Located in the old part of Zaria, known as Birnin Zazzau (walled city of Zaria) or Zaria City, the gate (kofar gida) to the Emir's palace stands out as a colorful representation of the Hausa people and their ruler. The decorative designs on the façade reflect the stylistic characteristics of many Hausa buildings and art objects, and the gate itself is known throughout the region as an important cultural structure.

During the reign of Sarkin Ibrahim (r. 1924-1936), a new gate with a central arch was installed. Cars and horses could enter through the archway, while pedestrians passed through an open doorway to the right side. The thickness of the gate meant it could actually serve as a building, and the area to the left of the arch was used as a classroom. Like traditional Hausa homes, the roofline was punctuated by horn-like vertical projections known as zanko, At the time, this gate was whitewashed, its exterior decorated with large, abstract, curvilinear reliefs. Its earthen construction required resurfacing for maintenance, enabling periodic change.

The two succeeding Emirs, Ja'afaru (r. 1936-1959) and Mohammadu Aminu (1959-1975), ordered further embellishments and changes to the entrance. Under Sarkin Mohammadu Aminu’s reign, the motif size was decreased and became more intricate. By 1963, these reliefs were picked out in color. Sarkin Shehu Idris (r. 1975-) demolished the old kofar gida and erected a new gate in 1980-81. Alhaji Haruna, Zaria's then-master builder and descendent of Mallam Mikaila, the architect of the Zaria mosque, supervised the redesign, which abandoned earthen construction. The new building materials consisted of a concrete frame and cement blocks. Cement was combined with specially prepared mud and shaped by hand to create the relief decoration on the exterior.

Motifs on the present gate include some of the original royal symbols, such as the staff of office, sword, and gun, all located at eye level on the wall section between vehicle and pedestrian openings. Daguna (s., dagi) or knot patterns appear throughout the design. The dagi or wise-man’s knot is a symbol that commonly appears on both Hausa buildings and Hausa embroidery and leatherwork. The conception of the dagi and other symbols seem to have been inspired by the cursive letters of Kufic Arabic script, then became the more abstract motifs that we see on the palace gate. Arabic script was considered sacred and therefore possessed supernatural powers of protection. Both legible and imitative script are hidden within sewn leather amulets for personal protection, and are considered equally effective. Manipulated and abstracted, the calligraphic forms can also serve as a protection for both real and figurative entrances. After the 1840s, relief decoration--first on interiors only, then on exteriors--flourished as one of the most distinct design elements of Zaria architecture, influencing Hausa design in general. Because Islam is the dominant religion of the Hausa, its artistic vocabulary is traditionally made up of geometric patterns, since figurative imagery is forbidden, due to the belief that only God can create life.

Many of the shapes and patterns typically found in Islamic art can be traced back to the late antique Mediterranean and Middle Eastern worlds, they have been embellished and made more intricate; some appear to have a local origin. Their use in architectural surface reliefs is distinctively Hausa, highlighted on the relief ornamentation of the Zaria palace gate. Even as this form of house decoration is diminishing among the city's wealthy, the banner of tradition (albeit of short duration) labels the palace.

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In 1817, Asantehene Osei Tutu Kwame Asiba Bonsu relayed his dreams of a new palace to Bowdich, the first European to reach Kumase. The structure would have a brass roof and be built on ivory columns, with gold and silver lining the windows and door. These dreams, stoked by conversations with his Muslim advisors from the north, were still on his mind three years later, when he talked to the British consul, Joseph Dupuis.

Although the monarch continued to refer to brass and ivory, his attention had turned to the European coastal forts for inspiration. He had begun construction, but had shifted his plans for brass, gold, and ivory to the interior, stating, “I am building a fort like Cape Coast Castle; but I shall make it very high that I may look out and see all the town.” His intention was to subvert European perceptions for political reasons, for he added, "Now white men know me, I must live in a great house as white kings do; then I shall not be ashamed when more white people come."

