This thesis concerns hierarchy and authority among the Hausa of Northern Nigeria and Niger with special reference to the period in which the various Hausa city-states were brought under a single rule in the nineteenth century, known as the Sokoto Caliphate. However, contrastive discussion also centres on the pre-jihad (1804- A.D.) Hausa polities and those kingdoms which escaped conquest in the jihad. The examination of hierarchy and authority in this study focusses on the ways in which the Hausa consistently conceive, in political terms, other non-political institutions in their society. This hierarchical organisation extends to such diverse social institutions as craft associations and associations of youth. In addition, many of the iskoki, 'spirits', are known by their political titles and, as a group, are hierarchically organised. It is through the duplication of titles at many levels of the society and through kinship that hierarchy is expressed.