Migrants, millenialists and mayhem: Kari-Kari, Ningi, Gwari, Kebbi, Kwatarkwashi and Zuru ‘enclaves’ in northern Nigeria

Abstract

This study focuses on northern Nigerian ‘enclaves’ of northern resistance to the 19th century Sokoto Caliphate, including Kari-Kari, Ningi, Gwari, Kebbi and Zuru. Firstly, the Kari-Kari (Keri-Keri) people of north-eastern Nigeria are considered in some detail. They live in and around a heartland area between Jalam, Dambam and Potiskum, characterised by a cluster of unusual circular and ovoid earthwork enclosures in a zone otherwise featuring rectilinear town walls, many oriented towards Mecca. These ovoid ‘ganuwa’ underpin the integrity of much of the account presented here of Kari-Kari history. The people speak a distinct Chadic language, implying northern origins. A few centuries ago, they migrated north into the present heartland area, a migration which may have brought with it the two cultural characteristics anomalous to this area: shoulder load carrying and the ovoid/circular enclosures. This paper enumerates several of the characteristics of Kari-Kari material culture including the village plans, house construction methods, the clan system of social organisation, use of decorated calabashes, and the use of iron and iron smelting. The 19th-century history of other ‘enclaves’ is described, and relevant archaeological sites described, in particular the fortified settlements such as Birnin Gwari, Amina Banga and Katsina. The historical basis of the diversity evident amongst these ‘enclaves’ is examined, with particular reference to ironworking in the region.