Global InformationKanta Kotal information
| Kanta Kotal | |
|---|---|
| Sarkin Kebbi | |
| Reign | 1517 - 1561 |
| Predecessor | None |
| Successor | Muhammadu |
| Born | Muhammad |
| Died | Jirawa |
| Father | Mukata |
| Mother | Tamatu |
Muhammad Kanta Kotal, also known as Kanta Kotal, was a Hausa Warrior and Military General who became the first King of Kebbi, now a state in Northern Nigeria. Kanta was the chief in charge of the Province of Lekka (now known as Kebbi), then under the Songhai Empire.[1]
As a General in the Songhai Army, he was suspected to have been a pivotal figure in the alleged conquest that saw the Empire conquer five of the most powerful Hausa States (Kano, Gobir, Katsina, Zazzau and Zamfara) and more definitively Agadez.[2] Kanta rebelled against Askia the great after a dispute over the spoils of war and declared Kebbi an independent Kingdom. He then renovated the city and fortified its defenses and was able to deftly hold off multiple reprisal attacks by the Songhai Empire and to defeat them in multiple battles.[3] Kanta Kotal would go on to conquer some of its former tributaries including a few other Hausa states and Agadez, expelling Songhai forces in these regions. Kotal would also succeed in defeating the Bornu Empire and keeping the Moroccans from Hausa Land.[4]
An astute leader and a fearless warrior, for a time Kebbi emerged as the most powerful Hausa State and one of the most powerful Kingdoms in the Sahel during the first half of the 16th century. At its height, Kebbi wrestled successfully with some of the most powerful states in the continent. Kanta Kotal is one of the most prominent figures among a wave of great leaders that emerged in the Sahel between the 14th and 16th Centuries.[5]
- ^ Lipschutz, Mark R.; Rasmussen, R. Kent (1989). Dictionary of African Historical Biography. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-06611-3.
- ^ Parris, Ronald G. (1995-12-15). Hausa: (Niger, Nigeria). The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc. ISBN 978-0-8239-1983-3.
- ^ "Tarikh es-Soudan par Abderrahman ben Abdallah ben 'Imran ben 'Amir es-Sa'di. Traduit de l'arabe par O. Houdas : Sad, Abd al-Ramn ibn Abd Allh, 1596-1656? : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming". Internet Archive. Retrieved 2020-07-28.
- ^ Shaw, Flora (December 2010). "A Tropical Dependency: An Outline of the Ancient History of the Western Soudan with an Account of the Modern Settlement of Northern Nigeria". Cambridge Core. Retrieved 2020-07-28.
- ^ Lipschutz, Mark R.; Rasmussen, R. Kent (1989). Dictionary of African Historical Biography. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-06611-3.