Zinder (which is locally called Damagaram) is the second largest city in Niger, with a population of 170,574 (2001 census) by 2005 was estimated to be over 200,000. It is situated 861 km (535 mi) east of the capital Niamey and 240 km (150 mi) north of the Nigerian city of Kano.
History
Zinder rose from a small Hausa village to an important centre of the Trans-Saharan trade with the founding of the Sultanate of Damagaram in 1736 by Kanouri aristocrats. The large fortress of the southeast central city (Birini) was built shortly thereafter, and became a major hub for trade south through Kano and east to Bornu. The Tuareg encampments and trade houses of the Hausa town (Zengou) expanded with this trade. The French conquered the city in 1899, and placed the capital of the new Niger Military Territory there in 1911. In 1926, following fears of Hausa revolts and improving relations with the Djerma of the west, the capital was transferred back to the village of Niamey.
In 2003, telecommunications company Celtel arrived in Zinder, building a mobile phone tower and selling prepaid phone cards to residents. This arrival of the mobile phone drastically changed the predominant modes of communication in the city, allowing traders to have a faster and more affordable means of communicating with buyers and sellers. This is an example of how cellular towers in the developing world have begun to transform the market.
PreColonialAfrica13 Member # 21589
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Yep, that was all I was able to read up on it too. It's not one of the 7 major hausa cities though, it's outside of the hausa realm as far as I can see. Still, the Hausa architecture is unmistakable. And this fortress, any pictures of it? I found one but I think it's referring to the french fort built in zinder.
PreColonialAfrica13 Member # 21589
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Also, check out this mosque in Burkina Faso, its contain elements common in Sudano-Sahelian architecture yet are distinguishable in West Africa all the same. The grand mosque of bani, it is called.
Are these old mosques? Or recent constructions? The first picture looks like an imitation of the 3 in timbuktu. With mudbrick architecture it's impossible to tell. Still, you have to marvel at the influence malian mudbrick architecture has had on West Africa. Like Rome in the Mediterranean world.
the lioness, Member # 17353
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he Grand Mosque at Bani was built a generation ago by the followers of a religious leader who was led to the site by visions. Bani, the city of the 9 mosques in Burkina, is en route to Gao from Ouagadougou, in the east. The special thing about this town is that it is full of mud mosques. These mosques have been built by the "enlightened" ones, or so we are told! The man who today is the imam of the people, began to dream about what God told him to do; he had to build a large mosque, and so he did. But he only had the help of the common people, no architectural knowledge, no plans, but only by pure intuition and dreams... Slowly the Grand Mosque was erected, with strong pillars and a large terrace .... Then he continued to build other mosques, 9 in total .... The others are all based on the original design of and facing the Grand Mosque, instead of being oriented towards Mecca, as is usual. This is another of it's unique characterstics. Today it is a popular attraction for the few tourists who do go that route. They stop to admire these curious constructions, which are inspired by the other great mosques of the region, but each is original in it's own way. For example, in the facade of the Grand Mosque can be seen some figures; some with arms up, others down ... these represent different aspects of the praying and kneeling of the Muslim faith.
THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF KIRIKONGO, BURKINA FASO by Stephen A. Dueppen
A dissertation submitted in partial fufillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Anthropology) in The University of Michigan 2008
The Journal of African History July 2005 v46 i2 p356(2) Page 1
A major study of a neglected resistance war.(West African Challenge to Empire: Culture and History in the Volta-Bani Anticolonial War)(Book Review) by Myron Echenberg
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