e - CIFAS

I
Muhammadu Makau
(at Zaria, 1802-4:)
(at Zuba. 1804-25)
3
GOVERNMENT IN
NINETEENTH-CENTURY ABUJA
I. INTRODUCTION
(a) Same Preliminaries
THB government of Ahuja is complex and unfamiliar, and I
therefore summarize its essentials here as an introduction to
the analysis which follows.· But before plunging into this
synopsis certain points must be mentioned briefly/Ol
Kingship is a focal-point of the Ahuja government. Succe55ion
to kingship at Abuja was based on patrilineal descent, but the king
was seh:cted by certain high officials ofthe state. 3 Thekingship and
~cceSS1onofHabe rulers of Abuja since Makau's flight from Zaria
City are represented in the following diagram:
Ishaku Jatau
(Sarkin Zazzau)
1782- 1802
I
I
Abu Ja (I) Abu Kwakwa (2)
1825-51 1851-77
I
Ibtabim (3) Mubamman Gani (4)
1877-1902 1902-17
I
Musa Angulu (s) Suleimanu Batau (6)
1917-44 1944-
I ProfCllSOl" Nadel's account of Nupe llate organizlltion shows lome parallels
to the8llAbuja data' d. Nadel, 1942. pp. 93-U4,.
J MlIBterton-Smith, n.d. 'paras. 13-18. I have prepared D. chart oftbe office, of
the Abuju guvenunent Il!llllg the data provided by Mallam Ha8san and Mr
Mu~n~Smi1h•.This ~ should be consulted during the following die.:
CU981Otl. Further mfonoabon on the system of sovemment La prellented in
AppendttA.
. • M. HusIn refflI'll to th,: traditions of former ruling Queena of Hebe Zaria in
hie booklet, Malum, Ba,kin ZtlZl/au na Habe. Whether $uccenion wu then
patrilineal cannot be detennined on the evidence now avai.Iable.
I
I
I
:&
GOVERNMENT IN NINETEENTH-CENTURY ABUJA 3S
Nota:
(,). (2). (3) ~ OIdeI of au=saion.
= Appointments under British Rule.
From the data available we cannot determine the rules which
governed eligibility for succession within the royal patrilineage at
Abuja, nor the degree to which the succession patterns at Abuja
followed those of Habe Zazzau. Succession at Abuja was clearly
patrilineal, and a royal descent-group of lineage-type is indicated,
internaUy differentiated by lines descended from successive rulers.
Under the British, the Abuja succession has passed alternately be·
tween two houses of the royal lineage. descended from Abu}a and
Abu Kwakwa respectively. Whether this is a new development, an
instance of continuity, or the fulfilment of a tendency inherent
within the fonner practice of succession, it is not possible to say.
The exclusion of :Makau's issue from the succession indicates that
the local electors exercised great influence on the succession, and
thatsuccessionitselfcould modifythestructureofthe royaldescentgroup.
Whether the eJectors were able to exercise this infiuence
because the royal lineage was divided by rivalry for the succession,
we do not know.
M. Hassan mentions a small group of royal officials, two of
whom were females, the lya (mother), the Sarauniya who was the
king's eldest daughter, and the Dan Galadima, the king's chosen
successor. Masterton-Smith adds to these the Magajin Dangi
(head of the-royal?-lineage) who was a member of the order of
maliarns. M. Hassan says that the title of Iya was held by 'one of
the wives of the previous chief, but not necessarily the mother of
the ruling chief'. 1 He notes that despite the king's choice, 'only one
Dan Galadima succeeded to the chieftainship' at Abuja. s In other
words, apart from the king, most ofthe royal officials were womeD
who were ineligible for succession, and the king's chosen successor
was systematically set aside.
The present territory of Abuja, and the area over which the
Sarkin Abuja claimed suzerainty at the time of the British arrival
in 1900, are shown on the accompanying map.s Certain parts of
this area were administered as vassal states. According to Master-
1M. Hassan, 195Z, (:il), p. 34•
-Ibid., and footnote.
• According to Ma!lterton-Smith (op. cit., para. ~) the Emirate was '4]9
square miles in the 1'}40'II.