The Sayawa (Zaar) Story During the Pre-Colonial Era

By Habila Ibrahim, Abuja | Last Updated on September 24, 2026.

Introduction

When the history of Nigeria is discussed, attention often goes to the large ethnic groups whose names are already familiar. But if you travel into the southern part of Bauchi State and begin asking questions about the people who have lived around the hills and settlements of the area for generations, another story begins to unfold.

These are the Zaar people who are better known in Hausa as Sayawa.

In my case, talking about the Zaar community is not just a matter of piecing together dates from history. There is a human side to the story. The past can be seen in their language, in the names of places, in the tales that have been told from one generation to another, in the structures that used to rule over the village, and in the festivals that help preserve the memory of the past.

The Zaar are particularly associated with Bogoro and Tafawa Balewa areas of Bauchi State, with Zaar communities also found in neighbouring areas. Linguistics classifies Zaar as one of the Southern Bauchi State Chadic languages. Bernard Caron’s study is helpful because its captures how Zaar speakers refer to themselves and their language as well. The people called themselves Zaar, while Sayawa and Sayanci are names related with Hausa who called them so.

But where did the Zaar come from? How did they organize their communities before colonial rule? What did they believe, eat, celebrate and value?

To understand the Zaar today, it is worth taking a step backwards and listening to the older story.

Who Are the Sayawa (Zaar) People?

The Zaar are an indigenous people of the South Bauchi area of Nigeria. The Zaar are the indigenous habitat in Bogoro and Tafawa Balewa LGA of Bauchi State, while their settlements extending into neighbouring states.

The name “Zaar” is especially important because it is the name by which the people identify themselves. Caron’s linguistic work note that the Zaar term Vik Zaar used by Zaar people mean the language or “mouth” of the people. In his research he also noted that many Zaar speakers have history of living in a multilingual environment where Hausa and Zaar are used alongside one another.

This is one of the things that makes Zaar history interesting. Their identity has never been only about geography. It has also been about language, family, land and memory.

The Origin and Migration of the Zaar People

The origin of the Zaar people is an area where we need to be careful.

There are many oral traditions among the Zaar people that connect their earlier movements with the Lake Chad and Bornu region. Some traditions say that their ancestors moved southwards before eventually reaching the hills around present-day southern Bauchi.

A linguistic study by Bernard Caron records an important version of this tradition: Zaar people say they came from Bornu through Zaria and eventually settled in the hills south of Tafawa Balewa, after periods of contact and cohabitation with neighbouring peoples including the Angas, Pyem and Jarawa.

Migration of the Zaar people is worth mentioning because traditions should not always be presented as if they were modern census records. Much of African pre-colonial history was preserved orally. Different communities may remember the same movement in slightly different ways.

The earlier version about Zaar people migration in this Kunzaar article reported that the Zaar migrated from the “Far East” between the 9th and 13th centuries and linked them directly with the ancient Ngazargamu town. That claim is too definite without stronger evidence. It is safer and more historically responsible to describe the Bornu/Lake Chad connection as an important Zaar oral tradition, while acknowledging that the precise chronology and route remain matters for further historical research.

What is clearer is that the Zaar eventually established themselves in the Bauchi highlands, where their communities developed their own social institutions, farming systems, religious practices and political structures.

Settlement Around Bogoro and Tafawa Balewa

European colonial rule, when it did arrive in the area, encountered the Zaar living in numerous communities.

Bogoro, known in Zaar as Ghil, and Tafawa Balewa, known as Pusji, became particularly important centres in Zaar history. The present Kunzaar account designates these regions as important political and religious centers of the community.

Prior to the jihad period (which the Sayawas were not defeated) the Sayawa have been in Bauchi area in pockets of settlements such as, Ghil, Pusji, Tafare, Marti, Kurum, Gwaranga, Gomlar, Mwari, Bar, Bom, Gobbiya, Mwari, Lere south among others.

The physical environment also mattered.

The hills and valleys of the area provided land for cultivation and places where communities could establish themselves. Farming became central to everyday life. People depended on the land not only for food but also for maintaining the continuity of their families.

In many traditional African societies, land was more than property. It had a link to one’s ancestors. A farm could represent the work of one’s father, grandfather and generations before him.

That way of thinking was also important in Zaar society.

With over six hundred thousand (600,000) native speakers. With their slogan “Sorgha Nanbong Yi Tut Lhbah” translated as “Can A Single Stick Of A Broom Sweep?” of course not. If not then “Jwamhn Gaam,” unite together to be able to sweep well.

Traditional Political Organization Among the Zaar

One interesting part of pre-colonial Zaar history is that political authority was not necessarily organized like the centralized kingdoms familiar from some parts of Africa.

The leaders of the different tribes were the elders.

