THE ADMINISTRATION OF COLONIAL TAXATION IN ZARIA PROVINCE

CHAPTER TWO

THEPRE-COLONIALSOCIO-ECONOMICANDPOLITICALORGANIZATIONOFKAGARKO

1. Introduction

This chapter is a discussion on the historical background of Kagarko before theadvent of colonial rule in the area. This entails a survey of the socio-economic andpolitical life style of the people.The chapter also discussed the kind of relationship theKagarko people had with other groups of people.It alsohighlightedthe nature oftaxationin Kagarko beforethe adventof colonialrulein thearea.

1. TheEnvironment

Kagarko is generally undulating and thickly wooded with kurmis –forest (usuallyused for defense during raids by the Fulani jihadists). The area is also characterized byhills and rivers.1 The soil is for most part sandy loams except in the kurmis where the soilcontains accumulated deposits of vegetable matter and is immensely fertile.2 This type ofsoil makes farming possible since the soil is fertile for agricultural purposes.The hillsserve as a defense mechanism against external attacks from enemies and wild animals.The hills also serve as a boundary between one village and another village. For example,the Katugal hill served as boundary between Katugal and Shadalafiya villages. The hillsalsoserved asanatural protection tothepeople of Kagarko area.

1NAK:ZARPROFFILE1849KAGARKO(FRANCIS1917)p.1

On the other hand, rivers and streams were the main source of water supply fordomestic purposes such as for drinking, cooking, bathing and washing. The rivers werealso used for irrigation farming during the dry season. This was very useful for thefarmers because, this means of farming provided vegetables and other crops like maize(Zeamays L.)duringthedryseason.

The area was also characterized by animals such as elephants which visited the areaoccasionally during the rainsfrom the north.Other animals found inKagarko werehippopotamus, dwarf buffalo, antelopes, leopard (plentiful and have in many villagesexterminated the goats and sheep). There were different types of birds like the guineafowls,partridgeandrock-partridge.3Mostoftheseanimalsmentionedabovehavebecome extinct in the area today. This is partly due to human activities such as hunting,farminganddeforestation.

The area also has trees such as dinya - Black Berry (Vitex doniano), dorowa -Locust Bean (Parkia biglobosa) and pawpaw (Carica papaya).4 Other plants in the areainclude the bamboo (Bambusa vulgaris) trees scattered everywhere. The soil is quitefertile and this makes farming the major occupation. The farmers cultivated crops likerisga –finger potatoes (Plectranthus esclentus), yams (Dioscorea sp), cassava (Manihotesculentus), dawa – sorghum (Sorghum bicolor). It is quite instructive to note that dawawas a staple food crop in the area. Other food crops cultivated in Kagarko are cocoyam(Colosiaesculenta),acha-HungryRice(Digitariaexillis),okra(Albelmoschusesculentus),andkarkashi–Sesameleaf(Sesamumradiatum).5

3Ibidp.6-7

4InterviewwithAlhajiHaliduMohammed.

5www.rogerblench.info/RBOP.html.

Kagarko district falls under the Guinea Savannah. The area is marked by dry andwet seasons. The dry season is between November to March, but sometimes sporadicshowers could punctuatethe season.6During the dry season, the area experiences cooldry north- easterly winds whichyield virtually no rain. As a result, vegetation growthover these months decreases to a minimum and cultivation of crops ceases except in somecases the cultivation that is done at river banks. But, as from April the season changesallowingthemoistsouth-westerlywindwhichbringsrainandbothcultivationandvegetativegrowthrespondalmostimmediately.7Thehighestrainfallintheareaisrecorded between the months of August to September. The highest temperature occurs inMarch and April just before the rainy season begins. It is important to note that the windthat blows between November and February plays a significant role in drying the grainsonthe farms makingthegrains readyforharvest.

From the fore going, it can be seen that rainfall is very instrumental to the kind ofcrops cultivated in the area. More so, every season determined the kind of activities thatwasbeingcarriedoutbythepeople.Forexample,intherainingseason,alotofcultivation takes place and in the dry season harvesting of farm produce becomes theorder of the day since farming is the mainstay of the people. It is interesting to note thatthe people in the area usually dry their harvested cereals on flat rocks close to the villagesettlements and when the drying has been achieved, the cereals are relocated back to thehome where they are kept in mud made silos known as rhumbu. The storing of food cropsin rhumbu was a common practice among localities of the Southern Districts of ZariaProvince.Thisformofstoragepreventspestsandinsectsfromspoilingthegrains.The

6Noah,WendockB.TheroleofGinger productionintheruralEconomyofJabaand KachiaLGASofKaduna State.(Msc. Thesis Geography Department, Ahmadu Bello University Zaria).March 1995.p.247 Ibid.p.24

rhumbu practice also showcased the family‘s wealth and hard work as measured by thequantityand qualityof thefood harvested everyyear.

