The Tarikh Ibn al-Mukhtar and Tarikh al-Fattash

Reading Nobili, Wright and Diakite's study and translation of the reconstituted Tarikh Ibn al-Mukhtar and Tarikh al-Fattash has been an enlightening experience. With the useful introductory essays elucidating the origins and function of the texts, particularly the more famous Tarikh al-Fattash  as a forgery tied to the promotion of a 19th century ruler, Ahmad Lobbo, The Chronicles of Two West African Kingdoms: The Tārīkh Ibn Al-Mukhtār of the Songhay Empire and the Tārīkh Al-Fattāsh of the Caliphate of Ḥamdallāhi is an essential read. Much of this builds on Nobili's earlier work as well as the scholarship on the Tarikh al-Fattash since the days of Delafosse and Houdas. Needless to say, a new English translation, which clearly distinguishes the 17th century chronicle (Tarikh Ibn al-Mukhtar) from the 19th century text which interpolates, fabricates, and deviates from its source material, has been necessary for quite some time. The careful footnotes in the English translation are especially useful for noting ambiguity on the meaning of Songhay titles or places, as well as difficult passages from the Arabic texts of the manuscripts used for the translation. 

Unsurprisingly, Houdas and Delafosse made a number of mistakes in their famous French translation of the text. Since we read the French translation in 2021, our recollection of the specifics of the text was a bit hazy. Nonetheless, a number of inconsistencies and the problematic presentation of the text by Houdas and Delafosse made use of the chronicle an arduous task. With the new English translation, readers now have access to a superior translation benefitting from the last century of scholarship on Songhay and related languages, cultures, and manuscripts. Although the overall sense of the chronicles was there in the outdated French translation, this version is much easier and safer to consult for the various reigns of the Askiya dynasty rulers. Unlike the Tarikh al-Fattash, which is politically motivated by its author's desire to elevate Ahmad Lobbo as the next caliph of Takrur, the 17th century chronicle was closer in time to the events it described. Its author was similarly able to access informants from the puppet Askiya court or scholars and texts with a rich body of references and stories of the Songhay kings.

The acknowledgement of unknown or debatable terms and titles used in the text demonstrate that a lot remains unclear, but we now have a superior version of two major chronicles. This facilitates checking the sources for the Tarikh Ibn al-Mukhtar in terms of who this 17th century writer consulted for his information on Songhay history. As the introductory essays argue, the original 17th century text clearly emphasized the role of scholars or the ulama, with the best of the askiyas being those who submitted to the guidance and recommendations of scholars and patronized them. In this regard, Askiya Muhammad and Askiya Dawud were clearly the best of the dynasty. With their respect and support for scholars and promotion of Islam, these two represented the ideal rulers among an unstable dynasty sadly lacking in "good" kings. Numerous examples are given of their generosity, veneration of scholars, humbling of themselves to listen to the advice of the learned, and their support for descendants of the Prophet or the freeing of slaves (particularly evident here in the case of Dawud). Yet, in spite of the frequent revolts or contested succession among the descendants of Askiya Muhammad, the shock of the Moroccan conquest, initial violence, and unjust expropriations triggered unrest among even the notables and scholars of Timbuktu. 

The comparison is perhaps forced, but we cannot help but think of indigenous Andean chroniclers after the Spanish conquest of Peru. After all, some of them, such as Guaman Poma de Ayala, acknowledged the flaws in pre-Hispanic Inca rule whilst also critiquing the colonial system. In the case of the Tarikh Ibn al-Mukhtar and Tarikh al-Sudan, the authors were also occupying a similar space in terms of being art of the local elites adjusting to the changed political order under an occupying force. Of course, the Songhay towns and cities like Timbuktu followed the same religion as their Moroccan conquerors, yet they too seemed eager to project a certain narrative of the pre-Arma governmental structure which the Songhay rulers, at their best, succeeded in promoting. One wonders if, like the Andean chroniclers, a similar motivation was also at work. Certainly, Guaman Poma de Ayala was interested in challenging the corruption and vices of the colonial system while highlighting some of the superior features of government and society under the Incas. Of course, the Inca Empire as a sprawling, vast empire only lasted for about a century, like the Songhay. Both imperial systems were able to extend their influence across an enormous part of their respective regions before intra-dynastic conflicts weakened them on the eve of foreign invasion. These similarities perhaps superficial, but the parallels are inescapable from our readings of chronicles on the Incas. 

