Hausa , a group of neighboring African states occasionally linked by loose alliances from the mid-14th century. Their territory was above the confluence of the Niger and Benue rivers (today's north) Nigeria ) between the Songhai Empire to the west and that of Kanem-Bornu or Bornu to the east. The Seven True Hausa States or Hausa Bakwai (Biram, Daura , Gobir, Kano , Katsina , Rano and Zaria [Zazzau]) and its seven outlying satellites, or Banza Bakwai (Zamfara, Kebbi, Yauri, Gwari, Nupe, Kororofa [Jukun] and Yoruba) had no central authority , was never united in wars of conquest and was therefore often subject to outside domination. Isolated until the 14th century, when missionaries Mali introduced into Islam . Conquered by in the early 19th century Fulani , in whose jihad or "holy war" many Hausa peasants had voluntarily joined together, were organized into emirates. In the early 20th century, the British took over the administration of the former Emirates, to which they annexed Bornou to form the Northern Provinces (later the Northern Region) of the Protectorate of Nigeria .
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