Revisiting Kanta’s vast empire

Your heart turns to Kotal Kanta of Kebbi while on a visit to Argungu, and memories of one history teacher’s good efforts also return.The blackboard is alive in the memory, as well as numerous bits of chalk, a rather long stick, her piercing voice and large handwriting. Your heart will also turn towards Kanta if […]

Your heart turns to Kotal Kanta of Kebbi while on a visit to Argungu, and memories of one history teacher’s good efforts also return.The blackboard is alive in the memory, as well as numerous bits of chalk, a rather long stick, her piercing voice and large handwriting. Your heart will also turn towards Kanta if you are in the palace of Alhaji Samaila Muhammadu Mera, Emir of Argungu, and actually get to interview him while you are there. Then there is the Kanta museum in Argungu which directly draws attention to the famous ruler.
According to Sarkin Kebbi  whose physical height reminds one of his illustrious forebear and his towering accomplishments, “Kanta was the first Emperor and founder of the Kebbi Kingdom. Before his ascent to the throne  as Emperor and King,he was a general in charge of this province of the Songhai Empire,and the empire itself had twelve parts.”
The memory of Kanta is also kept alive in numerous praise songs to the current Emir,as well as in folklore popular in Birnin Kebbi today. He explains that the Songhai Empire “comprised of countries which are now known as Niger, Burkina Faso, Benin, Cameroun, and most of northern Nigeria. In Nigeria ,the boundary of Kebbi was the old Oyo empire. To the east, it shared a border with Nguru in Yobe state today. The entire northern Nigeria was part of the kingdom.”
In the work Argungu International Fishing and Cultural Festival by Olagunju and Mera, it is stated “Due  to his valour and that of the people whom he led, the empire at its zenith covered all  the territory referred to as land which indeed includes the present day Kano, Katsina, Zaria and parts of Borno. To the Northwest,the empire included all the areas covered by the present day Niger Republic, parts of Benin Republic as well as Burkina Faso.” (p.50) One significant event directly led to the rise of Kanta: This was the reluctance of Askia Mohammed to share some of the booty with  Kanta and the generals in Kebbi, itself being the twelfth province of the Songhai empire. On this Alhaji Muhammadu Mera says “From recorded history, there was a mutiny against Askia Mohammed in the early 1500s, which led Mohammed Kanta to declare himself as emperor, with the same status as Askia Mohammed.”

The Emir shows that Askia Mohammed made efforts to recapture the twelfth province. His words “There are accounts that Askia made several attempts to regain the province, but in all these attempts his army was defeated. The independence of Kebbi led to the collapse of the Songhai Empire. Thus Mohammed Kanta was the founder, and first king of the Kebbi empire. He was my great great grandfather and ruled from 1515 to 1567. He built the capital of Surame at Sokoto, and from there he ruled the vast land I have described. Records show that at one time, the only neighbour to the east or to the north of the empire, was Morocco. For instance, in the 1700s there was  a letter from the King of Morocco, to Daud, King of Kebbi, which contained details of  control of a vast area which I have spoken about.” He also comments on the way the empire was organised, which made it easy for Kanta to rise and govern the newly established empire.
According to him “Kanta was military commander, and under him were a number of units. Each of these units had a governor  who had allegiance to the commander in the person of  Kanta. After the demise of Kanta, Zamfara rose as well as Gobir, Kano, and Zazzau. It was with the consent of the leaders under him that Kanta confronted Askia, to request for their own share of the war booty. This is because after conquering the numerous towns and cities, there is always a booty.”
Thus, the governors, generals and heads of armies of the province, complained to Kanta, because the twelfth  province was a very rich region, and they always gathered so much booty, but they said very little came to them at the end of the campaign  “Ask Askia to give us our fair share of the booty.’ But Kanta  said that he had already asked on their behalf, and that if he asks again, he would be treated as a traitor,” says the Emir.

So, they said ask again, “if they treat you as a traitor, let them treat us as traitors all together, and he confronted Askia and asked for a fair share of the booty, and was branded a traitor. That started the uprising against Askia. It was the support of all these governors in these different places that gave him that hold, and because they started together, Kanta was able to achieve that unity of purpose among them,and was able to hold onto that large area.”
The Emir now turned to explain the origin of the name Kebbi. His words “Kabi is an old Sanwayanci word, and this is an old language which existed before Hausa evolved, and linguists can speak extensively about this. This was the language spoken around Kebbi a long time ago. Kebbi simply means a marshy area, because this area has lots of rivers and lakes. Fishing and things related to water are so relevant in this land. Thus, the whole kingdom was named after the environment which is marshy and has a lot of water. Kanta used the specific nature of the environment as a  means of mobilizing the people of the empire. The work  by Olagunju and Mera referred to above, also sheds light on the fishing festival at the time of Kanta and the use Kanta made of it.
It states “In the 16th century the fishing festival at Kabi had probably taken a national character. The spectacular rallying powers of Kanta, who used to travel in a boat receiving homage throughout his riverine empire must have served to bring desirability as well as efficacy of a centralized  festival. Kanta himself was known to have encouraged both localized and annual festivals as a passport to having a firm hold on his subjects.” (p.68). There is much to learn by making a  simple  visit to Argungu, and listening  to aspects of Kanta’s towering accomplishments  which are still very alive in the people’s hearts.