Kingdom of Kano

Origins

The Kano Chronicle dates the kingdom to Bagauda, said to have become king in 999 among communities of farmers and ironworkers around Dala hill. Over the following centuries the rulers extended their authority over the surrounding plain and built the earthen walls that enclosed farmland as well as the city, making Kano defensible in long sieges.

Rule and society

Islam was adopted at court under Ali Yaji in the 14th century, brought by Wangara traders from Mali. Muhammad Rumfa, ruling in the late 15th century, built the Gidan Rumfa palace and the Kurmi market and took advice from the scholar al-Maghili on Islamic government. Kano prospered on textiles, indigo dyeing, leather and the caravan trade, at times paying tribute to the Kanem-Bornu Empire.

Decline and legacy

In 1805 Fulani reformers of Usman dan Fodio's jihad drove out the last Hausa king, Muhammad Alwali II, and Kano became the Kano Emirate within the Sokoto Caliphate. The city remained the commercial heart of northern Nigeria, and its emir still reigns.