Gwandu Emirate in the eyes of history

Gwandu Emirate is located in Kebbi state with its headquarter in Birnin Kebbi, the state capital. The emirate accounts for about 50 per cent of the entire state’s population and 40 per cent of its landmass and comprises 10 local government areas with a population of about 2.7 million inhabitants spread over a geographical area of almost 15, 000 square kilometres.

At its administrative apex is the 10-member Gwandu Emirate Council under the chairmanship of His Royal Highness, the Emir of Gwandu, Alhaji  Muhammamd Iliyasu-Bashr, superintending over 55 District Heads as well as many institutional and honorary traditional title holders.

From the beginning

 Gwandu Emirate emerged from the ‘Tajdeed’ (renaissance) period of Islamic Jihad in the early 19th Century and was the cornerstone of then Sokoto Caliphate.

It played a vital role in the spread of Islam, good governance and Muslim hegemony over a vast area thereby becoming a centre of political power, religious learning and economic activity.

The emirate was established in 1812 following the division of Sokoto Caliphate into two by Sheikh Usmanu Danfodiyo. Mallam Abdullahi bin Fodiyo, the younger brother of Sheikh Usmanu, an extremely pious and ascetic personality, who was its first leader, choose Gwandu as the seat of the new emirate, considering that it served as the seat of Sokoto Caliphate from 1805 to 1809.

Gwandu, therefore, became the key administrative position of the Sokoto Caliphate, tasked with administering the western territories that extended the Caliphate’s influence beyond the Ka’oje/Illo axis into the present-day Republics of Benin, Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso.

This strategic position made emirate the most important entity after Sokoto, playing crucial role in the political struggles of the caliphate in the 19th century. Gwandu Emirate operated within the larger framework of the Sokoto Caliphate with the Emir of Gwandu serving as both a regional ruler and deputy to the Sultan of Sokoto. In addition to maintaining strong ties to the caliphate’s central authority, the Emir of Gwandu enjoyed significant autonomy over the western region. This political arrangement reflected the close relationship among the Sokoto Jihad triumvirate namely, Sheikh Usmanu Danfodiyo, his brother Mallam Abdullahi Fodiyo and their respective son and nephew, Sultan Muhammadu Bello. The brotherly and friendly bond between Sokoto and Gwandu has thrived to this day, consolidated upon by the incumbent Sultan of Sokoto, His Eminence, Sultan Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III and the present Emir of Gwandu, His Royal Highness, Alhaji Bashar.

The political authority of Gwandu Emirate in the 19th Century transcended locations closer to its headquarters like Argungu, Gwandu, Birnin Kebbi and Kalgo, but also distant areas over which it had significant, indirect, nominal or tributary influences. These areas included Nupe land where Gwandu Emirate had significant influence over the region. It comprised Bida, Lapai, Agaie and Lafiagi due to their locations along the River Niger. The Nupe Ruling House had close ties with the leadership in Gwandu, of which the present Etsu Nupe, His Royal Highness, Alhaji Yahaya Abubakar has taken to an enviable height.

Ilorin was also a significant outpost of the Sokoto Caliphate administered through Gwandu Emirate. It represented the Southern-most extent of the caliphate’s influence and was a point of contact with the Yoruba controlled states. There is also Borgu Kingdom which was split between Gwandu and Sokoto with Gwandu generally responsible for the western parts of the caliphate.

On the international front, Gwandu Emirate’s influence extended into what is now parts of Benin, Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso. However, control over these more distant areas was often indirect or nominal. Many of the outlaying regions had a tributary relationship with Gwandu Emirate, acknowledging its supremacy by paying tributes and retaining significant local autonomy. As a result of this, the emirate flourished as a centre of Islamic learning and governance under the leadership of Mallam Abdullahi Fodiyo and also played a crucial role in spreading Islam and the political ideology of the Sokoto Caliphate throughout the Western Sudan.

It also became an important economic hub, benefitting largely from many trade routes that connected it to other parts of West Africa through Illo and Jega towns, which not only emerged as trading posts but also played pivotal roles in the emirate’s economic prosperity.

