02 · Explore
The Hausa city-states: Kano, Katsina, Zazzau and their neighbours
Long before Nigeria existed, Hausaland was a network of walled cities, each with its own ruler, market and specialty, competing and trading with one another.
Walls of baked earth, gates that closed at night, a market in the centre and a palace beside it. This chapter walks through the old Hausa cities and asks how we know what we think we know about them.
In this chapter
01Seven states, seven specialities
Seven states, no single empire, and what each was known for.
2 min read →
02Kano: from Dala hill to a walled metropolis
A hill, a priest, a dynasty and the king who built a market.
2 min read →
03The walls of Kano
Why a Hausa city needed farmland inside its walls.
1 min read →
04How we know: the Kano Chronicle
One document, many questions: how historians read the Kano Chronicle.
1 min read →
05Queen Amina of Zazzau: history and legend
A warrior-queen between history and legend.
1 min read →