Le Baghirmi

In what may be a doomed long-term project, we have rekindled our interest in Bagirmi history. Sadly, the history of this kingdom, particularly before the 19th century, has not attracted as much attention. Naturally, much of this is due to the paucity of written sources. Nonetheless, Bagirmi oral traditions, royal genealogies, and occasional references to the kingdom from Borno, Wadai, or other sources can be used to reconstruct something of its pre-19th century past. Indeed, one suspects an unpublished dissertation by a Chadian author may have endeavored to do justice to this challenging topic of a comprehensive history of Bagirmi. However, its inaccessibility has led us to re-read various public domain sources on Bagirmi. Included in this category is Devallée's "Le Baghirmi" in Bulletin de la Société des Recherches Congolaises. 

Usually, writers just recycle Nachtigal's chronology or narrative whilst occasionally attempting to correlate it with the colonial-era reports or postcolonial texts on Bagirmi. Some focus on the 19th century, where more written sources and first-hand accounts can be found. Barth, Nachtigal and the colonial-era sources are often useful or detailed in their description of the kingdom and some of the political history. They also have severe limitations, too. For instance, some seem to emphasize the despotic, arbitrary, and cruel nature of many, perhaps most, Bagirmi rulers. Excessive taxation, frequent slave raiding, the buying and selling of offices, or the frequent blinding of rivals upon accession to the throne were frequently used as examples of this. Devallée and Lanier did this to a great extent. But the former was more indebted to Nachtigal in terms of his chronology and basic historical overview of the kingdom. In fact, he appears to have largely recycled Nachtigal's information with a few updates to bring it to the colonial era. 

Yet one must be at least occasionally skeptical of the largely negative portrayal of Bagirmi's precolonial rulers since events in the 19th century clearly placed a lot of pressure on the state. It's former glory was diminished after their defeat by Wadai's Sabun. The conditions of the 19th century may have led to more extreme forms of taxation abuses or unjust, arbitrary, and despotic rule. While these were undoubtedly present to varying degrees before the 1800s, the volatile last century must have placed more pressure on the mbangs. This may have led to an increase in the sale of state offices and certain honors and titles, including some regarding privileges for those who purchased the rights with regard to meetings with the king. In other words, the cash-strapped kingdom which found itself stuck between a powerful Wadai and a still influential Borno, may have become more oppressive and corrupt. 

In spite of our aforementioned issues with Devallée and Lanier, the former's "Le Baghirmi" is a good overview of the kingdom as a European understood it in the 1920s. Breaking down the demographics, political divisions into cantons, revenue system (and how it changed under colonial rule), practices of slavery, administrative structure, historical overview, and physical features of the land, Bagirmi as a unit of analysis becomes easier to contextualize within the larger Central Sudan. It's history as a kingdom once far more powerful or influential before Wadai's ascendancy in the 19th century is an intriguing case study for the Lake Chad Basin. As far as the colonial reports and publications on Bagirmi go, this is more comprehensive than Lanier's effort and, due to its reliance on Nachtigal, a bit easier to reconcile with other sources. 

Amina Sarauniya Zazzau

 

Unfortunately, the 1954 pamphlet, Amina Sarauniyar Zazzau, turned out to be just a pamphlet containing a compilation of stories on Amina of Zazzau (Zaria). The Hausa text is very short and the anonymous author did not name most of his sources. Besides Muhammad Bello and what may be an oblique reference to the Kano Chronicle, the author appears to have largely borrowed from the Zaria king lists and a mix of oral traditions and legends about Amina. Without ever justifying it, the writer prefers to date Amina of Zaria's reign to 1576, a chronology that, to our understanding, is hard to reconcile with the rest of this part of West Africa in the final 3 decades of the 1500s. Nonetheless, there are some interesting materials in this heterogeneous mixture of unlikely legend and historical interests. 