The structure was made of stone that had to be brought by hand from the coast, and its foreignness was underlined by its height, which dwarfed even two-storied earthen structures. It did not begin to approach Cape Coast Castle or any of the other forts in size, but included a tower, paved inner courtyard, far more shuttered windows than most Asante structures, several staircases, and decorative balustrades at three levels. In addition, its flat roof stood in contrast to the sharply pitched thatch of surrounding palace buildings, allowing for elevated viewing. Along with the earthen palace buildings that surrounded it, it stood behind a palisade fence of lashed bamboo-like posts.

Upon its completion in 1822, the Asantehene named it after King George IV, the reigning British monarch, and Dupuis suggested suitable sacrifices for its dedication, supplying a silk British flag to fly. Though he wrote about it as "a private token of friendship," it is difficult to believe a state envoy would see it as anything other than a sign of conquest, despite Britain's continued struggles with the Asante.

Two new Asantehenes followed. Kwaku Dua I was on the throne during an 1839 visit by Methodist missionary Thomas Birch Freeman. The fort, known by its Twi name, Aban, was still the only stone structure in Kumase. in 1841, Freeman compared its size to one of "the small villas in the vicinity of London," and noted a table bearing 31 gold-handled swords, as well as others with the ruler's gold-covered drinking calabashes or imported glassware, gold chains, and nuggets.

In 1872, Asantehene Kofi Karikari requested the British governor at the coast send him chalk and oil colors to refurbish the "stone house." The monarch soon directed his paroled prisoner, Rev. Frederick Ramseyer, to build him an additional two-story European-style house--this time from sun-dried brick--with a crew of Fante workers. Heavy rains later that year, however, damaged both the new house and the stone Aban.

By 1874, Kofi Karikari's conflicts with the British resulted in the latter's successful invasion of Kumase and the British collection of gold dust and other loot from the palace and chiefs' homes. Stanley remarked that the Aban's rooms were "lofty and commodious, and those occupied by his Majesty are furnished with European and native articles. The presents he has been continually receiving diplomatically have assisted in supplying him with unusual luxuries. Pictures adorn the walls; sumptuous sofas are ranged round his walls; thick carpets cover his floors; his tables are loaded with a thousand costly knick-knacks."

Stanley inventoried the items found on the upper floors of the Aban, which he considered the Asantehene's residence. They included gold nuggets, locally-made gold jewelry, stools, gold-decorated rifles, and linguist staffs. European goods were varied, ranging from silver flatware to porcelain and Delftware, carpets to an oil painting and prints.

Boyle observed that "the palace is apparently used as a treasure-house exclusively. The King prefers his native architecture, which is not without elegance," noting the monarch's earthen residence, site of his bedroom, stood immediately behind the Aban; Sir Garnet Wolseley, who led the British troops placed the Asantehene's bedroom and four-poster bed in the Aban itself.

In the stone house, Boyle saw Dutch engravings, a magic lantern, an ivory ship's model, and busts of the Duke of Wellington, as well as silver-decorated calabashes, velvet state umbrellas, and four gold "masks", (Stanley recorded seven) which were actually ornaments. In addition, the shaded courtyard area stored his palm wine, champagne, and brandy.

Some of the booty--the Asantehene's wives' ornaments, two of his gold pipes, a silver coffeepot, and a sword from Queen Victoria--was packed up and taken to Cape Coast where it sold for between 5000-6000 pounds (in the neighborhood of half a million 2017 dollars). Other valuables were considered part of the indemnity paid to the Crown by the defeated monarch, and the famed Garrard jewelry house auctioned them in London.

Wolseley destroyed the Aban with dynamite and had the town torched. He stated, "I believe that the result will be such a diminution in the prestige and military power of the Ashantee monarch as may result in the break-up of the kingdom altogether."

The city's recovery from the 1874 conflagration was slow. Although some palace buildings were rebuilt or refurbished, the stone structure was not. Some of its stones were salvaged and stored xxx, and in 1897 they were incorporated in both the newly-built Residency and Fort, which shared a wall. Henderson noted, however, that most of the Fort itself was built from bricks. This structure spoke to both the permanence the British hope they had achieved in their occupation of Kumase, as well as their unease regarding the current political situation. After the 1874 war, his counselors forced Asantehene Kofi Karikari to resign. Several brief reigns and regencies followed, until internal conflicts were resolved and the teen-aged Asantehene Prempeh I was enstooled in 1888. Britain tried to coerce him into agreeing to a Protectorate, and his repeated refusals led to an 1896 invasion and annexation, as well as Prempeh I's deposition and arrest. The fort and residency together marked the center of Kumase's colonization, both militarily and administratively.

