Dabon Dambazau

Dabo was said to be born in the year 1764 when his father Modibbo Umaru and his Dambazawa fulani clan were residents within the area of Borno empire's capital Ngazargamu. Being the son of a scholar and Business man, he was introduced to Islamic knowledge and Business in his early age, his search for Islamic knowledge reached it peak when a section of the Dambazawa clan under his leadership left Damban and settled in Kano. With the emergence of the renowned scholar Usman Dan fodio in the 1790s Dabo was said to become his student, and during his stay with Dan Fodio he became very close to Danfodio's younger brother Abdullahi dan Fodio.[4]

Dabon Dambazau's first wife was Yagana a Daughter of the Borno's Mai Ali IV ibn Haj Hamdun (r. 1754–1794) He married her before he led a section of the Dambazawa away from Damban. Yagana gave birth to Muhammad Kwairanga (later ‘’Sarkin Ban Kano r. 1845–1886)’’ and Abdulƙadir widely called ‘’Zailani’’ (the grandfather of the fourth ‘’sarkin Bai,’’ Abdussalam r. 1893–1907). Dabo's second wife was believed to be the Daughter of Muhammad Bello son of Usman dan Fodio which the Kano chronicles referred to as “’’yar Sakkwatawa”’’ (the Daughter of the people of Sokoto), her name was not recorded in history but it's known that her marriage to Dabo did not last long because of the controversy it generated between Dabon Dambazau and the first Emir of Kano Suleman dan Abu hama (r 1809–1819).[2][5] Dabo's third wife was ‘’Magajiyar Kano’’ ‘’Fatsumatu’’ daughter of the 2nd Emir of Kano Ibrahim Dabo . When Ibrahim Dabo became Emir he appointed his first daughter ‘’Fatsumatu’’ as the ‘’Magajiyar Kano’’ and married her to Dabo. Fatsumatu remained childless up to Dabon Dambazau's death in 1845. Dabo may have had other wives and certainly concubines that bear him children but these three were the only ones recorded in history.

It was not known exactly when Dabo left Damban, but he may have settled in Kano around the middle stage of King Alwali's reign between 1786–1790. Dabo after settling in Kano was only occupied with business pursuits and Islamic scholarship, he had no known contact with Kano royalty.

Dabo was already studying under Usman dan Fodio when the Jihad struggles started,[6] he was with Shehu during his flight to Gudu and also was with him during the first battle of the jihad between the Shehu's Jama’a and the King of Gobir Yunfa.[4] After the battle, Dabo returned to Kano and together with leaders of other Fulani clans in Kano that included; Malam Jibir and Malam Abdul-rahman (Goshi) of the Yolawa clan, Malam Muhammad Bakatsine of the Joɓawa Clan, Malam Danzabuwa of the Danejawa Clan, Malam Jamo of the Sulluɓawa Clan and Malam Usman Bahaushe, waged war upon King Alwali and subsequently toppled him after a series of set backs and successes between 1804 and 1807. After the successful defeat of King Alwali, Dabo entered Kano city with most of his kith and kin and occupied the official residence of the ousted Hausa ‘’Sarkin Dawakin Kano’’ located at Marmara area of Kano city. But due to ‘’Dabo's’’ large retinue and his keen interest in business, he later relocated to the official residence of the Hausa ‘’Sarkin bai of Kano’’ being that the house is spacious enough to accommodate all his retinue as well as its proximity to Kano central market. This singular action (of moving in to Sarkin Bai's official residence) prompted people to unofficially started referring to him as ‘’Sarkin Bai.’’[1]

Emir of Kano Sulaimanu was appointed Emir of Kano between 1809–1810 and in the course of his rulership, had misunderstandings with Dabon Dambazau, and according to the Kano chronicles Emir Sulemanu at one point imprisoned Dabo and the Dambazawa went at night and forcefully break him out, later due to threats to execute him by Emir Sulemanu, Dabo n Dambazau had to seek refuge and redress between him and Sulemanu in front of Shehu Usman.[5] To which Shehu Usman intervened and make peace between them. From there on Dabo removed himself from Kano's administration and turn his affairs towards full time Islamic scholarship, Business pursuits and philanthropy.

