Zinder

Introducing Zinder

With celebrated traditional Hausa houses, labyrinthine old-quarter alleys, an infamous prison within the Palais du Sultan, and classic French fort, Zinder wears its history on its sleeve. What a history it is, growing from a small resting spot for camels on the old trans-Saharan route to a refuge for the Hausa and Kanouri people, fleeing bloody 17th-century conflicts with the Fulani and Tuareg, before becoming the capital of the mighty Damagaram state, which thrived on everything from agriculture to the slave trade. The late 1890s brought the French, much blood-letting and Zinder’s quarter-century reign as Niger’s capital.

Last updated: Feb 17, 2009