1. PeoplingoftheArea

Kagarko is mostly inhabited by the Koro speaking people. The Jaba, the Hausa,the Fulani and the Gbagyi are also found in Kagarko. The Koro speaking people are madeup of different dialects namely the Koro- Zeni, Koro-Ala, Koro-Agweshi and Koro-Achi.8The Koro – Zeni was a dialect mixed with Hausa. They are mostly located at Akote andGujeni.9They are said to have a link with the Gwandara and Gbagyi and also the Beri-Beri. The Koro – Zeni were identified through the opening they had on their upper lip andnose. On the other hand, the Koro – Achi and Koro- Wachi speak the same dialect. Achiand Wachi mean friend while the Koro- Ala mean neighbour. As earlier mentioned, theKoro-ZeniwasmostlytheGbagyiPeople.TheKoro-Alawerepeoplefromthesevillages; Shadalafiya, Koso, Igbam, Katugal, Koko, Nkojo. The Koro-Wachi and Achi arefromKabara,Koko,Kubacha,Kasabere,Dogon-Kurmi,Kutaho,Aribi,KadarandKushe.10

It is imperative to note that the Koro speaking people apart from Kaduna are alsofound in the Federal capital territory, Niger, Plateau and Nassarawa States.The Korospeaking dialects are said to be heterogeneous in origin as they were widely diffused anddivergentinlanguageandculture.11ThemeaningofthenameKorowhereverfound

meanspeopleandtheyaresometimeslinkedtotheKororofakingdomwhoaresaidtobe

8Ibid.p.9

9InterviewwithAlhajiDan-Azumi.

10NAK:ZARPROF1849,Op.Cit.p.9

11Gunn,H.D.&Conant,F.P.EthnographicSurveyofAfrica.(Ed)DaryllFordeWesternAfrica(Partxv)Peoplesofthe Middle NigerRegionNorthernNigeria.p.109

theremnantsofthepriestlycastewhichheadedtheJukunpower.12Availableethnological and historical evidences seem to suggest that the Koro people were possiblythe original settlers of this territory (Kagarko) and had only been driven out or absorbedinto other ethnic groups.13 However, there are several traditions of origin which seem toconfirmthis claim asdiscussed below.

1. Traditionsof Origin

According to traditions of origin, the word Koro means ‗Kororu‘ a Hausa wordwhich means driven ones. This suggests a less developed group of people who weredriven out by more organized groups.14 However, this assertion has generated a lot ofcontroversies because of the various interpretations given to the word ‗Koro‘ which isalsoa formof identification for a group of people inhabiting the centralNigeria area asfaras the middle Niger and beyond.

Another version claims that the Koro migrated from Bornu where they had livedtogether with the Gbagyi. This tradition has it that, the Koro were driven out of Bornubecause of their lack of peace with the Kanuri. And at Bornu, their closest neighbourswere the Gbagyi who were said to be under Koro domination. The Koro were also said tohave migrated into Hausa land, through Kano and Zaria before they eventually movedinto their present location at Kagarko, Keffi, Abuja, Lafia and Yeskwa districts (thesedistricts wereformerlyinNassarawaprovince).15

12Ibid.p.110

13James.I.StudiesintheHistory,PoliticsandCulturesofSouthernKadunaPeople‟sGroups.p.45.

14Ibid.

15Ibid.p.46

Thereisyetanothertraditionoforiginswhichstatesthat,theKoroweresynonymous with the Kororofa and are ancestral to the Jukun. Yet another version alsohas it that the Koro migrated from Bornu together with the Gbagyi and settled in theancient city of Zaria. While the Gbagyi settled at Katsina, Kano and Rano. As claimed bythis tradition of origin, it is from theancientcity ofZaria that theKorowere displacedand forced to migrate southwards to their present location.16All these accounts seem tosuggestthattheKorospeakingpeoplemusthavemigratedfromareasaroundtheNorthernparts ofNigeriaarea.

However, other scholars also have argued that the Koro are an autochthonousgroup of people. It is evident that they were located around the Kagarko area though therewere series of movements within the area due to war and famine. But, war (the jihad) hastaken the lead for some of these movements.Nonetheless, the Koro speaking peopletoday appear to be one of most geographically dispersed ethnic groups. They are todayfound in Kagarko local government area of Kaduna State, Lafia, Assaiko, Doma, Keffi,Karshi,KaruandYeskwaAreasofNassarawaState,SuleijaandMinnainNigerStateandZuba,Kuje,BwariAsokoroAreasoftheFederalCapitalTerritory.17AstudybyNaibi and Hassan has also shown that all the Koro dialects trace their origin differentlywhichshows the heterogeneityin their origin.

