It is believed that it was at this period of religious oppression that Karshi believed to be the son of Chief, Muhammadu Rumfa, left Kano with his groupof hunters and their dogs. Some sources gave the name of the leader who led the group out of Kanoas Karshi and he was the founder of Karshi town. They moved westwards to form the origin of Gwandara people. The followers of Karshi were jujuworshipers, remnants of the followersof Tsumburbura in the city. They kept dogs which messed up the praying ground in the city.
It is also belived that these hunters turned themselves into hyenas (Kura) to devours people's goat and sheeps. A story had told that during the Ramadan, one of them Was called and told to fast but he turned himself into hyena and ran and he went out to beg during the month of Ramadan. This was being practiced in Toni chiefdom up to 2003. Karshi's follwers were becoming nuisance in the city. So they called and called to convert to Islam, they adamantly refused and said "Gwanda rawa da Sallah", meaning "we prefer juju dancing to Sallah". The Gwandara today were known to their dancing skills. Because of their rejection in Islam. They were ordered to leave the city.
Some people suggest that the Gwandara might have left Kano much earlier during the descruction of Tsumburbura by Tsamiya (1315-1352) or during the reign of Yaji (1359-1396), When he accepted the Wangarawa Fulani and the Gazargawa tribe refused to accept the religion. It is worth nothing that the Gwandara on the hand were Habe as their language can shows. The Gwandara language is a dialect of Hausa, not a different language like the Gade, who likely to have come from the Gande tribe that were found from Barkum to Kera in the Kano Emirate. The story of the Gwandara people's messing up the praying ground is corroborated by the story in Kano of a lot of dogs during Rumfa's reign and the enforcement of the shaia and fasting by Al-Magili. So the most liky period of Gwandara emigration from Kano was during the reign of Muhammadu Rumfa (1476AD- 1513.). He ruled for 37 years (Abubakar, 1958). The Gwandara moved from Kano to Zaria and through Abuja the plaind of Keffi where they mainly found today. On their arrival, they conquered all other smaller tribes and established their ascendancy over them. The leader of the Gwandara on their department from Kano was called Karshi. He founded the present day Karshi town, so called from founders name. One of his aids called Daranman left for Gurku, and later left Gurku and found Angwan Gwandara with other surrounding villages like Yarkade and Gwagwa-Madaki, nowin Keffi Emirate.
From Karshi chiefdoms,the Gwandara people spread to other chiefdoms within and outside Nassarawa state. They have towns and villages numbering 110, apart from other small settlement among other ethnic groups in town or villages which are not principally Gwandara. The Gwandara1 settlement that are cose neigbours of the Karshi chiefdom are those settlement of the federal capita territory of Abuja where the two original towns of Karshi are located. There are the settlement of Niger State, Kogi State and Kaduna State. In Nassarawa State however, there are Gwandara settlement in Karu, Nyankpa, Toni, Eggon, Keffi, Nassarawa, Lafia, obi and Keana chiefdom. The list of the settlementare as follows:-
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