Nigeria - Kano

Nnennaya - Nigeria - 09.10.2017

The Mini-Durbar : The Emir of Kano has made it a point of duty to visit the home (Gidan Rumfa) of the Royal Mother (Babban Daki) after he returns from every trip outside of Kano city. It's almost like a mini-Durbar ceremony; on his way he is met by many joyous supporters, admirers and well wishers, whom he acknowledges.

Spectators and riders display their loyalty and valor before the Emir. District heads in Kano attend the Durbar festival to pay homage to the Emir and to reaffirm their loyalty to the emirate. 

Kano Durbar Festival is the Nigeria's Most Spectacular Horseparade that marks a celebration of northern Nigeria's cultural treasure. It begins with prayers at dawn, followed by a colourful mounted parade of the Emir and his retinue of horsemen, musicians, and artillerymen.

The Kano Emirate was a Muslim state in Northern Nigeria formed in 1805 during the Fulani jihad when the Muslim Hausa-led Sultanate of Kano was deposed and replaced by a new emirate which became a vassal state of the Sokoto Caliphate. During and after the British colonial period, the powers of the emirate were steadily reduced. The emirate is preserved and integrated into modern Nigeria as the Kano Emirate Council

The Kano Emirate Council is a traditional state in Northern Nigeria with headquarters in the city of Kano, the capital of the modern Kano State. Preceded by the Emirate of Kano the council was formed in 1903 after the British pacification of the Sokoto Caliphate.

Emir is a word of Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person possessing actual or ceremonial authority. The title has a long history of use in the Arab World, East Africa, West Africa, Central Asia, and the Indian subcontinent. In the modern era, when used as a formal monarchical title, it is roughly synonymous with "prince", applicable both to a son of a hereditary monarch, and to a reigning monarch of a sovereign principality, namely an emirate. The feminine form is emira, a cognate for "princess". Prior to its use as a monarchical title, the term "emir" was historically used to denote a "commander", "general", or "leader" (for example, Amir al-Mu'min). In contemporary usage, "emir" is also sometimes used as either an honorary or formal title for the head of an Islamic, or Arab (regardless of religion) organisation or movement.