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Sukur
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How it came to be
On a hilltop 1,045 metres high in the Mandara Mountains of north-eastern Nigeria, close to the Cameroon border, stands the settlement of Sukur. At the summit is the dry-stone palace of the Hidi, the chief, and below it lie the village, terraced fields and stone-paved paths.
Sukur was known for iron smelting, trade and strong political institutions. Under the Dur dynasty of the 17th century it became a major supplier of raw material for iron to north-eastern Nigeria, a role it kept until the first decade of the 20th century. Many disused shaft furnaces, once blown by bellows, still stand beside the houses. From 1912 to 1922 raids by Hamman Yaji, chief of Madagali, ravaged the settlement and iron smelting declined.
The Hidi is the political and spiritual head of the community, and shrines surround the palace. In 1999 Sukur became the first cultural landscape in Africa to be inscribed on the World Heritage List. The terrace farming and its rituals are still practised.
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