Sheikhs of the Koyam and the Legacy of Kalumbardo

Family Tree of Koyam Shaykhs

The Koyam and the history of Kalumbardo is an important one in the annals of Borno history as well as that of the Central Sudan. Although the community was important enough to contribute to the origin of the Zinder state's ruling dynasty as well as to the spread of Sufi and Islamic practices across Borno and, perhaps, Wadai and Bagirmi, we unfortunately know too little of the community's history. Besides the oral traditions collected by Landeroin at the beginning of the 20th century and occasional references to Kalumbardo's widely respected shaykh in the 17th century in Maghribi sources, the history of the community remains to be told. Fortunately, what can be gleamed from the history of Sidi al-Baghdadi's movement in the Air desert plus other references to Sufism and asceticism in Kanem-Borno and Sudanic Africa, sheds some light on the history of the Kalumbardo community.

First, it's shadowy origins. While Muhammad Bello described a community called Kalumbardo that was in existence by the time of Umar b. Idris, mai of Borno in the years 1619-1639. Of course, this was not the first center of Sufism in Borno and certainly not the first mallamti or community or fief recognized by the mai's of the Sayfawa. Indeed, according to Rémi Dewière, Sufism of the Shadilya sect was practiced in Borno before the 17th century. Evidence of this was detected in his study of Ahmad b. Furtu's chronicles of mai Idris b. Ali suggests practices close to those of al-Sadili as well as earlier references to ascetics in Kanem during the 14th century. However, the history of Kalumbardo is a better documented history of a community defined, in part, by Sufist practices or influences. 

According to  to Muhammad Bello of the Sokoto Caliphate, this first Kalumbardo community was led by a Shaykh Waldeed and al-Waliyy b. al-Jarmi, a Tuareg. The two, Fulani and Tuareg, were said to have spread Sufism, and the former allegedly had studied in Agadez and Timbuktu. This suggests that the original Kalumbardo community was led by two reputable Sufis with links to Agadez and Timbuktu, prominent centers for Islamic scholarship that had been under Songhay control in the 1500s. Moreover, according to Bello's account, Umar b. Idris had al-Jarmi executed while Waldeel fled to Baghiri. This account of the mai's crackdown on the first Kalumbardo community sounds very similar to Bello's recounting of the end of Shaykh al-Baghdadi in Air. Said to have been killed by the sultan of Agadez at Aghalanga, the conflict was instigated by court-affiliated scholars who urged the sultan to target Shaykh al-Baghdadi. Thus, we may have something of a common literary trope in which a venerated Islamic holyman is martyred by a secular ruler whose court-aligned ulama see in the holyman a threat to their own status and the power of the sultan. Of course, in the case of al-Baghdadi in Air, his status as a sharif added another layer of threat. 

John Lavers, in his article "Diversions on a Journey of the Travels of Shaykh Ahmad al-Yamani," adds further detail to the history of this earlier Kalumbardo. According to him, some traditions remember the Tuareg leader of the first Kalumbardo as al-Jarmiya al-Tarqi as a teacher of Abd al-Karim b. Jame, the first sultan of Wadai. While other traditions claim Wadai's founder had studied at Bidderi in Baghirmi, this location in the Baghirmi kingdom was a settlement associated with the Torobbe Fulani and Islamic scholarship. However, does not necessarily contradict the other tradition associating Wadai's founder with th Tuareg at the first Kalumbardo. After all, the Shaykh Waldeel of Muhammad Bello was said to have escaped Borno for Baghirmi. Thus, this early Kalumbardo community, which probably arose before the reign of Umar b. Idris, enjoyed or later extended itself through its persecution, far links to Agadez, Timbuktu, Bagirmi and Wadai. And to make things even more confusing, it is possible that, according to traditions cited by Lavers, it was Ibrahim b. Idris, a brother who reigned as mai before Umar b. Idris, who had been responsible for destroying the first Kalumbardo community.

