Kano (
Ajami: كَنُواْ) is a city in northern
Nigeria
Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...
and the capital of
Kano State
Kano (Hausa language, Hausa: ) is one of the 36 States of Nigeria, states of Nigeria, located in the Northern Region, Nigeria, northern region of the country. According to the national census done in 2006, Kano State is the List of Nigerian st ...
. It is the
second largest city in Nigeria after
Lagos
Lagos ( ; ), or Lagos City, is a large metropolitan city in southwestern Nigeria. With an upper population estimated above 21 million dwellers, it is the largest city in Nigeria, the most populous urban area on the African continent, and on ...
, with over four million citizens living within . Located in the
savanna
A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) biome and ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach th ...
, south of the
Sahel
The Sahel region (; ), or Sahelian acacia savanna, is a Biogeography, biogeographical region in Africa. It is the Ecotone, transition zone between the more humid Sudanian savannas to its south and the drier Sahara to the north. The Sahel has a ...
, Kano is a major route of the
trans-Saharan trade, having been a trade and human settlement for millennia. It is the
traditional state of the
Dabo dynasty who have ruled as emirs over the city-state since the 19th century.
Kano Emirate Council is the current traditional institution inside the city boundaries of Kano, and under the
authority
Authority is commonly understood as the legitimate power of a person or group of other people.
In a civil state, ''authority'' may be practiced by legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government,''The New Fontana Dictionary of M ...
of the
Government of Kano State.
The city is one of the seven medieval
Hausa kingdoms
Hausa Kingdoms, also known as Hausa Kingdom or Hausaland, was a collection of states ruled by the Hausa people, before the Fulani jihads. It was situated between the Niger River and Lake Chad (modern day northern Nigeria). Hausaland lay betwe ...
. The principal inhabitants of the city are the
Hausa and
Fulani people. Centuries before British colonization, Kano was strongly cosmopolitan with settled populations of
Arab
Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world.
Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...
,
Tuareg
The Tuareg people (; also spelled Twareg or Touareg; endonym, depending on variety: ''Imuhaɣ'', ''Imušaɣ'', ''Imašeɣăn'' or ''Imajeɣăn'') are a large Berber ethnic group, traditionally nomadic pastoralists, who principally inhabit th ...
,
Kanuri and remains so with the
Hausa language
Hausa (; / ; Hausa Ajami, Ajami: ) is a Chadic language spoken primarily by the Hausa people in the northern parts of Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon, Benin and Togo, and the southern parts of Niger, and Chad, with significant minorities in Ivory Coas ...
spoken as a
lingua-franca by over 70 million speakers in the region.
Islam
Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
arrived in the city in the 11th century or earlier primarily through the
trans-Saharan trade. As a result, Kano became wealthy and the commercial nerve centre of the region and
Northern Nigeria
Northern Nigeria (or Arewa, Arewancin Nijeriya) was an autonomous division within Nigeria, distinctly different from the southern part of the country, with independent customs, foreign relations and security structures. In 1962, it acquired t ...
, and is still associated as the "
centre of commerce".
Etymology
Kano was originally known as Dala,
after the hill, and was referred to as such until the end of the 15th century and the beginning of the 16th by
Bornoan sources.
History
Founding and Bagauda dynasty

In the 7th century,
Dala Hill
Dalla Hill (also spelled Dala) is a hill in Kano (city), Kano, Kano State, Nigeria. It is high and contains a stairway with 101 steps to the bottom to top.
In the seventh century, the hill was the site of a community that engaged in iron-workin ...
, a residual hill in Kano, was the site of a hunting and gathering community that engaged in iron work (
Nok culture
The Nok culture is a population whose material remains are named after the Ham people, Ham village of Nok in Southern Kaduna, southern Kaduna State of Nigeria, where their terracotta sculptures were first discovered in 1928. The Nok people and ...
); it is unknown whether these were Hausa people or speakers of
Niger–Congo languages
Niger–Congo is a hypothetical language family spoken over the majority of sub-Saharan Africa. It unites the Mande languages, the Atlantic–Congo languages (which share a characteristic noun class system), and possibly several smaller groups ...
. The
Kano Chronicle
The ''Kano Chronicle'' (Arabic: تاريخ أرباب هذا البلاد المصممة كان; ''The history of the masters of this country it was designed'') is an Arabic-language manuscript that lists the rulers of Kano.