 Both towns or trading posts facilitated trade throughout the length and breadth of the emirate via prominent trading routes that included the Trans-Saharan Trade Route linking Kano, Zaria and Katsina; the Southern Trade Route that connected the coastal areas and forest kingdoms of Nupe, Yoruba and Lagos areas, Eastern Trade Route that connected Bornu Empire through Sokoto and Kano and the Western Trade Route that linked Massina Empire in present day Mali. In addition, there are extensive internal trade networks that connected various trading centres in major cities like Kano, Sokoto and Zaria as well as the Niger and Benue Rivers for transportation.

History of the Emirate

 The history of the Emirate cannot be comprehensive without a discussion of its founder and headquarters. The founder of Gwandu Emirate was Mallam Abdullahi Fodiyo who lived between 1766 and 1829. He was the younger brother to Sheikh Usmanu Danfodiyo and a prominent Islamic scholar, teacher and writer who played significant role in the Islamic Jihad of 1804 that led to the establishment of the Sokoto Caliphate. He served as key adviser to both Sheikh Usmanu Danfodiyo and Sultan Muhammadu Bello. Mallam Abdullahi became the first Emir of Gwandu in 1812 and like his brother the Sheikh, he wrote many books on Islamic law, theology and governance, contributing significantly to the intellectual foundation of the caliphate. Though he passed away in 1829, his descendants continued to rule the emirate till date. Muhammadu Iliyasu Bashar, a retired Army General is the 20th descendant to ascend the throne as current Emir.

The first administrative seat of the emirate was Gwandu town, 50 kilometres away from Birnin Kebbi. It is now the headquarters of Gwandu local government area of Kebbi state and has a checkered history in its evolution before and after its status as the seat of the emirate. Each of the three prominent Jihad leaders, namely, Sheikh Usmanu Danfodiyo, Mallam Abdullahi Fodiyo and Sultan Muhammadu Bello played one key role or the other in its historical evolution.

The name, Gwandu, is coined from the Hausa word ‘Gandu’, which means, ‘farm’ or ‘orchard’. The town was a garden by the nature of its unique climate and served as the royal garden of the first King of Kebbi Kingdom, named Muhammad Kanta who lived between 1515 and 1561. It was founded by Sarkin Noman Kanta which literarily means ‘The Head Farmer of the King’. Gwandu’s sublime climatic condition, its primed secured location and the subsequent capture of Birnin Kebbi on April 15, 1805, by the Jihad forces made it the most convenient choice to be the seat of the nascent caliphate. So, Sheikh Usmanu Danfodiyo migrated to Gwandu in 1805 and established it as the seat of Sokoto Caliphate. The town was later fortified when, in 1806, Muhammadu Bello built walls around it to ensure special protection for both the Sheikh and the Caliphate.

Gwandu served as the seat of the caliphate for four years until Sheikh Usmanu Danfodiyo moved to Sifawa in 1809. Following the decision to divide the administration of the caliphate into two in 1812, Mallam Abdullahi Fodiyo decided to retain Gwandu as the capital of the caliphate’s western headquarters. This marked the beginning of its journey as the de facto headquarters of Gwandu Emirate for 55 years until in 1860 when Aliyu Bin Abdullahi (1860 – 1864) moved the capital to Ambursa town on account of incessant attacks by the Kabawa.

It is pertinent to mention that while five Emirs operated from Gwandu, nine Emirs operated from Ambursa including Emir Aliyu Bin Abdullahi who moved the capital from Gwandu to Ambursa within six months of his ascension to the throne. Ambursa, an original Fulani settlement of Wagawa clan under Chief Ardo Wago, and had good climatic condition as Gwandu that attracted even the colonialists. It served as the headquarters of the emirate for 43 years until Emir Haliru Abdu (1906 – 1915) moved it to Birnin Kebbi and settled in the house of Ubandoma at ‘Yar Yara area in Birnin Kebbi in 1906. However, when Emir Usman Haliru (Shehu Mainasarawa) (1918 – 1938), became the Emir of Gwandu, he moved the headquarters to its present location at the Abdullahi Fodiyo Palace, Nassarawa, Birnin Kebbi in 1928 where it has remained up to this day with the reign of Emir Muhammadu Iliyasu Bashar as the 20th.