What occurred after the dissolution of the first Kalumbardo community, which appears to have lacked the ethnic Koyam affiliation or identification of the second Kalumbardo? We know that, by the 1660s, during the reign of Ali b. Umar of Borno, Kalumbardo was again associated with a venerated Shaykh whose piety, scholarship, and asceticism led to his reputation reaching Sinnar and North Africa. He was, Shaykh Abdullay al-Barnawi, or Abdullay b. And el-Djelil. According to Bobboyi, he was a scion of the Sayfawa dynasty and the first Shaykh of the re-formed Kalumbardo town or settlement, also called Belbelec. While it is said that many mothers of Sayfawa rulers were women from the Koyam, and the Koyam reputation for Islamic scholarship was still respected in the 19th century since Shehu al-Kanemi had apparently studied with them, the exact origins of the Koyam's presence in the northwestern borderlands of the Borno state remain unclear. Indeed, Lovejoy's Salt of the Desert Sun suggests Kawar origins of the Koyam, perhaps a indicating the early Sayfawa dynasty's northern alliances with nomadic populations in medieval times through marriage alliances with women from their clans. This appears to be true, if the Koyam are indeed the same as the Kay mentioned in the Diwan and their links to Kawar and the salt trade suggest their economic importance in Borno. Nonetheless, in the traditions and sources cited by Maikorema Zakari, this Abdullah founded the second Kalumbardo with 40 Koyam during the reign of Ali b. Umar (a mai famous for his piety and support for Islamic scholarship). While the Koyam, a pastoralist sub-group of the Kanuri later split into the Kel Etti and other branches, in the 17th century, under Shaykh al-Barnawi, this particular Koyam community enjoyed great repute. Indeed, the first Shaykh, said to have been born in 1614, was associated with miracles, great learning, and even attempts at social reform with Tuareg and Tubu bandits in the area. This Kalumbardo shaykh was credited with converting many non-Muslims, marrying slave girls and then giving them (with his children by them) to Tuareg and Tubu, and promoting Islamic asceticism among his followers. 

But who was this Abdallah al-Barnawi? According to the Nashr al-Mathani, ultimately relying on the account of Kalumbardo given by Ahmad al-Yamani of Arbaji, al-Barnawi enjoyed mystical powers. He was man man said to have been light in color, tall, possessing middle build and had large eyes. He took a vow of poverty and members of his community often pursued separate areas for retreat, or khalwa. They regrouped for communal prayers and chanting. Shaykh al-Barnawi also appeared to have been a fervent believer in the ability of people to change and respect for life. After all, the same North African sources, Nash al-Mathani includes a brief anecdote of al-Barnawi's anger when a disciple prayed for God to destroy the Tuareg. In addition to his embrace of prayer and medication, al-Barnawi also possessed a thorough knowledge of the Koran, grammar, theology, and other texts. He was said to have read the Alfiya of Ibn Malik on grammar and may have even studied in modern-day Sudan with Dafa 'Allah of Arbaji. If true, this may explain one of the reasons al-Yamani of Arbaji traveled to Kalumbardo in 1671, because its leader had been known in the Funj Sultanate. If so, this suggests far-reaching networks of Islamic scholarship, Sufist practices, and mutual influences between Borno and the Funj Sultanate. Perhaps the Islamization of Wadai and Darfur in the 17th century facilitated this process, as a trade and pilgrimage route that traversed Sudanic Africa was likely of growing importance in this era. In fact, Nashr al-Mathani also mentioned al-Yamani's travels to Air, where he studied under Ahmad al-Targui al-Lamtouni. Similarly, Norris's Sufi Mystics of the Niger Desert also claimed al-Barnawi had studied in or near Agadez with Uwayis, just as Lavers argued that the Tuareg Ahmad as-Sadiq b. Ab. Muhammad Uways had traveled to Arbaji. These far-flung networks connected Borno's Kalumbardo with Air, the Sinnar Sultanate, and North Africa. In this light, it is perhaps of interest that the ascetic practices described by Sufis in Air, the Sinnar Sultanate, and Borno would be interesting to compare, particularly with regards to the khalwa, wird, the role of music, group meditation, fasting, the presence of spirits and beliefs about the sanctity of animal lives.

