Yauri Emirate

Yauri (or Yawuri) is an emirate in Nigeria's Kebbi State, occupying the Yauri Local Government Area. Today, Yauri is one of the smallest historical emirates in Northern Nigeria. In 1972, the population was about 112,000 people inhabiting a land area of about 1,306 square miles (3,380 km²) and scattered over six major districts.

The area was first settled by an eastern group around early 1000-1200 AD, predominantly by a Benue–Congo linguistic group, the Kamberis. Then for a brief period of time, Yauri was invaded by the Songhai Empire and it incorporated a few Songhai invaders into its social structure. The increasing agricultural surplus exhibited by the early settlers and the availability of fertile land near a river brought in a diverse and malleable group of migrants seeking fertile land to farm, and the groups were initially dominated by the Gungawas. This became the second wave of migration into Yauri. In the early sixteenth century, the island-dwelling Gungawa kingdom expanded through war with the Kamberis to became the dominant political group in the area under the first Emir of Yauri, Sarkin Yauri Garba. He founded the capital of Bin Yauri and named it after himself.^[1]

However, by the eighteenth century, slave raiding had clipped the political and economic structures of the area. The need for a much more powerful political entity became necessary in order to strengthen the emirate against slave raiders from without. A movement by the ruling and malleable Gungawas to assimilate with the dominant Hausas in the region led to a gradual inter-ethnic political relationship with Hausas. However, in early nineteenth century, the success of the Fulani jihad made Yauri a tributary state of Gwandu.^[2]

Sarkin Abdullahi was a native ruler of Yauri after the disastrous rule of Aliyu, a fulani ruler. He was quite educated and was a teacher before his coronation as Sarkin. He was known for his meticulous dedication to education, health and generally most services under his emirate. He was born in 1910, and was educated at the Provincial School Kano.^[3]

Following is the kings list of the Yauri Emirate.^[4]

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