Summary
The ''Kano ...
identifies
Barbushe, a warrior priest of Dala Hill and a female spirit deity known as Tsumburbura. Barbushe was from the lineage of the hunter family (''maparauta'') who were the Maguzawa and the city's first settlers. They worshipped the deity Tsumburbura (
Elizabeth Isichei notes that the description of Barbushe is similar to those of
Sao people). While small chiefdoms were previously present in the area, according to the Kano Chronicle, Bagauda son of Bawo and grandson of the mythical hero
Bayajidda
Bayajidda ( Hausa with tone markings: Bàyā̀jiddà) (real name: Abu Yazid) was, according to the legends surrounding most West African states before the 19th century, the founder of the Hausa states.
Most accounts say that Bayajidda came from B ...
, became the first king of Kano in 999, reigning until 1063.
His grandson
Gijimasu (1095–1134), the third king, began building city walls (badala/ganuwa) at the foot of Dala Hill. His own son,
Tsaraki (1136–1194), the fifth king, completed them during his reign.
Middle Ages: spread of Islam and trade
In the 12th century,
Ali Yaji
Ali Dan Tsamiya () known as Yaji I or Ali Yaji Dan Tsamiya () was a king and later the first Sultanate of Kano, Sultan of Sultanate of Kano, Kano, a state in what is now Northern Region, Nigeria, Northern Nigeria. Yaji I ruled from 1349 to 1385 CE ...
from Kudawa lineage as King of Kano renounced his allegiance to the cult of Tsumburbura, converted to Islam and proclaimed the
Sultanate
Sultan (; ', ) is a Royal and noble ranks, position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". La ...
that was to last until its fall in the 19th century. The reign of Yaji ensued an era of expansionism that saw Kano becoming the capital of a pseudo Habe Empire.

In 1463,
Muhammad Rumfa
Muhammad dan Yakubu, known as Muhammad Rumfa was the sultan of Kano from 1463 until 1499. His reign was characterized by wealth and opulence and signaled the rise of the Kano's commercial dominance in the region.Under the guidance of famed Berbe ...
(reigned 1463–1499) ascended the throne. During his reign, political pressure from the rising
Songhai Empire
The Songhai Empire was a state located in the western part of the Sahel during the 15th and 16th centuries. At its peak, it was one of the largest African empires in history. The state is known by its historiographical name, derived from its lar ...
forced him to take Auwa, the daughter of
Askiyah the Great as his wife. She was to later become the first female Madaki of Kano.
Rumfa was a rich and flamboyant king. Luxurious clothing and expensive ostrich feather shoes were common among government officials. The
kakaki (a kind of trumpet) was also first used during his reign. His wealth is owed to Kano's commercial prosperity during this period. Kano arguably achieved the height of its reputation as an important trading center of the
trans-Saharan trade in the Middle Ages during his reign.
Leo Africanus's description of Kano is believed to be that of Rumfa's era. He described the locals as "wealthy merchants and skilled craftsmen" and commended the cavalry of the Sultan's army. He also noted the abundance of rice, corn, cotton and citrus fruits.
Rumfa reformed the city, expanded the
Sahelian
The Sahel region (; ), or Sahelian acacia savanna, is a Biogeography, biogeographical region in Africa. It is the Ecotone, transition zone between the more humid Sudanian savannas to its south and the drier Sahara to the north. The Sahel has a ...
Gidan Rumfa (Emir's Palace), and played a role in the further Islamization of the city,
as he urged prominent residents to convert
and invited many prominent scholars to the city. He also built the
walls of the city and the Kurmi market.
The Kano Chronicle attributes a total of twelve "innovations" to Rumfa. According to the Kano Chronicle, the thirty-seventh Sarkin Kano (
King of Kano
This is a list of rulers of Kano (city), Kano since the establishment of the Bagauda Dynasty in 998. The early rulers are known almost exclusively from a single source, the ''Kano Chronicle'',; iGoogle Books which was composed in the late 19th ce ...
) was Mohammed Sharef (1703–1731). His successor,
Kumbari dan Sharefa (1731–1743), engaged in major battles with
Sokoto
Sokoto (Hausa language, Hausa: ; Fulfulde, Fula: , ''Leydi Sokoto'') is one of the 36 states of Nigeria, located in the extreme northwest of the country. It is bounded by Niger, Republic of the Niger to the north and west for 363 km (226 m ...
as a longterm rivalry.
Fulani rule
At the beginning of the 19th century,
Fulani
The Fula, Fulani, or Fulɓe people are an ethnic group in Sahara, Sahel and West Africa, widely dispersed across the region. Inhabiting many countries, they live mainly in West Africa and northern parts of Central Africa, South Sudan, Darfur, ...
