Nana Asma’u was born around 1793 in the Soboto Caliphate, in what then stretched from Lake Chad in the east all the way to Niger in the west. Her father founded this caliphate, which went uncolonized until 1903 and as she outlived many of the first rulers, she served as an important source of guidance for later rulers of the caliphate. Nana Asma’u, perhaps because of her background was very educated and sought to offer the same opportunity to women across the caliphate. She was educated in Quranic studies and was in fact a hafitha, someone who has memorized the Quran. With this in mind, she stressed universal education across the caliphate, stressing the sharing of the Sunnah, the example of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). Through her leaderships, a collection of teachers (jaju) was created to travel around then caliphate and educate women in their homes. This was often referred to as “yan taru” or learned sisterhood. She was literate in three languages and fluent in four but as an author and poet herself, wrote mainly in Arabic script. She wrote historical narratives, poems, and admonitions - 60 which survive today and many which were used to teach the principles of the Caliphate. Nana Asma’u died in 1864 in what is now modern day Nigeria but her legacy lives on across the region. A number of community centers, schools and halls are named after her across the region