Kano city walls

Timeline

1. c. 1100–1400Old city of Kano · KanoAs one of the seven Hausa city-states, Kano built early earthen and stone walls and gateways around its core settlement between the 11th and 14th centuries to protect caravan lodging areas and weaving workshops, establishing the basic course of the later ring of defenses.
2. c. 1400–1580Kano · KanoIn the 15th century the emir of Kano oversaw several rounds of expansion, extending the walls and adding a number of gatehouses to control entry and exit along trade routes; defenses were planned in step with the layout of markets and mosques inside the city, making Kano one of the largest nodes on the southern edge of trans-Saharan trade.
3. 1591Kano · KanoIn the 1590s Kano's walls maintained a ring of defenses about 14 km long, with gatehouses levying tariffs and inspecting caravans; though eastern trade routes were unsettled after the Songhai Empire suffered Moroccan invasion, Kano remained prosperous on the strength of Hausa weaving and leather industries and local market networks, with defenses regularly repaired to meet surrounding conflicts.
4. 1601–1900Kano · KanoFrom the 17th to 19th centuries Kano's walls still served as the city's boundary and defensive support amid Hausa-Fulani political changes, with some sections damaged by expansion and warfare; after British forces occupied in 1903 several gatehouses were demolished or altered, but the main remains are still among the largest ancient city walls in West Africa.