Islamic leader
Usman dan Fodio
Shehu Usman dan Fodio (; full name; 15 December 1754 – 20 April 1817). (Uthman ibn Muhammad ibn Uthman ibn Saalih ibn Haarun ibn Muhammad Ghurdu ibn Muhammad Jubba ibn Muhammad Sambo ibn Maysiran ibn Ayyub ibn Buba Baba ibn Musa Jokolli ibn ...
led a
jihad
''Jihad'' (; ) is an Arabic word that means "exerting", "striving", or "struggling", particularly with a praiseworthy aim. In an Islamic context, it encompasses almost any effort to make personal and social life conform with God in Islam, God ...
affecting much of central Sudan which demolished the Habe kingdom, leading to the emergence of the
Sokoto Caliphate
The Sokoto Caliphate (, literally: Caliphate in the Lands of Sudan), also known as the Sultanate of Sokoto, was a Sunni Islam, Sunni Muslim caliphate in West Africa. It was founded by Usman dan Fodio in 1804 during the Fula jihads, Fulani jihads ...
. In 1805 the last sultan of Kano was defeated by the Jobe Clan of the
Fulani
The Fula, Fulani, or Fulɓe people are an ethnic group in Sahara, Sahel and West Africa, widely dispersed across the region. Inhabiting many countries, they live mainly in West Africa and northern parts of Central Africa, South Sudan, Darfur, ...
, and Kano became an Emirate of the Caliphate. Kano was already the largest and most prosperous province of the empire.

The city suffered famines from 1807 to 1810, in the 1830s, 1847, 1855, 1863, 1873, 1884, and from 1889 until 1890.
During the 19th century when Kano came under the
suzerainty
A suzerain (, from Old French "above" + "supreme, chief") is a person, state (polity)">state or polity who has supremacy and dominant influence over the foreign policy">polity.html" ;"title="state (polity)">state or polity">state (polity)">st ...
of the Sokoto Caliphate, Kano prospered as the center of commercial activity. Weaving, dyeing and leatherwork were traded as far north as Morocco and thereafter to Europe. Its cotton cloth traded as far as
Tripoli,
Lake Chad
Lake Chad (, Kanuri language, Kanuri: ''Sádǝ'', ) is an endorheic freshwater lake located at the junction of four countries: Nigeria, Niger, Chad, and Cameroon, in western and central Africa respectively, with a catchment area in excess of . ...
, and
Timbuktu
Timbuktu ( ; ; Koyra Chiini: ; ) is an ancient city in Mali, situated north of the Niger River. It is the capital of the Tombouctou Region, one of the eight administrative regions of Mali, having a population of 32,460 in the 2018 census.
...
.
In 1851,
Heinrich Barth (a German scholar who spent several years in northern Nigeria in the 1850s) mentioned that Kano had a 10-mile long 30 ft high clay walls with a population of 30,000 with commerce and manufacturing abundant. He mentioned that "its huge market was a labyrinth of narrow alleys with everything sold from vegetables to slaves".
He also called Kano the greatest emporium of central Africa and estimated the percentage of slaves in Kano to be at least 50%, most of whom lived in slave villages.
This was one of the last major slave societies, with high percentages of enslaved population long after the
Atlantic slave trade
The Atlantic slave trade or transatlantic slave trade involved the transportation by slave traders of Slavery in Africa, enslaved African people to the Americas. European slave ships regularly used the triangular trade route and its Middle Pass ...
had been cut off.
From 1893 until 1895, two rival claimants to the throne fought a civil war, or ''
Basasa''. With the help of royal slaves,
Yusufu was victorious over his brother
Tukur and claimed the title of emir.
British colony, indirect rule, and independence

In March 1903, the city-state was absorbed into the
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...
after the
Battle of Kano, the Fort of Kano was captured by the British, It quickly replaced
Lokoja
Lokoja is a north-central city in Nigeria. It lies at the confluence of the Niger River, Niger and Benue River, Benue list of rivers of Nigeria, rivers and is the capital city of Kogi State. While the Bassa Nge, Yoruba people, Yoruba Oworo peopl ...
as the administrative centre of
Northern Nigeria
Northern Nigeria (or Arewa, Arewancin Nijeriya) was an autonomous division within Nigeria, distinctly different from the southern part of the country, with independent customs, foreign relations and security structures. In 1962, it acquired t ...
. It was replaced as the centre of government by
Zungeru
Zungeru is a town in Niger State, Nigeria. It was the capital of the British protectorate of Northern Nigeria from 1902 until 1916. It is the site of the Niger State Polytechnic and is located on the Kaduna River.
History
Colonial history
Acc ...
and later
Kaduna, and only regained administrative significance with the creation of Kano State following Nigerian independence.

