Queen Amina of Zazzau

Amina was a Hausa historical figure associated with the city-state of Zazzau, in what is now northwestern Nigeria. Official and palace tradition holds that she reigned as queen, sarauniya, though other traditions describe her instead as a princess, gimbiya; her name does not appear on the regnal lists recorded in the Chronicle of Abuja or in the lists published by E. J. Arnett, and it is local tradition rather than the regnal record that credits her with ruling the territory she is said to have conquered. Some sources place her reign from 1576 to 1610.