The choice of Birnin Kebbi as the seat of the emirate was not fortuitous, but made on account of its accessibility to emergencies and logistics of the colonial administration. Hitherto, Birnin Kebbi was the headquarters of Kebbi Kingdom from 1720 during the reign of Sarkin Kabi Tomo up to its conquest in 1805. A Songhai settlement known as Takalafiya, Birnin Kebbi was founded in the 15th century by Askia Muhammad Ture 1 (1493 – 1528), the first ruler of the Askia dynasty of the Songhai Empire to serve as a transit camp for Hajj travels and collection of tributes from its vassals in Hausaland including the Wagawa clan. It was thus a prominent commerce and trading post in the 15th century and beyond. As a result of its open, equitable and fair opportunities for all classes of people, it recorded relative peace, prosperity and abundance of food. This has continued to this day and enabled a cordial respectable relationship between the emirate’s leadership and its people.

 The colonial period brought significant changes to the structure and functioning of the emirate. By that, the British adopted a system of Indirect Rule, allowing traditional rulers to maintain some levels of authority, but the power of the Emir of Gwandu was significantly curtailed and the emirate became part of the Protectorate of Northern Nigeria and later the Northern Region after the country’s amalgamation in 1914. Despite these changes, Gwandu Emirate managed to preserve much of its cultural and religious identities while the Emirs continued to play important roles as spiritual and cultural leaders.

Post-independence influence on the emirate

Following Nigeria’s independence in 1960, Gwandu Emirate, like other traditional institutions in the country, had to adapt to the new political reality. For instance, the creation of states in 1967 and subsequent creation of additional states led to administrative changes that affected the emirate’s traditional boundaries.

In 1991, when Kebbi was excised from the defunct Sokoto state, Gwandu Emirate became one of the prominent emirates within the newly-created Kebbi state. This change brought both challenges and opportunities. Although it further reduced the geographical scope of the emirate’s influence, it, however, allowed for closer cooperation with the state government on local development issues.

Today, the emirate has continued to exist as a first class traditional institution within Nigeria’s federal system with the incumbent Emir as a custodian of Islamic culture in the region. He also plays advisory role to the state government on matters relating to traditional affairs and local governance. The emirate has also adapted to modern realities by embracing education and development initiatives. For instance, many descendants of the ruling family have pursued higher education and taken up roles in various sectors of the society, thus helping to bridge the gap between traditional institutions and modern governance structures.

 The history of Gwandu Emirate is a testament to the resilience of African traditional institutions. From its origin in the Fulani Jihad to its current status in modern Nigeria, Gwandu has undergone significant transformations while maintaining its cultural and historical significance. The Emirate’s journey reflects the broader historical processes that have shaped Northern Nigeria from the Islamic revival of the 19th century through the colonial era to post-independence nation building.

 Despite the challenges posed by colonialism, post-independence and modernisation, the emirate has managed to retain its relevance, adapting its role to serve the needs of  the inhabitants in a changing world. In the present dispensation, the emirate commends His Excellency, the governor of Kebbi state, Comrade Nasir Idris (Kauran Gwandu) for his support in strengthening traditional institutions in the state.

 HRH Muhammadu Iliyasu Bashar was appointed the 20th Emir of Gwandu on June 5, 2005 by Muhammadu Adamu Aliero, the former governor and has continued to rule his people to this day with peace, tranquility and prosperity as chairman, Kebbi State Council of Chiefs.

Gwandu Emirate kingmakers include Wazirin Gwandu, Magajin Garin Gwandu, Magajin Rafin Gwandu, Galadiman Gwandu, Walin Gwandu, Sarkin Fadan Gwandu, Sarkin Kabin Jega, Sarkin Illo, Magajin Zagga, Sarkin Aliero and Sarkin Yakin Zogirma.

It has 55 districts, each governed by a District Head, while 179 personalities are traditional title holders of the emirate.