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War · 1349–1410

Yaji besieges Kwararafa at Tagara

Sarki Yaji, Kano's first Muslim king, destroyed the shrine town of Santolo and then marched on Kwararafa, the one people south of Kano who would not submit.

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Overview

Sarki Yaji, Kano's first Muslim king, destroyed the shrine town of Santolo and then marched on Kwararafa, the one people south of Kano who would not submit. They fled to the hill of Tagara. Yaji camped below for seven months until they paid him a hundred slaves; his praise song calls him “conqueror of the rocky heights”. His son Kanajeji (1390–1410) demanded tribute again and got two hundred slaves, and a trade of Kano horses for Kwararafa slaves followed.[1],[3],[2]High confidence

Neither Santolo nor Tagara has been located, so the siege is told but not drawn.

Who took part

What happened

  1. Reign of Yaji (1349–1385)

    Santolo destroyed

    Yaji takes Santolo, the shrine town of the old religion, south of Kano.[1]High confidence

  2. Reign of Yaji

    Seven months below Tagara

    The Kwararafa abandon their town for the hill of Tagara. Nobody comes down for seven months; then they pay a hundred slaves. One tradition says Yaji died there.[1],[2]High confidence

  3. Reign of Kanajeji (1390–1410) · Kano

    Horses for slaves

    Kanajeji asks why Kwararafa has stopped paying. They send 200 slaves, and from then on Kano sends horses and Kwararafa sends slaves.[3],[2]High confidence

Kingdoms involved

Sources

Every claim carries a confidence level: high (well attested), medium (one source or approximate) or disputed (sources disagree).

  1. Wikipedia contributors. Yaji I (quotes Palmer’s Kano Chronicle)
  2. Palmer, H. R. (translator). (1908). The Kano Chronicle. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 38: 58–98 (cited elsewhere, not yet checked directly)
  3. Wikipedia contributors. Kanajeji (quotes Palmer’s Kano Chronicle)