To substantiate this claim is the tradition that traced the Koro of Wuse to comefrom Likoro near Zaria around 1715 under the leadership of Wambai of Likoro. TheyweresaidtohavesettledfirstinKagarkobeforerelocatingtoMaitama.AndfromMaitamatheycametoWuse.AnotherKorotraditionisthatofthosefromDogon-Kurmi

16Ibid.

17Ibid.p.47

who are said to have entered Abuja Emirate from Jere in 1905 and settled in a long foresthencethe nameDogon-Kurmin.18

It is also Instructive to note that the language group of the Koro is categorizedundertheNiger-Congo family; theyarealso classifiedas NigerianSemi-Bantu.19

From all these traditions of origin the accepted tradition of origin by the Koro ofKagarko is that of their autochthonous location in the area of Kagarko, though there weremigrations within the central Nigeria area, they do not lay claim to areas around NorthernNigeria area as given by some scholars. The Koro are also autonomous in their politicaladministration.

On the other hand, the Hausa andFulani people of Kagarko are said to havesettled in old Kagarko town. Bubu was said to be the first man who settled in Kagarkotown.20 He is said to have come from Katsina; he was a cattle rearer and slave trader. Buthistorically, itisbeing saidthat the chiefof Kagarko townwasofBorno extractionknown as Akote and all the natives of the town. Bubu, the said first settler in old Kagarkotown is said to have come to Kagarko in 1841.21 But before long, there was a quarrelbetween Bubu and Akote‘s people. This quarrel was as a result of Bubu destroying theirpagan worship houses (tsafi) and instead erected mosques.22 In anger, Akote left KagarkoandfoundedanothertownofthatsamenamesometwomilestotheeastleavingBubuandZaria Fulani at theold Kagarko town.23

18SeeNaibi&Hassan.(1969)Gwari,GadeandKoro Tribes.IbadanUniversityPress.p.37-54

19Gun,D.H.and Conant,F.P., Op.Cit. p.111.

20InterviewwithAlhajiDan-AzumiMohammedandAlhajiAhmaduofJanjallatown

21NAK:ZARPROFFile 1849,Op.Citp.7

22Ibid

23InterviewwithAlhajiBilalMuazuofAkote

The people of Akotearesaidtobe the early settlersof Kagarko townand thatthey were hunters. They only moved to their present location (Akote) for peace to reignbetween them and Bubu‘s people. However, in 1846 during the Emir ship of Moman Sania Bornu man, Akote asked Moman to give him back some of the areas he ruled up to thetime of Bubu‘s arrival. Moman Sani agreed to this request and the Koro villages wereshared equally to Bubu and Akote who were both made responsible for the collection oftaxes of their units. It is instructive to note that, this form of tax collections can be seenas the beginnings of pre-colonial taxation in Kagarko area because taxation was alien tothe People. It was rather a common practice among the Hausa and Fulani communities ofHausa land and as they moved from place to place, the practice was carried alongside andpracticedwherevertheysettled.Thisarrangementwasoperativeupto1904whenKagarko district was transferred to Nassarawa Province by Sir Fredrick Lugard.24 It isprobably because of this interaction with the Koro people that some scholars like Templelinkedthe Koro speaking to a Bornu origin.

There isyet another account that says the Fulani migrated from Katsina andsettled at Jere (a short form of the word Jerewa-which means the arrangement of housesin a line). The Fulani that came to Jere were said to be cattle rearers and hunters. Thecattlerearerswereundertheheadshipofone‗Barkono‘whilethehunterswereunder

‗Sidi.‘25Thisisalsoanindicationofthekindofoccupationthatthepeoplewerepracticingandmostimportantlythisshowsthatapeoplewereidentifiedbytheirprofessionand everyoccupation had aleader which was a signof orderliness.

24Ibid

25InterviewwithAlhajiHaliduMohammed

Janjalla was yet another area in Kagarko where a lot of Fulani settled. The Fulanihere are said to be from the Sulebawa clan who first settled at Fatuma near the walls ofZaria.26 They were said to have moved to Kinkinau the present site of Kaduna. As at1845,thechiefoftheFulaniwasMagajiEnusawholivedatKinkinauwhiletheEmirwas Hammada. Hammada made Enusa the Magaji of Kao a Koro- Zeni town in theGbagyi country of Abuja division.27 After the death of Magaji Enusa, he was succeededby his brother Gerkwa.But, the Koro and Gbagyi drove him away. However, someGerkwapeoplewentbacktoZariaandAkotewhileGerkwaremainedatJanjallawherehe was given the small district to administer. 28This signifies that the duo were alreadythere before the arrival of the Magaji and Emir.Gerkwa was said to be Sarkin Janjalla upto 1916 when he died. However, to further enforce Fulani rule at Janjalla, in April 1916theResidentFrancishasitthat, Yusufsonof thelateLimanofJanjallawasmadeMagajin Janjalla by the Emir. From all these accounts, it is undeniable that the Koropeoplewerethe first inhabitants of Kagarkoarea.

