Editing Sudano-Sahelian architecture (section)

==Variations==
{{More citations needed section|date=January 2023}}

=== Substyles ===
The Sudano-Sahelian architectural style itself can be broken down into four smaller sub-styles that are typical of different ethnic groups in the region.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Team |first=Editorial |date=2021-03-30 |title=Vernacular Architecture: Tradition and Beauty in Regional Styles |url=https://rmjm.com/vernacular-architecture-tradition-and-beauty-in-regional-styles/ |access-date=2023-01-15 |website=RMJM |language=en-GB}}</ref> The examples used here illustrate the construction of mosques as well as palaces, as the architectural style is concentrated around inland [[Muslim]] populations. As with the people, many of these styles cross-pollinate and produce buildings with shared features. Any one of these styles is not exclusive to one particular modern countries borders, but are linked to the ethnicity of its builders or surrounding populations. For example, a Malian migrant community in traditionally Gur area may build in the style characteristic of their ancestral homeland, while neighbouring Gur buildings are built in the local style. These styles include:
*'''Malian''' – of the various Manden groups of southern and central Mali. Characterized by the Great Mosque of Djenné and the Kani-Kombole Mosque of Mali.
*'''[[Songhai architecture|Songhai]]''' – of the various [[Songhai people|Songhai]] groups of Niger and Northern Mali. Characterized by the [[Tomb of Askia]] in [[Gao]], [[Djingareyber]] and the Zarmakoy Palace in [[Dosso, Niger|Dosso]]
*'''Fortress''' style<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kane |first=Ousmane |date=2015-04-01 |title=Making and Remaking Mosques in Senegal. |url=https://journals.openedition.org/etudesafricaines/18050?lang=en |journal=Cahiers d'études africaines |language=fr |issue=217 |doi=10.4000/etudesafricaines.18050 |issn=0008-0055|doi-access=free }}</ref> – predominantly used by the [[Zarma people|Zarma]]-[[Songhai people|Songhai]] peoples of [[Niger]] and [[Mali]], [[Hausa-Fulani]], [[Tuareg]] and [[Arab]] mixed communities in [[Agadez]], and the [[Kanuri people|Kanuri]] people of [[Lake Chad]]. Military aspect to construction of high protective compound walls built around a central courtyard. Minaret is the only structure with support beams showing. Characterized by the [[Sankore]] Mosque of Timbuktu, the [[tomb of Askia]] in [[Gao]] Mali, and the [[Agadez]] mosque of northern Niger.
*'''[[Hausa architecture|Hausa]]'''<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Umar |first1=Gali Kabir |last2=Yusuf |first2=Danjuma Abdu |last3=Ahmed |first3=Abubakar |last4=Usman |first4=Abdullahi M. |date=2019-09-01 |title=The practice of Hausa traditional architecture: Towards conservation and restoration of spatial morphology and techniques |journal=Scientific African |language=en |volume=5 |pages=e00142 |doi=10.1016/j.sciaf.2019.e00142 |s2cid=202901961 |issn=2468-2276|doi-access=free |bibcode=2019SciAf...500142U }}</ref> – The characteristic [[Hausa people|Hausa]] architectural style predominant in North and Northwestern Nigeria, Niger, Eastern Burkina Faso, Northern Benin, and Hausa-predominant ''zango'' districts and neighbourhoods throughout West Africa. Characterised by its attention of stucco detail in abstract design and extensive use of [[parapet]]s. One to two storey buildings. Examples in the architecture of the [[Yamma Mosque]] and old town of [[Zinder]], The Hausa quarter of [[Agadez]] Niger, the [[Gidan Rumfa]] of [[Kano (city)|Kano]], and various Hausa districts across [[West Africa]].
*'''Volta basin''' – of the [[Gur people|Gur]] and [[Mandé peoples|Mande]]n groups of [[Burkina Faso]], northern [[Ghana]] and northern [[Côte d'Ivoire]]. Often the most conservative of the various substyles. Typically features a single courtyard, characterized by high white and black painted walls, inward curved turrets supporting an exterior wall, and a larger turret nearer the center. Characterized by the [[Larabanga]] mosque of [[Ghana]] and the [[Grand Mosque of Bobo-Dioulasso|Bobo-Dioulasso Grand Mosque]].
<gallery>
File:1997 277-9A Agadez mosque cropped.jpg|[[Agadez Grand Mosque]], Niger (Fortress style)
File:Flickr - Dan Lundberg - 1997 ^277-10A Agadez.jpg|An ancestral multi-storey townhouse, [[Agadez]], Niger (Hausa/Tubali)
File:Larabanga Mosque Ghana.jpg|[[Larabanga Mosque]], Ghana (Gur-Voltaic).
</gallery>

=== Difference between Savannah and Sahelian styles ===
The earthen architecture in the Sahel zone region is noticeably different from the building style in the neighboring [[savannah]]. The "old Sudanese" cultivators of the savannah built their compounds out of several cone-roofed houses. This was primarily an urban building style, associated with centres of trade and wealth, characterised by cubic buildings with terraced roofs comprise the typical style.

They lend a characteristic appearance to the close-built villages and cities. Large buildings such as mosques, representative residential and youth houses stand out in the distance. They are landmarks in a flat landscape that point to a complex society of farmers, craftsmen and merchants with a religious and political upper class.

With the expansion of Sahelian kingdoms south to the rural areas in the savannas (inhabited by culturally or ethnically similar groups to those in the Sahel), the Sudano-Sahelian style was reserved for mosques, palaces, the houses of nobility or townsfolk (as is evident in the Gur-Voltaic style), whereas among commonfolk, there was a mix between either typically distinct Sudano-Sahelian styles for wealthier families, and older African roundhut styles for rural villages and family compounds.{{Infobox UNESCO World Heritage Site
  |WHS = Sudanese style mosques in northern Côte d’Ivoire
  |Image = File:Mosquée de Kong-1892.jpg
  |imagecaption = Historic mosque of [[Kong Empire|Kong]], now in [[Côte d'Ivoire]], 1892
  |criteria = {{UNESCO WHS type|(ii),(iv)}}(ii)(iv)
  |ID = 1648
  |year = 2021
  | Area        = 0.13 ha
  | Buffer_zone = 2.33 ha 
  |Location = [[Côte d’Ivoire]]
}}