Zamfara (or Zanfara), a region in present-day northwestern Nigeria, has a history deeply rooted in the ancient traditions of the Hausa people.

However, constant regional instability and warring, particularly with Gobir, gradually weakened the state, leading to its eventual absorption by the Sokoto Caliphate in the 19th-century.

[2]During the reign of Babba (c. 1715), Zamfara, allied with Gobir and Agadez, revolted against their overlord Kebbi, driving its forces back to the Gulbin Ka River.

Led by Babba's son, Yakubu, the combined forces defeated the Kebbawa and captured their king, Muhammadu dan Giwa.

Zamfara defeated the Kebbi forces at Tsamiya Maibaura, and Acali's younger brother, Kare, was appointed the first Sarkin Burmin Bakura.

[1][3][4][5] At the height of its power, Zamfara is said to have extended from Sabon Birni in the north to Kwiambana in the south, from the rocks of Muniya, Rubu, and Duru and the Babban Baki stream in the east to the River Gindi in the west.

[4][6]: 236 Zamfara's fertile land, described by German geographer Heinrich Barth, who explored the region in the mid-19th century, as 'almost the most flourishing country of Negroland,' made it attractive to conquerors and migrants.

After a series of military successes, Soba led his forces to attack Katsina in the mid-18th century and initiated a seven-year siege of the city of Maradi, ultimately failing to capture it.

Under cover of night, they secretly surrounded the forces of Sarkin Agadez with a fence of thorns before launching an attack, saving the city from plunder.

"[1][3] Eventually, the captains of the army decided to abandon their capital, Birnin Zamfara, to Gobir, even escorting the Gobirawa to Mairoki while shouting, "See, here is the monkey, down to his tail!"

According to another account, Birnin Zamfara was so vast that Mairoki, happily playing draughts for three days, was unaware that his army had abandoned him to the Gobirawa.

Mairoki fled to Kiawa, an ancient hill fortress inhabited by Katsinawa, located about twenty miles east of Kaura Namoda.

In his Raulat al-Afkari, Bello claims that Sarkin Gobir Bawa Jan Gwarzo (r. 1777–1795) besieged Mairoki in Kiawa for 'fifteen years until at last he got possession of him.