A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

Overview

Kaura belongs to an alternative list of six children placed by Yerima with Mallam Ali Geshe and Magajiya. The account attributes to him both the stirring of desire for another man’s wife and attention to mothers during delivery. These contrasting functions belong to the same recorded spirit rather than to two separate Kaura entries.

At the dance, Kaura goes on hands and feet. Tremearne connects this movement with his foster-father Geshe’s lion association under the name Zakuwa, rather than narrating Kaura’s own transformation into a lion. The praise-name and song identify him with the household of Mai-saje and with concubine birth; the song also represents the trouble produced by illicit desire. The comparison appendix says a Northern Nigerian Kaura has different actions, so the North African performance is not generalized across every locality.

Youth spiritAlternative foster-family listMarital trouble associationChildbirth-care associationHands-and-feet movement
01

Origins & earliest records

A. J. N. Tremearne records this member of the samari spirit class in his 1914 account, drawing on Hausa-associated Bori communities in North Africa and comparing Northern Nigerian reports. This passage does not name an individual narrator for this spirit. Its differing foster-family lists and regional comparisons are historical evidence, not a single uniform present-day genealogy.

02

Records & interpretation

The Ban of the Bori (1914), chapter XXVI, pp. 366, 369–370; comparison appendix pp. 482–486.

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

  1. 01

    The Ban of the Bori: Demons and Demon-Dancing in West and North Africa

    A. J. N. Tremearne, collector and colonial-era interpreter · 1914

    The Ban of the Bori (1914), chapter XXVI, pp. 366, 369–370; comparison appendix pp. 482–486.

Family & connections

A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.

References

Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.

  1. Digitized historical ethnographic accountTremearne 1914 — KauraResearch access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

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