Umaru

Umaru (or Umar) was a Sultan of Kano who reigned from 1410 to 1421. Reign and significance

Umaru succeeded his father Kanajeji, who died in 1410 after a 20-year reign marked by military expansion and conquest of Zazzau. Having studied under the Wangara scholar Dan Gurdamus Ibrahimu, Umaru's ascension to the throne reinstated the influence of Islamic scholars and Wangara traders at the Kano court, a departure from his father's reign which the Kano Chronicle had described as oriented toward traditional religious practice.

According to the Kano Chronicle, Umaru's twelve-year reign was notable for its lack of warfare and internal conflict, with the administration of Kano largely delegated to the Galadima, a senior court official. Umaru's eventual abdication of the throne, influenced by the religious admonitions of his friend and fellow scholar Abubakra, is recorded as one of the more unusual succession events in the Kano Chronicle, as voluntary relinquishment of power was rare among the rulers of the Bagauda Dynasty.

Biography in the Kano Chronicle Below is a biography of Umaru from Palmer's 1908 English translation of the Kano Chronicle: