Foundational scholarship
The Sokoto Caliphate — Murray Last (1967)
The landmark academic study of the 19th-century Caliphate, built on Arabic primary sources; part of the Ibadan History Series.
The Sword of Truth: The Life and Times of the Shehu Usuman dan Fodio — Mervyn Hiskett (1973)
The standard biography of the founder of the Sokoto Caliphate.
The Development of Islam in West Africa — Mervyn Hiskett (1984)
A broad account of Islam's spread and scholarly institutions across the region.
Government in Kano, 1350–1950 — M. G. Smith
A deep anthropological and historical study of one of the great Hausa city-states.
Primary sources & chronicles
The Kano Chronicle
A locally written king-list and history of Kano; the single most important indigenous source for early Hausa history.
Infaku'l Maisuri — Sultan Muhammad Bello
A history of the jihad and early Caliphate written by ɗan Fodio's son and successor.
The Collected Works of Nana Asma'u (ed. Boyd & Mack)
Poetry and teaching texts by the Caliphate's foremost woman scholar, in Hausa, Fulfulde, and Arabic.
Language & culture
Hausa–English / English–Hausa Dictionary — Roxana Ma Newman
A widely used modern reference for the Hausa language.
A History of Nigeria — Toyin Falola & Matthew Heaton (2008)
Useful wider context for the place of Hausaland within Nigerian history.
Bibliographic details are provided for identification; editions and availability vary. Suggestions for additions are welcome as this library expands.