The Hausa are a Chadic tribe or ethnic group based mainly in the Sahel and sparse savanna regions of Northern Nigeria and Southern Niger. According to the 2019 census estimate, the Hausa ethnic group population was over 25 million (30 million). The Hausa-speaking communities are scattered throughout Africa’s western region and on the traditional Hajj way east and north traversing the Sahara, with a large population around the Agadez town. Other Hausa have also migrated or moved to large coastal towns in the areas such as Port Harcourt, Accra, Lagos, Abidjan, Banjul, Cotonou, and to regions of North Africa such as Libya over the last 500 years. They moved because of various reasons ranging from long-distance trade, military service, hunting, Hajj performance, spreading Islam as well as running away from oppressive feudal rulers or kings.
Significant localized populations are in Benin, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Sudan, Chad, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Togo, Eritrea, Equatorial Guinea, Senegal, Gabon, and the Gambia.
The Hausa people traditionally lived in small villages, towns, and cities. They grew crops, raised livestock such as cattle, and engaged in trade locally and long-distance across the continent. The Hausa ethnic group speaks mostly the Hausa language. The Hausa language is an Afro-Asiatic language of the Chadic group, the most popular local African language. The Hausa language self-designations in the singular are Bahaushiya and Bahaushe. Bahaushe refers to a man while Bahaushiya refers to a woman.
The Daura city is the cultural center of the Hausa ethnic group. The town predates all the other central or major Hausa towns in culture and tradition. The Hausa nobility or aristocracy had historically developed an equestrian-based culture. Still a status symbol of the traditional elite in Hausa society, the horse still features in the Eid day celebrations, called Ranar Sallah. Ranar Sallah in English refers to ‘the Day of the Prayer.’
The Hausa People Genetics
According to a Y-DNA research by Hassan et al., more than 40% of the Hausa in Cameroon, Nigeria, Niger, and Sudan carry the West Eurasian haplogroup R1b. the remainder belongs to several Africa paternal ancestries: over 15% B, over 12% A and about 13% E1b1a. A small minority of approximately 4% are E1b1b clade bearers, a haplogroup that is common in the Horn of Africa and the Northern region of Africa. In terms of overall ancestry, autosomal DNA research by Tishkoff et al. found the Hausa to be closely related to Nilo-Sharan populations from South Sudan and Chad. This suggests that the Hausa people and other present-day Chadic-speaking populations initially spoke Nilo-Sharan languages prior to adopting languages from the Afro-Asiatic family after migration into that region centuries ago.
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Hausa Language
The language has more 1st-language speakers than any other African language. According to estimates, it has more than 60 million 1st-language speakers and close to 50m 2nd-language speakers. People among the Tuareg, Fulani, Kanuri, Gur, Shuwa Arab, and other Afro-Asiatic speaking groups also speak the Hausa language. There are also big Hausa communities in every major African city in neighborhoods known as zangos or zongos, meaning caravan camp in Hausa.
There’s a large and developing or growing printed literature in Hausa, including poetry, novels, plays, newspapers, news magazines, and technical academic works. Television and radio broadcasting in Hausa is ubiquitous in the northern parts of Nigeria and Niger. The Hausa language is used as the language of instruction at the elementary level in learning institutions in Northern Nigeria. Hausa is also available as a course of study in northern Nigeria Universities. Besides, various advanced degrees (Ph.D. and Masters) are offered in Hausa in several Universities in the United Kingdom, the United States, and Germany. People also use the Hausa language in several social media networks around the globe.
Religion
Orthodox Sunni Islam of the Maliki madhhab is the historically established and predominant faith or religion of the people. Islam has been there in Hausaland since the 11th century, giving rise to popular local Sufi scholars and saints. By the 14th century, Hausa traders were already spreading the Islam faith across a large swathe of West Africa, such as Ivory Coast and Ghana. People practiced Maguzanci before Islam. Maguzanci was an African traditional religion. In the more remote regions or areas of Hausaland, the people continue to practice Maguzanci. Practices involve the sacrifice of animals for personal ends. It is not legitimate to practice Maguzanci magic for harm.
