By Henry Akubuiro
Viukuthla holds a special place in Biu traditional society and culture. It’s a place where the past meets the present. Its rich history spans over hundreds of years as the former capital of Biu in ancient times. Besides, its sacredness is the reason the remains of every Biu king (Kuthli) are brought to the Viukuthla royal cemetery for burial.
However, very little is known of Biu’s royal cemetery to the outside world, compared to the glamour and curiosity that trail the Valley of the Kings, also known as the Valley of the Gates of the Kings, in Luxor, Egypt, where, for nearly 500 years, from the 16th to 11th century BC, rock-cut tombs were excavated for the pharaohs and powerful nobles of the New Kingdom (the 18th to the 20th Dynasties of Ancient Egypt).
There is also a local parallel in the Royal Wadi, a necropolis in Amarna, still in Egypt, where members of the Ancient Egyptian royal family of Amarna, which reigned during the 18th Dynasty, were buried.
For hundreds of years, residents of the small community of Viukuthla in the southern Borno emirate of Biu have shared boundaries with the dead, and the presence of these personages buried in the village leaves mystic traces all around, adding to the curiosity of an ancient African past.
A journey to Viukuthla isn’t the smoothest of rides, be warned. Located five kilometres from Biu, the major town in southern Borno, it takes up to 30 minutes to reach your destination. Two roads lead to Viukulthla, but the most motorable is the one off Gombi Road, opposite a small community market.
Biu town is located on a high hill. But journeying to Viukuthla, one has to descend contrasting, sloppy valleys that take you to rocky terrain, juxtaposed with grass tablelands. About two kilometres into Viukuthla have been paved, but more than half of the road is untarred, and rocks and pebbles on the road don’t make it any easier to navigate the route.
The only source of transportation to Viukuthla is by keke (tricycle), which carries four passengers to and fro, except for charters by individuals. No matter how new the keke is, be prepared to rock up and down as the tricycle manoeuvres the pebbles on the road.
By the roadside, there are many arresting views to take your mind off the uneasy ride. Hills undulate in the distance. Mango orchards dot the landscape and brown grasses, evidence of mid dry season, present a closer hue to the rocky hills. There is a Fulani settlement by the left and the agrarian nature of locals shows in the ongoing harvest of beans and corn by every here and there.
An intersection after the third orchard, close to Viukuthla, where a stream snakes its way down a zigzag course, is very remarkable in Biu civilisation: for hundreds of years, pallbearers carrying the body of a late Kuthli from Biu were expected to go no further here. The villagers from Viukuthla would take over the corpse and proceed to the royal cemetery to finish the burial rites as tradition demanded.
Umar Midala, a historian and the reporter’s guide, explained: “This junction is very significant in Biu history. No matter how powerful the king’s family was, they would surrender the corpse to the people of Viukulthla at this point, who would take it for the final burial rites. They would come from the top of that mountain (opposite), after some sacrifices, and go with the body. The monarch’s corpse belongs to them.”
Modernity is gradually creeping into Viukuthla village with a solar light offering electricity, a new mosque, clinic and school, but much of the village portrays a rustic ambience in mud and thatch houses, narrow, untarred streets and low, traditional fences with low eaves. They have existed like this for many years.
Viukuthla royal cemetery, holy bees and snake guards
The Viukuthla royal cemetery is about a third of a football field. It has a block fence with two exits. Giant trees with thick branches and leaves create a dark ambience and a creepy feeling for the fainthearted. Don’t worry, the occupants of this cemetery don’t hurt a fly. But the royal bees and snake guards do.
“Not everybody is welcome here,” warned one of the caretakers of the cemetery, Bukar Musa.” However, it wasn’t a direct warning to this reporter but to unofficial intruders. “If anybody forcefully enters the cemetery without permission from us, the bees will descend on him. It’s not just the bees. There are also snakes you can’t see with your naked eyes, but they are here in full force.”
Before the reporter entered the cemetery, the guard had to seek the permission of the ancestors by making some incantations alone. Satisfied that this reporter had no ulterior motive, Musa returned to break the news and ushered him in: “The ancestors said you came here with a clean mind, and you are allowed to come in.”
The royal cemetery is littered with graves left and right, most of them partitioned with pebbles of different sizes. But those of the most recent kings of Biu had names placed on their tombs, identifying their reigns.
These include Mai Ali Gurgur (1935-1951), Mai Ali Dogo (1908-1935), Mai Umar Mustapha Aliyu (1989-2020), etcetera.
Bukar Musa shared the importance of Viukuthla in Biu history: “Viukuthla is founded by the founder of Biu, Yamtarawala, and this is a place where our people first settled before migrating to other places to live. So Viukultha is like the crown of the empire. It used to be the old Biu capital.”
He revealed that the royal cemetery had been in existence for hundreds of years. All the deceased Biu kings were buried here, save for the founder, Yamtarawala, and two others, Kuthli Mari and Mai Madu Aliu, who died in Bauchi. In all, 25 kings have been buried here.
The caretaker pointed to branches on the tree where the royal bees were located, looking down on the visitors. “The holy bees know you are here with good intentions. That’s why you can come in freely,” he said as a bee wheezed past the reporter’s ears from a metre.
