Indigo, leather and the dye pits of Kofar Mata

Kano’s Kofar Mata dye pits, near the old “Gate of the Women”, are among the oldest working dye pits in Africa. Local tradition dates them to 1498, in the reign of Rumfa. In deep clay-lined vats, men soak cloth in indigo (baba) mixed with potash and ash, then beat and lay the fabric out to oxidize from yellow-green to deep blue. Repeated dips produce the darker, sheen-rich shades prized for turbans, robes and ceremonial dress.

Hausa leather was just as famous. Goat and sheep skins from the Sokoto region were tanned with the pods of the acacia known as bagaruwa and dyed red, then exported across the Sahara, where the product became known in Europe as “Morocco leather”. Kano cloth was also sold to the Tuareg and other Saharan peoples, who favoured indigo-dyed veils and robes.