Emir Sulemanu died in 1817 and at the time of his death amongst the Fulani Clans leaders that initiated the Jihad in Kano Dabon Dambazau, Malam Jibir of the Yolawa clan and Malam Jamo of the Sulluɓawa clan were still alive, but Malam Jibir and Malam Jamo were very old and frail at that time (Dabo was the youngest amongst the Clan leaders that initiated the Jihad in Kano, some of them even had sons about Dabo's age; Malam Dikko is the son of Malama Muhammad Bakatsine and he was Dabo's age mate), hence Dabo naturally became a top contender of the Emirship. But Sultan Muhammad Bello overlook Dabon Dambazau in favour of Ibrahim Dabo of the Sulluɓawa Clan. Some believe that the Sultan's decision was based upon a letter written to him by Emir Sulemanu on his death bed, in which he requested Ibrahim Dabo (who happen's to be His personal assistant and Galadima) of the Sulluɓawa Clan to succeed him as Emir, extolling Ibrahim Dabo's virtues and also accusing Dabon Dambazau of Haughtiness and Malam Dikko of the Joɓawa Clan of oppressive tendencies if appointed Emirs. That letter might have played a role indeed, but another possible reason might be that the Sultan intentionally overlooked Dabon Dambazau at the time, in favour of the more obscure Ibrahim Dabo due to Dabon Dambazau's closeness to the Sultan's uncle, Abdullahi dan Fodio , appointing Dabon Dambazau as Emir would literally mean handing over Kano to the Gwandu section of the Sultanate headed by Abdullahi dan Fodio. Kano has always been the most populous and wealthiest of all the Emirates within the Caliphate, so appointing an Emir who is very close to the Sultan of Gwandu would have put Sokoto at a disadvantage, so the politically correct thing to do is to hand it over to a free client.

Emir Ibrahim Dabo's appointment was met with a wide revolt throughout Kano Emirate, Ibrahim Dabo unlike Emir Sulemanu decided not to have any conflict with the remaining Leaders of the Jihad and therefore offered each of them a daughter and a vast fiefdom. To Dabon Dambazau he offered the administration of the vast area of Kano North (from Ungogo to Danbatta ) and also to formalised the new status between them he married his first Daughter Fatsumatu to Dabon Dambazau. Dabon Dabazau obliged his request and offers; and accepted to be formally appointed as Sarkin Bai and fief owner of Northern Kano. Together Ibrahim Dabo and the remaining Leaders of the jihad set out and brought all revolts to an end. The prolific writer M. G. Smith said that, Dabo adopted a different approach. On Officially appointing Dabon Dambazau to the office of Sarkin Bai, he placed him in charge of all the territories ranging between Ungogo, (three or four miles north of the city), and Kun-ci near the northwestern boundaries of Kano. He restored Dambatta and Kunya to Dambazau which were seized from him by Emir Sulemanu, this expressly set Dambazau and Dan Tunku against each Other. To formalize the new situation further, Ibrahim Dabo appointed his daughter, Fatsimatu Zara, to the title of Magajiya (a title reserved to the eldest daughter of a reigning Emir), as the first Fulani Magajiya in Kano; he then gave Fatsamatu to Dabon Dambazau as a bride, together with Kunci as her dowry, thus demonstrating to the public his reconciliation with Dabon Dambazau."[1]

Throughout his long and eventful life, Dabon Dambazau remained a Business man, neither search for religious knowledge nor War (Battles) and later fief administration had ever deterred Dabo from his Business pursuits, hence the reason why he remained the wealthiest Fulani clan leader in Kano until his death. Dabo was so resilient, intelligent and industrious that he was simultaneously abled to manage both his religious scholarship, Business pursuits and his Administration of almost one third area of the Kano Emirate.

• "Alhaji Mukhtar Sarkin Bai: Portrait of integrity and loyalty". Daily Trust. 2021-12-08. Retrieved 2022-03-15.
• Fika, A. M. (1978). The Kano Civil War and British Over-rule, 1882–1940. Ibadan: Oxford University Press.
• Paden, J. N. (1973). Religion and political culture in Kano. U. S. A.: University of California Press.
• Nast, Heidi J. (1992). Space, history and power : stories of spatial and social change in the palace of Kano, Northern Nigeria, circa 1500-1990. ISBN 0-315-94695-4. OCLC 33986595.
• Ibn Salih, Muhammad Zangi (1848). Taqyid al-Akhbar Jama'at al-Shaykh alladhin bi-Kano wa ma jara baynahum wa bayn al-taghut min al-hurub (in Arabic). Kano Emirate: Manuscript.

Bello, Muhammad (1964). The Infaq al-maysur of Sultan Muhammad Bello written 1227 A.H., 1812/3 A.D. (in Arabic). Legon: Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana. OCLC 505708065.