A Monument of Love

Records show that 800,000 men built the city of Surame. Kotal Kanta had just one wife, of exceedingly great beauty, and a hundred concubines. He was said to have dug 7,000 wells and the Baobab tree near his former palace is some 700 years old. The city was made up of seven different cities which […]

Records show that 800,000 men built the city of Surame. Kotal Kanta had just one wife, of exceedingly great beauty, and a hundred concubines. He was said to have dug 7,000 wells and the Baobab tree near his former palace is some 700 years old. The city was made up of seven different cities which were all linked by gates. Then there were said to be 70 Women in Kanta’s own Paradise within the city, who were to fete and entertain his chosen ones. If you were a great warrior or one skilled in magical arts then you were certain of being admitted into Kanta’s paradise where milk and honey abounded. If you were evil you were cast into the fires of Hell. The numbers 7 and 8 recur very much in the history of this city as seen above. Surame is exactly 19 kilometres long. The story of Surame and Kanta, the General under Askia, who founded it in 1515, is a fascinating one which explodes with dramatic statistics and revelations. Parts of the city wall and Kanta’s palace were built using Shea Butter, which was taken to Surame from Nupeland. At Leka Kanta had stables for the many horses which his warriors needed to expand and consolidate his Empire.

Surame as Heritage Site
The capital Surame as well as Gungu, which was Kanta’s garrison, and place where all the weapons of war were made, and the Kanta Museum Argungu, have been nominated to become a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the people in the host communities, as well as the governments of Sokoto and Kebbi states are enthusiastic about the Surame UNESCO project, the benefits of which will have a ripple effect on the area. One curious thing about Surame is that though this site is located in Sokoto state, it’s the people of the neighbouring Kebbi state who hold the site in great esteem for it was founded by Kotal Kanta. The Emir of Argungu, Alhaji Muhammadu Sama’aila Mera comments on this ‘The original owners of Surame are now in Birnin Kebbi, but the site is in Sokoto. We are happy that we have a good understanding between this palace and the palace of the Sultan of Sokoto, and also the collaboration between the governments of Sokoto and Kebbi state. The two states and many other states in the country, stand to benefit from people who will come in from all over the world to visit these sites.’ At present the Surame site has been mapped, which means that the important or significant components have been identified. Also stakeholders have been located as well.The Surame site is also being included within the larger nominations from Africa. It is hoped that the site will be on the UNESCO World Heritage list by 2011.

General in Love
Surame is an Ode to Love which has taken on physical form .Imagine a city whose architecture, atmosphere and legend, including the sheer vision and scale of the project, become symbolic of one man’s timeless Love for his wife. This is a Black Taj Mahal. An Indian noble man lost his wife, and because he could not bear parting from her, he built the Taj Mahal in her memory. This has become a symbol of India today. Surame is Kanta’s song to his wife captured in stone. The origin of this city came about thus as the Oral sources recall: ‘Once Kanta had a disagreement with Bokola, his wife, in a town named Gungu. Thereafter the wife fled with a hundred of her maids. Kanta upon hearing of this sent many of his courtiers on horseback to appeal to her to return to Gungu. She refused to return, and insisted that she will remain at the spot which she had reached during her flight.A Baobab tree was growing at the very spot which she had reached and where this discussion took place. When Kanta heard of her answer, he decided that he will then vacate Gungu. He departed Gungu with a large train to be with his wife. He built a new town which came to be called Surame at the spot his wife had reached, and where she had vowed never to return to Gungu.’ This was a move which kept the marriage alive. Kanta elected to be with his wife who is said to have been exceedingly beautiful and tall .One who was also blessed with long dark hair. This was how Surame came to be constructed. A city founded some 500 years ago upon a man’s enduring Love for his charming wife. Kanta’s Love for his wife can be seen as the actual foundation of the city which finally required multitudes to build. Love came first before the sands and stone. So the famous wrestler and boxer had to bow when it came to matters of the heart His name Kotal is a Hausa praise which means ‘No challenger’. This is a nickname he earned in his days as a wrestler and boxer.But his wife challenged and floored him, in a manner of speaking. There are many traditions which indicate that people from Nupe and Zazzau were among those who played a role in constructing the city walls. Today though, the city is a ruin and a lot of its remarkable buildings have to be restored there.

