to
narrate his experiences with her. Queen Amina
died in Atagara in the present-day Niger State
near Bida during one of her campaigns.
According to an
oral tradition, Zaria, Queen Amina's sister
married a king of Zazzau but later became bored
with married life and decided to escape to the
north.
Kadunna State
provides the meeting point of the earliest
histories of Nigeria. It is the home of Nok
which gave its name to the oldest culture of
Nigeria - the Nok culture
Local
Government Areas
Birni-Gwari,
Chikun, Giwa, Igabi, Ikara, jaba, Jema'a, Kachia,
Kaduna North, Kaduna South, Kagarko, Kajuru,
Kaura, Kauru, Kubau, Kudan, Lere, Makarfi,
Sabon-Gari, Sanga, Soba, Zango-Kataf, Zaria.
