THE DOMINATION OF KANO 251 the pagans were all stricken with blindness, "not only the chief and his people who were assembled, but the women in their homes." After this, the chronicle says that the religion of Mohammed was accepted, and that, by the force of the true God, King Yahya conquered his enemies as far as Kororofa and Atagher — that is, practically as far as Lagos. He reigned for thirty-seven years, and was widely feared and respected.

The next reign was a reign of peace, and when the king died he was buried by the imaum. It is recorded of him that he was the first who, when he died, was wrapped in a white cloth and had prayers read over him. But when, in the succeeding reign, the southern provinces refused to pay tribute, and the great war with Zaria began, the king consulted the old pagan priests, and they told him that if he wished to be victorious he must return to the religion of his ancestors. He attended the pagan ceremonies, where the priest **sang the song of Berbushay." After that, when he went against Zaria he was successful. The King of Zaria was killed, and the people were scattered abroad. This king is reported to have introduced the use of iron caps among his soldiers. The shirts of mail in which the warriors of the Haussa States still come out to battle are said to have come to them originally as spoils of the Crusaders, brought down by Arab merchants from Palestine. They may have been in use at an earlier period, but I find no note of any armour until this reign of the early part of the eleventh century.

All the early reigns are filled with the struggle between paganism and Mohammedanism, with miracles duly recorded on either side, and lapses in times of crisis on the part of the kings. Gradually the pagan element drops out, and it becomes evident that all the intelligence and cultivation of the country has become Mohammedan. In the reign of the fifteenth king, another David, Kano enters into closer relations with Bornu, and a king of Bornu, attended by many Mohammedan