From 1913 to 1914, as the
peanut
The peanut (''Arachis hypogaea''), also known as the groundnut, goober (US), goober pea, pindar (US) or monkey nut (UK), is a legume crop grown mainly for its edible seeds. It is widely grown in the tropics and subtropics by small and large ...
business was expanding, Kano suffered a major
drought
A drought is a period of drier-than-normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, ...
, which caused a famine. Other famines during British rule occurred in 1908, 1920, 1927, 1943, 1951, 1956, and 1958.
[ By 1922, groundnut trader Alhassan Dantata had become the richest businessman in the ]Kano Emirate
The Kano Emirate was a Muslim state in northern Nigeria formed in 1805 during the Fulani jihad when the Muslim Hausa people, Hausa-led Sultanate of Kano was deposed and replaced by a new emirate which became a vassal state of the Sokoto Caliph ...
, surpassing fellow merchants Umaru Sharubutu Koki and Maikano Agogo.
In May 1953, an inter-ethnic riot
A riot or mob violence is a form of civil disorder commonly characterized by a group lashing out in a violent public disturbance against authority, property, or people.
Riots typically involve destruction of property, public or private. The p ...
arose due to southern newspapers misreporting on the nature of a disagreement between northern and southern politicians in the House of Representatives
House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...
. Thousands of Nigerians of southern origin died as a result a politically sparked riot.
Ado Bayero became emir of Kano in 1963. Kano state was created in 1967 from the then Northern Nigeria by the Federal military government. The first military police commissioner, Audu Bako, is credited with building a solid foundation for the progress of a modern society. He started a lot of development projects—network of roads, a reliable urban water supply. He was a keen farmer himself and funded construction of number of dams to provide irrigation. Thanks to his policies, Kano produced all types of produce and export it to the neighbouring states. The first civilian
A civilian is a person who is not a member of an armed force. It is war crime, illegal under the law of armed conflict to target civilians with military attacks, along with numerous other considerations for civilians during times of war. If a civi ...
governor was Abubakar Rimi.
In December 1980, radical preacher Mohammed Marwa Maitatsine led a riot. He was killed by security forces, but his followers later started uprisings
Rebellion is an uprising that resists and is organized against one's government. A rebel is a person who engages in a rebellion. A rebel group is a consciously coordinated group that seeks to gain political control over an entire state or a ...
in other northern cities.
21st century
After the introduction of sharia
Sharia, Sharī'ah, Shari'a, or Shariah () is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on Islamic holy books, scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran, Qur'an and hadith. In Islamic terminology ''sharīʿah'' ...
law in Kano State in the early 2000s, many Christians left the city. 100 people were killed in riots over the sharia issue during October 2001.
In November 2007, political violence broke out in the city after the People's Democratic Party (PDP) accused the All Nigeria Peoples Party
The All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) was a political party in Nigeria.
The ANPP was a household party in the extreme north of Nigeria, primarily due to its mass appeal among more religious voters. It was the strongest opposition party, controllin ...
(ANPP) of rigging the November 17 local government elections. (The ANPP won in 36 of the state's 44 local Government Areas.) Hundreds of youths took to the streets, over 300 of whom were arrested; at least 25 people were killed. Buildings set on fire include a sharia police station, an Islamic centre, and a council secretariat. 280 federal soldiers were deployed around the city.In January 2012, a series of bomb attacks killed up to 162 people. Four police stations, the State Security Service headquarters, passport offices and immigration centres were attacked. Jihadist
Jihadism is a neologism for modern, armed militant Political aspects of Islam, Islamic movements that seek to Islamic state, establish states based on Islamic principles. In a narrower sense, it refers to the belief that armed confrontation ...
insurgent
An insurgency is a violent, armed rebellion by small, lightly armed bands who practice guerrilla warfare against a larger authority. The key descriptive feature of insurgency is its asymmetric nature: small irregular forces face a large, well ...
s Boko Haram
Boko Haram, officially known as Jama'at Ahl al-Sunna li al-Da'wa wa al-Jihad (), is a self-proclaimed jihadist militant group based in northeastern Nigeria and also active in Chad, Niger, northern Cameroon, and Mali. In 2016, the group spli ...
claimed responsibility. After the bombings, Kano was placed under curfew. The Boko Haram insurgency
The Boko Haram insurgency also known as the Boke Haram Crisis began in July 2009, when the militant Islamist and jihadist rebel group Boko Haram started an armed rebellion against the government of Nigeria. The conflict is taking place wit ...
continued with mass murders in March 2013, November 2014 and February 2015.