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Clothing and Accessories
Throughout the Middle Ages, the Hausa people were popular for their dyeing and cloth weaving, cotton commodities, leather sandals, horse equipment, metal locks, and leather-working and export of such items throughout West Africa and North Africa. People often characterized the Hausa people by their Indigo blue emblems and dressing, which earned them the name ‘blue men.’ The Hausa traditionally rode on fine horses and Saharan camels. Tie-dye methods have been in use in the Hausa region of W. Africa for many years with renowned Indigo dye pits in Kano, Nigeria.
The traditional dress of the Hausa people comprises loose flowing trousers and gowns. The gowns have wide openings on both sides for ventilation purposes. The trousers are open at the center and top. However, they are tight around the legs. Turbans and leather sandals are also typical. The men are easily noticeable or recognizable due to their elaborate dress, a big flowing gown called Babban Riga. These big flowing gowns usually have elaborate embroidery designs around the chest and neck areas.
The men also wear colorful embroidered caps called hula. People can identify the women by wrappers known as Zani, made with a colorful cloth called Ankara or atampa accompanied by a matching blouse, head tie, and shawl (Gyale).
The Hausa women traditionally use Henna designs painted onto the hand instead of nail-polish. A shared tradition with other Afroasiatic speakers such as Habesha, Berbers, Egyptians, and Arab peoples, is that both Hausa women and men use kohl around the eyes as an eye shadow, with the region below the eye-getting a thicker line than that of the top. Like Bedouin, Zarma, Fulani, and Berber women, the Hausa women use kohl to accentuate facial symmetry.
Architecture
The Hausa architecture is one of the most unpopular but most beautiful of the Medieval Age. Most of their early palaces and mosques are colorful and bright, including intricate engraving or elaborate symbols designed into the façade. This architectural style is called Tubali, which means architecture in the Hausa language. People established or built the ancient Kano city walls to provide security or protection to the growing population. Sarki Gijimasu laid the foundation for constructing the walls from 1095-1134 and got completed in the mid-14th century. In the 16th century, people extended the walls further to their modern-day position.
The buildings are featured or characterized by the use of dry mud bricks in cubic structures, multi-storied structures or buildings for the social elite, the use of parapets related to their fortress building past, and traditional white plaster and stucco for house fronts.
Sport (Dambe)
Their culture is rich in traditional sporting events such as boxing, stick fight, and wrestling that got initially organized to celebrate harvests but over the generations developed into sporting events for entertainment purposes.
Dambe is a brutal type or form of traditional martial art associated with the Hausa tribe of the African continent’s western region. Its origin is covered in mystery. Edward Powe, a Nigerian martial art culture researcher, recognizes similarities instance and the single wrapped fist of Hausa boxers to images of ancient Egyptian fighters from the 12th Dynasty to the 13th Dynasty.
It initially started among the lower class of Hausa Butcher caste groups. Later, it developed into a way of practicing military skills and then into sporting events through generations of Nigerians in the north. People fight in rounds of 3 or fewer, and they have no time limits. A round ends if one knocks out his opponent or when a fighter’s body, knee, or hand touch the ground.
Dambe’s principal or primary weapon is the spear. The fighters usually end up with broken jaws, split brows, and even sustain brain damage. Dambe fighters may get cattle, money, the farm produces, or jewelry as winnings.
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Hausa Food
The most usual food that the Hausa people prepare comprises grains like millet, rice, sorghum, or maize, which people grind into flour for various kinds of dishes. This food is called tuwo in the Hausa language. Breakfast comprises dumplings and cakes. Dinner or lunch features a heavy porridge with soup and stew called tuwo da Miya. The people usually prepare the soup and stew with chopped onions, tomatoes, and spices.
The people add spices and other vegetables such as pumpkin and spinach to the soup during preparation. They sometimes prepare the stew with meat (goat meat or cow meat) but not pork because of Islamic food restrictions. They also serve peanuts, beans, and milk as a complementary protein diet for the ethnic group.
The most popular of all Hausa food is Suya. A dried version of Suya is known as Kilishi.
