According to the tradition most often repeated, Amina was a princess of Zazzau (Zaria), one of the seven Hausa states. She was a skilled horsewoman and soldier, and when she came to power she led her army in a long series of campaigns, pushing the authority of Zazzau toward the Niger and the Benue, forcing neighbouring rulers to pay tribute and opening trade routes. She is said to have built earthen walls around the towns she took, and to have refused to marry so that she would keep her independence.
The titles attached to her vary. Palace tradition calls her Sarauniya (queen), other traditions call her Gimbiya (princess), and a tradition names her as Magajiya, heir apparent, at the age of sixteen. She is often described as the daughter of Bakwa Turunku, the founder of Zazzau as a kingdom in the Hausa tradition. All of this comes from stories repeated over centuries, and one of the aims of this chapter is to separate what is written from what is told.
Sources for this article
- Salamone 2010, ch. 2, p. 10
- Unsigned overview (n.d.), section “Queen Amina and the Expansion of Zazzau” (popular account, treated with caution)