For example, the text not only repeatedly refers to Bakwa as a woman, it also mentions a favorite wife of Amina's grandfather. This woman, Marka, was supposedly very involved in the upbringing of Amina. Like Abubakar's articles on Amina, which cite this source among others, there's also an emphasis on the experiences of young Amina observing the royal court of her grandfather, Nohir. Whether or not one accepts the dates assigned to these figures here is grave concern, but already tradition suggests something about Amina's upbringing. In addition, when describing Amina's refusals to marry after becoming the magajiya at age 16 during the reign of Bakwa, there's a reference to a Kano king, Kama-Masu, rejected as a suitor. This Kano figure cannot be easily identified with any of the known kings, but the name may allude to masu, or spears. After refusing his excessive marriage proposal, Kano is quite marginal to the narrative. Nonetheless, the episode may reflect a moment when Zaria's expansion raised concerns among other Hausa kingdoms. It could also be a traditional story retelling the past where Zaria and Kano allegedly went to war around the time of Amina (according to the Kano Chronicle). If so, perhaps the desire by Kano's king to marry Amina was actually an attempt to make peace?

But what is more interesting about this compilation is the story of Amina meeting Bornoan troops at Gadas. Ostensibly sent by the ruler of "Kukawa" (an anachronism) to ask her to marry the mai, she again refuses. But according to tradition, Amina heard about the Bornoan troops whilst inspecting the Benue. Upon her return from Gadaz, she even returned to Kwararafa, suggesting this area was part of her domains or was about to be attacked. If one accepts an earlier date placing Amina of Zaria in the 1400s, perhaps the Bornoan ruler's interest in a marriage alliance was actually about weakening Kwararafa through an alliance. Again, we are assuming here that the story of powerful rulers courting her was perhaps popular stories transforming some of the details. Either way, in the case of Borno, no military conflict ensured from the Gadas encounter. Instead, one can glimpse Kwararafa playing a role in her military endeavors before her death. Yet her death in Attagara, perhaps Idah on the Niger, would suggest she had moved west by the end of her reign either on some campaign or to inspect the region.

Ultimately, Amina Sarauniyar Zazzau will not convince us to change our thinking about Zaria chronology. However, it does bring up some interesting details about her background, mode of governing (not trusting envoys or courtiers, so constantly on the move to directly investigate affairs) and how tradition remembered her relations with Borno and Kano. That the Kano Chronicle did not report the outcome of their conflict with Zaria around the time the text places Amina, may be interpreted as proof of a Zaria success. With Borno, on the other hand, the ruler of Borno's desire to marry Amina may be legendary to inflate her power and status within the Central Sudan. On the other hand, its context around the time the Benue and Kwararafa were areas of concern to Amina of Zaria may have been the real reason for Borno's interest in Zaria. Indeed, if one accepts the tradition of Ali b. Dunama of Borno defeating the Kwararafa sometime in the second half of the 1400s, perhaps Zaria was seen as a potential ally in holding back Kwararafa. 

Kwararafa From The North: A Tentative Timeline

Kasashen Bauchi in Mahdi Adamu's The Hausa Factor in West African History

Whilst revisiting our notes on different aspects of the history of the Jukun, Hausa and Borno states, we realize why so little has been done on the history of this area since the 1970s and 1980s. Although we find many problems with what we have read of J.B. Webster's inaccessible work on Kwararafa, which relied heavily on oral traditions, we also can acknowledge the tremendous difficulties of working on the precolonial history of this region. With contradictory and problematic sources and a reliance on external sources often written from far away (Europeans in North Africa) or materials written down in the 1800s or 1900s from their northern neighbors, we have not been able to offer anything to supersede Webster's work. 

Nonetheless, we feel that his attempt to identify early Kwararafa with Santolo is very questionable. Even if one accepts Abakwariga traditions claiming Kwararafa was founded or associated with them, the Kano Chronicle did not identify Santolo as the origin of the Kwararafa attacked by Yaji in the 14th century. Indeed, if Yaji attacked and conquered Santolo, forcing its rulers to flee to Kwararafa's capital at Tagara, it is strange that the Kano Chronicle did not connect the two when Yaji began his military campaigns to the south of Santolo (which was the "gate to the South" and besieged Kwararafa. Ultimately, the matter is probably unsolvable given the multiethnic character of the Kwararafa state or confederacy. At different times, it may have consisted of Jukun, Kwona, Abakwariga, and others. But it seems quite clear to the author of the Kano Chronicle, who must have been drawing from oral traditions, that Santolo and Kwararafa were separate entities. 

