Few events sum up Hausa-Fulani court culture as the durbar. In Kano it is called Hawan Sallah, “the Eid ride”, and takes place at the two major Muslim festivals, Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha. Horsemen in colourful robes and turbans, escorted by musicians and men on foot, ride out in front of the emir and his officials, charge towards the palace and salute him. UNESCO, which in 2024 added “Durbar in Kano” to its Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, describes a procession of roughly ten thousand riders and people on foot, in four processions with different costumes and times.
The parade brings the city’s districts and craft communities together. The emir’s route passes through quarters whose people have contributed to the city, and the clothes, saddles and harnesses show the work of embroiderers, weavers, dyers, leatherworkers and metalworkers. Kakaki trumpets and other instruments accompany the riders.
The English word “durbar” came through British India, from the Persian and Urdu word for a royal court, and was applied by the colonial administration to such ceremonies. Local traditions about the origin of the Hausa and Fulani cavalry parade go back further, and different accounts link it to the military review of the emirate’s horsemen. Similar celebrations take place in other northern emirates. It is a reminder that the emirates still have a role in public life, even when their political powers are limited (see the chapter on the Modern era).
Sources for this article
- Unsigned overview (n.d.), section “Architectural Heritage and Royal Pageantry” (outline)
- Paden 1973, passages on Kano’s emirate and public life