Kano is a city in Nigeria and the capital of Kano
State in Northern Nigeria, in the Sahelian
geographic region south of the Sahara. Its
metropolitan population makes it the second
largest city in Nigeria. The Kano urban area
covers 137 km 2 and comprises six local
government areas (LGAs) — Kano Municipal,
Fagge, Dala, Gwale, Tarauni and Nassarawa —
with a population of 2,163,225 at the 2006
Nigerian census. The metropolitan area covers
499 km 2 and comprises eight LGAs — the six
mentioned above plus Ungogo and Kumbotso —
with a population of 2,828,861 at the 2006
Nigerian census.
The principal inhabitants of the city are the
Hausa people. As in most parts of northern
Nigeria, the Hausa language is widely spoken in
Kano. The city is the capital of the Kano Emirate.
The current emir, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, was
throned on 8 June 2014 after the death of late
Alhaji Ado Bayero, the thirtienth emir of kano
emirate on Friday, 6 June 2014. The city's
Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, the
main airport serving northern Nigeria, was
named after politician Aminu Kano .
History
1850 steel engraving of Kano
See also: Kingdom of Kano and Timeline of Kano
In the 7th century, Dala Hill, a residual hill in
Kano, was the site of a hunting and gathering
community that engaged in iron work; it is
unknown whether these were Hausa people or
speakers of Niger–Congo languages .[2] Kano
was originally known as Dala, after the hill, and
was referred to as such as late as the end of the
15th century and the beginning of the 16th by
Bornoan sources.[3]
The Kano Chronicle identifies Barbushe, a priest
of a Dala Hill spirit, as the city's first settler.
(Elizabeth Isichei notes that the description of
Barbushe is similar to those of Sao people. [4] )
While small chiefdoms were previously present
in the area, according to the Kano Chronicle,
Bagauda , a grandson of the mythical hero
Bayajidda, [5] became the first king of Kano in
999, reigning until 1063. [6][7] His grandson
Gijimasu (1095–1134), the third king, began
building city walls at the foot of Dala Hill. His own
son, Tsaraki (1136–1194), the fifth king,
completed them during his reign. [7]
Gate to the Gidan Rumfa in 2005
In the 12th century Ali Yaji as King of Kano
renounced his allegiance to the cult of
Tsumburbura, accepted Islam and proclaimed
the Sultanate 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 (reigned 1463- 1499)
ascended the throne. During his reign, political
pressure from the rising Songhai Empire 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 reformed the
city, expanded the Sahelian Gidan Rumfa (Emir's
Palace), and played a role in the further
Islamization of the city, [8] as he urged prominent
residents to convert.[9] The Kano Chronicle
attributes a total of twelve "innovations" to
Rumfa. [10]
According to the Kano Chronicle, the thirty-
seventh Sarkin Kano ( King of Kano) was
Mohammed Sharef (1703–1731). His successor,
Kumbari dan Sharefa (1731–1743), engaged in
major battles with Sokoto .