On 6 June 2014, Emir Ado Bayero who reigned as Emir of Kano for over five decades died, and a succession crisis loomed amongst the royal family. On 8 June 2014, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi
Muhammadu Sanusi II, ( Ajami: محمد السنوسي, ''Muhammadu Sanusi na biyu'' ; born 31 July 1961), known by the religious title Khalifa Sanusi II ( Ajami: خليفة السنوسي), is the spiritual leader (''khalifa'') of the Tijanniy ...
a grandson of former Emir Muhammadu Sanusi I emerged as the new Emir of Kano. His accession led to widespread protests from supporters of Sanusi Ado Bayero the Chiroman Kano (Crown Prince) and son of the late Emir Ado Bayero, with allegations that Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso
200px, Nigeria.html" ;"title="Kano State in Nigeria">Kano State in Nigeria
Mohammed Rabi'u Musa Kwankwaso, (born 21 October 1956) is a Nigerian politician who served as governor of Kano state from 1999 to 2003 and from 2011 to 2015. After he ...
interfered with the king-making process.
In 2019, Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje balkanized the traditional Kano Emirate into four new emirates; Bichi, Rano, Gaya and Karaye. This unprecedented move was criticized by elders. According to the law, out of the 44 local government areas in the state, Sanusi as Emir of Kano will preside over just 10 local government areas; with the remainder carved up amongst the new emirates. On 9 March 2020, Sanusi was dethroned by Governor Abdullahi Ganduje. The emir was immediately moved to detention under heavy security escort to an apartment in awe, Nasarawa state
Nasarawa is a States of Nigeria, state in the North Central Nigeria, North Central region of Nigeria, bordered to the east by the states of Taraba State, Taraba and Plateau State, Plateau, to the north by Kaduna State, to the south by the states ...
. It took the intervention of the federal high court in Abuja to order his release from detention in Nasarawa.
Geography
Location
The city lies south of the Sahara Desert
The Sahara (, ) is a desert spanning across North Africa. With an area of , it is the largest hot desert in the world and the list of deserts by area, third-largest desert overall, smaller only than the deserts of Antarctica and the northern Ar ...
in the Sudanian Savanna region that stretches across the south of the Sahel
The Sahel region (; ), or Sahelian acacia savanna, is a Biogeography, biogeographical region in Africa. It is the Ecotone, transition zone between the more humid Sudanian savannas to its south and the drier Sahara to the north. The Sahel has a ...
. The city lies near where the Kano and Challawa rivers flowing from the southwest converge to form the Hadejia River, which eventually flows into Lake Chad
Lake Chad (, Kanuri language, Kanuri: ''Sádǝ'', ) is an endorheic freshwater lake located at the junction of four countries: Nigeria, Niger, Chad, and Cameroon, in western and central Africa respectively, with a catchment area in excess of . ...
to the east.
Climate
Kano is above sea level
Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location's vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) in reference to a vertical datum based on a historic mean sea level. In geodesy, it is formalized as orthometric height. The zero level ...
. Kano has a tropical savanna climate
Tropical savanna climate or tropical wet and dry climate is a tropical climate sub-type that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification categories ''Aw'' (for a dry "winter") and ''As'' (for a dry "summer"). The driest month has less than ...
(Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer
* Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan
* Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...
''Aw''). The city has on average about of precipitation per year, the large majority of which falls from June through September. Like the vast majority of Nigeria, Kano is very hot for most of the year, peaking in April. From December through February, the city is less hot, with morning temperatures during the months of December, January and February averaging between .
LGAs
Metropolitan Kano has eight local governments:
Economy
The economic history of Kano dates back to the Middle Ages when the city served as the southernmost point of the famous trans-Sahara trade routes. Kano was well connected with many cities in North Africa and some cities in southern Europe. By 1851, the city of Kano produced 10 million pairs of sandals and 5 million tanned hides annually for export, with other products including textile materials, leather and grains. Kano was connected with trans-Atlantic trade in 1911 when a railway line reached Kano. Kano is a major centre for the production and export of agricultural products like hides, skin
Skin is the layer of usually soft, flexible outer tissue covering the body of a vertebrate animal, with three main functions: protection, regulation, and sensation.
Other animal coverings, such as the arthropod exoskeleton, have different ...
s, peanut
The peanut (''Arachis hypogaea''), also known as the groundnut, goober (US), goober pea, pindar (US) or monkey nut (UK), is a legume crop grown mainly for its edible seeds. It is widely grown in the tropics and subtropics by small and large ...
s, and cotton
Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...
.
The city maintains its economy and business even in the 21st century, with it producing the richest man in Africa— Aliko Dangote—whose great-grandfather Alhassan Dantata was the richest West African in the mid 20th century. Over the years, inconsistent government policies and sporadic electricity supply hampered manufacturing and industry, so that Kano's economy relies primarily on trade, retail and services. There are plans to establish an information technology
Information technology (IT) is a set of related fields within information and communications technology (ICT), that encompass computer systems, software, programming languages, data processing, data and information processing, and storage. Inf ...
park in the city.
