Origin While broader Hausa tradition claims the founder of Gobir to have been
Duma, a grandson of
Bayajidda, this is overshadowed by the tradition found in records preserved by the Gobir ruling house (
Bacirawa) where they trace their descent from the nomadic
Copts (or
Kibdawa) of
Arabia. The Gobirawa are said to have migrated from Kabila, north of
Mecca, to Gubur in
Yemen, where they established their first king (
Sarkin Gobir), Bana Turmi. From there, they passed through
Khartoum and
Bornu to
Asben, Surukul,
Birnin Lalle, Magali, and finally Goran Rami. Historians
S. J. Hogben and
A. H. M. Kirk-Greene noted that this claim is disputed by some and might have been an invention of
Bawa Jan Gwarzo (r. 1777–1795) to avoid paying tribute (
murgu) to Bornu. A manuscript in the possession of the
alkali (
chief judge) of
Sabon Birni sheds more light on the Coptic tradition. According to this manuscript,
Muhammad, the
Islamic prophet, called on Bana Turmi to support him against his enemy Haibura. Wanting to be on the winning side, Bana Turmi sent half of his retainers to support Muhammad and the other half to Haibura. Haibura lost the battle and was slain at
Badr. Accordingly, after the battle, Muhammad saw a group of Gobirawa fleeing and ordered them to be captured. When they were brought before him, he asked why they had fled, as victory was theirs. They revealed that they had been fighting for Haibura, exposing Bana Turmi's duplicity. Muhammad then declared that the Gobirawa would suffer from divided counsel and internal dissension until the end of time.
Early history (12th century to 17th century) Gobir was one of the seven original kingdoms of
Hausaland, tracing a lineage back to the 11th century. It was the northernmost of the
Hausa states and was depended on to protect its sister states from northern adversaries, particularly the Tuareg tribes. From its founding, Gobir had a proud martial reputation, likely stemming from its long history of nomadism. Although the majority of the Gobirawa ('people of Gobir') were Hausa, the ruling dynasty claimed Coptic descent, marking under their eyes with "
the same mark found under the eye of the Pharaohs on the monuments," called
takin kaza ('the fowl's footprint') in
Hausa. This ruling house descended from Bana Turmi, the first Sarkin Gobir, who died at Bilma. They arrived in the
Asben region between the 12th and 14th centuries, establishing a state with the
Idirfunawa (Hausawa in
Adrar) they met there. Historian
Mahdi Amadu in the
General History of Africa (1984) says that the kingdom was possibly centred on
Marandet, a prosperous city from the 9th century, which may indicate the Gobirawa had a centralised state at that time. Some of the population of Asben split to settle in
Adar, becoming the . The
Kano Chronicle says the 'Abzinawa' arrived at Gobir in the mid-15th century, and were associated with increased availability of salt. After fleeing Asben, the Gobirawa first moved to Maigali and later to Goran Rami, near present-day
Sabon Birni. In the early 18th century, they moved their capital to
Birnin Lalle. According to the 19th-century German geographer
Heinrich Barth, after their conquest the Gobirawa agreed with the Tuaregs that they would not be exterminated and that Tuareg kings should always marry a black woman.
18th century Soba's reign Around 1715, together with Agadez, Gobir aided
Zamfara in its successful revolt against
Kebbi, which at the time was the dominant power in western Hausaland. This alliance strengthened the relationship between the Gobirawa and the Zamfarawa. The Gobirawa continued to move peacefully into the fertile Zamfara region, a process that began early in the 18th century. The rulers of Zamfara initially welcomed them as useful warriors and granted them farms. However, the relationship soon deteriorated after Sarkin Gobir Soba besieged
Zabarma for three years, plundering on a large scale.Soba resumed his wars in the mid-18th century, attacking a former ally,
Katsina. While the Gobirawa were engaged in a seven-year siege against the Katsina city of
Maradi, Agadez descended upon Goran Rami, the capital of Gobir. The Zamfarawa immediately came to Gobir's aid, secretly surrounding the Agadez forces at night with a fence of thorns before launching an attack. Other sources claim that the capital was destroyed in 1762.
Bawa, a ruler of Gobir, appears to have invited
dan Fodio to the area in 1774; dan Fodio made his home in the small town of
Degel, and began preaching. Dan Fodio was given some role in the education of Bawa's nephew and later successor,
Yunfa (r. 1803–8), but also publicly attacked what he saw as the abuses of the Hausa elite, The Gobirawa dispersed to Birnin Kadaye, Gawon Bazau, and
Tibiri. In 1853 some Gobirawa led by
Yariman Gobir Dan Halima founded the settlement of
Sabon Birnin Dan Halima near
Bunsuru River. In 1939/40 (during
Umaru Shawai's reign) they moved to
Sabon Birni after the town was destroyed in a flood. Animism remained important, and the position of
Inna (female priest) was the second most prestigious after
Sarkin Gobir. In the late 20th century a local government chairman, an adherent of the anti-''
bid'ah Izala Society, demanded the position of Inna
go to him and his relatives as they were descendants of a previous Inna
, after which the official house of the Inna
was destroyed. The Sarkin Gobirs
did not appoint another one, and the last Inna
died in 2003. In 2024 Sarkin Gobir na Gatawa''
Isah Muhammad Bawa was abducted along with 5/6 others by
bandits for ransom and was later murdered; his son was captured too but was freed after a
₦60 million ransom (approximately
US$40,000) was paid.
Sarkin Gobir is also a title given in the
Ilorin Emirate where there is a Gobirawa minority. The current
Sarkin Gobir of Ilorin is
Yakubu, having ascended to the position in 2025. == Administrative structure ==