Meaning of bayajidda

Who is the father of bayajidda

Most of the Bayajida legend was transmitted through oral history. There is no record of Bayajida's date of birth or death, and no certainty of his existence. He is believed to have originally come from Baghdad in modern-day Iraq, and after a brief encounter with the Kanem empire in Bornu, he settled in Daura, in modern-day Katsina. Some sources state that the Bayajida legend appeared somewhere between the 16th and 19th centuries AD.

But there is evidence of its existence in Hausa culture as early as the 9th and 10th centuries AD. His original name was most probably Abu Zaid. The name given to him by the Hausas. Bayajida, is actually a phrase: "Ba ya ji da," which means "he couldn't understand before.

Bayajidda real name

Bayajida is said to have slayed a snake that lived in a well in Kusugu, a place in modern-day Daura. The snake had terrorized the people and deprived them of water. It only allowed water to be drawn from the well on Fridays. In spite of the warnings, Bayajida went to fetch water at the well on a Thursday. When the snake attacked him, he cut off its head with his sword.

As a reward for killing the snake, the Queen of Daura, Daurama, promised him half of her kingdom. But Bayajida cleverly refused and instead asked for her hand in marriage.