What was the fate of the second Kalumbardo community? It's shaykh, Abdullah al-Barnawi, was killed by the Tuareg in an attack that occurred in 1677 or 1678. However, before the demise of its leader, the community received support from the mai of Borno. According to Lavers, a qadi named Abu Bakr went to Ali b. Umar, claiming the Kalumfardo leader was plotting a revolt. The shaykh was called to Birni Gazargamo, impressed the mai and then received support as the mai sent artisans to erect brick buildings in his settlement. This must have been part of the town's rise as it received exemption from taxes (which was likely recognized in writing via a mahram, recognizing the community's tax-exempt status) and attracted students, farmers, hunters, traders, and others. If the traditions collected in the Tilho Mission are reliable, Belbelec developed into a town of great extent. Unfortunately, its good fortunes were not to last. Famines and Tuareg attacks culminated in one raid by the Immikitan Tuareg that resulted in the death of the shaykh. Nonetheless, the town would relocate and prosper in Gaskeru, after al-Barnawi's son, Umar, led the community to as far away as Nupe. It was during this era of dispersal after 1678 that one person from the community, remembered as Mallam in the traditions, chose to settle in the area of Zinder or Damagaram and became its first sultan.  

The dispersed Kalumbardo community, led by Umar, eventually returned to Borno, staying at the capital until the mai (a son of Ali b. Umar?) granted Umar's community tax exempted status at Gaskeru. At Gaskeru, the mai allegedly sent 1000 workers for the construction of a mosque and Gaskeru. And, according to the traditions collected for the Tilho Mission, Shaykh Umar reigned with justice, not oppressing the population. In this regiard, one can see shaykh Umar's power as, per Lavers, a theocratic state within Borno that attracted residents through its just ruler and, perhaps, tax-exempt status. Successive shaykhs of the Koyam at Gaskeru began to claim a more political role, appointing disciples as chiefs or imams of areas under their control. The same aforementioned traditions claim the area controlled by the Koyam shaykhs even had 1000 villages under its control. This suggests that the community at Gaskeru became akin to some of the so-called fiefdoms discussed in the works of Muhammad Nur Al-Kali and Ronald Cohen on Borno land tenure and administration. Bakr, or Beker in the French Tilho Mission rendering, a son of Shaykh Mustapha, is remembered as having more loyal supporters than Mai Ali b. al-Hajj Dunama of Borno, whose soldiers abandoned him and let him become wounded in the 1781 invasion of Mandara. Unlike the mai, the Koyam shaykh, who did not personally arm and supply his 1000 followers, was said to have been complimented by the Sayfawa sultan for his devoted followers.

The latter days of Sayfawa rule did lead to troubled times for the Koyam shaykhs, however. Abdullah, the brother of Bakr, faced the Tuareg of Kutus and the Air Tuareg. With the help of the kaigama, Ali, they were able to push the Tuareg back but their forces were massacred when they pushed into Tuareg territory. Then, under Shaykh Ahmadu, the son of Bakr, Gaskeru was attacked and destroyed by the Tuareg. Ahmadu then led the community to Birni Gazargamo, to the Sandaram quarter. Under Shaykh Ibrahim b. Abdullah, they refused to return to Gaskeru and were settled at Zigaba. Another dispersal took place after Goni Mokhar attacked Gazargamo, leading to the flight of the Koyam and Mohammad Aitami becoming the shaykh. Later, after al-Kanemi became the effective ruler of Borno, he acknowledged Muhammad Aitami's tax-free status. This shaykh eventually died in 1835, after which another split among the Koyams and then another reunion under Shaykh Yamiama at Biskour.