The Jukun king in Meek's A Sudanese Kingdom: An Ethnographical Study of the Jukun-speaking Peoples of Nigeria

So, deciding to ignore the earlier references in the Kano Chronicle to Santolo, we focused our tentative chronology on dates that are partly reliable for the Hausa states and Borno. Those dates and the few European texts from the 1600s and early 1700s provide a very preliminary timeline for the Kwararafa state from c. 1300-1707. The inclusion of traditions about 13th century engagements with the Kona or Kwana in Borno are drawn from H.R. Palmer's work, and must be treated with caution. Yet possible affirmation of a Kwana or Kona presence in parts of Borno in the 1200s and 1300s can be found in Gujba traditions. One can also thank al-Maqrizi for recording the year (1252/53) of an alleged raid on Mabna by the king of Kanem. If Mabna was possibly referring to Mabina or Mabani, this area would have been close to Gujeba and lands possibly settled by Kona or Kwana in the 13th and 14th centuries.

After this shadowy early period, we draw mainly from the Kano Chronicle, dates from Lange's chronology using the Diwan and other sources on Kanem-Borno, and a range of dates or regnal lengths for Katsina, Zaria, and Kano. For the 15th century, one may be on firmer ground for the history of Katsina and Kwararafa conflict by using Yusufu Bala Usman's chronology. By doing so, placing Korau's reign in the middle of the 1400s, one brings the event closer in time to the tradition of Kwona or Kwararafa war with Borno in the time of Ali b. Dunama (c. 1465-1497). This would mean Kwararafa was engaged in war against at least one Hausa state and Borno in the 1400s. Evidence of its past domination of Zaria can be inferred for earlier in the 1400s if one accepts that Amina of Zaria reigned in the first half of the 15th century. Since her father was remembered for liberating Zaria from Kwararafa, one may be justified in suggesting an earlier period of Kwararafa suzerainty of Zaria in the early 1400s. However, the Kano Chronicle indicates a Kano victory against Zaria during the reign of Kanajeji (c. 1390-1410). Meanwhile, during his reign, he also received "tribute" from Kwararafa and a trade in horses for slaves ensued. If Zaria traditions are reliable for a period of Kwararafa rule that was ended by Amina's father, Bakwa, then one wonders if Kwararafa used horses imported from Kano to conquer parts of Zaria after c. 1410. Subsequently, Bakwa Turunku later defeated Kwararafa and his daughter allegedly conquered Kwararafa. Yet this may have been a brief period of Zaria domination of Kwararafa if Amina died at Tagara (was this in a war or raid?). 

For the remainder of the 1400s, nearly everyone apparently draws from Palmer. The enigmatic reference to a war between Borno and Kwararafa in which the latter was crushed has not surfaced in other sources. But it suggests that, at first, normal diplomatic relations existed between Kwararafa and Borno (the former had sent messengers with a gift for the mai. Upon their return, they reported on the city's walls and Kwararafa's ruler (the Kwana sultan) attacked. They were later defeated and in the process of victory, Ali b. Dunama allegedly took 17,000 captives. If one uses Lange's chronology, this would have taken place sometime between c. 1465-1497. It may have led to the shift in Kwararafa's capital further south to the Benue, too. 

For the 16th century, we have fewer dates. Idris b. Ali, the son of Ali b. Dunama, is said to have died at Walama in c. 1519. This region, the Bima hill, woul have been in an area associated with Kwararafa. There is also an enigmatic tradition from Pindiga recorded in colonial-era sources. According to their Pindiga informants, this state once attacked Kano for refusing to send tribute in the days of Rumpa (Rumfa?). We have never seen evidence of any war between Kano and Pindiga or Kwararafa in the days of Muhammad Rumfa, so Pindiga tradition may be a reference to the raid which took place in the time of Muhammad Zaki (c. 1582-1618). Lastly, over the course of the 16th century and into the early 17th, Kwararafa raiders on horseback may have been one of the reasons for Idoma migration (c. 1525-1625). 

