webPulaaku
Sokoto
H.A.S. Johnston.
The Fulani Empire of Sokoto
London. Ibadan. Nairobi: Oxford University Press. 1967. 312 p.
Glossary
- Ajele
- an executive official (literally Deputy) in Nupe.
- Alhaji
- courtesy title accorded to any man who has made the Pilgrimage to Mecca. The Hausa form of Haffl.
- Alkali
- a judge in a Moslem court.
- Alkalin Alkalai
- Moslem Chief Justice.
- ArDo
- a Fulani title, often accorded to the head of a clan or sub-clan.
- Askia
- the title of the rulers of the Songhai Empire after Muhammad Askia.
- Atikawa
- the members of the Atilm branch of the Sokoto ruling family.
- -awa
- suffix meaning 'the people of', e.g. Gobirawa, the people of Gobir.
- Ba-
- a prefix which, if followed by a place name, means ‘a man of’, e.g. Bagobiri, a man of Gobir.
- Banza Bakwai
- a pejorative term, meaning roughly ‘the Bogus Seven’, used to describe the States in or adjoining Hausaland which did not belong to the authentic seven.
- Barebari
- Berber.
- Birni(n)
- a walled town, hence a city.
- Chief
- this title has been used to describe the rulers of the Hausa States in distinction to 'Emir', which has been reserved for their Fulani successors.
- Chiroma
- a title originating in Bornu but later widely adopted by the Hausas and die Fulani. Normally reserved for members of the ruling family.
- Dagachi
- another tide originating in Bornu but adopted in Hausaland, particularly in the eastern Emirates, and retained by the Fulani.
- Dan
- son of, equivalent of Arabic bin or ibn.
- Dan Galadima
- a title.
- Danyen Kasko
- opprobrious nickname bestowed on Sultan Abdu, literally ‘the Unbaked Pot’.
- Darb el-Arba'in
- name given to the Egypt-Chad caravan route.
- Emir
- this title has been reserved to describe the Fulani rulers in distinction to ‘Chief’, which has been used for their Hausa predecessors.
-
- Etsu tide of the ruler of Nupe.
- Fillani
- Hausa name for the Fulani.
- FulBe
- the Fulani's name for themselves.
- Fulfulde
- the Fulani language.
- Gaisuwa
- literally ‘greetings’ but often meaning the gifts or sweeteners given by inferiors to superiors or intermediaries.
- Galadima a title originating in Bornu but adopted later throughout Hausaland.
- Gazoan Gulbi
- the Dead River.
- Gida(n)
- the house (of).
- Haaɓe
- a word used by the Fulani to describe the indigenous peoples of the Sudan.
- Haj
- the Pilgrimage to Mecca.
- Hajji
- courtesy title accorded to any man who has made the Pilgrimage. Sometimes simply Haj.
- Hakimi (plural -ai)
- a major vassal or fief-holder, a territorial magnate or District Head.
- Haraji
- poll-tax or general tax on the farming community.
- Hausa Bakwai
- the seven authentic States of Hausaland.
- Ijaza
- the licence to teach.
- Jama'a
- the Moslern Community, hence Shehu's followers.
- Jangali
- the tax on cattle.
- Jekada
- the confidential messenger who acted as an intermediary between an absent fief-holder and his fief.
- Jihad
- holy war in the Islamic sense.
- Jizya
- the levy that an Islamic State is entitled to impose on non-Moslem subjects.
- Kadiriyya
- one of the great sects or brotherhoods of Islam, the followers of Abd el-Kadir el-Jilani of Baghdad.
- Kachalla
- a Bornu title.
- Kanemina
- (plural Kanembu), a native of Kanem.
- Kofa
- a Councillor or Courtier who acted as an intermediary (literally doorway) for an out-lying Emirate or fief and thus acquired special responsibility for it.
- Kurdin Kasa
- general tax on the farming community.
- LamiDo
- title of the Emir of Adamawa.
- Madaki or Madawaki
- a Hausa title, literally ‘Master of the Horse’.
- Magaji
- a Hausa title.
- Maghreb
- Moslem North Africa.
- Mahdiyya
- the Islamic sect composed of followers of the Mahdi Muhammad Ahmed.
- Mai
- in Kanuri the word represents the title of the Sultans of Bornu down to 1846. In Hausa it is a prefix meaning the possessor of something, e.g. Mai-Tuta, the flag-bearer.
Makama
- a Hausa title.
- Mallam
- courtesy title accorded by the Hausas to any man of learning.
- Marafa
- a Hausa title.
- Mithqal
- a measure of gold, about 1/2 ounce.
- Modibbo
- courtesy title accorded by the Fulani to any man of learning, the equivalent of the Hausa Mallam.
- Muharram
- a month in the Moslem year.
- Qasida
- Arabic ode.
- Sabo(n)
- new, e.g. Sabongari meaning Newtown.
- Sa'i
- a title.
- Sansani
- a war-camp or military outpost.
- Sarki(n)
- Chief or Emir (of).
- Sarkin Musulmi
- Commander of the Faithful, the Hausa form of the title of the Sultans of Sokoto.
- Sarkin Yaki
- Captain-General.
- Seku
- a corrupt form of the Arabic word Sheikh, used in the western Sudan and adopted as their title by the rulers of Hamdallahi.
- Shari'a
- Islamic Law.
- Shehu
- the Hausa and Kanuri version of the Arabic word Sheikh, reserved in this book as the title of Usuman dan Fodiyo.
- Sheikh
- the title of El-Kanemi and his successors, first as the administrative rulers of Bornu and after 1846 as the usurping but accepted Sultans.
- Siyasa
- the discretionary authority, complementary to that defined in the Shari'a, with which Moslem rulers were endowed.
- Sudan
- the belt of Africa lying between the Sahara to the north and the equatorial rain-forests to the south. Where the term 'central Sudan' has been used it is intended to indicate broadly the sector lying between Lake Chad and the Niger.
- Sultan
- this title has been reserved for the rulers of Sokoto to whom the other Emirs owed allegiance. In theory it should also be accorded to the rulers of Gwandu, who were paramount in their part of the Dual Empire, but since the advent of the British they have always been known as Emirs of Gwandu and this practice has been followed. Similarly, to avoid confusion, the paramount rulers of Borma have not been styled Sultan but, before 1846, Mai and, after that date, Sheikh.
- Sunna
- the approved customs of Islam.
- Sunni
- orthodox Moslems.
- Tafida
- a title.
- Tambari
- a Tuareg title.
- Tijjani
- a member of the Tijaniyya sect of Islam, the followers of Ahmad Tijjani of Fez.
- Sullubawa
- a branch of the Fulani people who played a prominent part in the jihad in Sokoto, Katsina, and Kano.
- Toronkawa
- the branch of the Fulani people to which the ruling families of Sokoto and Gwandu belong.
- Ubandawaki
- a Hausa title.
- Ubandoma
- a Hausa title.
- Wali
- a Moslem saint.
- Wambai
- a title.
- Waziri
- Vizier.
- Yarima
- a title of Bornu origin widely adopted in Haussland.
- Zakka
- the Islamic tithe.
- Zaria and Zazzau
- in the Hausa era, Zazzau was the name of the State and Zaria the name of the capital. In the Fulani and British periods, however, the use of Zazzau began to die out and Zaria was employed increasingly to describe the Emirate as well as the city. In this book, therefore, Zazzau has been used to denote the Hausa State and Zaria the Fulani Emirate.
