Gwandu, town and traditional emirate, Kebbi state, northwestern Nigeria. It lies near a branch of the Zamfara River, a tributary of the Sokoto.
Originally settled by the Kebbawa, a subgroup of the Hausa people, the town was named for the surrounding gandu (“royal farmlands”) that formerly belonged to Muhammadu Kanta, who founded the Kebbi kingdom in the 16th century. Although Fulani herdsmen had grazed their cattle in Kebbi territory for centuries, not until the era (1804–12) of the Fulani jihad (holy war) did Gwandu become an important Fulani town. In 1805, Usman dan Fodio, the jihad leader, moved the jihad headquarters from Sabongari to Gwandu. Muḥammad Bello, his son and successor (1817), began construction of the town’s walls in 1806. After the Fulani victory over the Gobirawa at Alkalawa in 1808, Usman split his vast empire, which then extended over most of what is now northern and central Nigeria, into two spheres of influence. He made his brother Abdullahi dan Fodio emir of Gwandu and overlord of the western and southern emirates (1809) and placed Bello in charge of the eastern emirates. From 1815 Abdullahi maintained Gwandu as one of the two capitals of the Fulani empire.
The Gwandu emirate received tribute from its vassal emirates, including Nupe, Ilorin, Yauri, Agaie, Lafiagi, and Lapai in Nigeria, until the British arrived in 1903. The town had by then become a caravan centre for desert products from the north and forest products, notably kola nuts, from the south. Gwandu offered no military resistance to the British occupation. The Gwandu emirate was considerably reduced in size by British cessions to French West Africa in 1907. Its emir, however, remains the third most important Muslim traditional leader in Nigeria, following only the sarkin musulmi of Sokoto and the shehu (sultan) of Bornu.
The town of Gwandu remains a collecting point for peanuts (groundnuts), tobacco, and rice; it also serves as a major local market centre in millet, sorghum, onions, bananas, cotton, goats, cattle, skins, and kola nuts. Pop. (2006) local government area, 151,019.