Nana Asma'u

Daughter of dan Fodio who wrote poetry in several languages and built a network for women's education.

Life

A family of scholars

Nana Asma'u was born in 1793 in Gobir, the daughter of Usman dan Fodio. The dan Fodio family valued women's education, and from childhood she studied the Quran, Islamic law and Arabic literature; she could write in Arabic, Fulfulde, Hausa and Tamasheq. As a girl she went through the migrations and warfare of the jihad era with her family.

Counsel and poetry

After the Sokoto Caliphate was established, she became an important adviser to her elder brother Muhammad Bello, the second caliph, helping to handle government affairs and correspondence. She composed a large number of poems covering religious instruction, historical narrative, elegies and medical knowledge; many of them record the course of the jihad and are important sources for the early history of Sokoto.

Women's education network

From about 1830 she trained a group of women teachers known as "jaji," who went deep into the villages to teach women religious knowledge and literacy, forming a women's education network known as the "'Yan Taru." This tradition continues to this day. She died in 1864 and is now regarded as a pioneer of women's education in northern Nigeria.

Legacy

Nana Asma'u was one of the most outstanding women scholars of 19th-century West Africa, and her poetry is a valuable source for the early history of the Sokoto Caliphate. The women's education network she founded promoted female literacy and religious learning within an Islamic framework, and its influence endures today. She is now seen as a forerunner of Islamic women's education in Africa and is often cited to refute the stereotype that Islam and women's education are at odds.

Major works & achievements

• Wrote poetry in four languages
• Assisted her elder brother Muhammad Bello
• Trained "jaji" women teachers
• Founded the "Yan Taru" education network

Key dates

• 1793Born in Gobir
• 1804Moved with family to Gudu
• 1817After her father's death, assisted her elder brother Bello
• 1830Began training women teachers
• 1837Wrote an elegy for Bello
• 1864Died