Space, history and power : stories of spatial and social change in the palace of Kano, Northern Nigeria, circa 1500-1990

The dissertation records changes in the Kano palace landscape between 1500 and 1990. Patriarchal practices that shaped the initial palace layout at vernacular domestic and state levels are outlined. Royal women were secluded and male slaves occupied public household domains, state strongholds. Later increases in eunuchs' and slave women's powers and spaces are also recorded. The demise of slave women's political realms and the rise of an autocratic and militaristic male state structure following the Fulani jihad of 1807 are then detailed. Lastly, the impact of British imperialism on the landscape of male and female slavery is presented. Because male slaves were placed publicly, they were the main receivers and negotiators of colonial change, and their spaces underwent the most forceful change.Throughout the analyses, landscapes are seen as politically created and communicative material structures. Examination of epistemological relations used in landscape analyses demonstrates important linkages between how field research is structured and relations of power