While the 2 centuries of so of history of the Koyam is sadly not as documented as the period under its first shaykh, the traditions and other historical references do provide a fascinating overview of a Borno Islamic community linked to Islamic asceticism. By the end of the precolonial era, only a small subset of the Koyam population preserved the ascetic practices of chanting, spiritual retreats and fasting. Nonetheless, its survival over the centuries and its link to other parts of Africa attest to its importance. Not solely as a center for Borno Sufis and as a group who helped protect Borno's northern borders from Tuareg incursions, but as a group which influenced important figures in the annals of Borno's political history, like al-Kanemi, but also contributed to the rise of Wadai and Damagaram. Lastly, the first shaykh, with links to North Africa, Air, and Funj Sultanate, was esteemed enough to be widely venerated across much of Islamic Africa. One only wishes that al-Barnawi or one of his followers had written a text, like the Qudwa, that could tell us in more detail the practices and ideas of such a prominent figure in Borno's history. For instance, was al-Barnawi's community also believed in the presence of spirits in their prayer circles or gatherings? To what extent was al-Baghdadi's movement a model or influence? And were Sufi practices and fuqara villages in the Funj Sultanate, observed by Krump, perhaps similar spaces with some degree of overlap in belief and practice with Kalumbardo and Gaskeru?

Bibliography

Bobboyi, Hamidu. 1992. The ’Ulama of Borno : A Study of the Relations between Scholars and State under the Sayfawa, 1470-1808. Dissertation.

Brenner, Louis. The Shehus of Kukawa: A History of the Al-Kanemi Dynasty of Bornu. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1973.

Dewière, Rémi. Du Lac Tchad à La Mecque: Le Sultanat Du Borno Et Son Monde (XVIe - XVIIe Siècle). Paris: Publications de la Sorbonne, 2017.

Hassan, Yūsuf Fadl, and Paul Doornbos (editors). 1979. The Central Bilād Al-Sūdān : Tradition and Adaptation : Essays on the Geography and Economic and Political History of the Sudanic Belt : Proceedings of the Third International Conference of the Institute of African and Asian Studies, University of Khartoum, Held from 8 to 13 November 1977. Khartoum: The Institute.

Lange, Dierk. Le Dīwān Des Sultans Du (Kānem-)Bornū: Chronologie Et Histoire D'un Royaume Africain (de La Fin Du Xe Siècle Jusqu'à 1808). Wiesbaden: F. Steiner, 1977.

Lovejoy, Paul E. Salt of the Desert Sun: A History of Salt Production and Trade in the Central Sudan. Cambridge [Cambridgeshire] ; New York: Cambridge University Press, 1986.

Mission Tilho. Documents Scientifiques De La Mission Tilho. Paris: Imprimerie Nationale, 1910.

Norris, H. T. 1990. Ṣūfī Mystics of the Niger Desert : Sīdī Maḥmūd and the Hermits of Aïr. Oxford England: Clarendon Press.

Usman, Yusufu Bala, and Nur Alkali (editors). 1983. Studies in the History of Pre-Colonial Borno. Zaria: Northern Nigerian Pub. Co.

Vikør, Knut S.The Oasis of Salt: The History of Kawar, a Saharan Centre of Salt Production. Bergen, Norway: Centre for Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, 1999.

Yusuf, Salahudeen, and Muḥammad Bello. 2013. A History of Islam, Scholarship and Revivalism in Western Sudan, Being an Annotated Translation with Introduction of Infaqul-Maisur Fi Tarikh Bilad al-Tukur of Sultan Muhammad Bello Bin Fodio  / Salahudeen Yusuf. Zaria, Nigeria: Tamaza.

Zakari, Maïkorema. Contribution à L'histoire Des Populations De Sud-Est Nigérien: Le Cas Du Mangari (XVIe-XIXe S.). Niamey: Institut de recherches en sciences humaines, 1985.

Sudanese Sufi Music

Beautiful music from Sudan.

The Sudanese Travels of Theodor Krump

Spaulding's translation of Krump's journal, or at least the sections relevant to Sudan, translated as The Sudanese Travels of Theodoro Krump, is a short but important source on the Funj Sultanate at the beginning of the 18th century. Traveling as part of a mission to Ethiopia, some of the Jesuits and Franciscans who joined a caravan from Egypt to the south became trapped in Sinnar due to illness or, like Krump, served as a physician to the sultan of Sinnar. Although less detailed than one would like on the intricacies of the sultanate and its capital city, Krump's narrative provides the reader with a sense of the kingdom's economic purpose. Indeed, despite the frequent threat of Arab bandits and rebels against the sultanate attacking caravans traveling from Egypt, Krump considered Sinnar to be a wealthy city and one of the major trading emporiums of Africa. Goods and people arrived from Egypt, across the Red Sea, India, Ethiopia, Fezzan, and Borno, and Krump's time in the capital led him to meet Greeks, Portuguese, Turks, Abyssinians, Copts, and others in the cosmopolitan capital. This is impressive, considering what Krump saw as the insecure trade routes and the, to put it lightly, challenging or disloyal behavior of some of the vassal rulers to the Funj. 

Krump's narrative also provides the reader with a sense of the political and social conditions in the Sinnar Sultanate. For instance, Christianity, though no longer practiced, could be seen with the ruins of a monastery and churches. At one site, locals informed Krump that the population practiced Christianity as recently as 100 years ago, which is perhaps inaccurate if Christianity disappeared earlier in the 1500s. In addition, the fact that much of the population wore little clothing and already elites and vassal rulers relied on slave soldiers suggests the Sinnar Sultanate was a society in which, perhaps, adherence to Islam among the general population was not strict and it was easier for rulers to trust slaves. However, Krump did witness at least two villages of fuqara, villages or towns in which a Muslim scholar or holyman received immunity from the state. This has been proven by the land grants or charters issued by the Funj, yet one wishes Krump told us more about how these functioned. Of course, as a Catholic missionary who saw Islam as a false religion, he naturally was not interested in reporting on every detail of the Islamic society he was visiting. Nonetheless, his description of a jellab killing his sister for living an immodest life and what appears to have been a Sufi practice of chanting and prayer, particularly population with members of the caravan from Borno and the Fezzan, suggests Sufist practices were already widespread. Those from Borno and the Fezzan, however, were described as using a round bow covered with a skin under strong tension, which was then used to produce various tones of loud sounds. These are accompanied with singing and jumping in what was likely a Sufi or mystical Islamic practice? A look at the Sufist practices in Borno, the Fezzan, and Sinnar might lead one to see an early instance of Sufist practices connecting the the regions, particularly as we know that in the 17th century a native of the Funj Sultanate traveled to Borno's Sufist community at Kalumbardo.

Unfortunately, Krump is less useful for the particularities of Sinnar's relations with other Sudanic kingdoms. Ethiopia, whose conquest of Fazughli was only achieved about 15 years previously, plus frequent trade and communication between Sinnar and Gondar, made it the most frequently mentioned African kingdom in communication with Sinnar. However, the allusion to people from Borno and the Fezzan in Krump's caravan suggests that connections to lands to the west were also relevant. While the particular Fezzani and Bornoan travelers met by Krump may have come to the Sudan from Egypt, other sources suggest a route from the west, one that must have traversed Waday and Darfur, was already in use. Sadly, Krump's account tells us little about those western connections, which must have been of gradually increasing importance due to the establishment of Muslim sultanates in Darfur and Waday.

Rawdat’l-Afkaar

Although its brevity diminishes its use, Dan Tafa's Rawdat’l-Afkaar is a fascinating local source on the history of Hausaland and the Central Sudan. Presumably drawing on oral traditions and other written sources, Shaykh Dan Tafa's brief account outlines the history of the "Sudan" and in particular, the Hausa states. Gobir's history in particular is quite important given that Shaykh Uthman dan Fodio lived in Gobir before the jihad that led to the establishment of the Sokoto Caliphate. What is particularly interesting for our purposes, however, are the references to Borno and earlier epochs in the history of the Hausa states of the area. 