Culture
Equestrianism
Kano is traditionally an equestrian society and this is manifested during the annual Durbar festival to mark and celebrate the two annual Muslim festivals Eid al-Fitr
Eid al-Fitr () is the first of the two main Islamic holidays, festivals in Islam, the other being Eid al-Adha. It falls on the first day of Shawwal, the tenth month of the Islamic calendar. Eid al-Fitr is celebrated by Muslims worldwide becaus ...
(to mark the end of the Holy Month of Ramadan
Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. It is observed by Muslims worldwide as a month of fasting (''Fasting in Islam, sawm''), communal prayer (salah), reflection, and community. It is also the month in which the Quran is believed ...
) and Eid al-Adha
Eid al-Adha () is the second of the two main festivals in Islam alongside Eid al-Fitr. It falls on the 10th of Dhu al-Hijja, the twelfth and final month of the Islamic calendar. Celebrations and observances are generally carried forward to the ...
(to mark the Hajj Holy Pilgrimage). Kano Durbar Festival is the Nigeria's Most Spectacular Horseparade that marks a celebration of northern Nigeria's cultural treasure. The festival begins with skilled horsemen from the royal court and aristocrats being accompanied by musicians, artillerymen, and traditional circus in a procession of highly rich and colorful style through the city on the way to the emir's palace. Once assembled near the palace, the horsemen separate into their respective groups, each under the banner of district head (hakimai) or a titled nobleman from the emir's court (masarauta), take it in turns to charge toward the emir, pulling up just feet in front of the seated dignitaries to offer their respect and allegiance. During the festival, the emir makes a beautiful appearance in different colors dressed and adorned with the attire of a king.
For the first time in 200 years, the durban horse festival was cancelled in 2012 due to the bad health condition of the Emir of Kano. Some analysts suggested that the cancellation could also be attributed to the rising deadly Boko haram attacks in the northern part of Nigeria at that time.
Architecture
Kano's architecture over the years has seen wide variations, especially from the traditional architecture to modern architecture. The city is a leading axis of Sudano-Sahelian architecture
Sudano-Sahelian architecture refers to a range of similar indigenous architectural styles common to the African peoples of the Sahel and Sudanian grassland (geographical) regions of West Africa, south of the Sahara, but north of the fertile fores ...
, developing the local Tubali style which manifested in mosques, walls, common compounds, and gates.
The design exteriorization of building façades was and is still widely used in Kano architecture, with the city harboring several skilled artisans.
Landmarks
Old City
Formerly walled, most of the gates to the Old City survive. The Old City houses the vast Kurmi Market, known for its crafts
A craft or trade is a pastime or an occupation that requires particular skills and knowledge of skilled work. In a historical sense, particularly the Middle Ages and earlier, the term is usually applied to people occupied in small scale pr ...
, while old dye pits—still in use—lie nearby. In the Old City are the Emir's Palace, the Great Mosque, and the Gidan Makama Museum.
Places of worship
Among the places of worship
A place of worship is a specially designed structure or space where individuals or a group of people such as a congregation come to perform acts of devotion, veneration, or religious study. A building constructed or used for this purpose is so ...
, they are predominantly Muslims
Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...
mosques.
There are also Christian churches
In ecclesiology, the Christian Church is what different Christian denominations conceive of as being the true body of Christians or the original institution established by Jesus Christ. "Christian Church" has also been used in academia as a syn ...
for several denominations including :
* Church of Nigeria
The Church of Nigeria is the Anglicanism, Anglican Church body, church in Nigeria. It is the second-largest Province (Anglican), province in the Anglican Communion, as measured by baptised membership (not by attendance), after the Church of Englan ...
(Anglican Communion
The Anglican Communion is a Christian Full communion, communion consisting of the Church of England and other autocephalous national and regional churches in full communion. The archbishop of Canterbury in England acts as a focus of unity, ...
);
* Roman Catholic Diocese of Kano (Catholic Church
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
);
* Nigerian Baptist Convention (Baptist World Alliance
The Baptist World Alliance (BWA) is an international communion of Baptists, with an estimated 51 million people from 266 member bodies in 134 countries and territories as of 2024. A voluntary association of Baptist churches, the BWA accounts f ...
);
* Presbyterian Church of Nigeria
The Presbyterian Church of Nigeria is a church in Nigeria and subscribes to the Westminster Confession of Faith.
The denomination had ten synods, more than 50–90 presbyteries and over 7,000 congregations, and almost 5,000 ministers and 6,806 690 ...