Undoubtedly, the most detailed period for Kwararafa's relations with its northern neighbors can be found in the 17th and beginning of the 18th centuries. This period also, according to Adamu, witnessed migrations from the Hausa states to southern lands, perhaps triggered by climate change. With the Kano Chronicle, a poem by Dan Marina, and some of the reports or letters by Europeans based in Tripoli or Egypt, one can generate a fuller picture of Kwararafa aggression in the 1600s. Oral traditions from Katsina also remember this period, even mentioning an attack against Katsina during the reign of Muhammad Wari. The evidentiary basis for some of these raids or wars with Kwararafa are sometimes based on oral tradition or texts by Europeans who never saw Kwararafa and relied on rumor, hearsay, and conversations with sometimes biased persons (think of Fr. Carlo and the two Bornoan princes he interviewed in Cairo about Kwararafa in the early 1700s). 

Nevertheless, they do paint a larger picture of prolonged and active Kwararafa campaigns against Borno, Kano, and sometimes Katsina in the 17th century. The motives for such behavior may have been related to attempts to shift markets toward Kwararafa or its constituent partners, attempts to capitalize on the control of captives for local development and trade, or, if one trusts a European, based on religion. To what extent the last point is relevant cannot be ascertained, but Kwararafa appears to have been the strongest pagan state or polity faced by Borno in the 17th century. By engaging in attacks on Katsina, Kano as well as Borno, Kwararafa likely was motivated by each of the aforementioned factors. If the exploitation of salines on the Benue was already a factor, Kwararafa's rulers may have sought to shift markets in the Hausa states their salt exports. 

Furthermore, wars and raids on the Hausa states and Borno could bring in large numbers of captives, some of whom may have possessed skills in weaving or other technologies. Indeed, the Abakwariga or Hausa appear to have possessed an outsized influence in Kwararafa textile production whilst also working as blacksmiths, malams (to provide magical services), and possibly as experienced traders. In addition, captives could have been exported to other markets, with perhaps some exported further south toward the coast to participate in the trans-Atlantic trade. Lastly, religion may have been a factor with the Kwararafa ruler described as a "high priest" in one source from the early 1700s. If there was already a cult in place for Kenjo or Kinjo as a deified king and associated with war, perhaps Kwararafa's military exploits were sanctioned by their religious cults. Said cults may have been sufficient enough for a time to ensure the loyalty of Kwararafa's vassals, particularly if rich booty was acquired from Borno and Hausaland. 

Needless to say, what follows is by necessity tentative. Further research in the history of Kwararafa must incorporate work by archaeologists as well as specialists in Hausaland and Borno who can contextualize Kwararafa's history within the larger regional context. Naturally, specialists in central and southern Nigeria must be considered as well as researchers willing to consider different approaches to the Kano Chronicle and other chronicles from the north. 

-c. 1210-1248: Oral Traditions of soldiers sent to fight the Kwana pagans during the reign of Dunama Dibalemi but they wre too frightened after seeing the Kwana eat human flesh and dogs.[1]

-1252/3: Mabna, possibly Mabina or Mabani, was attacked by king of Kanem in 1252/3[2] and tradition has it that the Kona lived in the nearby Gujba area before the Ngalaga.[3]

-c. 1349-1385 Yaji of Kano (r. 1349-1385) besieged Kwararafa at Tagara for 7 months and received 100 slaves to end conflict (yet he died in Kwararafa).[4]

-c. 1390-1410: Kanajeji of Kano (r. 1390-1410) asked Kwararafa to pay tribute after they stopped sending it, and received 200 slaves. Then Kano began to trade horses to Kwararafa for slaves. Also, Kanajeji went to war on Zaria and returned to the Tchibiri cult to achieve victory.[5]

-Early 1400s: Zaria's Bakwa Turunku (father of Amina of Zaria) said to have freed Zaria from Kwararafa yoke (early 1400s likely.)[6]

