Kwiambana is a ruined settlement in what is now the Kwiambana Forest Reserve. In November 1995 the

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

n government submitted the site to

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

as a potential

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

. The Kwiambana ruins were built on and around a granite

inselberg An inselberg or monadnock ( ) is an isolated rock hill, knob, ridge, or small mountain that rises abruptly from a gently sloping or virtually level surrounding plain. In Southern Africa, a similar formation of granite is known as a koppie, an ...

with two peaks. They were protected by a ditch and a bank between five and seven meters high, topped by a rubble wall. In areas where the wall passes over bare rock, it is built of mud block with loopholes. Around the hillside there are some low free-stone walls. Within the enclosed area are several well-preserved mud structures, and several level sites where buildings may once have stood. The walls were constructed of natural coursed rubble, with alternating layers of stone and subsoil, and have resisted erosion. The settlement, which appears to be ancient, was destroyed during the

Fulani Jihad The Jihad of Usman dan Fodio was a religio-military conflict in present-day Nigeria and Cameroon. The war began when Usman dan Fodio, a prominent Islamic scholar and teacher, was exiled from Gobir by King Yunfa, one of his former students. Us ...

in the early 19th century.

References

{{coords, 11, 5, 12, N, 6, 33, 39, E, display=title Archaeological sites in Nigeria History of Zamfara State Former populated places in Nigeria