Abdulmalik Abdulrahman

The Influence of Islamisation in the Material Culture of Northern Nigeria: An Archaeological Investigation of Birnin-Bordan Settlement, Birnin Kudu, Nigeria (10th-18th Centuries)

Abdulmalik is currently a CHASE doctoral researcher at the Sainsbury Research Unit for the Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas, Univeristy of East Anglia. He possesses expertise in anthropology and archaeology, with a specialisation in the field of art history, specifically focusing on the archaeology of the West African Coast. He previously held the position of a tutor specialising in heritage studies within the Department of Archaeology and Heritage Studies at Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria, Nigeria. The focus of his current research pertains to the reconstruction of the interactions between West African communities and Europeans within the context of the historical era along the Atlantic ocean.

This pioneering project, funded by The Barakat Trust, investigates the Birnin-Bordan settlement (Old Birnin-Kudu), a prominent settlement in Northern Nigeria occupied between the 10th and 18th centuries AD, and served as a trade route for Arabian merchants in the Trans-Saharan trade from Kanem-Bornu to other Hausaland regions, including Kano, Rano, and Katsina. Despite the significance of the settlement and the ruined structures under threat from farming, no comprehensive archaeological research has been conducted, aside from a brief survey in 2019. This project will investigate the constituents of Islamic cultural materials, periods of Islamisation and the influence of the Trans-Saharan trade in Northern Nigeria.