List of rulers of Kano

This is a list of rulers of Kano since the establishment of the Bagauda Dynasty in 998. The early rulers are known almost exclusively from a single source, the Kano Chronicle,^[1] which was composed in the late 19th century.^[2]

Emir of Kano
19th century flag of the Kano Emirate
Incumbent
Gate to the royal Gidan Rumfa
Aminu Ado Bayero since 9 March 2020
Details
Style	Sarki Emir
First monarch	Bagauda 998–1063 AD (first known ruler of Kano) Yaji I 1349–1385 BC (first Sultan of Kano) Suleiman 1805–1819 (first Emir of Kano)
Formation	998
Residence	Gidan Rumfa Gidan Makama Filin Chiranchi
Appointer	Taran Kano (Hereditary)

Bagauda dynasty (998–1809)

Main article: Bagauda Dynasty

Names and dates taken from John Stewart's African States and Rulers (1989):^[3]

Kings (998 – 1349)

Main article: Kingdom of Kano

#	Name	Reign Start	Reign End
1	Bagauda (or Yakano)	December 999	January 1063
2	Warisis (or Warisi)	January 1063	January 1095
3	Gajemasu (or Gijimasu)	January 1095	November 1133
4	Nawata (joint ruler with twin brother Gawata)	November 1133	October 1135
5	Gawata (joint ruler with twin brother Nawata)
6	Yusa (or Tsaraki)	October 1135	December 1193
7	Naguji	December 1193	May 1247
8	Gujjua (or Gugua)	May 1247	January 1290
9	Shekarau I (or Shekkarau I)	January 1290	July 1307
10	Tsamiya (or Tsamia; also Barandamasu)	July 1307	June 1343
11	Usmanu Zamnagawa (or Osumanu Zamnagawa)	June 1343	March 1349

Sultans (1349 – 1807)

Main article: Sultanate of Kano

#	Name	Reign Start	Reign End
12	Yaji I	March 1349	February 1385
13	Bugaya	February 1385	December 1390
14	Kanejeji	December 1390	May 1410
15	Umaru	May 1410	January 1421
16	Dauda	January 1421	January 1438
17	Abdullahi Burja	January 1438	January 1452
18	Dakauta	January 1452 (One night)
19	Atuma	January 1452	February 1452
20	Yakubu	February 1452	September 1463
21	Muhammad Rumfa	September 1463	August 1499
22	Abdullahi	August 1499	May 1509
23	Muhammad Kisoki	May 1509	August 1565
24	Yakufu	August 1565	1565
26	Abu Bakr Kado	1565	May 1573
27	Muhammad Shashere	May 1573	January 1582
28	Muhammad Zaki	January 1582	December 1618
29	Muhammad Nazaki	December 1618	November 1623
30	Kutumbi	November 1623	January 1648
31	Alhaji	January 1648	January 1649
32	Shekkarau II	January 1649	December 1651
33	Muhammad Kukuna	December 1651	December 1652
34	Soyaki	December 1652
–	Muhammad Kukuna (Restored)	December 1652	September 1660
35	Bawa	September 1660	1670
36	Dadi	1670	May 1703
37	Muhammad Sharefa	May 1703	July 1731
38	Kumbari	July 1731	February 1743
39	Alhaji Kabe	February 1743	May 1753
40	Yaji II	May 1753	May 1768
41	Babba Zaki	May 1768	February 1776
42	Dauda Abasama II	February 1776	December 1781
43	Muhammad Alwali II	December 1781	March 1805

Suleiman's reign (1807–1819)

#	Name	Reign Start	Reign End	Notes
1	Suleimanu dan Aba Hama	1807	1819	Shehu Suleiman dan Aba Hama from the Fulani Mundubawa clan led the Jihad of Usman dan Fodio in Kano, and overthrew the almost eight-centuries-old Bagauda dynasty. He pledged allegiance to the Sokoto Caliphate and became the first emir of the Kano Emirate. He was a wise and just king.

Dabo dynasty (1819–present)

#	Name	Reign Start	Reign End	Notes
2	Ibrahim Dabo dan Mahmudu	1819	1846	Shehu Ibrahim Dabo from the Fulani Sullubawa clan was a mystic and scholar. He is the eponymous founder of the Dabo dynasty as the khalifa of Emir Suleiman which has ruled Kano for over two hundred years.
3	Usman I Maje Ringim dan Dabo	1846	1855	Son of Dabo
4	Abdullahi Maje Karofi dan Dabo	1855	1883	Son of Dabo
5	Muhammadu Bello dan Dabo	1883	1893	Son of Dabo
6	Muhammadu Tukur dan Bello	1893	1894
7	Aliyu Babba dan Maje Karofi	1894	1903	Aliyu was on a visit to Sokoto in 1903 when Kano fell to the British during the Battle of Kano. Aliyu gathered his forces on a long march to retake the city but his cavalry was annihilated by the Lord Lugard at the sanguinary Battle of Kwatarkwashi. His brother Wambai Abbas was proclaimed Emir by the British and Aliyu subsequently went on a Mahdist Hijra north into the Sahara but was captured by the French and handed over to the British who exiled him to Yola and then Lokoja
8	Muhammad Abbass dan Maje Karofi	1903	1919	First Emir to reign under the Kano Emirate Council.
9	Usman II dan Maje Karofi	1919	1926
10	Abdullahi Bayero dan Abbas	1926	1953	Bayero was a scholarly-king who promoted traditional Islamic education and encouraged trade in the city-state
11	Muhammadu Sanusi I dan Bayero	1953	1963	Sanusi I was the first Emir to be dethroned by the government
12	Muhammad Inuwa dan Abbas	April 1963	October 1963	Second shortest reign after Sultan Dakauta (who reigned for one night in January 1452)
13	Ado Bayero (San Kano) dan Abdu Bayero	1963	2014	Ado Bayero had the longest reign in the royal history of the city-state spanning over five decades. His reign started three years before the fall of the first republic and saw 14 heads of state and 17 state governors. His funeral was the largest gathering in the modern history of northern Nigeria.
14	Muhammadu Sanusi II dan Nadawaki Aminu dan Muhammadu Sanusi I	2014	2020	Sanusi II was the first Sullubawa prince since the 19th century founding of the Dabo dynasty to become emir not through royal primogenitureship. His six-year reign marks also the first to usher in a dynastic generational-shift away from the old regime of 1903; he is the second emir to be dethroned after his grandfather Sir Sanusi I
15	Aminu Ado Bayero dan Ado	2020	present