It is instructive to also note that the Koro, Gbagyi and other ethnic groups in thearea lived as village confederacies. While the Hausa and Fulani migrants who came intothe area as a result of the Uthman Dan Fodiojihad still continued with the Emiratesystem of government. It was this Emirate system that the British used in their policy ofindirect rule to dominate the People of the area. The British adopted Emirate systembecause the political system of the Hausa and Fulani was quite centralized which wassuitable for the colonialadministration.Thisalsobecame thebasisuponwhichtheBritishestablishedtheircolonialdominationintheareaandespeciallyonthecollection

26Op.Cit.NAK:ZARPROFFile 1849.p.9

27Ibid

28Ibid

of colonial taxes. It was also based on the Emirate system of government that the Hausaand Fulani were appointed by the British as District Heads and Village Heads in KagarkoDistrict during the colonial period. This research has also shown that, apart from fleeingfrom the jihad some of the Hausa and Fulani in Kagarko were traders and cattle rearersrespectively who came into the area for their economic activities. They had migrated intotheareathrough sometraderoutes fromZarialeadingto Kagarko.

Generally, these accounts have shown that there were a lot of migrations withinthe area before theadvent of colonialism. People movedfrom one location to the otherfor different reasons ranging from war, famine and trade. It is also evident from the givenaccounts that the Hausa and Fulani settlements in Kagarko District are located in oldKagarkotown,Janjalla,AkoteandJere.Notwithstanding,theFulaniarescatteredsparinglyinthehinterlandoftheentirevillagesinKagarkoDistrictduetotheirpastoralist activities. It is also worth noting that Kagarko was a major trade route thatlinkedthe South of ZariaProvincewith other districtsin the Southern Division.

1. IntergroupRelations

A major feature of society is interdependence. Man by nature is a dependentcreature; he depends on his environment and others for food, shelter and clothing, all ofwhich give him a sense of purpose here on earth.29 Intergroup relations were importantbecause no community no matter the level of its development can be an island entirely toitself. Secondly, the complexity and dialectics of existence ordinarily dictates that eachhumangroupmustconsciouslyandorunconsciouslyrelatewithothergroupstobeable

29Olayemi,A.&Okpeh.O.et al.(Ed). Intergroup Relationsin Nigeriaduring the19thand20thCenturies.AbokiPublishers,Nigeria. 2006. p.6

to survive.30 It is against this background that intergroup relation in Kagarko District isdiscussed.

There was a great deal of inter-group relations in Kagarko area. This interactionwasbothbasedonconsensusandconflict.Thoughapparentlycontrastingandincompatible, consensus and conflict are co-existing features of the Nigerian society.31Intergroup relations presupposes contact and interaction between groups, it refers to theinteraction which takes place between members of different groups and societies whocome in contact with one another.32 The people of Kagarko however had a great deal ofinteractionwith other groups suchas theJaba, Hausa, FulaniandGbagyi.

TradewasonemajorfactorthatKagarkohadwithothergroupsinthepre-colonialperiod.Forexample,theKoroandGbagyispeakingpeopleofKagarkohadsome contacts with the Fulani who habitually raided the area but the people were neversubdued.33 This was a form of interaction through conflict as earlier highlighted thatconflict and consensus was a form of intergroup relationship in every society especiallyNigeria.Commerce and commercial interactions and relations were also catalytic agentsforthepenetrationofexternalinfluencesintothesoutherndivisionofZariaProvince.This was stimulated by the trans-Saharan trade which linked North Africa and WestAfrica. There were routes that linked up to Kagarko and these routes include Kano, Zaria,Igabi, Kakuri, Kajuru, Kachia, Kagarko, Keffi, and Oyo to Gonja.34 There were otherlocaltraderoutesthatlinkeduptoKagarkoasKachia,Dagwarga,Kudah,Gantan,

30Ibid.6-7

31Ibid.p.9

32Ibid.p. 12

33NAK:ZARPROFANNUALREPORT1904

34Op.Cit. James.I.p.115

Kurmin- Dangana and Kubacha to Kagarko.35 These trade routes opened up Kagarko tointeractions with other groups such as the Hausa, Fulani, Jaba, Atyab, Bajju and manyotherethnicgroups bothinthe South and North ofZariaProvince.

From the foregoing, it therefore means that was no group of people who lived inisolation; there were various levels of interactions induced by trade and commerce, warand famine. And these in turn shaped the economic, social and political lifestyle of thepeopleofKagarko District.