The Fort had a deep well and storage buildings, but its most notable features were its gun towers, their corrugated roofs painted white, with wooden roofs and an air space under the metal--the whole designed to create a cooler vantage point. Henderson noted that all "the arrangements are admirably adapted to enable the guns and Maxims [ a mounted rapid-fire machine gun invented in 1883] with which it is provided to sweep a space which has been cleared all around it."

On March 25, 1900 Kumase saw the first visit of the Governor of the Gold Coast, Sir. F. M. Hodgson. He proceeded towards the fort under a triumphal arch, passing an assembly of Asante chiefs and provincial rulers who then processed past the governor, who was seated on the Residency's verandah like an emperor reviewing the troops. They reassembled three days later, when he informed them they needed to begin paying towards the 1874 indemnity demanded of Asantehene Kofi Karikari. His next statement was incendiary. As Armitage, an eyewitness, put it, "The Governor proceeded to ask where the Golden Stool was, and why it had not been given up to him as representative of the Great White Queen."

By April 2, the Asante at Bali village engaged a small British party who had come lookng for ammunition and the Golden Stool in gunfire, singing (in Armitage's "rough translation"), "The Governor came up to Kumasi on a peace palaver. He demanded money from us and sent white men to bring him the Golden Stool. Instead of money the Governor shall have the white men's heads sent to him to Kumasi. The Golden Stool should be well washed in the white men's blood."

Although they fought their way back to Kumase and the fort, the Asante were massing for war under the direction of Queen Mother Yaa Asantewaa of Ejisu, a kingdom about ten miles northeast of Kumase. The fort became a refuge for the Governor, his wife, a handful of British officers, missionairies, mining engineers, clerks, servants, and Asante officials (some loyal to the British, others detained by them), as well as about 500 Hausa troops and their families. Telegraph lines had already been laid in Kumase, but after a plea for reinforcements from Nigeria had been sent, the Asante cut the line. A two-month siege began. Negotiations in May included an Asante demand: the Fort should be destroyed. British reinforcements arrived in Kumase on May 15, and at the cessation of fighting Queen Mother Yaa Asantewaa was exiled to the Seychelles Islands. She died there in 1921, but when Prempeh I returned from the islands to Kumase, he had her body and those of other exiled Asante who had died returned to Kumase for proper burial.

The fort continued to house colonial military forces, although unfortified barracks were built nearby, until 1952-53, when the British Army converted the structure into a military museum. It became a Ghanaian museum at the country's 1957 independence, and its exhibits consist of arms and related objects, many confiscated during wars with other nations. Swords, tanks, planes, photographs, and other military memorabilia from Ghana, Italy, Japan, and elsewhere.

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The Asantehene ruled the Asante Empire from his residence in Kumase, but lack of archaeological work at the capital means our knowledge of palace structure and location are limited before the 19th century. In 1817, when Bowdich became the first European to travel to Kumase, the palace covered a large expanse in what is now Adum, with the market nearby. During Bowdich's diplomatic mission to Asantehene Osei Tutu Kwame Asiba Bonsu (r. 1804-1824), he noted that the palace was about a half-mile from the town's southern entry point, approached through a long street. It was walled off from the town, though each end of the wall ended at the nearby marshlands. 

The Benin palace (eguae) shares many contemporary elements with royal accommodations worldwide: air conditioning, electricity, electronics, and a glamorous new facade–an innovation of the current monarch, Oba Ewuare II. Altars to the monarchs of the past, buried in the living quarters they once occupied, nonetheless remain the spiritual heart of this royal compound. Still, externals have always been important, for they reinforce the monarch’s ultimate social status.