First, Borno. According to Shaykh Dan Tafa, Borno once dominated all or most of Hausaland. And, according to him, it was Gobir which first refused to pay tribute to Borno. However, Borno was never able to, according to Dan Tafa, conquer Air or Ahir. However, he does corroborate the role of Borno in coming to the aid of Ahir against the Kanta of Kebbi in the 1500s. Indeed, a brief account of mai Ali's battles with the Kanta of Kebbi can be found in Dan Tafa's chronicle. One also finds the familiar tradition of a man appointed to rule Hausaland by the ruler of Borno in the distant past, although one wonders if the translator's choice of the term "political captive" is accurate. Using that terminology might lead one to suspect slaves were appointed to administer subject provinces due to the greater expectation of loyalty, yet the actual conditions and type of provincial rulers or leaders could have been different when speaking of early Borno expansion into Hausaland. Indeed, even the question of tribute and what it actually entailed brings to mind one Nigerian's scholar's important point about reconsidering the relations between Hausaland and Borno as one of empire or Bornoan or Kanuri imperialism. Indeed, when Dan Tafa explains how an increasingly powerful Gobir demanded tribute from other Hausa states, it is also stated that Gobir sent fine gifts of horses as well. So, the gifts or tribute given to Gobir were reciprocated and it is not clear to what extent Gobir exerted any real control of tributary states. One can assume that a similar relationship existed when the Hausa states sent tribute to Borno through Daura. In fact, Heinrich Barth's description of Katsina's relationship with Borno seems to confirm this.

Unsurprisingly, however, the bulk of the short work is most useful for the history of Gobir and Hausaland. While its chronology is not always clear or perhaps is unreliable, it does offer some tentative and clear chronologies for certain events in the history of the region. First of all, Amina of Zaria or Zakzak is said to have raided as far southwest as the Atlantic Ocean. While this is perhaps exaggeration, one wonders if, when using the dates suggested by the Kano Chronicle, one can perhaps detect Zaria raiding and trading as far south as Yorubaland in the 1400s. Where the chronology seems more than a little unreliable, or perhaps earlier Gobir rulers were forgotten, is Dan Tafa's allusion to an alliance of Agabba of Ahir, Muhammad ibn Chiroma of Gobir and the ruler of Zamfara against Kebbi. If accurate, this would suggest a date in the late 1600s or during the reign of Muhammad Agabba of Air (who also established the sultanate of Adar through his line). However, Dan Tafa's chronicle claims Muhammad ibn Chiroma was the son of the first ruler of Gobir after their expulsion from Air, an event which must have occurred centuries earlier than the late 1600s and early 1700s. Thus, Chiroma was either the first "Gobir" king or the earlier rulers before they firmly established themselves as the kings of Gobir were forgotten or not recalled by Dan Tafa's sources. 

Despite the omission of Gobir's political history before the late 17th century and early 18th, Dan Tafa's account gives the reader an idea of Gobir's political power in Hausaland and in relation to its neighbors. Indeed, they were so bold as to attack the outskirts of Borno and Bawa, who ruled in the late 1700s, refused to send or pay tribute to Borno. One also finds interesting allusions to the power of Kebbi in the 1500s, particularly when its ruler established a capital at Surami that received water brought by the Tuareg who were forced to do so. Although Kebbi's power lasted for only about a century, one benefits from learning a few more details about this powerful Hausa state. Sadly, Kwararafa is only mentioned briefly and one is left in the dark about this southern power.

Timbuktu and the Arma

Michel Abitbol's Tombouctou et les arma is an important work on the history of the Pashalik of the Arma. Most people often ignore the 2 centuries or so of political and social history of Timbuktu and the Niger Bend after the fall of Songhay. Abitbol's work shows just how important that later, post-Songhay period was in terms of the Pashalik's political, social, economic, and regional importance. Indeed, the Pashalik persisted for so long partly because Timbuktu continued to be a major center for commerce and bridge between the Maghrib and the Sudan, long after the decline of al-Mansur's dynasty and the end of the Askias of Gao. However, even the Askias survived in a fashion, since a branch of them became close allies with the Arma regime. And while the authority of the Pashalik was later limited to Timbuktu, Djenne, Gao and other areas of the Niger Bend, and often became reduced to a ceremonial power of investiture for Tuareg chiefs who could sometimes attack or pillage the area with impunity, the Pashas continued to be the recognized authority of Timbuktu and a major power until the rise of Macina. Intriguingly, Abitbol believed the Arma, who became acclimatized and, later on, developing dominant families who dominated the position of pasha, despite the usually short tenures, were not a class per se. Instead, they were a leadership elite of essentially military origin and function. However, their alliance with the sharifs, ulama, merchants, Askias, and ownership of large numbers of slaves (who sometimes worked the land they owned) and dependents or haratins suggest something on the nature of a class society. The rather large corpus of sources used by Abitbol also suggests Timbuktu's importance in trans-Saharan trade retained its significance, too, surpassing in overall value the exports of other areas of the Sudan to North Africa. Clearly, there was a basis for great wealth accumulation and, in one case, a Pasha who even endeavored to emulate the great emperors of Mali and Songhay, possibly with the intention of recreating their grandeur for the Pashalik.

