In the north of Nigeria which is predominantly Muslim there are a number of Emirates where the celebrations for Sallah are super duper shiny and they put on a proper show. In Dutse the durbar lasted for three days with a parade taking place at a different time on a slightly different route with different outfits each day.
I’m not sure if he’s friends with the other Emirs in the local area and it’s a case of wanting to show that my army is bigger than your army or if they all band together against foes from further afield. I am led to believe though that traditionally in days of yore and yesteryear and all that the durbar was a chance for the Emir to see just how many men he had prepared to fight for him. The Emir also takes part in the durbar and he gets to ride his horse with someone following him with a giant parasol and lots of people around him fanning him and generally protecting him.
One of the best things about the durbar was the fact that we were as much of an attraction to the people in the parade as they were to us so that they all looked our way as they passed by. Many of them were shouting and cheering, some of them even thanked us for coming to watch them, lots of the people on foot stopped and ‘performed’ for us, they even stopped the Emir and his entourage on the first day so that we could snap him, all in all it made for some great photos. I have selected a few of my favourites to include here, there are many more on picasa via the link on the side of the page should you want to see more.
It was such an amazing event to witness, so colourful and loud and full of pride and joy. I loved every minute of it and feel very privileged to have witnessed something like this; it’s a cultural snapshot I will remember forever.
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