Baba of Karo: A Woman of the Muslim Hausa

by Mary F. Smith, Baba

Daughter of a Hausa farmer and Koranic teacher, Baba became Mary Smith’s friend in 1949, when M. G. and Mary Smith were engaged in fieldwork in Nigeria. In daily sessions for several weeks Baba dictated her life story, which Mrs. Smith has translated from the Hausa. The old woman’s memories reached back to the days of slave raids and interstate warfare before the British occupation, and she has left a fascinating and valuable record of Hausa life in the late nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth.
Baba describes Hausa male-oriented society from a woman’s point of view, narrating not only her own life history but stories of other women who were close to her. She tells of Hausa domestic life, farming, and slavery, and explains the Hausa institutions of bond friendship, adoption, polygynous marriage, and kinship, showing how, in a society that permits easy and frequent divorce, children are not exclusively dependent on their biological parents for emotional support.
First published in 1945 and now reissued with a new foreword by Hilda Kuper, this autobiography of a shrewd, humorous, and courageous personality remains a classic in the field of African studies and a uniquely valuable account of a Muslim society in West Africa.

Genres: History

300 pages, Paperback

First published September 10, 1981

About the author

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Reviews

[Libby · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good glimpse into Hausaland to have before I go to Niger. I read it in my Hausa class. It shows how polygamy can work, and it offers a very pragmatic view of divorce. Baba's five marriages are not unusual in her people group. The entire book is Baba's telling of her life story. Mary Smith records it word for word.
I thought the formal bonds between women were very interesting. Friendship is named and established first through gift-giving and a formal request before they know one another well; later, the women spend the time together that allows them to become what we would call friends. It takes a different order from ours, but the result is quite similar.
Baba's matter-of-fact tone and her opinions about other people groups are very interesting. Her character is very alive. I wish I could find more books like this from other parts of the world.

[Jane Wilson-Howarth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the translated transcript of a series of interviews with a village woman who lived through the colonisation of Nigeria. The accounts of the very different family arrangments were fascinating and I found it astonishing that a slave's child was adopted into the enslaving family and treated as an equal to their own children. Pre-colonial Nigeria was certainly a dangerous place with families having to flee from maurauding grain and cattle thieves but women appeared to have some control over the men they chose to father their children. Baba have five husbands - though not all at once.

[Elyamus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Refreshing reading about the Hausa male-oriented society from a woman's point of view before and during the arrival of the Europeans. So many customs have changed but some still remain, Bori ( cult of spirit possession) was particularly interesting to read about, a practice that is almost extinct in the land.

[Frumenty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Insights into an entirely different life, and entirely different ways of seeing the world.

[Suhaib M. Ibrahim · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book offers a thorough and intimate exploration of the lives of the Hausa people in Northern Nigeria, from the end of the 19th century up until the mid-1950s. Narrated primarily from the perspective of Hausa women — particularly through the voice of Baba — it brings to light the social fabric of the time, with special attention to the experiences, roles, and traditions of women.
The narrative delves deeply into various aspects of Hausa social life, including types of interpersonal relationships such as avoidance, joking relationships, and kinship dynamics. The book highlights both biological and non-biological ties, including relationships like yaya (adopted elder sibling) and Kanwar kanen rana (adopted child), and reflects on how these relationships shaped individual identity and communal bonds.
Rituals surrounding major life events are richly detailed — childbirth, marriage, weddings, death, mourning, and other communal ceremonies are described with cultural nuance and insight. The author also touches on structures of power, authority, inheritance, and the traditional systems through which these were maintained and transferred.
Spirituality features prominently, not from an Islamic doctrinal perspective, but through the lens of local beliefs, including spirit possession (bori), traditional healing practices, and other supernatural or superstitious elements embedded in everyday life.
The book does not shy away from the darker chapters of the period. It addresses the impact of local wars and raids, the abduction and enslavement of men and women, and the eventual abolition of slavery through colonial legal reforms.
Finally, it offers some reflection on ethnic distinctions — not only between Hausa and Fulani groups, but also within the Hausa communities themselves (e.g., Barbare and others), highlighting the internal diversity and complexity often overlooked in broader historical narratives.
nonethess with all this being said, it needs to be mentioned that writing from a white female perspective must have misinterpreted some events and actions. At chapters I almost felt that as I beleive Im more situated to understand parts of the Fulani culture becuse it shares some similarities with mine. Hence the book remain as an outside perspective into a local rich culture. might get somethings right and somethings wrong.