Nguru

Nguru stands in western Bornu, close to the wetlands formed by the Hadejia and Jama'are rivers. The town lies between the Bornu heartland and the Hausa country, on a route linking Kano and Hadejia with lands farther east. Its inhabitants include the Manga, speakers of a variety of Kanuri found across the region.

Nguru became the seat of the Galadima, the official responsible for Bornu's western marches. The first Galadima recorded in the dynasty's chronicle was a son of the mai around 1625; his authority reached beyond Nguru toward places including Machina and Mouniyo. The town's position also brought it into the conflicts of its powerful neighbours: forces from the Hausa country occupied it in the sixteenth century, and Fulani forces nearly destroyed it in 1808.