1. Socio-PoliticalOrganization

The socio-political organization of the groups found around the Southern parts ofZaria Province was based on three aspects of the people: firstly, the council of elderswhich was the main basis of political power and authority, secondly, the lineage systemwas the basic social unit which regulated marriage and provided a framework for kinship,collective differentiation and structural segmentation of society and lastly, ethnic groupswere made of confederacies of communities and villages which sometimes cross-cutlineages.36

Kagarkowasmadeofvillagesandthesevillagescouldbedescribedasconfederaciesortheconsolidatedgrouptypeofthedecentralizedstatesystem.Thepolitical system was characterized by the groups‘ recognition of the authority of thecentral priest-chief who is commonly called the uku among the Koro speaking people ofKagarko.37Thepriest-chiefwieldedauthoritynotpower.Thiswassobecausereal

35Ibid.p.116

36Turaki.Y.TheBritish ColonialLegacyinNorthernNigeria:ASocialEthicalAnalysisofColonialandPost-ColonialSociety andPoliticsinNigeria.1993, p.17

37.James.I.Op .Citp.91

powers rested with the council of elders, the clans and lineage heads and holders of ritualoffices.38 There is no way the Priest- Chief could function without the elders, clans‘lineage heads and holders of ritual offices. This shows that power was vested on the clanandlineageheads,thiswastheunitofgovernment.TheClannishsystemmeantapoliticalsystemwhichoperatedthroughtheclanandlineageheads;thismadeitadecentralizedformofadministration.ItwasthispoliticalstructurethattheBritishconscripted into the Hausa and Fulani political system for the purpose of tax collectionduring the colonial period. For instance, in the clannish system, the Gora was the seniorperson in every family. Thus the family and clan wielded a lot of political power in thevillageunit amongthe people ofKagarko.

Other traditional titles used in the area are Mai - Ugwa, Dakachi, Sarki, andDogarai. These titles were typical of the socio-political organization among Hausa andFulani communities found in the north of Zaria of Province. This similarity could belinked to the inter-group relation that existed in the pre-colonial period between theHausa, Fulani, Koro and Gbagyi. It can also be attributed to the migrations into the areaby the Hausa and Fulani who also practiced their political systems wherever they settledorarelocated.

However, it is very important to note that, early socio-political organization in thearea was the homestead. This expanded to clans and then village groups. All these latermetamorphosed into political authority. The people lived in dispersed villages made up ofhamlets. And most of these villages were located in thick forests areas. Dogon- Kurmi forexampleisoneofthosevillagessituatedinaverythickandlongforestwhichiswhyitis

38Ibid.p.92

calledDogon-Kurmi(long–forest).Therefore,itwillnotbeoutofplacetosaythatthepeoples‘political structurewasderivedfrom theirsettlementpatterns.

1. SettlementPatterns

The settlement patterns of the groups in the Southern Division of Zaria Provincewerelargelydefensiveinnature.Thereweretwobroadtypesofthesedefensivesettlements. These were the hill-related defensive settlements and the non-hill relatedsettlements.39 In both cases, majority of the ethnic groups in the Southern region livedlargely in nucleated or largely in dispersed settlements.40The non-hill related settlementswere hidden away in thick belts of forest known as „kurmis‟.41 Furthermore, there weretwotypesoftheforestsrelatedkindofdefensivesettlements.First,therearethenucleatedforestssettlementsrepresentedbysuchareasastheham(Jaba),Adara(Kadara),KoroandAtyab(Kataf)settlements.42Settlementswereoftencalledinidentification with a forest where they are settled. Examples include Kurmin-Rami,Kurmin -Zomo, Kurmin -Kwara, Kurmin -Musa, and Dogon -Kurmi etc.43 The secondtype of the forest related settlements is the forest dispersed settlement. This is mostlyfound in Kagarko area, which is around Aribi, Kushe, Shadalafiya, Ankuwa, Idon andDoka.44 Generally,thepeoplelived inforestedandhill-relatedareas evenuptotoday.

39Ibid.

