Zangon Kataf (Tyap: Nietcen A̱fakan) is the name of a town and a local government area in Kaduna State, Nigeria. It is the seat of the Agwatyap, the chief of the Atyap people. The Ayet Atyap annual cultural festival is held in the grounds of the chief's palace.

Understand

Zangon Kataf is a town founded by the Atyap people circa 1767. The earlier settlement was said to have been established to accommodate the Hausa itinerary traders who began traversing the region about that time, in the days of the trans-Saharan trade and later became a very important stop point for long-distance traders from Hausaland and Kanem-Borno travelling south to today's southern Nigeria and Gonja in today's northern Ghana. Its market was said to have grown into being the third largest across the area which was to later become Northern Nigeria region (1914-1967).

The official name was derived from the Hausa word zango (an itinerary settlement) and Kataf (the Hausa exonym for the Atyap or Tyap speaking people). Meanwhile, the unofficial Tyap name was derived from nietcen (visitors) and A̱fakan (the sub-clan of the Aminyam clan of Atyap, on whose land the itinerary settlement was established). The Tyap name could be somehow equated in meaning to the original Hausa name for the settlement, Zangon Fatake. Fatake is a Hausa word meaning "itinerant traders", while zango is their itinerary settlement.

The town is mainly inhabited by ethnic Hausas, and Hausa-speaking Kanuris, Nupes and other muslim groups like Yoruba and Alago, with a few Atyap muslims.

The town is home to one of the earliest Native Authority (NA) schools in Southern Zaria (now Southern Kaduna), established in 1937; and was the seat of the District Head. Zangon Kataf district was the most important in the old Zaria Province during the British colonial period, after Zaria, due to its large population and huge human and natural resources.

The term Maba̱ta̱do (Mah-buhd-uh-doh), losely pronounced "Mabarado" (Mah-buh-ruh-doh) used sometimes to refer to the dialect of Tyap spoken around that region, refers to an ancestrial assembly point of Atyap elders from each of the four clans (of the Atyap proper) where important matters of the land including the deliberation to establish the itinerary settlement, were held. The Mabatado is located due southeast of the town.

Since the creation of Zangon Kataf LGA from Kachia LGA and the location of the headquarters in the neighbouring town of Zonkwa in 1989, the importance of the town, however, shrank immensely.

The seat of the Atyap chiefdom and the palace of the paramount ruler of the Atyap is situated in Atak Njei, located on the bank of the Kaduna River, with Zangon Kataf town on the opposite flank of the river.

Get in

Zangon Kataf can be reached via land and air.

By plane

• Yakubu Gowon Airport JOS  ^IATA 125 km (2 hr 17 min) northeast of Zangon Kataf (via Jos-Kafanchan road) in Jos. The closest airport to Zangon Kataf. Arik Air runs a once a day domestic flight from Lagos.
• Kaduna International Airport KAD ^IATA is 200 km (3 hr 9 min) northwest of Zangon Kataf. It has frequent daily flights from Lagos (1 hr 15 min, US$34 one-way) on Aero Nigeria, and Dana Airlines.
• Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport ABV ^IATA is 40 km southwest of Abuja and 215 km (4 hr 18 min) southwest of Zangon Kataf. The third closest airport to Zangon Kataf. Several airlines offer international flights, notably, Lufthansa, KLM, British Airways, Emirates, Qatar Airways and Turkish Airlines. Many visitors arrive on connecting flights from Lagos.

By car

• From Kaduna:

If you are arriving from Kaduna, you can board a vehicle going to Samaru Kataf. When you get there, you board another going to Zangon Kataf.

• From Abuja:

One could take an Uber or airport cab from the airport to the Sani Abacha Mega Bus Terminal in Karu, Nasarawa State. One gets a vehicle from the garage to Kafanchan at a fare of between ₦2,500 and ₦3,000. If you came via Keffi-Barde-Jagindi road, you should stop at Samaru Kataf junction at Agban in Kagoro, to board a vehicle to Zangon Kataf. But if you came through the Keffi-Barde-Kwoi road to Kafanchan, stop at NEPA Roundabout road motor park. But if the car stops before getting there, take a motorbike at ₦100 to get there. From there, you board a car going to Zangon Kataf at a price of about ₦500.

You can get to Zangon Kataf town through any of the following means like on motorbike, bicycle or foot, which would take longer.

See

• 1 Agwatyap's palace, Atak Njei. One of the most modern palaces in Southern Kaduna, constructed in the early 2000s. (updated Jan 2023)
• 2 Avaak Abwuiyap, Abwuiyap (H. Angwan Rohogo) (3 km east of Zangon Kataf). Go see the ruins of the "city" walls of the settlement believed to be the point of dispersal of the Atyap clan of Aminyam (from whom the Fantswam broke away) which migrated from the Jos-Bauchi plateau via Kallah in Adara land, to settle in their present places of aboard. Take a guide with you to show you the precise location, as the settlement is more of an abandoned one. (updated Feb 2023)
• 3 Akum Mabatado, Mabatado (H. Barawa-Dawa/Angwan Tudu. An ancient silk cotton tree as old as Zangon Kataf town itself (or older), which appears in the emblem of the Atyap chiefdom, having great cultural significance. (updated Jan 2023)
• 4 Zangon Fatake, Mabatado (H. Barawa-Dawa/Angwan Tudu (east of Zangon Kataf). The area the first itinerant trader from Kanem-Borno, Mallam Mele, settled during the trans-Saharan trade era in the 18th century. From there, the settlement moved a little westward to present day Zangon Kataf town. (updated Jan 2023)
• 5 Kamuku National park, Kagoro (head east on A3 from Kaduna City.). 8AM-5PM. Kamuku National Park is a wildlife reserve that offers game viewing and hiking activities, with the best time to visit being from November to May. (updated Aug 2024)

Do

Ayet Atyap 2019 edition

• 1 Ayet Atyap annual cultural festival, Agwatyap's palace ground, Atak Njei. Can attend the festival which happens at an announced date in December. (updated Jan 2023)

Buy

• 1 Zango Market. The main market in Zangon Kataf. (updated Jan 2023)

Sleep

Most visitors to the town do go to sleep in Kafanchan where the hospitality industry is more advanced, or nearby Kagoro with moderately good accommodations for visitors.

Stay safe

Zangon kataf is relatively the same as Zonkwa both state are in southern Kaduna,Zangon kataf has experienced series/period of unrest, violence and killing in the past.Most times it is often related to communal and ethnic conflict.The security situation can be volatile at time and unpredictable

Connect

Cellular networks like MTN, Glo, 9mobile and Airtel are used here. The network strengths vary from one part of the town to the other.

Go next

The following towns are nearby Zangon Kataf:

• Jos - the largest city on the Jos Plateau
• Kagoro - the home of the Afan National Festival
• Agut Ntswuo - the second most important town of the Atyap
• Zonkwa - the headquarters of Zangon Kataf LGA