Kéraoua

Keraoua lies in the Mandara country at the southern edge of the Lake Chad basin, where granite hills rise out of plains of grass and cultivated ground. The hills gave refuge and defensible positions, and the plains supported millet, sorghum, cattle and small stock. Farmers, herders and craftsmen exchanged goods across the valleys, and the settlements of different hill peoples formed a close network of neighbours.

Mandara power grew from the Wandala kingdom. Its kings built their capital at Kerawa, a walled hill settlement, before the seat moved to Dulo. In the sixteenth century the powerful state of Bornu, to the north and east, raided and attacked the Mandara towns, and in one succession dispute its armies struck Kerawa itself. Through war, tribute and alliance, the Mandara rulers kept a balance between the hill communities and the larger states around the lake.