-c. 1421-1438: Kwararafa said to have been conquered by Amina of Zaria, perhaps somewhere in c. 1421-1438.[7] Abba Jiddum Gana's dates Amina's conquest of Kwararafa to c. 1425.[8] Also worth nothing that Muhammad Bello recorded that she died at a place called Atagara.[9] 

-1450-1650: Earliest layer of occupation at Old Kororofa radiocarbon dated to 1450-1650.[10]

-mid 1400s: Korau of Katsina (dated to mid-1400s by Yusufu Bala Usman)[11] said to have gone to war with Kwararafa.[12]

-c. 1465-1497: Ali Gaji (Ali b. Dunama, r. 1465-1497) allegedly defeated Kwararafa (Kwana) and took 17,000 captives.[13]

-c. 1519: Death of Idris b. Ali of Borno at Walama.[14]

-c. 1535-1625: Idoma traditions of leaving their homeland due to raids by forces with cavalry.[15]

-1582-1618: Kwararafa attack on Kano during Reign of Muhammad Zaki (r. 1582-1618).[16]

-1600s-1700s: Talakawa migration from Hausa states to Kasashen Bauchi.[17]

-c. 1625-1637 (or c. 1631-1641): Kwararafa attack Katsina during the reign of Muhammadu Waari, but was defeated.[18]

-1652-1660: Kwararafa under Adashu attacked Kano during reign of Mohamma Kukuna.[19]

-After 1656: Girard wrote of Borno having intense wars with Agadez and "Ethiopia" (likely Kwararafa) after returning from the pilgrimage.[20] Evidence from Dan Marina's poem in honor of Ali b. Umar confirms war with Kwararafa during Ali b. Umar's reign.[21] Intriguingly, Dan Marina's poem seems to reflect a period of Kwararafa aggression against states besides Borno in the "Sudan." Jukun tradition also remembers a king named Adi Matswen going to war with Borno but the Gazeteer of Muri Province named the Kwararafa ruler who attacked Gazargamo as Katakpa.[22]

-1669: Girard, reported captives from the land of Prester John and their war with Borno.[23]

-1670-1703: Kwararafa attacked and occupied Kano city during reign of Dadi (r. 1670-1703).[24] Some sources assert this attack happened in 1671, but it is not clear where that date comes from. According to Alhaji Abubakar Dokaji, Kwarararafa forces killed Wali Mai Kargo.[25] Also worth mentioning that the "Song of Bagauda" attributes this invasion to the reign of Sharifa, Dadi's son.[26]

-1671-1684: Kwararafa attack on Katsina during the reign of Muhammad Jan Hazo, and stopped by the prayers of Dan Masani.[27]

-c. 1675-1700: Oral traditions suggest Malam Dikko and Malam Sambo were leaders of Abakwariga in Kwararafa during late 1600s.[28]

-1686: Claude Lemaire, French consul in Tripoli, reported many "Christian" subjects of Borno.[29]

-1698: Consul Delalande reported that there were black "Christians" from Kwararafa.[30]

-1703: Report of "village of Christians" not far from Borno capital.[31]

-1705: Fr. Damiano reported Kwararafa said to have fought Borno.[32]

-1706: Lemaire corrected himself: Gourourfa kingdom nominally Christian but said to wage war on Borno and often on religious grounds.[33]

-1707: Fr. Carlo's wrote from discussions with 2 Borno princes that the "Canorfa" people venerated the cross, put it on their houses and their king acted as a high priest.[34] Lemaire's 1707 letter reported Kwararafa had reduced Borno to demanding peace[35] but Kwararafa had an ambassador in Borno.[36]

-1727: Kwararafa appears on D'Anville's map of Africa. 

---

[1] H.R. Palmer, Sudanese Memoirs II, 69.

[2] Nehemia Leftzion and J.F.P. Hopkins, (eds.), The Corpus of Early Arabic Sources for West African History, 354. In this case, al-Maqrizi may have meant a region closer to Lake Chad.

[3] H.R. Palmer, Sudanese Memoirs II, 81. Also see J.M. Fremantle (ed.), Gazetteer of Muri Province, 169 for another reference to Gujba tradition associating the area with the Kwona Jukun (and Walama as one of their earliest centers).

