Ja'afaru Dan Isiyaku

Ja'afari Dan Isiyaku was the sixteenth Emir of Zazzau, he reigned from 1937 to 1959. As Emir of Zazzau he was administrative head of Zaria Emirate Native Authority which consisted of seventeen districts and he was responsible for the maintenance of law and order within the emirate.

Life Ja'afaru was born into the house of emir of Zazzau Abdullahi and his wife Malama Aishatu. His father was the grandson of Sarkin Zazzau Hammada and great-grandson of Sarki Yamusa (1821–1834) Ja'afaru's early education consisted of teachings and recitation of the Quran at an Islamic learning center in the neighborhood. He spent his first seven years in the district of Sabon Gari in his father house, thereafter, he journeyed to Zaria for additional Quranic studies. When he was around the age of 24 and had married, he was selected by his father to attend a school in Kano founded by a Swiss educationist, Hanns Vischer, the school was popularly called makarantar Dan Hausa in local parlance.

During the pre-independence period, Ja'afaru was a member of the Northern Regional House of Chiefs and a minister without portfolio.