Bajju people
| Jju | |
|---|---|
| Native to | Nigeria |
| Region | Kaduna State |
|
Native speakers
|
(300,000 cited 1988) |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | |
| Glottolog | jjuu1238 |
The Bajju are an ethnic group found in the Northern Region of Nigeria. They are found in the Southern part of Kaduna State in Zangon Kataf Local Government Area . Bajju people are also commonly known as "Kaje" which is a pejorative name used to refer to both the Bajju people and Jju language by the larger Hausa people who could not pronounce the name Kajju (meaning the land of the Bajju people) well. The Bajju people are predominantly farmers, hunters, blacksmith and petty traders.
The Bajju paramount Leader is called Agwam Bajju. The current leader is His Royal Highness the Agwam Bajju Malam Nuhu Bature.
The Bajju People, speak the Jju language , which is one of the Central Plateau languages.
According to oral history, the origin of the Bajju can be traced as far as Bauchi State where a group of people loved in hill caves and had watchers atop the hill to watch for enemies. These people were called 'mutanen duwatsu' (literal translation in English is 'the stone people'). It was believed that their migration was for the search of better hunting grounds. They migrated from Bauchi State to Plateau State (of Nigeria) and settled on a hill called 'Hurruang'. The hill was already occupied by a tribe called the Jarawa, but the Jarawa people left and lived on another hill called 'Tsok-kwon'.
The Jarawa were a faction of a larger tribe called 'Miango'. The Bajju, Miango, and Jarawa tribes collectively called themselves 'Dangi' (meaning 'those of same stock') because they share cultural and linguistic similarities.
Two brothers named Zampara and Wai were said to have left ‘Dangi’ settlement and migrated South of the Plateau. The Chawai people of today are the descendants Wai. Wai settled at a place and named it Chawai,considering that the forefathers of both the Bajju and Chawai people had family ties made both nations affiliated.
Zampara migrated further and settled at Hurbuang , which is now called ‘Ungwan Tabo’. Zampara gave birth to two sons, Baranzan and Akad. When Zampara, their father died Akad left his elder brother Baranzan and stayed near the hills. He did so and became the ancestor of the Atakat people. That was how the Atakat tribe got associated with the Bajju. It was because of this close relationship that the Atakat and Bajju people made it a tradition and a religious law never to intermarry.
However, some stubborn Bajju and Atakat people intermarried, and this caused the widespread death of 1970, Gaiya (2013). The Gado of Bajju, along with his people, met with the Gado of Atakat, along with his people, to discuss the crisis of frequent deaths of people of both tribes as a result of the intermarriages.
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Wikipedia