Haussa
or HOUSSA (hösä), a people of the Sudan, who have been conquered by the Fulbé, and now constitute the larger part of the population in Sokoto, Adamawa, and Gando. Whether they are of pure Negro race, or an immigrant wave of ancient Hamitic stock, now indistinguishable from the Negroes, is not yet fully determined. Their language is allied in its grammatical forms with the Hamitic tongues to the E. and N., while its vocabulary resembles in many points that of the neighboring Negro tribes. At any rate the Haussa language is the common medium of communication in the commercial world of central Sudan. The Haussa themselves are keen traders, and also occupy themselves with agriculture and industrial pursuits (weaving, dyeing, tanning, etc., and the making of baskets, pottery, and iron implements). They have adopted Islam from their conquerors.