Many of Benin’s architectural innovations began with the palace, whether they were Oba Esigie’s 16th-century introduction of a shingled roof, Oba Ovoranmwen’s late 19th-century novel use of corrugated metal sheeting for the same purpose, or his mirrored bedroom ceiling. Sumptuary laws still affect Benin architecture. Only the monarch and those chiefs to whom he grants the privilege may score their walls with the horizontal grooving (eken agben) that marks rank, a feature incorporated into current cement buildings, as well as older earthen construction techniques. When the latter were the norm, the palace had walls that were built from five to nine courses or layers high; most other citizens were limited to four, although a few privileged chiefs were permitted to have five. The earthen walls were thick—usually two to three feet at the base, thinning as they rose. That produced an insulating effect that, combined with shaded passages and the lack of exterior windows, helped to keep the interiors cooler.

Our knowledge of the original palace is limited. The first dynasty’s monarchs, known as the Ogiso, resided elsewhere in town, its location disputed. When the present Oranmiyan dynasty was initially established, the first few monarchs had their palace at Usama, in that sector of the city where the Usama chiefs who invited them lived. It was not until the reign of Oba Ewedo in the 14th century that the inner section of the town was breached. Ewedo built his palace where the royal residence still stands: land the indigenes had used as a cemetery. This ensured that the dynasty, which had entered Benin from the Yoruba city of Ile-Ife, had suzerainty over the ancestral forces that owned the land. While the palace's structures have changed significantly over time, what little archaeology has occurred took place on what were once palace grounds—small areas on the Benin Museum grounds and the site of the former Clerk's Quarters. Even those limited excavations revealing. Connah discovered segments of pottery shard pavements reminiscent of Ile-Ife, their date coinciding with the Oranmiyan dynasty’s establishment of the current palace site. These dropped out of use long ago.

Extensive decoration marked palace structures. In the 16th century, Oba Esigie constructed a reception hall whose wooden verandah supports were decorated by over 800 brass plaques depicting court officials, animals, Portuguese visitors, and other subjects. Royal ancestral altars bore cast metal heads, carved ivory tusks, brass figures, wooden staffs and other decorations. Walls included patterns beyond fluting, and sometimes incorporated modeled clay tableaux. Wooden lintels decorated with interlace motifs or carved figurative scenes were visible in passageways, and patterned brass sheets decorated some lintels and doors. Cowrie shells, a precolonial currency, were pressed into some clay flooring in the form of animals or courtiers, a practice that flaunted the Oba’s wealth.

The palace was once considerably larger than it is today. Seventeenth-century visitors remarked on its many galleries and courts, as well as the reflective surfaces of its burnished red earthen walls, described by the 17th-century author Dapper as “as shining as a looking glass.” Towers topped by brass birds standing over snakes were visible over the perimeter walls, making the Oba’s home larger, taller, and far more imposing than any other city buildings. Like many African households, space within the palace moved inward, from public to private. Large-scale activities took place in the open areas and forecourts, while reception areas ranged from royal encounters with chiefs, subjects, and visitors to more intimate ones. Despite its size and costly decorations, the palace's basic design--rooms arranged around open courtyards with impluvia, bordered by shaded galleries with a compluvium opening in at the center--was aligned with that of chiefs and other citizens. When an Oba joined his ancestors, he was buried in the courtyard that held his suite of personal rooms, and the altar erected over his grave served as a focus for sacrifice and ritual. When his successor took the throne, he had new personal quarters erected.

Destruction–both accidental and deliberate–encouraged innovations via rebuilding. Goodwin’s limited excavations revealed that a single segment of the former royal compound that showed evidence of four successive blazes. Accidental fires periodically occurred, as in 1922, but succession disputes caused Oba Ewuare I to burn both palace and town, while the short-reigned Oba Egbebo restricted himself to torching the palace. The British were responsible for the greatest palace devastation, however. In 1897, in retaliation for the death of a few Britons (who had been warned not to come) eager to force Benin to become part of a “Protectorate” and agree to exclusive trade, the British Navy led an assault on the city. They fought their way to the palace, which the monarch finally had vacated during the bombardment, and took possession of kingdom. They used explosives on the area bordering the palace, in order to, as Roth put it, “enable the invaders to defend their positions should the Binis return to the fight.” Clearing the shrines of their altarpiece decorations, they removed personal and state objects for shipment to Britain, where they subsequently were sold and scattered to museums and collections worldwide. While the soldiers were bivouacked in the royal compound, the palace and ultimately much of the surrounding Ogbe quarter caught fire and burned for three days. After clearing the debris, colonial administrators carved up the extensive grounds. Roads cut through the space; the current museum complex, Ring Road, the prison and the former Clerk's Quarters were all once part of the palace.

