Katsina, town, capital of Katsina state, northern Nigeria, near the Niger border. Probably founded about 1100 near Ambuttai, which was the residence of Katsina’s Hausa kings and the annual meeting place for the rulers of nearby Durbi, the town was named for Kacinna (Katsena, Katsina), the wife of Janzama (a Durbawa king of the time) and a princess of Daura (the legendary home of the Hausa people, 49 miles [79 km] east). After a period (c. 1513–54) under the Songhai askias (“emperors”), Katsina became the chief trans-Saharan caravan centre of the Hausa states from the late 16th century and remained so until about 1815, when it was surpassed by Kano and was bypassed by new trade routes running south to the Gulf of Guinea coast.
Katsina’s Fulani emirs retain traditional and advisory roles and reside in the palace of the Kangiwa (“Elephant’s Head”); among the royal treasures of the palace is Gajere, a sword with a 13th-century Arabic inscription that was used in the overthrow of the Kumayo-Durbawa dynasty in the early 14th century. Associated with the town’s large central mosque is the Gobarau Minaret, a 50-foot (15-metre) tower made of mud and palm branches and probably dating from the 18th century. Most of the town’s old 13.5-mile- (22-km-) long wall is in ruins. There is a small government residential area outside the wall.
Modern Katsina is a major collecting point for peanuts (groundnuts) and for hides and skins that are sent to Kano (92 miles [148 km] southeast) for export by road and rail. In Katsina’s central market, sorghum, millet, onions and other vegetables, peanuts, indigo, goats, poultry, sheep, cattle, and cotton are traded. Traditional crafts of the town’s predominantly Hausa population include weaving and dyeing of cotton, working in leather and metal, and the design of pottery, embroidery, and calabashes. Modern industries were introduced in the 1970s and include vegetable oil mills and a steel-rolling plant.
Also in the 1970s Katsina was developed as a regional education centre. It is the site of the Hassan Usman Katsina Polytechnic college (1983) and federal and Islamic teacher-training colleges. The town is located on the highway between Kano and Maradi (Niger), and it is a junction for local roads. Pop. (2016 est.) urban agglom., 505,000.