Situated 150 km (93 mi) west of Lake Chad in the Yobe State of modern Nigeria, the remains of the former capital city are still visible.

The latter segment of the word, gamu or kumu, shares similarities with the initial portion of the name Gwombe and can signify either (i) a leader or monarch or (ii) a revered ancestral spirit.

The city was surrounded by a circular wall spanning approximately two kilometers in diameter, with the Mai's palace, constructed of red bricks, occupying its center.

[7]: 20  A description of the city was given by one Mallam Salih ibn Ishaku and translated by H R Palmer:At N'gazargamu [sic] there were six hundred and sixty roads cleared and widened, called Le.

By the 17th-century, the city's markets attracted caravans from various directions: Tunis, Tripoli, and Cairo in the north; Timbuktu, Awdaghust, Agades, and Gao in the west; and Kordofan and the Nile regions in the east.

These trade caravans transported a variety of goods, including silk, carpets, weapons, and books from the Middle East; paper and glass beads from Venice; leather products, copperware, and tobacco from the Maghreb; and gold and kola nuts from Ashanti in the south.