Nigeria - Surame Cultural Landscape

Surame ancient kingdom existed around the 15th and 16th centuries. It is a very unique site with a surface of about 9 kilometres, in which one third of the relics has some traces of human settlement in the form of Hausa foundations, remains of compound enclosures, wall rubbles, wells, potsherds. Other features of the site are the walls, Grates, Baobab tree, trench and ditches. The walls partly standing still have relics of the fallen ones intact. The walls were made from millet stalks and are generally rectangular in shape. For the gates, they are of two types namely the small and great ones, which are seven in number each. The defensive walling and the gates are made of rocks. Within the site, there is baobab tree (Kuka) which oral tradition has it that the nagging wife of kanta was thrown into its trunk in a feat of anger. While, the trench (Siradi) is the place where trial was being made to any offender in the Kingdom. If one falls inside the Siradi (trench) he is going into Wuta (hell) and anyone who escapes the Siradi is going to Aijanna (paradise). Around the kingdom, ditches were dug throughout the circumference of the great walls and thorns were planted that made it difficult for invading army to gain entrance into the kingdom.