[4] H.R. Palmer, “The Kano Chronicle,” 72. A praise song for Yaji described him as “Yaji, conqueror of the rocky heights, scatter of hosts, lord of the town.” A close examination of this part of the chronicle clearly distinguishes Kwararafa from Santolo, a pagan power closer to Kano and seen as the “key of the south.”

[5] Ibid., 73-74. According to the chronicle, Kanajeji sat down on Turunku, an early Zaria capital. He then defeated their king.

[6] See E.J. Arnett, “A Hausa Chronicle,” Journal of the Royal African Society 9, no. 34 (1910): 162. Needless to say, we disagree with the regnal dates used by Arnett which have Bakwa’s reign began in 1492 and ended in 1522.

[7] See H.R. Palmer, “The Kano Chronicle,” 75. Kano’s ruler in this period went to war against Zaria, but the outcome is not shared in the chronicle. For our own argument in favor of the first half of the 1400s for the activities of Amina of Zaria, see Behique Dunama, “Revisiting Amina of Zaria.”

[8] Abba Jiddum Gana, Our History and Origin, 21. This c. 1425 dating is plausible.

[9] Salahudeen Yusuf, 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, 80. Yusuf favored a location near Idah in modern Kogi State, Nigeria for Attagara, but the name brings to mind the Tagara hill besieged by Yaji in the second half of the 14^th century. Muhammad Bello in the text thought Attagara was an expansive land and relatively close to the anchorage of the Christian ships that traded with the West African coast. In his map given to Clapperton, Bello placed Attagara closer to the Yoruba regions (and the land where parrots can talk). 

[10] Sa’ad Abubakar, “The Kwararafa Factor in the History of Kano” in Kano and Some of Her Neighbours, 172.

[11] See Yusufu Bala Usman, The Transformation of Katsina, 1400-1883: The Emergence and Overthrow of the Sarauta System and the Establishment of the Emirate, 12. We have seen different dates for the chronology of the rulers of Katsina in Palmer, Dankoussou, Hamani and Usman.

[12] See Sa’ad Abubakar, “The Kwararafa Factor in the History of Kano,” 173. Abubakar used the c. 1250 date derived from Palmer, which we disagree with.

[13] H.R. Palmer, Bornu Sahara and Sudan, 223. The Kwona leader was captured by Ali b. Dunama. If one accepts Usman’s tentative dating of Korau to the mid-15^th century and the tradition of war with Kwararafa, one can perceive a larger scale of Kwararafa aggression in the second half of century as they attacked Borno.

[14] Dierk Lange, Le diwan des sultans du (Kanem)- Bornu: chronologie et histoire d'un royaume africain ( de la fin du Xe siècle jusqu'à 1808, 79. Lange named the place Walam. If it was the Walama in a a region once associated with the Kona, one wonders if this place of death was connected to trouble on that frontier.

[15] See E.O. Erim, The Idoma Nationality, 1600-1900: Problems of Studying the Origin and Development of Ethnicity, 23.

[16] H.R. Palmer, “The Kano Chronicle,” 82.

[17] Mahdi Adamu, The Hausa Factor in West African History, 27. Perhaps related to climate and ecological changes, as well as other factors, large numbers of people may have migrated to the lands south of the Hausa states during these two centuries.

[18] See Issaka Dankoussou, Katsina: traditions historiques des Katsinaawaa après la Jihad, 32. For Usman’s dating of this ruler, see Yusufu Bala Usman, The Transformation of Katsina, 1400-1883, 63.

[19] H.R. Palmer, “The Kano Chronicle,” 87.

[20] Girard, Histoire chronologique du royaume de Tripoly de Barbarie in Rémi Dewière, “L'esclave, le savant et le sultan: représentations du monde et diplomatie au sultanat du Borno (XVIe-XVIIe siècles),” 618. According to this text, “En 1656, Hali fit un troisième pèlerinage à La Mecque, d'où dont il retourna heureusement ; aux années suivantes, il eut d'intenses guerres avec l'empereur d'Éthiopie et avec les Roy d'Agadès don’t le succès différans.”

