7,000 horses to participate in this year’s Durbar festival in Kaduna
December 16, 2017
All is almost set for the Durbar festival in Kaduna today Saturday, 16 December; at least seven thousand horses are expected to participate in tomorrow’s Durbar.
According to the Kaduna centenary, Royal guards are set and horses are all pumped up and ready.
The Durbar festival dates back hundreds of years to when the northern used horses in warfare. During this period, each town, district, and nobility household was expected to contribute a regiment towards the defence of the emirate.
Once or twice a year, the emirate military chiefs invited the various regiments for a Durbar (military parade) for the emir and his chiefs. During the parade, regiments would showcase their horsemanship, their preparedness for war and their loyalty to the emirate.
Originally a festival associated with wartime allegiance, the rich and colourful Durbar Festival is now an event used to mark significant Islamic holidays in Northern Nigeria.
