Amina Mohamud (Aminatu) [1533-1610] was a Hausa Muslim Warrior Queen of Zazzau (now known as Zaria) a city-state in the north-west region of Nigeria. She was the first woman to become the Sarauniya (queen) in a male-dominated society. Her reign was somewhere between 1576 to 1610; historians are not certain of the actual dates of her rule but it was in the mid-sixteenth century.
Amina was known to be a fierce warrior and loved fighting. As a child, her grandmother Marka, caught her holding a dagger. This was no shock to her grandmother, rather it was that Amina held it exactly as a warrior would. As an adult, she refused to marry like Elizabeth the First of England for the fear of losing power. She helped Zazzau (Zaria) become the center of trade and to gain more land.
Amina is credited for the introduction of kola nuts into cultivation in the area of Zazzau and expanding the territory of the Hausa people of north Africa to its largest borders in history. A statue at the National Arts Theatre in Lagos State honors her, and multiple educational institutions bear her name. She is widely credited with building the earthen walls that surround Hausa cities.
Source: military-history; thefamouspeople.com; guardian.ng
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