Kano grew round Dala hill, where iron was worked from about the seventh century and where the priests of Tsumburbura kept their shrine; the Bornu sources still called the place Dala around 1500.
The Bagauda kings founded the town at the foot of the hill under Gijimasu (1095-1134 in Palmer's count), who began the wall, and his son Yusa (Tsaraki) completed it. In 1200 it is the seat of Naguji and the centre of the Kano plain; the great market of Kurmi, the Muslim quarters and the later city walls belong to later centuries.
Who holds it
- Name
- Naguji, sarki of Kano (see Naguji)
- Title
- lord
- Confidence
- low
Lord in 1200
Naguji, sarki of Kano (Palmer's dating)
How things stand that morning
Seat of Naguji on 1 January 1200 (reconstructed dating).
Council
The sarki with his title-holders; the chronicle names sub-rulers with Dan titles (the Dan Iya the most important) for the dynasty's expansion, without dates; the leaders of the old cult population (Samagi among those Naguji executed).
Communities
The Bagauda court; the old population of the plain and its cult of Tsumburbura in the grove; no Muslim community is recorded before Yaji (1349-1385 in Palmer's count).
Fairs and markets
Not recorded for 1200.
Militia
The town's men under the sarki (not recorded in detail).
Walls and castle
The first town wall, begun by Gijimasu and completed by Yusa (Tsaraki), enclosed Dala hill (and, in later accounts, Goron Dutse); its line in 1200 is not mapped.
Trade and crafts
Iron working (the smiths who call themselves Abagayawa claim descent from Dala's first people); farming; dyeing and weaving are later reputations.
Places of note
- Dala hill: Iron-working hill and shrine centre; approximate position in the old city
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: The Kano Chronicle; early iron working at Dala from archaeology as reported on Wikipedia.
On the map: The near land of the walled town.
Primary sources for Kano
Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.
- The Kano Chronicle (about 1880 to 1890, from older written lists and oral tradition). The only narrative of the Hausa towns, but a nineteenth-century compilation whose dates for early kings are reckoned back from reign lengths. Read online
Sources and studies
- Wikipedia: Kingdom of Kano (Dala, Barbushe and Tsumburbura, Gijimasu and Tsaraki's walls, 'by 1200 Kano ruled all the chiefdoms in the area except Santolo')
- Wikipedia: Naguji (Kano Chronicle in Palmer's translation: 55 years; land tax of one-eighth; Santolo; Kura to Tsangaya; Samagi)
- Wikipedia: Kano Chronicle (king list with Palmer's dates as given by Last 1980; written probably in the 1880s; Palmer's translation 1908)
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.