Cissoko, Timbuktu, and the Songhay Empire

Sékéné Mody Cissoko's Tombouctou et l'empire Songhay is a fascinating yet problematic work. Originally published in the 1970s, and by an author who accepted the theories of Cheikh Anta Diop and believed in the need of connecting postcolonial African nation-states to their precolonial past, the Songhay Empire is presented as the apogee of Western Sudanese civilization. We are led to believe or accept a number of premises, including that the Songhay state was a modernizing one and that the pyramidal character of buildings and mosque construction in the region may be a reflection of connections with Ancient Egypt. Cissoko also asserts that the level of learning at Timbuktu was comparable to a university, despite his acknowledgement that the city lacked the madrasas characteristic of Egypt or the Maghreb and the decentralized nature of instruction which emphasized Islamic religious education or law. In addition, Timbuktu, as the intellectual and economic capital of the vast Sudanese empire, characterized the Islamic influence that was largely marginal or absent in the South and east of the Empire. Indeed, Cissoko's work reflects this dichotomous view of Songhay civilization as one torn between the "high" Islamic culture and literacy of the towns and western provinces versus the found of traditional beliefs and religions in areas like Dendi. In fact, Sonni Ali's infamous relations with the ulama of Timbuktu is presented as an example of anticlericalism while the Sonni were and are associated with magic or sorcery in the "traditional" Songhay culture. 

Despite it's flaws, perhaps Cissoko's synthesis is worthwhile as a testament to the methodology and value postcolonial African historians practiced with regard to the Western Sudan. Cissoko clearly sought to balance the usual written sources with oral traditions and ethnographic work based on his own work and that of scholars like Jean Rouch and Boubou Hama. While it was not especially successful in Cissoko's case, and perhaps he overstates the "clash" between "animist" traditional religion and Islam, Cissoko's study raises a number of relevant historical questions and contemporary dilemmas. For instance, is it true that the Songhay Empire, at its zenith under the Askias, created a modern state in which the rulership was independent and dissociated from the individual with a greater degree of political centralization? The evidence utilized by our author, mainly restricted to the Tarikhs, al-Maghili's responses to Askia Muhammad and Leo Africanus, do not suffice to adequately answer this question. Furthermore, if the masses of the population of Songhay were slaves, why was it not a slave society? Surely the lack of sufficient documentation makes the demographic analysis of Cissoko questionable, particularly in his high estimates for Timbuktu's population. 

Furthermore, one could ask if it is a fair portrayal of the bourgeoisie marchande in Cissoko's analysis? Was it true that they did not invest their profits locally into things like land, new enterprises, or industries that could have revolutionized the economy? If 16th century Songhay truly enjoyed such a prolonged period of commercial success and growth, is it fair to make Cissoko's generalization given our paucity of sources? One can see how Cissoko thought addressing that question would be rather relevant to 20th century postcolonial Malian or African readers of his work. As their postcolonial states sought economic growth or development with different models, perhaps Cissoko's critique of the alleged wastefulness of the Askias and Songhay elites had more to do with the modern political and economic elites in Mali. That said, Cissoko's study does offer a (dated) comprehensive overview of the Songhay Empire that raises a number of interesting questions. We shall endeavor to explore some of those questions with Michał Tymowski.

Deciphering Meroitic

Enjoying this lecture by Claude Rilly on the Meroitic language. While we don't agree with all of his theories and conclusions, we certainly hope scholars are on track to finally understand this ancient African language.