Kano

Islam reached the court with the merchants. In the reign of Yaji, in the later 14th century, Wangara traders from Mali brought the faith to the king, though some officials of the old sacred kingship fought it hard. It took hold under Muhammad Rumfa at the end of the 15th century. Guided by the Berber scholar al-Maghili, he enlarged his palace, the Gidan Rumfa, extended the city wall and founded the Kurmi market.

Leo Africanus, whose account probably describes Rumfa's Kano, wrote of wealthy merchants, skilled craftsmen and fine cavalry, and of rice, corn, cotton and citrus in plenty. Hausa kings ruled the city for three more centuries, until the jihad that Usman dan Fodio proclaimed in Gobir in 1804. In the years that followed the Fulani took Kano, King Alwali fled, and the city became the richest province of the Sokoto Caliphate.