Kano city walls
Murallas de adobe de Kano
- Date
- c. 1095-1500 · confidence low
- Place
- Kano, Kano State, Nigeria
- Credited to
- Hausa city-state of Kano
- Field
- Tools
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
A rampart of clay and mud-brick some 14 km long, with fortified gates, protecting the Hausa city and its fields. It is among the largest earthen walls of West Africa and displayed the wealth of Kano's trans-Saharan trade.
Tradition (the Kano Chronicle) attributes the start to King Gijimasu (1095-1134); archaeology suggests the surviving stretches were built and rebuilt between the 14th and 16th centuries.
What it led to
- defence of the city against Katsina and Borno
- a model for Hausa walled cities
- the setting of the Kurmi market and the indigo pits