40Ibid

41Ibid.p.7

42Ibid

43Ibid

44Ibid

1. Education

Another aspect of the people‘s life that is quite imperative to look at is education.The education was informal in nature. This implies that, the people were taught andguided by their norms and values. This continued until the coming of the colonialists andChristianmissionariesinthearea.Therewasrivalrybetweenthecolonialgovernmentand the Christian Missionaries on the introduction of Western Education in the Southernregion.Therewereclassesforreligiousinstructionintheareawhichwereusedasschools where other subjects were also taught by the Roman Catholic Missionaries, thishowever did not go well with the colonialist. The Native Administration in 1952 tour ofthe region warned the Missions, that the penalty clauses of the Ordinance for openingunauthorized schools may be invoked in future cases of ‗abuse of classes for religiousinstruction‘.45Thiswasadeliberateeffortbythecolonialisttorelegatethecommunitiesin the Southern Division of the Province to the background because the schools built bythecolonialistswereforthechildrenoftherulingclassasimposedbytheBritishimperialists. These included the children of the Hausa Mallams, Hakimai and others inthat category who were the colonial agents. Their children were employed to work asclerks, messengers and informers of the Native Administration. Infact records have itthat there were 12 schools in Kagarko town and three at Akote.46 Thus, education was notfor all, it was a tool used by the colonialists to enhance colonial domination that was whyit selected only the children of the ‗ruling class‘, so that they in turn will extend theirdominanceontherestofthepeople.ThuseducationbytheChristianmissionarieswasnotselectivewhilecolonial education wasselectiveand wasatool fordomination.

45ZARPROFSTATEFILE2287/S.5.DevelopmentofEducationinSouthernZaria.

46James,I.Op.Cit. p.6

Infact as at 1952, there were 2 Native Administration schools and 3SudanInterior Mission Schools in Kagarko.47 It is worth noting that even the schools allowed bythe colonial government were rather community schools built by community efforts,maintained and locally supervised by the village councils. They were elected to be undertheproprietorshipandmanagementoftheNativeAdministrationwhiletheNativeAdministrationwastoprovideteachersandequipment.48Itwasfromthistypeofagreement that a community school was opened in Kubacha town, Kagarko District in1952. So, Western education during the colonial period was carried out separately by theChristianmissionaries and colonialists.

1. EconomicOrganization

Theeconomicorganizationofapeoplecentresmostlyonthefactorsofproduction which are land, labour and capital.In Pre-colonial Kagarko, land played avital role in the economy of the people since agriculture was the main economic activityinthearea.This isdiscussed thus:

1. Land

In Pre-colonial times, Africans have won their living from the land. Agriculturewas the chief activity in the greater part of the region. So the ownership and use of landwas very important to the people. Land ownership in Kagarko was basically based onclans just like the political set-up. Every clan had a portion of land in the village whichthey used since time immemorial by the forefathers of every clan. From the clan head,landwasfurthersharedtofamilyheadswhointurngaveoutportionstotheirgrownup

47Ibid

48Ibid

sons. While a man who had many wives gave a piece of land to each wife with herchildren so they could also cultivate and assist in the up - keep of the family. The farmland was mostly located in the forestquite some miles from the village settlement.Though,thereweresomefarmlandsaroundthevillagewherewomencultivatedvegetablesandother crops like maizeand so on.

1. Agriculture

Agriculture remains the matrix in which all other indigenous economic activitiesare set. Agriculture provided more assured supplies of food, it made possible the creationand appropriation of surplus. It stimulated degrees of urbanization and specialization anditpermittedincrease inpopulation.49Inotherwords,agriculture wasthe basisofapeoples‘livelihood andKagarkowasnot an exception.

ThepeopleofKagarkoarebasicallyfarmers.Theycultivatedcropssuchassorghum (Sorghum bicolor), cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) (small quantity), sugar-cane(Saccharumofficinarum),tobacco(Nicotianatabacum),ramma-Kenaf,millet(Pennissetumglaucum),acha-HungryRice(Digitariaexillis),yams(Discoreasp),sweet-potatoes(Ipomeabatatas),risga-fingerPotatoes(Plectranthusescuentus),gwaza

–cocoyam (Colocasia esculenta) and groundnuts (Arachis hypogea). There are also fruitslikepawpaw(Caricapapaya),mama-custardapple(Annonareticulate),Malmoo(Syzygiumguineense)anddinya–blackberry(Vitexdoniano).50Itisimportanttonote

49Hopkins A.G.AnEconomicHistoryof WestAfrica.LongmanLondon1973.p.29

50NAK:ZARPROFFILE1849.Op.Cit.p.3;www.rogerblench.info/RBOP.html.,

Notes:Mamaisalargefleshytropicalfruit withasweet yellowpulpwhileMalmoistheblackcurrentfruit.

that sorghum (dawa) was a staple food crop amongst the people of Kagarko; it wascultivated byeveryfarmerin thearea.This was confirmed byoral sources.51-

Kagarko also had trees of economic value which included the locust bean (thelocust bean was used for the production of local seasoning known as dadawa.; this is stilla delicacy up to today. There were vines which were common in the forest, Shea palm(Vitellaria paradoxa), palm trees (Elaeis guineensis) (plentiful in some areas than others)and the raffia palms (Raphia farinifera).52The leaves of these palms were used in makingthe kabido (rain hood) by the Fulani and they also used them for tethering cattle.53 On theother hand, the Koro people used the palm leaves for making bags in which they put theiracha (Digitaria exillis) and transported it from the farm to the village for storage. Raffiasticks were also sold at Kagarko market at 3 per 1d during the colonial era.54Anotheractivity the people engaged in was bee-keeping.It was a means of livelihood for thoseinvolved in it. Bee-keeping is still a practice among the Koro people of Kagarko even uptotoday.