Kanta’s wife makes a vow
One major form which dominates the scene at Surame is the large Baobab tree against which Kanta’s wife had rested during her flight. Legend holds that she had used a dye on her lovely hair, and when she placed her head against the tree, the spot was instantly marked with the dye. This reporter was shown the spot which does look dark. It is the only Baobab tree in the entire vast space which makes up the whole of this city. Ahmed Tsafe, Curator of the Sokoto Museum tells Sunday Trust that the Baobab is said to be 700 years old, and adds that people who are seeking blessings sometimes put coins and other choice items in the tree, which has a number of vast openings around its massive branches and body. The Baobab became a Shrine to Kanta even while he was alive. Legends hold that protection against enemies of the city has always been placed in the tree. So it became symbolic of the power of Kanta and naturally drew a crowd who were attracted to Kanta, and therefore the tree. He adds that some of the miracles attributed to Kanta were associated with the tree. The trees massive body and branches, seem to be making a silent request to Heaven. Somehow the Baobab makes one to think back to Kanta, thel General of Songhai Empire who established a great kingdom. One whose name was uttered with wonder and reverence by both friend and foe. It also reminds one of his wife who stood at the base of the tree and vowed some 500 years ago not to return to Gungu. If she had not made that vow Surame would not have come into being. It may be right to say that Kanta had a soft spot for the women around him. One account states ‘Kanta is said to have given eighty four towns of Yauri to his daughter when she was Magajiya of Kebbi at Silame’. When you stand and look at the awesome and silent tree it is easy to imagine that a man and woman of character once strode around its base, and founded a powerful Kingdom in the process. The trees massive size speaks of a powerful history which unfolded in those parts at some time.

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Conqueror of West Africa
The Emir of Argungu tells Sunday Trust that Surame at the height of its power covered ‘The entire Republic of Niger, Benin Republic, most parts of Burkina Faso, and most parts of Mali. It wasa huge Kingdom.’ According to Yakubu Ibrahim, a protocol officer at the palace of the Emir of Argungu ‘Kanta conquered Nupe, Dendi province, Burkina Faso and Benin republic, and expanded up to Oshogbo.They shared a common boundary with the Old Oyo Empire at Oshogbo.It shared a boundary with the Borno Empire at Nguru.So the whole of Kano, Katsina, Zazzau, Zamfara were all part of the Kebbi Kingdom’. He adds that three quarters of the old Kebbi Kingdom is now in Niger Republic, while only one quarter is in Nigeria. In A Brief Introduction of Argungu Traditional Council (Kebbi Empire) Yakub Ibrahim Bagaye States ‘In the last quarter of the 15th Century Kanta joined Askia’s army and became one of the war chiefs of Askia and later a provincial and independent King and Emperor of Kebbi with its first headquarters at Surame built by Muhammadu Kanta’.The author of this work also states  on Kanta’s conquest of Zazzau ‘After sacking Zazzau, Kanta created the slave colony of Zazzagawa, a town near Argungu in charge of Dankadu’.

Seven cities in one city
Another striking point about Surame are its defences. It has high walls some of which still remain today. A moat covers the entire 19 kilometres of city and thorn bushes were planted deep in the moat as part of the city’s defence. It is easy to imagine that these thorn bushes prevented man as well as horse from penetrating Surame. When you stand on top of the city walls, it is clear that two jeeps can drive side by side on the summit, making this wall a unique architectural feat which can hardly be replicated today. The walls are said to measure some 9 feet in height and parts of it were made with a coating of Shea butter. Kanta’s palace was built with Shea Butter. There are seven gates which lead into each of the seven cities. The King lived in the very heart or middle of the city with his wife and family. The very next city to his was that of the warrior class. Next were the nobles, and the poorer classes, but not necessarily in this order. So it would have been a Herculean feat for an enemy to attack the city and defeat Kanta, who had numerous rings of protection and defence around him.Surame is simply a unique feat of military engineering. The arrangement of the stones within the city walls reveals knowledge of defence and construction which the moderns can hardly surpass.

Heaven and Hell
Then there is the famous Siradi which is a place that stands as Kanta’s judgement seat. This is Kanta’s version of Paradise and Hell which he created in his environment while alive. It is said that here a permanent fire was always burning.The stones and pebbles around the side of the pit facing hell are rather dark, confirming that a fire certainly blazed there some 500 years.Corrupt government officials would not have found it easy in Kanta’s time. The blazing fire which would have been red, hot and very visible at night would have made anyone contemplating evil or a corrupt deed to have a rethink. It was a place that was dreaded at Kanta’s time and lucidly conveyed something of his power and authority. This is how bad people were corrected 500 hundred years ago. The message is still valid for the moderns. There is a deep pit on both sides of the bridge. Any person guilty of a crime is tossed into hell fire, while those who have Kanta’s blessings  are ‘gently eased into Paradise where there are 70 concubines and milk and honey, to please and delight  these chosen ones’, according to the tradition. On this the Emir of Argungu says ‘There is a wall and on each side is a deep ditch covered with thorns. If you deny a crime they ask you to walk across. It was their belief in those times that if you were actually lying, you won’t be able to cross the wall, and that would be your end. But if you are able to cross and go to the other end, it means that you are telling the truth’.

