SHEHU IDRIS: 42 YEARS OF COMPETENT LEADERSHIP.

HRH Alh. (Dr.) Shehu Idris CFR.

Shehu Idris (born 1937) is the 18th Emir of Zazzau and the Chairman of Zazzau Emirate Council. He ascended the throne on February 8, 1975 following the demise of Alhaji Muhammadu Aminu, the 17th Emir of Zazzau.

Life

Idris was born to the family of Malam Idrisu Auta who was sometimes called Auta Sambo and Hajiya Aminatu. Idrisu Auta's father was Sarkin Zazzau Muhammadu Sambo who reigned from c. 1879 to 1888 and Auta's grandfather was Sarkin Zazzau Abdulkarimi who reigned from c. 1834 - 1846.

Idris started his education being tutored by two Islamic scholars in Zaria and then continued with formal studies at the Zaria Elementary School. He was at the elementary school from 1947 till 1950, during this period, the young Idris lost his father when he was 12 years old. Idris continued both his qur’anic and formal education and enrolled in the Zaria Middle School in 1950 and finished studies in 1955. He then attended Katsina Training College to become a teacher. In 1958, he was a teacher at a school in Hunkuyi and then taught at a few other schools in Zaria. Thereafter, he left teaching. In the 1960s, he was a private secretary to Sarkin Zazzau, Muhammadu Aminu, he was also appointed as the secretary to the Zaria Native Authority council in 1965. In 1973, he was bestowed the title of Dan Madamin Zaria and was appointed the district head of Zaria and Kewaye.

Idris succeeded Sarki Aminu in 1975.

The Zazzau, also known as the Zaria Emirate is a traditional state with headquarters in the city of Zaria, Kaduna State.

 

Zazzau palace at ancient Zaria city

Early Hausa kingdom

Our most important source for the early history of Zazau is a chronicle composed in the early twentieth century from oral tradition. It tells the traditional story of the foundation of the Hausa kingdoms by Bayajidda, a culture hero and gives a list of rulers, along with the length of their reigns. According to this chronology, the original Hausa or Habe kingdom is said to date from the 11th century, founded by King Gunguma. This source also makes it one of the seven Hausa Bakwai states. Zazzau's most famous early ruler was Queen (or princess) Amina, who ruled either in the mid-fifteenth or mid-sixteenth centuries, and was held by Muhammed Bello, an early nineteenth century Hausa historian and the second Sultan of Sokoto, to have been the first to establish a kingdom among the Hausa.^[3]

Zazzau was a collection point for slaves to be delivered to the northern markets of Kano and Katsina, where they were exchanged for salt with traders who carried them north of the Sahara. According to the history in the chronicle, Islam was introduced to the kingdom around 1456, but appears to have spread slowly, and pagan rituals continued until the Fulani conquest of 1808. At several times in its history, Zazzau was subject to neighboring states such as Songhai, Bornu and Kwararafa.

Later Fulani emirate.

In December 1808 the kingdom was captured in the Fulani jihad. The Hausa ruler had escaped to Abuja, where he established a state now known as the Suleja Emirate, retaining his independence and the title of "Sarkin Zazzau". The ruler of the modern Zazzau Emirate also uses the title "Sarkin Zazzau" or "Sarkin Zaria". After the jihad, the culturally similar but pastoral or nomadic Fulani intermarried with the more settled Habe farmers, and the people of the Emirate today are generally known as Hausa-Fulani. The government of the Zaria Emirate differed from other emirates created at this time in that offices were rarely hereditary, but were appointed based on merit or obligation.

Rulers 

Zazzau Hausa kingdom.

Rulers of the Hausa kingdom:

Start	End	Ruler
1696	1701	Bako III dan Musa
1701	1703	Ishaq
1703	1704	Burema II Ashakuka
1704	1715	Bako IV dan Sunkuru
1715	1726	Muhamman dan Gunguma
1726	1733	Uban Bawa
1733	1734	Muhamman Gani
1734	1734	Abu Muhammadu Gani
1734	1737	Dan Ashakuka
1737	1757	Muhamman Abu III
1757	1759	Bawo
1759	1764	Yunusa
1764	1767	Yaqub
1767	1773	Aliyu
1773	1779	Cikkoku
1779	1782	Muhamman Mai Gamo
1782	November 1806	Ishaq Jatau
November 1806	December 1808	Muhammad Makau dan Ishaq Jatau

Independent Fulani rulers

Rulers of the independent Fulani emirate:

Start	End	Ruler
31 December 1808	17 May 1821	Malam Musa ibn Suleiman Ibn Muhammad
June 1821	1835	Yamusa ibn Mallam Kilba
1835	18 December 1846	Abd al-Karim ibn Abbas
6 January 1847	28 February 1847	Hammada ibn Yamusa
15 Apr 1847	Apr 1854	Muhammad Sani ibn Yamusa
Apr 1854	Dec 1854	Sidi `Abd al-Qadir ibn Musa
Jan 1855	5 Aug 1856	Abd as-Salam ibn Muhammad Ka'i
21 Sep 1856	Oct/Nov 1870	Abd Allah ibn Hammada (1st time)
22 Nov 1870	Jun/Jul 1873	Abu Bakr ibn Musa (d. 1873)
Aug/Sep 1873	Nov/Dec 1878	Abd Allah ibn Hammada (2nd time)
26 Dec 1878	Jan 1888	Muhammad Sambo ibn Abd al-Karim
Jan 1888	13 Feb 1897	Uthman Yero ibn Abd Allah (d. 1897)
17 Apr 1897	Mar 1903	Muhammad Lawal Kwassau ibn Uthman Yero

Colonial period and later rulers

Rulers of the independent Fulani emirate:

Start	End	Ruler
March 1903	8 April 1903	Sulayman (regent from 11 Sep 1902)
8 April 1904	9 November 1920	Ali ibn Abd al-Qadir (d. 1924)
1920	1924	Dallatu ibn Uthman Yero
1924	1936	Ibrahim ibn Muhammad Lawal Kwassau (b. c.1886 - d. 1936)
1936	August 1959	Malam Jafar ibn Ishaq (b. 1891 - d. 1959)
September 1959	4 February 1975	Muhammad al-Amin ibn Uthman (b. 1908 - d. 1975)
8 February 1975		Shehu ibn Idris (b. 1936)