1. Manufacturing

Iron smelting was another economic activity that took place in Kagarko. It wascarried out extensively but years later the Koro people buy iron at Kagarko and Pandamarkets(PandaisinYeskwacountryofKeffi).HoweverinJereironsmeltingwasdone

51InterviewwithAlhajiHaliduMohammed,AlhajiAhmadu,MallamIbrahimEreje,BabaMaisamariEnam,Mr. Dogara Kabara AndRev.Gaiya Najira.

52NAK:ZARPROFFile 1849,Op.Cit. p.2

53Ibid.p.3

54Ibid.p.

bySokotomeninthedryseason.55Theproductsmadefromironsmeltingincludedthe

garma(longhoeusedforfarming).

There was also the art of mat-making which was the principal industry among thepeople.Themat-makingindustrywasmorecommonamongtheKoropeople.Thecommon variety is the plain white sleeping mat.56 Most of the people sell these mats toHausa traders in their villages who in turn retailed them at a profit in Keffi or elsewhere.An example of a mat weaver was late Baba Ibrahim Tukura from Katugal village, anaccountgiven bythechildren ofthedeceased in his biography:

Mat making was his major economic activity. He took hisbeautifully designed mats to places such as Kano, Zaria,Jos, Bauchi and Kafanchan on foot.57

Another mat-maker is Baba Jatau Gimba from Shadalafiya village. He also sold his matsat Jos and Kafanchan, and he trekked from Shadalafiya village to Kafanchan and fromthere entered a train to Jos to sell his mats.58 It is important to note that, during thecolonial period the chiefs were made to encourage the people to take the mats themselvesto Keffi and sell in order to make more profit so that they can be able to pay their taxesfromtheproceeds theygot from thesales oftheirmats.

55Ibid.

56Ibid.p.4

Note: KeffiisthreedaysjourneyfromKagarko onfoot.

57 Biography of late Baba Ibrahim Tukura 1896-2014 of his funeral February 28th 2014 at ECWA ChurchKatugal,KagarkoLocalAreaKaduna State.

58InterviewwithBabaJatauGimbaathiscompound inShadalafiya(Ukui)villageonthe11thApril2014.

1. TradeandCommerce

Trade was an important aspect of the peoples‘ life. Though the people producedmost of the things they needed, they still bought salt, iron and cloth at Panda and Kagarkomarkets.59 The markets held daily and it was well -attended probably due to the fact thatthe market was located on a trade route from Zaria linking other communities in theSouthernpartsoftheregion.However the marketshadmore tradersduring the dryseason when people had finished harvesting their crops.There used to be a market atKukui which was located on the Kachia-Keffi trade route. In the colonial period thismarketwasrevivedbyMr.Mackay,heencouragedthepeopletobringtheirfarmproduce to sell to passing traders.60 He did that so that the people will have money to paytheir taxes. Nevertheless, this market became non-functional because the people werealways busy on their farms during the raining season and only came to the market duringthe dry season in most cases to sell their farm produce. Another market that was well-attended in Kagarko district was the market at Kasaru tin mine near Kurmin- Dangana inthe north of the district. This market provided a small market for the disposal of foodsupplieswhich was of value tothe tin miners.61

In addition to all these, trade routes were very instrumental in helping the peoplecarry out their economic activities.Some of these trade routes included that of Kachia-Keffi- Lokoja. This route entered Kagarko District at Gantam on the Gurara via Kurmin -Dangana, Aribi, Kubacha and Kukui to Panda (Keffi division).62 The second trade routewasfromZangon-Katab-Abuja-Lokojaroute.ThisrouteenteredKagarkodistrictfrom

59InterviewwithBabaAliMadaki. 25thMay,2012.

60NAK:ZARPROFFILE1849, Op.Cit. p.5

61NAK:ZARPROF FILE1817:Assessment ReportOnTheKoroTribeKagarkoDistrict.p.4

62Ibid

Kwoi - Katugal via Kubacha and Dogon- Kurmi to Kagarko via Kubau to Kao (Kao is aKoro-ZenitownintheGbagyicountryofAbujadivision).63Theserouteslinkedthenorth and south of Zaria Province and the entire Northern region together. These traderoutesencouragedalotof economicactivitiesand inter-grouprelations.