(World Communion of Reformed Churches
The World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC) is the largest association of Reformed (Calvinist) churches in the world. It has 230 member denominations (227 members and three associate or affiliate members) in 108 countries, together claiming ...
);
* Pentecostal megachurches including; Assemblies of God
The World Assemblies of God Fellowship (WAGF), commonly known as the Assemblies of God (AG), is a global cooperative body or communion of over 170 Pentecostal denominations that was established on August 15, 1989. The WAGF was created to provi ...
, Living Faith Church Worldwide
Living Faith Church Worldwide (also known as Winners' Chapel) is an international Evangelical charismatic Christian denomination. The headquarters is located in Ota, Ogun State, Nigeria. The organization has since become a global network of chur ...
; Redeemed Christian Church of God
The Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) is a holiness pentecostal megachurch and denomination headquartered in Ebute Metta, Lagos, Nigeria. With presence in 197 countries and territories of the world and more than 5 million members in Nigeri ...
Fortifications
The Ancient Kano City Walls were built as a defensive wall
A defensive wall is a fortification usually used to protect a city, town or other settlement from potential aggressors. The walls can range from simple palisades or earthworks to extensive military fortifications such as curtain walls with t ...
with the construction of the foundation laid by Sarki Gijimasu (r. 1095–1134), the third king of the Kingdom of Kano in the Kano Chronicle
The ''Kano Chronicle'' (Arabic: تاريخ أرباب هذا البلاد المصممة كان; ''The history of the masters of this country it was designed'') is an Arabic-language manuscript that lists the rulers of Kano.
Summary
The ''Kano ...
. In the mid 14th century during the reign of Zamnagawa, the wall was completed before it was further expanded during the 16th century. According to historians, the then General-Governor of the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria
Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...
, Fredrick Lugard, wrote in a 1903 report about the Kano Walls that he had "never seen anything like it in Africa" after capturing the ancient city of Kano along with British forces.
Old palaces and residences
Many old royal residences have also survived to this day, mainly within the old city and its surroundings. Such private houses include the Gidan Chiroma, Filin Chiranchi, and others. Larger palaces, include the Gidan Rumfa, Gidan Makama, and winter retreat for the emir.
Education
Universities
* The Bayero University Kano is the oldest university in the city. The seed of the university was the Ahmadu Bello College set up in 1962 by Isa Kaita. It was raised to the status of University College in 1975, with the right to award degrees on behalf of Ahmadu Bello University until 1980. It became a federal university in 1977, and remains an important institution of learning today.
* Sa'adatu Rimi University of Education Kano
* Skyline University Nigeria (SUN), founded in 2018.
* Yusuf Maitama Sule University, Kano (YUSMUK), founded in 2012.
Colleges
* Kano State Polytechnic was founded in 1975.
* Federal College of Education, Kano
* Aminu Kano College of Islamic Legal Studies, Kano
Transport
Kano houses a railway station with trains to Lagos
Lagos ( ; ), or Lagos City, is a large metropolitan city in southwestern Nigeria. With an upper population estimated above 21 million dwellers, it is the largest city in Nigeria, the most populous urban area on the African continent, and on ...
routed through Kaduna, while Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport lies nearby. The city is supplied with water by the nearby Challawa Gorge Dam, which is being considered as a source of hydro power. Because Kano is north of the rail junction at Kaduna, it has equal access to the seaports at Lagos and Port Harcourt
Port Harcourt (Pidgin: ''Po-ta-kot or Pi-ta-kwa)'' is the capital and largest city of Rivers State in Nigeria. It is the fifth most populous city in Nigeria after Lagos, Kano, Ibadan and Benin. It lies along the Bonny River and is locate ...
.
The airline Kabo Air had its head office in the city. Kano was also headquarters of Azman Airlines and is the headquarters city of Max Air. Egypt Air, Ethiopian Airlines
Ethiopian Airlines (), formerly ''Ethiopian Air Lines'' (EAL), is the flag carrier of Ethiopia, and is wholly owned by the country's government. EAL was founded on 21 December 1945 and commenced operations on 8 April 1946, expanding to intern ...
, Saudia
Saudia (), formerly known as Saudi Arabian Airlines (), is the flag carrier of Saudi Arabia based in Jeddah. The airline's main hubs are the King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah and the King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, the ...
and Qatar Airways
Qatar Airways Company Q.C.S.C. (, ''al-Qaṭariyya''), operating as Qatar Airways, is the flag carrier of Qatar. Headquartered in the Qatar Airways Tower in Doha, the airline operates a hub-and-spoke network, flying to over 170 internatio ...
serve as International airlines for both cargo and Passenger trips and various independent travel agencies.