In 1914, after the death of his father, Oba Eweka II took the throne and began reconstructing both structures and altars. He created a large freestanding courtyard, the ugha, that included both a joint altar for all prior monarchs, whose quadrangles had been destroyed, and individual altars to his father Oba Ovoranmwen and his grandfather Oba Adolor. This quadrangle is the site of some of ceremonies held during the December/January festival period, including Ugie Erhoba, which honors the current monarch’s father, and Ugie Iron, which recreates a 16th-century power struggle.

His son Oba Akenzua II 's innovations included a billiards room and air conditioning. Akenzua's palace commissions to the artist Ovia Idah included an enshrined cement and clay figure of late 15th-century/early 16th century Oba Ozolua (made ca. 1947-50). Erected in the open area in front of the present palace, its position marks where his courtyard once stood. This open area hosts palace ceremonies such as Igu’Oba, which honors the monarch’s head and destiny, and Ugi’Ewere, the celebration that closes the festival season. Idah also produced cement and clay portraits of royals that were part the palace’s façade at that time. In the 1960s, he replaced these deteriorated palace decorations with five reliefs of monarchs and two of royal wives, the effect recalling both the clay reliefs on former palace pillars and the hundreds of 16th-century brass plaques Oba Esigie had cast and nailed to the wooden supports of his reception court.

Some of Oba Erediauwa’s subjects urged him to create a palace in contemporary style like those of certain of his Yoruba counterparts, but he was uninterested. At the time of his installation he did, however, replace the earthen palace entry with a steel gate, and introduced other innovations that were less noticeable.

Oba Ewuare II completely revamped the palace’s public face before his installation in October of 2016, although he retained most of the structures behind the façade, as well as the courtyard with ancestral altars. Color integrates old and new: the red roofs of the new structures harmonize with the palace’s earthen walls and a small section of the newly paved forecourt, while new white structures match the repainted cement sections of old buildings, the front fencing, and the bulk of the forecourt. The palace’s new entry building is a sizable two-story streamlined Neoclassical mansion, its entrance marked with a columned portico. The emphasis on red and white reflects these colors’ symbolic importance: white stands for purity and peace, and is the color associated with Olokun, the deity of the sea whose palace the monarch’s is said to imitate; red, on the other hand, is associated with power.

Today’s palace compound still includes a sacred grove, as well as a school for male pages, the Oba’s secretary's office, a library, and the Benin Traditional Council's suite, as well as the royal ancestral shrines, shrines to other deities, meeting and reception rooms, and the private quarters of the Oba and his wives. As residence, ritual and administrative center, and site of annual celebrations, the palace was and is physically the center of the Benin Kingdom's capital, with the main market located nearby. Through the centuries, its days were filled by chiefs, priests, citizens, and visitors, but at night it housed only the monarch, his wives, infant children, and male and female pages. Older royal children lived outside the palace and were raised by various chiefs.

Many parts of the palace are off-limits to most people. Chiefs belonging to the Eghaevbo n’Ogbe category are affiliated with one of three palace societies and have access only to general spaces and those quadrangles reserved for their specific group: Iwebo, the largest group, concerned mostly with administrative duties, public functions, and royal objects and dress; Iweguae, which cares for the Oba’s ancestors and his royal person; and Ibiwe, which looks after the harem and children. Courtyards have particular functions, as Dmochowski noted; one is devoted to the storage of state drums, another is earmarked for the enisen wardrobe officials. Many of the courtyards are site of altars to various deities, and include visible protective medicines. It is likely that the walls themselves contain amulets and other devices, for the British discovered certain bronzes within the walls, invisible to passers-by.

Even on a quiet day, the palace hosts numerous chiefs, pages, and visitors both lofty and humble. At times of royal ceremonies, its grounds flood with people. As an Edo proverb has it, "The palace full to capacity is the Oba's happiness."

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