Nature has its own way of taking care of deceased personages. Each time a Kuthli dies, the bees will come out in droves to mark the transition. “The bees are treated with care and honour,” said the caretaker, who led the reporter to a gigantic tree with earthenware where water and milk were provided to the royal guards. “We offer the bees water and milk under that tree to drink,” he informed.
Musa is in his 50s, but he doesn’t know exactly how long the royal cemetery has been in existence. Umar Midala, who is revered in Biu as a historian, bailed him out: “You can trace it back to 1535,” he said, “since the time of Yamtarawala.” However, Yamtarawa, the founder of Biu, wasn’t buried here. He was buried in Limbur.
“Yamtarawala used to come here for hunting,” explained Midala, “and return to Limbur.”
This reporter was curious whether the dead here haunt the living. The answer wasn’t in the affirmative. “They don’t disturb us,” Musa affirmed.
The late king who illuminated the night
Not too long, an extraordinary thing happened at the royal cemetery after the burial of the immediate past Kuthli, Mai Mustapha, who died on September 15, 2020. Though the environment was dark, the Kuthli illuminated the place from the spiritual realm, so the story goes.
Musa recounted the incident: “This place used to be dark. But when the late emir died, three days after his burial, if you came here at night, everywhere would be shining so bright because of the body in the grave, and you might think it was daytime already.”
The Biu royal cemetery isn’t only meant for burying late kings. Once in a while, a living king will visit this part to pay homage to the ancestors and also to enlighten the people of Viukuthla.
“The living Kuthli, after paying homage to the Kings, will sit under the baobab tree to lecture the Viukuthla community. He will slaughter a ram or a cow and give it out as charity so that people will take it to their houses for consumption,” he said.
On any other day, villagers are not permitted to enter the royal cemetery. Visiting here is strictly by invitation. “You can only see the bees buzzing up there, but you can’t see the snakes, which are also around us, protecting here,” he reiterated.
How Biu kings are buried
Until the death of a serving Kuthli is confirmed, it is forbidden for anybody to circulate the news. The news will be announced by the royal family by saying, Hyel Knthla, meaning, “Heaven has fallen,” to which Biu will be thrown into mourning.
For instance, when the 27th Kuthli (Mai Mustapha Aliyu), died in 1989, the palace gates were thrown open.
Renowned author and folklorist, Dr. Bukar Usman, an indigene of Biu, recalled: “Sympathisers, men and women, young and old, freely accessed the palace to pay their condolences to the bereaved family. Women trooped to the wives of the deceased and sat around solemnly while men likewise went to the male members of the royal family led by the heir-apparent who received the condolences.”
However, the 26th Kuthli was buried according to Islamic rites. “His body, wrapped in a white cloth and put on a bamboo stretcher, was brought out from the palace and placed in front of the palace for everybody to see the once powerful ruler of the community for over 30 years simply dressed up ready for interment was enough lesson to people to appreciate the inevitability of death, no matter one’s status in life,” he said.
The body was subsequently moved in a crawling motorcade to Viukultha, five kilometres away, accompanied by kingmakers. Besides, “many, including children, were going to satisfy their curiosity (at Viukuthla) as to how the internment would be conducted. It was surely a spectacle of their time.”
Another interesting spectacle witnessed at Viukuthla during the 1989 burial of the king was the welcome party of women from the royal family singing mournful songs.
“To them, the deceased was merely returning home. That was why even the removable covering of the remains of the deceased was kept by the caretakers of Viukulthlla. It could only be taken back by the new kuthli if he so wished upon payment of compensation,” recalled Usman.
The welcome party song of the female royal members was laden with meanings. Known as thlimfwal (praise) in Bura language, they enjoined the departed king to greet those who had gone before him, among others. As the praise song was being made at the Viukuthla burial ground, beniseed (sesame seed), a sacred seed in Biu, was sprayed, an indication that the deceased was being sent to greet all his predecessors.
On that occasion, a big snake was seen in a nearby shrub wriggling in welcome to the deceased. Usman said perhaps the snake’s appearance was of symbolic importance. He added: “Biu traditionalists say such snakes usually appeared at the palace and the Whu River in Biu town on the death of every Kuthli of Biu.”
This was in contrast to the burial of the 25th Kuthli of Biu, Saturday Sun learnt, Mai Ari Gurgur, in the early 1950s where his corpse was hand-carried on the stretchers down the Viukuthla’s valleys. The funeral procession, said Usman, was on foot, accompanied by drumming and blowing of algeita, stopping a few places to perform rites here and there.
In Biu, the burial of a Kuthli is everybody’s business, with mass participation from the high and low. After the burial of the king, condolences continue till the appointment of a new king, which occurs three days after the death of a former Kuthli. He is turbanned immediately his selection is announced.
Goodbye, Viukuthla
The bumpy ride to Viukuthla experienced by a first-time visitor or anybody who seldom comes to this part could be uncomfortable, but it’s worth the trip in the end with its rich past. Here lies more than 500 years of ancient Nigerian history comparable to the Egyptian Valley of Kings in Luxor. As this reporter set to depart, the royal bees buzzed past and made a U-turn to where they came from, without stinging anybody. The ancestors weren’t angry at all, as you could see.
