Originally, it was the seat of an
emirate founded around 1807 by
Ibrahim Zakiyul Kalbi (aka
Malam Zaki), a soldier in the Fulani
jihad. In 1812, he destroyed the capital of the
Kanem–Bornu Empire,
Ngazargamu, 115 mi east north-east of Katagum, and was named king of Bornu by the leader of the jihad,
Usman dan Fodio. After his victory, Malam Zaki returned to the area and founded Katagum in 1814. A decade later, when the Scottish explorers
Hugh Clapperton and
Walter Oudney visited Katagum, they found it had two surrounding walls, each 20 ft in height with a 10 ft base and four gates. There was also a community mosque, and trade was accomplished using
cowrie shells for currency.
Oudney died in Katagum that same year, 1824, and was buried at
Murmur, a settlement on the south. During the mid-to-late 1820s, Bornu recaptured most of the area from the Fulani, forcing the Katagum community to evacuate in 1826. Later that year, their
Kanuri tribal warriors, were defeated 90 mi west south-west at
Fake by a joint coalition led by
Yakubu, the king of
Bauchi, and
Dan Kauwa, Katagum's Emir (
amir), with an emirate to the south. Returned to Fulani control, the Katagum emirate was prosperous until the 1850s, when wars with
Amir Buhari of nearby
Hadejia diminished them greatly. In 1903, after the fall of
Kano city (130 mi west) to the British, it became part of Katagum Province, which was then made a division of Kano Province in 1905. In 1916, the seat was transferred to
Azare (43 mi south-southwest). A decade later, the emirate was merged into Bauchi Province. == Alhaji Dr. Muhammad Kabir Umar, late emir of Katagum ==