Lineages

Hausa rulers

Lineage of the Bagauda dynasty

Kings of Kano (Sarkin Kano) Bauwo Kaunasu 1 Daud Bagoda 999–1063 Saju 2 Warisi 1063–1095 Yānas Munsada 3 Gijimasu 1095–1134 Yankuma or Yankuna 4 Nawata 1134–1136 (co-ruler 1134) 4 Gawata co-ruler 1134 5 Yusa Tsaraki 1136–1194 Muntáras or Yankuma Gijimasu Munsada 6 Naguji 1194–1247 7 Gugua 1247–1290 Tsaraki Auta Salmata 8 Shekkarau I 1290–1307 Kumyerku Maganarku 9 Tsamia Barandamasu 1307–1343 10 Osumanu Zamnagawa 1343–1349 Sultans of Kano 11 Yaji Ali 1349–1385 Aunaka 12 Bugaya Mohammad 1349–1385 Yatara 13 Kanajeji 1347–1390 Tekidda Auta 14 Umaru 1410–1421 15 Dauda 1421–1438 16 Abdulahi Burja 1438–1452 Tasafi 17 Dakauta 1452 (1 day) (deposed) 19 Yakubu 1452–1463 Fasima Berana 18 Atuma 1452 (deposed) 20 Mohamma Rimfa 1463–1499 Auwa 21 Abdulahi 1499–1509 Lamis 25 Abubakr Kado 1565–1573 (deposed) Tunus 22 Mohamma Kisoki 1509–1565 Hausatu Zuhara 23 Yakufu 1565 Fasuma 27 Mohamma Zaki 1582–1618 Kursu 24 Dauda Abasama I 1565 (exiled) 26 Mohamma Shashere 1573–1582 (deposed) Dada 28 Mohamma Nazaki 1618–1623 Fudima 29 Kutumbi 1623–1648 Fari 30 Al Haji 1648–1649 (deposed) Goro 31 Shekkarau II 1649–1651 Fasuma 32,34 Mohamma Kukuna 1651–1652 1652–1660 (deposed twice) Lamis 33 Soyaki 1652 (deposed) Ka Iya Gari 35 Bawa 1660–1670 Mariamma 36 Dadi 1670–1703 37 Mohamma Sharefa 1703–1731 Duki Yerduna 40 Mohamma Yaji 1753–1768 Baiwa Zama Zenabu 38 Mohamma Kumbari 1731–1743 41 Babba Zaki 1768–1776 42 Dauda Abasama II 1776–1781 43 Mohamma Alwali 1781–1807 39 Alhaji Kabe 1743–1753

Fulani rulers

Tree of Emirs of Kano

Clan of Mundubawa Clan of Sullubawa Aba Hama Mahmudu 1 Suleimanu 1805–1819 2 Ibrahim Dabo 1819–1846 3 Usman I Maje Ringim 1846–1855 4 Abdullahi Maje Karofi 1855–1883 5 Muhammadu Bello 1883–1893 7 Aliyu Babba 1894–1903 8 Muhammadu Abbass 1903–1919 9 Muhammadu Usman II 1919–1926 6 Muhammadu Tukur 1893–1894 10 Abdallahi Bayero 1926–1953 12 Muhammadu Inuwa 1963 11 Muhammadu Sanusi I 1954–1963 13 Ado Bayero I 1963–2014 Aminu Sanusi 15 Aminu Ado Bayero II 2020-present 14 Sanusi Muhammadu Sanusi II 2014–2020 (deposed)

See also

•  Nigeria portal

• Hausa Kingdoms
• Kano Chronicle
• Timeline of Kano

References

1. Palmer, Herbert Richmond, ed. (1908), "The Kano Chronicle", Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, vol. 38, pp. 58–98 – via Internet Archive; in Google Books.
2. Lovejoy, Paul E. (2018). "The Kano Chronicle Revisited". In Toby Green; Benedetta Rossi (eds.). Landscapes, Sources and Intellectual Projects of the West African Past. Leiden: Brill. pp. 400–421. ISBN 9789004380189.
3. Stewart, John (1989). African States and Rulers. London: McFarland. pp. 147–148. ISBN 0-89950-390-X.