The Mahdiyya in Adamawa Emirate: the poem on the battle of Danki (1892) by Shaykh Hayāt b. Sa‘īd

Abstract

This paper discusses the poem composed by Shaykh Hayāt b. Sa‘īd (d.1898) on the battle of Danki which was fought between him and Lamiɗo Zubairu of Yola in 1892. In order to understand the historical context in which this poem was composed, some background information is provided. The paper describes the Mahdiyya under the Sokoto Caliphate and the Adamawa Emirate, as well as the principal protagonists of the battle, Shaykh Hayāt b. Sa‘īd and Lamiɗo Zubairu.