Birni Ader

Birni Ader was a fortified centre of Adar, a Sahelian country southwest of the Aïr Mountains. The old settlement at Sakola became the seat of rulers known as the Sarkin Adar, or king of Adar. Its history brings together older local communities and dynasties whose authority reached into the region from neighbouring lands.

Before the rise of the Sakola dynasty, Adar had come under the influence of Kebbi. Rulers connected with Agadez subsequently established themselves at Birni Adar, where a fortified residence gave the dynasty a centre of power. In the early nineteenth century the region was drawn into the upheavals associated with the jihad and the expansion of Sokoto, transforming the political world in which the Sarkin Adar had ruled.