List of rulers of Kano
This is a list of rulers of Kano since the establishment of the Bagauda Dynasty in 999. The early rulers are known almost exclusively from a single source, the Kano Chronicle, which was composed in the late 19th century.
Bagauda dynasty (999–1809)
Names and dates taken from John Stewart's African States and Rulers :Kings (999 – 1349)
| # | Name | Reign Start | Reign End |
| 1 | Bagauda | December 999 | January 1063 |
| 2 | Warisis | January 1063 | January 1095 |
| 3 | Gajemasu | January 1095 | November 1133 |
| 4 | Nawata | November 1133 | October 1135 |
| 5 | Gawata | November 1133 | October 1135 |
| 6 | Yusa | October 1135 | December 1193 |
| 7 | Naguji | December 1193 | May 1247 |
| 8 | Gujjua | May 1247 | January 1290 |
| 9 | Shekarau I | January 1290 | July 1307 |
| 10 | Tsamiya | July 1307 | June 1343 |
| 11 | Usmanu Zamnagawa | June 1343 | March 1349 |
Sultans (1349 – 1807)
Suleiman's reign (1807–1819)
Dabo dynasty (1819–present)
| # | Name | Reign Start | Reign End | Notes |
| 2 | Ibrahim Dabo dan Mahmudu | 1819 | 1846 | Shehu Ibrahim Dabo from the Fulani Sullubawa clan was a mystic and scholar. He is the eponymous founder of the Dabo dynasty as the khalifa of Emir Suleiman which has ruled Kano for over two hundred years. |
| 3 | Usman I Maje Ringim dan Dabo | 1846 | 1855 | Son of Dabo |
| 4 | Abdullahi Maje Karofi dan Dabo | 1855 | 1883 | Son of Dabo |
| 5 | Muhammadu Bello dan Dabo | 1883 | 1893 | Son of Dabo |
| 6 | Muhammadu Tukur dan Bello | 1893 | 1894 | |
| 7 | Aliyu Babba dan Maje Karofi | 1894 | 1903 | Aliyu was on a visit to Sokoto in 1903 when Kano fell to the British during the Battle of Kano. Aliyu gathered his forces on a long march to retake the city but his cavalry was annihilated by the Lord Lugard at the sanguinary Battle of Kwatarkwashi. His brother Wambai Abbas was proclaimed Emir by the British and Aliyu subsequently went on a Mahdist Hijra north into the Sahara but was captured by the French and handed over to the British who exiled him to Yola and then Lokoja |
| 8 | Muhammad Abbass dan Maje Karofi | 1903 | 1919 | First Emir to reign under the Kano Emirate Council. |
| 9 | Usman II dan Maje Karofi | 1919 | 1926 | |
| 10 | Abdullahi Bayero dan Abbas | 1926 | 1953 | Bayero was a scholarly-king who promoted traditional Islamic education and encouraged trade in the city-state |
| 11 | Muhammadu Sanusi I dan Bayero | 1953 | 1963 | Sanusi I was the first Emir to be dethroned by the government |
| 12 | Muhammad Inuwa dan Abbas | April 1963 | October 1963 | Second shortest reign after Sultan Dakauta |
| 13 | Ado Bayero dan Abdu Bayero | 1963 | 2014 | Ado Bayero had the longest reign in the royal history of the city-state spanning over five decades. His reign started three years before the fall of the first republic and saw 14 heads of state and 17 state governors. His funeral was the largest gathering in the modern history of northern Nigeria. |
| 14 | Muhammadu Sanusi II dan ciroma Aminu Sanusi Bayero dan Muhammadu Sanusi I | 2014 | 2020 | Sanusi II was the first Sullubawa prince since the 19th century founding of the Dabo dynasty to become emir not through royal primogenitureship. His six-year reign marks also the first to usher in a dynastic generational-shift away from the old regime of 1903; he is the second emir to be dethroned after his grandfather Sir Sanusi I |
| 15 | Aminu dan Ado Bayero | 2020 | 2024 | |
| 16 | Muhammadu Sanusi II dan Nadawaki Aminu dan Muhammadu Sanusi I | 2024 | present |