After a hiatus of many years, the railway line
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of land transport, next to road ...
from Kano to Lagos was rehabilitated by 2013. The train trip to Lagos takes 30 hours and costs the equivalent of US$12, only a quarter of the equivalent bus fare.
In 2014, a new double track, standard gauge
A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), international gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge in Europe, and SGR in East Africa. It is the ...
line is under construction from Lagos.
In 2017, a 74-km, four-line light rail
Light rail (or light rail transit, abbreviated to LRT) is a form of passenger urban rail transit that uses rolling stock derived from tram technology National Conference of the Transportation Research Board while also having some features from ...
network was announced by the Kano State Ministry of Works, Housing & Transport; with a US$1.8 billion contract signed with China Railway Construction Corporation
China Railway Construction Corporation Limited (abbreviated CRCC) is a listed construction enterprise based in Beijing, China, that was the second largest construction and engineering company in the world by revenue in 2014.
The limited company ...
.
Two trans-African automobile routes pass through Kano:
* Algiers-Lagos Highway
* Dakar-Ndjamena Highway
From 2006 to 2015, backed by high oil prices, major highways, overhead bridges and other transportation infrastructure were built by the state government. The most notable of these are the Silver Jubilee flyover bridge at Kofar Nassarawa, the Kofar Kabuga underpass and various 6-lane highways in the city. In 2020, the Vice president of Nigeria Yemi Osibanjo was in Kano to commission the Alhassan Dantata flyover along Murtala Muhammad Way and Tijjani Hashim underpass way, Kofar Ruwa.
Notable people
*Sani Abacha
Sani Abacha (; (20 September 1943 – 8 June 1998) was a Nigerian military dictator and statesman who ruled Nigeria with an iron fist as military head of state from 1993 following a palace coup d'état until his death in 1998.
Abacha's seiz ...
, former Nigerian Head of State
* Lawan Musa Abdullahi, lawyer and politician
* Aliko Dangote, entrepreneur.
* Auwalu Abdullahi Rano, Businessman and entrepreneur
* Alhassan Dantata, businessman
* Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, current APC party chairman
*Aminu Kano
Mallam Aminu Kano (9 August 1920 — 17 April 1983) was a Nigerian radical opposition political leader, teacher, poet, playwright, and trade unionist from Kano. He played an active role during the transition from British colonial rule t ...
, teacher, politician and reformer
*Rabiu Kwankwaso
200px, Nigeria.html" ;"title="Kano State in Nigeria">Kano State in Nigeria
Mohammed Rabi'u Musa Kwankwaso, (born 21 October 1956) is a Nigerian politician who served as governor of Kano state from 1999 to 2003 and from 2011 to 2015. After he ...
, politician, former Governor of Kano State, Senator in the Nigerian Senate
The Senate is the upper chamber of Nigeria's bicameral legislature, the National Assembly. The National Assembly (popularly referred to as NASS) is the nation's legislature and has the power to make laws, as summarized in chapter one, sectio ...
and Minister of Defense
* Murtala Muhammed, former Head of State, Federal Republic of Nigeria
Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...
.
* Abdul Samad Rabiu, entrepreneur
* Isyaku Rabiu, businessman
* Abubakar Rimi former Governor of Kano state.
*Sanusi Lamido Sanusi
Muhammadu Sanusi II, ( Ajami: محمد السنوسي, ''Muhammadu Sanusi na biyu'' ; born 31 July 1961), known by the religious title Khalifa Sanusi II ( Ajami: خليفة السنوسي), is the spiritual leader (''khalifa'') of the Tijanniy ...
, banker
* Ibrahim Shekarau, politician, former Governor of Kano State, Minister of Education, and Nigerian Senate
The Senate is the upper chamber of Nigeria's bicameral legislature, the National Assembly. The National Assembly (popularly referred to as NASS) is the nation's legislature and has the power to make laws, as summarized in chapter one, sectio ...
* Abdullahi Aliyu Sumaila bureaucrat and politician.
* Alhassan Yusuf, footballer, currently plays for New England Revolution
The New England Revolution are an American professional association football, soccer club based in the Greater Boston area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. It is on ...
*Sussan Ley
Sussan Penelope Ley (pron. , "Susan Lee"; ; born 14 December 1961) is an Australian politician who is the current Leader of the Opposition (Australia), Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Liberal Party of Australia, leader of the Liberal ...
, Nigerian-born English-Australian politician
See also
* Gwagwarwa
* Kano Emirate Council
References
Further reading
*
*
External links
*
{{Authority control
Cities in Nigeria
Populated places in Kano State
State capitals in Nigeria