On the whole, the socio-economic life of the people of Kagarko depended to alarge extent on land. Land was used for agricultural activities, mining and manufacturing.Trade, commerce and markets were all part of the economic activities that took place inKagarko areabeforetheadvent of colonial rule.

1. Pre-Colonial Taxation

A historical fact which remains is that before the advent of colonialism, the ethnicgroups in the southern parts of Zaria Province were not accustomed to paying taxes. 64 Tosubstantiate thisclaim wasthe instance atKushe,a Korovillage inthelater tobeKagarko district. During the reign of Emir Abdu (1848), they refused to pay tax in theformofslaves,thisresultedintheraidingoftheirtownbytheFulaniand700peoplewere enslaved, while others took refuge in large caves in the hills but were later starvedout.65 This explains the fact that taxation of any form was strange among the villages ofKagarko. In fact, the so-called payment of taxes in slaves to the Emirate, were actuallyslave raids carried out on the people. It was said that people were chained in a row andmade to trek from Kagarko to Zaria under the care of a guide who was usually a hunterandwell-armed.AndalongsidethisjourneytoZaria,thepersonin-chargeoftheslaves

63Ibid

64.TurakiY.Op.Cit,p.201

65.NAK: ZARPROFFile1849,Op.Cit.p.9-10.

was given a letter to carry along to the Emir; the letter was put in between the stalk of amaize plant to avoid the letter from being missing or dirtied before it gets to the palace ofthe Emir in Zaria. This form of slave raids was abolished by the British colonialists topave way for the effectiveness of colonial domination in the area. Oral sources alsorevealed that those Hausa chiefs who agreed to stop slavery were appointed positions inthe colonial administration. Slavery was stopped by the British colonialists because oftheirintentiontointroduceanewformofgovernment.66Thosewhoagreedtostopslavery were given traditional titles by the white man, while those who refused to stop theslaveryhad to runawayfromthe areato avoid thewrathof the whiteman.67

The people appointed by the British worked as colonial workers imposed over thenon-Hausa speaking people in the district. This was the beginnings of the subjugation ofthepeopleandtheircontinuousdominationbythecolonialists.Fromtheforegoing,itcan be explained that taxation was not a feature of the peoples‘ lifestyle. Furthermore, thecolonialists only stopped slavery because of their own desire to introduce their form ofgovernmentand payment of taxes.

On the whole, colonial taxation was a strange phenomenon in the area. This studyhas shown that taxation was alien to the Koro and Gbagyi people but not alien to theFulani and Hausa communities of Kagarko District. British colonial taxation was quitealien because itintroduced Europeancurrency in the areaand insisted that the peoplepaid their tax in such currency and at a specified period of time. To further buttress thefact that taxation generally was alien to Kagarko people especially the Koro and Gbagyiwasthe acknowledgement byMr. Grierin the1907 Annual Report that:

66InterviewwithAlhajiDanAzumiofKagarkoTown,31stOct.,2012.

67InterviewwithAlhajiHaliduMohammed,SarkinFadanJere,31stOct.,2012.

…„ pagans‟ unlike the Hausa communities are not, exceptin rare cases, accustomed to paying any tax, for centuriesthey have been subjected to periodic raids, and they are apttoimaginethefirstvisitandassessmentbyapoliticalofficerto bemerely another form of such raid.68

This was a form of economic raid being carried out on the people because the useof force was employed in the collection of colonial taxes. The use of force was typical oftax collection in Kagarko district during the colonial era. The Annual Report of 1908 alsoconfirmed that many communities in the Southern Districts were not used to the paymentof taxes, they were still toured by the colonialists and forced to pay taxes.69 Those whotoured the District were Residents Mr. Withers Gill and Assistant Resident Mr. Grier,BrowneandEdgar.70Themajorreasonfortheirtourandassessmentoftheso-called

‗pagandistricts‘wastoincreaserevenuefortheBritishadministration.

1. Conclusion

This chapter has shown the socio-political and economic activities of Kagarkopeoplebeforetheadventofcolonialism.Theseactivitiesrangedfromfarming,beekeeping,mat—weavingandanimalhusbandrywhichwasthemainstayofthepeopleupto the period of colonial rule in Nigeria. These activities later became the basis on whichcolonialdominationespecially taxationwasbuilt.Another,issuediscussedinthechapter was the inter-group relations that existed between the Koro, Jaba, Gbagyi, Hausaand Fulani people who were basically farmers, traders and cattle rearers. This chapter hasalso shown that taxation generally was alien in the area. The kind of taxation practiced inthe area wasthe conscriptionof people intoslavery,who were inturn givenastributesby

68NAK:ZARPROFFile2554.Annual Report1907.p.7

69NAK:ZARPROFFile 2555.AnnualReport1908.

70Ibid.

their abductors to the Zaria Emirate rulers. This form of slavery was abolished b