Baba of Karo: A Woman of the Muslim Hausa [Paperback]

Mary F Smith (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 10, 1981

First published in 1954 and now reissued with a new foreword by Hilda Kuper, this autobiography of a shrewd, humorous and courageous personality remains a classic in the field of African studies and a uniquely valuable account of a Muslim society in West Africa.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Hausa --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 300 pages
• Publisher: Yale University Press (September 10, 1981)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300027419
• ISBN-13: 978-0300027419
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #947,935 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great read for women's studies, July 31, 2006

By 

elizabeth bennet (usa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Baba of Karo: A Woman of the Muslim Hausa (Paperback)

Baba of Karo, a Woman of the Muslim Hausa, first published in 1945, is the fascinating autobiography of Baba, a very elderly Hausa woman. Baba talks about Hausa domestic life, slavery, farming and explains Hausa rituals. Her memories reach all the way back to the days of intertribal warfare and slave raids, providing an invaluable history of Hausa life in the late 1800s through the first half of the twentieth century.

Although Baba of Karo remains a valuable classic in the field of African studies I think that it would be equally valuable in the area of women's studies. Anyone who is interested in women's history will find this an especially fascinating and informative book. At a time when no outside male would ever have been allowed access to interview a female, Mary Smith learned Hausa and spent uncountable daily sessions with Baba as the old women told her life's story of living in a polygynous marriage in the Hausa male-oriented society from a woman's point of view.