Celebrating Women: A brief look at Amina of Zaria

Before Wonder Woman and the Amazons came to be part of the stories we told our kids and enjoyed as a past time, there lived an actual superhero, somewhere in Sub-saharan África.

She was highly skilled, intelligent, and was a mighty warrior.

Although, we don't know much about her, she's still an interesting hero of the past to read about.

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Amina of Zaria or Zazzau as it was known then (also in current day Kaduna state, Nigeria) was born circa 1530 A.D in Zazzau.

Zazzau was one of seven Hausa city-states that dominated the Sub-saharan trade scene, shortly after the collapse of the Songhai Empire at the end of the 16th century.

Their family’s wealth was gotten from the trade of leather goods, cloth, kola, salt, horses and metal works.

At the age of 16, she was already viewed as a successor to her mother, Queen Bakwa, who died C. 1566 A. D.

On the death of her mother (who had a very peaceful reign), her little brother, Karama ascended the throne, wheareas, she delved into the art of being a warrior, and gradually grew to become one.

Karama would rule for ten years, before succumbing to the cold hands of death by which time, Amina was already a feared warrior, and probably the finest of them all.

Amina ascended the throne in 1576 A.D, and thus, became the twenty-fourth habe, (title borne by the rulers of Zazzau at that time). She would go ahead to expand the kingdom all the way to the atlantic. She had an insatiable thirst for conquering.

She overran a host of neighbouring towns and cities, in order to clear the path for her traders and allies, alike.

And of course, with success in battle, comes the spoils of war as well as power.

Some accounts state that her subjects were skilled in the act of manipulating metals. Hence, she was able to make body armour for her soldiers.

As her emirate became prosperous, this created an enabling environment for that construction of new cities and towns.

She commissioned the building of ganuwar of Amina (walls of Amina) around these cities, and some of these can still be seen in present day Nigeria.

She would go on to rule for about 34 years, and it is thought that she finally lost her life in a battle at Altagara (C. 1610 A. D), which is close to present day Bida, in Niger state.

According to the Kano Chronicle
“Every town paid tribute to her. The Sarkin Nupe (ruler of Nupe) sent her forty eunuchs and ten thousand kolas."

She was fondly called Amina, rana de Yar Bakwa ta San’ (Amina, daughter of Nikatau, woman as capable as a man)

She never married(purportedly for the fear of ceding power) nor birthed any kids.

The series Xena: Warrior Princess which first aired in 1995 was actually built around her persona.

A lot of what we know about her today is hearsay and diluted.
Some of the stories might be overblown-or even watered down, but what cannot be contested is the fact that she ruled, was a conqueror, and was also a mighty warrior who was probably unrivalled in her time.

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