Abstract

A lot of literatures have been written on the Role of political leaders especially the warrior class in Precolonial Africa. But substantial number of works do not directly assessed/link the military role or contributions of such warriors in their effort to state building, especially the history related to Africa South of the Sahara. (Bilad Al-Sudan). This paper intends to look at the role of some political warriors in Central Sudan with specific emphasis on some actors in Hausa Land. Actors like Queen Amina of Zazzau, King Yunfa of Gobir, Sarki Yaji Ali of Kano and Muhammad Kanta Kotal of Kebbi and Othman Dan Fodio of Sokoto. These political warriors during their time had displayed an exceptional military and war qualities that made them excelled during their reigns. It is against this background, work like this one, is carried out for proper documentation on their expeditions, militarism, defense formation and warrior ship. The paper covered precolonial period where most of the conflicts then, was based on state formation, political and economic control, as well as fame and power taste of royal lineages. It is fundamental to note as buttressed in the paper, that almost all the precolonial political leaders of Hausa land, just like other political empires in Africa had been engaged in one war after the other, considering the volatile nature of the period under discussion. The research also discusses some major factors that spearheaded most of the internal and external conflicts that beclouded the Hausa states before the coming of Europeans. The study also revealed the relevance and importance of precolonial political warriors in Hausa land and the need for further research on this historical aspect. Keywords: Warriors, Hausa land, Precolonial, War, Conflict.