The name Gung is often refers to Zaar traditional leadership. The earlier Kunzaar account identifies a figure called Gong or Gongolo with the development of an important Zaar dynasty in the Tafawa Balewa area. The same entry also provides a list of successive rulers under the dynasty to the early part of the 19th century.

Yet the political configuration of the Zaar should not be reduced to just the Gung alone.

The elders played a major role in community affairs. They were involved in settling disputes, maintaining social order and advising traditional authorities.

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Another institution mentioned in accounts of traditional Zaar society is the Singh Wari.

The Singh Wari and the Authority of Elders

The Singh Wari system gives us another window into how Zaar communities were governed before colonial administration.

Singh Wari functioned as a political and religious authority of the Zaar people. The position was tied to the qualities of responsibility, courage, diligence and acceptable moral conduct.

The elders still remained an important advisers.

Disputes over farmland and boundaries could be handled through these traditional structures. Visitors and strangers also came under the responsibility of community authorities.

This tells us something important: pre-colonial Zaar society was not without government simply because it did not function like a modern state.

There were rules.

There were authorities.

There were ways of settling disputes.

And expectations about how members of the community should act.

Remember this important point when you are researching African History.

Farming and Economic Life

Agriculture was at the centre of traditional Zaar life.

Crops such as guinea corn and other grains formed an important part of food production. Farming was not only an individual activity. It related to family life and communal collaboration.

The land supplied food for the household, and produced products for social events.

Other economic activities also existed, including craft work and forms of local trade. As it was pointed out in the earlier kunzaar article, mining was also pointed-out as one of the non-agricultural occupations practiced by the Zaar people.

It was thus not a straightforward economic structure based solely on agriculture. People merged various activities depending on their surroundings and requirements.

Zaar Language and Identity

Language is one of the strongest parts of Zaar identity.

The language is known as Vik Zaar and the ethnic group refers to themselves as Zaar people. Zaar is classified linguistically as people belonging to the South of Bauchi West group of Chadic languages.

The language also helps explain the historical relationship between the Zaar and surrounding communities.

Because the Zaar have lived in a multilingual region, contact with neighbouring peoples has naturally influenced communication. Many Zaar speakers have also used Hausa, particularly in wider regional interaction and education.

Yet language is more than a method of communication.

When an elderly person tells a story in Zaar, explains the meaning of a traditional name or remembers an old ceremony, language becomes a container of history.

And this is the reason for saving Vik Zaar.

Traditional Religion and Belief

Before the coming of Christianity and Islam which were being adopted by the Zaar, the Zaar people practiced their own religion.

The earlier Kunzaar account describes belief in a supreme creator, referred to as Chong or Chongvon, together with beliefs involving ancestors, spiritual forces and sacred objects. Traditional religious specialists and elders played roles in ceremonies associated with protection, healing, fertility and other community concerns.

It is important, however, to distinguish between religion and culture.

Some traditional practices by now may have declined or disappeared as Christianity became dominant among many Zaar people while cultural expressions linked with older traditions have continued in modified forms.

This is common across many African societies. A community can alter its religious affiliation without completely abandoning every aspect of its collective cultural memory.

Marriage and Family Life

Marriage was another important institution in traditional Zaar society.

In the above-mentioned account traditional marriage was referred to as kapkhnghat and different types of marital arrangements were identified. Some involved agreement between families, while others were associated with courtship, gifts and family obligations.

Marriage in traditional society was not just the coming together of two individuals. It connected families.

Gifts such as farm produce or livestock could form part of the process while labour for the bride’s family was also being practiced in some accounts.

Some of the practices were described in older sources for a long period and should not be presented as instructions or descriptions of modern Zaar people marriage. Customs change with time, and contemporary Zaar families may follow Christian, civil or other modern forms of marriage.

The important thing historically was that marriage was a way of creating relationships between families and of ensuring the continuity of the community.

Birth and Naming

The birth of a child was an important event in the family.

Naming traditions included the parents and grandparents, indicating the significance of ancestry and family identity. Earlier accounts described naming ceremonies taking place several days after birth and with celebration.

And for this reason a child was not only received as an individual, but also as a new link in the family chain.

This is one of the themes that appears repeatedly when studying traditional African communities: the individual belongs to a larger family story.

Lhmzar: A Festival of Culture and Memory

One of the cultural traditions associated with the Zaar is Lhmzar, also written in some accounts as Lhm Zaar or Lhumzar.

The name is related with the Zaar month and the beginning of a new cultural year. The celebration has traditionally involved food, dance, community gathering and cultural expression. The Kunzaar account associates the festival with Na’atd Chitd, a local food made from grain, and with traditional performances including Mburti Nasr.

Traditional dancers were described as wearing animal skins, masks and other materials, while horns and other instruments accompanied the performance.

But a festival like this is not only about entertainment.

People come together.

Families meet.

Stories are remembered.

Young people notice that old generations experienced things they themselves have not.

Communication in communities is also essential.

In that sense, Lhmzar becomes a bridge between the past and the present.