A vast Kingdom
The Emir of Argungu says that Surame was extremely well protected at the height of Kanta’s reign. His words ‘The town was so well protected that even today, you cannot approach it from any other way.’ He says that there is a plan to restore as much as possible the original design of the city. The stables, the market will all be restored, he enthusiastically tells this reporter. ‘We believe that with the restoration the entire world will be attracted to Surame. The sheer size of the town will attract many people. People will come in either from Abuja or through Lagos. From the moment they land they will be spending money. People living in Surame, Silame and the neighbouring local governments will benefit. The mere existence of a World Heritage Site will be a springboard for many businesses to thrive’. Speaking of Kanta from whom he is directly descended, he says ‘It has been an old dream of mine to visit Surame to see how my forebears lived and what their impact was. When I finally found opportunity to go there, I was amazed at what they achieved and being able to control a great chunk of West Africa from that end. It was like a dream come through when I heard that Surame has been slotted into a list of monuments to be considered for enlisting as a World Heritage Site.They were riding Horses to control Benin from here, Kano, Katsina as far as Ilorin and beyond. Stretching up to Burkina Faso.’ According to the Emir sand from lake Tanshama in Azbin was used for the stables at Surame, while water from the same lake was also conveyed to Surame for Kanta’s use. The city of Surame built by Kanta in 1515 served as the capital of Kebbi Empire up to 1700 AD. ‘The 13th King of Kebbi, Tomo son of King Ibrahim, son of Kanta, decided to abandon the town in 1700, and moved to the South West and built Birnin Kebbi as his new capital.’ It was Yakubu Nabame who was later crowned new King of Kebbi with headquarters in Argungu.

Issues at Surame
Ahmed Tsafe also speaks on the challenges confronting the site. First there is no proper access road to the site, and this would have to be done soon. Funding is one of such problems, he says. ‘Funding for the site is low from the federal government’. Other problems, he says, include the fact that the area is deserted and there is no one on the immediate site who can assist with historical information. He also says that the scientific analysis of the site has not been done, and adds that this is a major problem.Worst of all, he adds, there are no securitymen at the site, and human and animal encroachment is rampant.  Men from the nearby village of Garin Magaji walk to Surame to get wood and plants which have medicinal value. He says that this is quite distressing because of the abundance of rare species of trees and plants at the Surame site. Yusuf Abdallah Usman, Director, Monuments Heritage and Sites of the National Commission for Museums and Monuments, also speaks of three challenges confronting the site. According to him ‘One of these is the state of conservation of the site which is linked to encroachment, as well as a natural deterioration due to rain and other factors. People also engage in unwholesome activities which undermine the conservation status of the site. For instance there are cattle rearers, and illegal excavators.’ He also laments the sheer vastness of the site as well. Next is the lack of technically skilled staff which is an essential part of the rigorous nomination process. There are no up to date maps and a survey of the site requires sophisticated equipment. For instance aerial mapping needs to be done, and this is not easily available. He also says that the physical structure of the site is in Sokoto, but the intangible content is in Kebbi ‘This requires coordination between the two states and communities. This is not a challenge but its something we need to contend with in order to have a successful nomination.Apart from the sense of pride it creates in the people, it will also earn economic benefit from visitors, tourists and the like’.

Strengths of the site
Yusuf Abdallah Usman speaks on the essential qualities of the Surame site. His words ‘Its history, its rich flora and fauna and the sentimental value the people of the state and the surrounding area have for it.Then there is the outstanding physical feature and even though it is in ruins, there is evidence of the technological excellence of the past. We have evidence there of political centralisation in Hausaland long before the Fulani conquest of 1804 and European imperialism.’

Love
It was not possible to visit Gungu as we gathered that the bridge leading there had collapsed. At Gungu one can see Kanta’s silos, which is the vast pyramid like structure which he used to store war booty. In an era of constant warfare this makes a lot of sense. It was nice visiting silent Surame, and to stand in the same place where two Lovers once stood. One was King, the other his Queen. But the Queen seems to have been the higher partner in the relationship. It is easy to imagine that he was naturally propelled to do great things because of his deep love for his wife. He also gave many towns to his daughter.This is nice and significant, for a leader can also be judged by his attitude to the weakest members of society. This is an infallible standard. Kanta was a warrior, but he also had reserves of great Love in his heart. Not everyone can combine war and Love in one breathe, but Kanta did this in a golden way.