Food and the Zaar Way of Life

Food also carries history.

Grains such as guinea corn were important in the traditional Zaar diet, while local preparations were served during festivals and community gatherings. The food was not only for satisfying hunger. It was part of hospitality.

When visitors came, food was one of the ways they were welcomed as one of the Zaar culture.

This is something interesting I find particularly when looking at African cultures. A traditional meal can tell us about farming, climate, family life, hospitality and celebration all at once.

The Zaar and Their Neighbours

The Zaar did not live in isolation.

They had systems for settling disputes.

They had religious institutions.

They celebrated festivals.

They had marriage and family customs.

They spoke their own language.

And, perhaps most significantly, they had recollections of their origins and of how their settlements came into being.

The pre-colonial Zaar story should therefore not be told only as a story of migration. Migration was one part of it. Settlement and the creation of a functioning society were another.

What Happened Around the Time of the Bauchi Jihad?

The nineteenth century brought major political changes to the wider Bauchi region.

The earlier Kunzaar article links the reign of a Gun Zaar or Zaar leader by name Beidu with the period around year 1815 and the expansion of the Bauchi Emirate. It describes the Zaar political centres as becoming incorporated into the wider emirate structure rather than simply describing the communities as having disappeared.

This part of history deserves careful treatment because relationships between communities, emirates and local authorities were not always simple.

The key aspect here is that the Zaar communities survived and maintained their identity despite future political developments.

Colonial rule would bring another major transformation, followed eventually by independence and the creation of modern Nigerian states and local governments.

Why the Zaar Story Matters Today

When I look at the history of the Zaar people and what stands out for me is not only the question of where their ancestors migrated from.

It is what they built after arriving.

They developed communities.

They cultivated the land.

They established systems of leadership.

They raised families.

They developed traditions.

They maintained their language and tradition.

And they passed memories from one generation to another.

That is why the history of the Zaar should be preserved carefully.

There are still questions that need deeper research. Oral history, archaeology, linguistics and written colonial records can each provide different pieces of the story. None should automatically be treated as the complete story on its own.

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The comment left by a reader on the earlier version of this article also made an important point: a community’s history should not begin halfway through the journey. There is still room for more research into the earliest remembered ancestors, the different migration traditions and the development of Zaar communities before the better-documented periods.

That is perhaps one of the reasons cultural history is never really finished.

There is always another elder to listen to.

Another name to investigate.

Another village story to record.

Another word whose meaning has almost been forgotten.

Conclusion

The history of the Zaar or Sayawa people is a story of migration, settlement, family, farming, language, leadership and cultural memory.

Long before modern Nigeria was created, Zaar communities were already living in the hills and settlements of what is now southern Bauchi. They developed their own institutions and traditions and interacted with the many other peoples who lived around them.

Their exact ancient origin remains an area where oral tradition and academic research need to be brought together carefully. The first of these is the association of Zaar’s origin with migrations from the Bornu-Lake Chad area, while the other is the confirmation of Zaar’s unique status linguistically as a Southern Bauchi Chadic language.

This is why I think the story of Zaar is important and worth telling.

History is not only about kings, wars and dates written in old books. Sometimes history lies quietly hidden in a domestic language, an annual festival, a surname, a farming tradition, or an old tale told by an elderly person.

And for the Zaar people, they have carried many of these memories across generations.

And as Nigeria continues to change, remembering those memories is not about looking backward. It is about giving young people the chance to grasp how their communities came into existence, and why it is important that they retain a sense of cultural identity.

About the Author

Habila Ibrahim is a Nigerian cultural writer and the founder of Kunzaar, a platform dedicated to documenting African cultures, traditions, history and community stories. His interest in cultural writing comes from a desire to preserve histories that are sometimes overlooked in mainstream historical discussions.

While researching and writing about the Zaar people, Habila approaches the subject from both a cultural and personal perspective, paying attention to oral traditions, local knowledge and available historical and linguistic research. The goal is not to present all the traditional narratives as incontrovertible truths but rather to record the narrative and still leave enough space for future revisions and corrections by members of the community.

Sources and Basis of This Article

This article was rewritten and developed from the earlier Kunzaar article on the Sayawa (Zaar) people, together with linguistic and historical materials consulted during the revision.

Particularly useful is the work of Bernard Caron, whose research on Zaar and other South Bauchi Chadic languages discusses the name Zaar, the Zaar language, their relationship with neighbouring languages and the oral tradition concerning migration from Bornu through Zaria.

The article also draws on information contained in the existing Kunzaar historical account, including material concerning traditional leadership, the Singh Wari, marriage, religion and Lhmzar.

Because much of pre-colonial African history was preserved through oral tradition, some parts of the Zaar origin story should be understood as community traditions rather than independently proven historical facts. Further research involving Zaar elders, historians, linguists and archival materials can help strengthen the historical record.