[21] For Dan Marina’s ode to Ali b. Umar, see H.R. Palmer, Bornu Sahara and Sudan, 247. The implication of the poem is that Kwararafa’s military ventures were not directed solely at Borno as the ruler of Kwararafa “worked iniquity” in the Sudan” (land of the Blacks).

[22] See page 35 of this gazeteer. The editor interpolates material ultimately derived from Heinrich Barth with reported traditions of a simultaneous attack on Birni Gazargamo by the Tuareg and Kwararafa. If this actually occurred, then the c. 1667 date from Girard may be a good year to place the attack. But it is ultimately unknown from where Barth derived this information and to what extent the Gazeteer of Muri Province merely fused Barth’s claim with local traditions to create a coherent narrative.

[23] Richard Gray, “Christian Traces and a Franciscan Mission in the Central Sudan, 1700-1711,” 390. This is an essential article for this topic since the author cited a number of French consular letters and missionary correspondence referring to Kwararafa.

[24] H.R. Palmer, “The Kano Chronicle,” 88.

[25] Alhaji Abubakar Dokaji, Kano ta dabo cigari.

[26] Mervyn Hiskett, “’The Song of Bagauda’: A Hausa King List and Homily in Verse—II,” 118. Oral tradition as the “The Song of Bagauda” is based on appears to have mistakenly placed a war with Kwararafa to the period of Sharifa, whose reign was dated 1703-1731 by Palmer. This date appears less likely as Kwararafa appears to have shifted its capital to Wukari by the early 1700s and was beginning more peaceful relations with Borno.

[27] Yusufu Bala Usman, The Transformation of Katsina, 27, 50. These regnal years are drawn from Usman’s work. An attack on Gozaki by Kwarafa placed in the second half of the 1600s is also mentioned. For the story of Dan Masani’s prayers miraculously leading to the death of the Kwararafa king during their invasion of Katsina, see A.H.M. Kirk-Greene and S.J. Hogben, The Emirates of Northern Nigeria: A Preliminary Survey of Their Historical Traditions, 165. They argue this took place around the time of the c. 1671 attack on Kano by Kwararafa, and they were able to breach the walls of Katsina.

[28] Mahdi Adamu, The Hausa Factor in West African History, 39-40. According to tradition, Dikko, who was from Katsina, had a “hot season hosue” in Wukari. If so, then Wukari was established as a Kwararafa center by the late 1600s. Indeed, Wukari may have been established as a zango for Puje. Malam Sambo, the other Ambawarki leader remembered in tradition from this period, was said to have come from Kano and been tied to the Kutumbawa.

[29] Richard Gray, “Christian Traces and a Franciscan Mission in the Central Sudan, 1700-1711,” 385. At this early date, Claude Lemaire mistakenly assumed that these so-called Christians lived in Borno itself, not Kwararafa.

[30] Ibid., 385.

[31] Ibid., 384.

[32] Ibid., 384.

[33] Ibid., 385. Supposedly, Kwararafa contained 100,000 Christians (nominally) and Gouroufa slaves made the sign of the cross in Tripoli.

[34] Ibid., 386. One can imagine this exciting European missionaries eager to reach Kwararafa.

[35] Jean-Claude Zeltner, Tripoli, carrefour de l’Europe et des pays du Tchad, 1500-1795, 223. Zeltner quoted the French consul in Tripoli describing Kwararafa’s ruler (Gourourfa) as the most powerful black king due to his victories against Borno (written in 1707). If true, then Kwararafa may have achieved some victories against Borno during the reign of Idris b. Ali (c. 1677-1696) and Dunama b. Ali (c. 1696-1715). Great caution is necessary given the delay in information reaching Europeans in North Africa about Kwararafa and their evident confusion about its location and religion.

[36] Richard Gray, “Christian Traces and a Franciscan Mission in the Central Sudan, 1700-1711,” 385.

A Hyena, an Old Woman, and the Mai of Borno

The story of a hyena, a goat, and Ibrahim b. Idris in Palmer's Bornu Sahara and Sudan.

One of the best features of Abubakar Mustapha's thesis, "The Contribution of Sayfawa Ulama to the Study of Islam C. 1086-1846 A.D.," is the inclusion of the Arabic text of Muhammad Yanbu's Idarah fi nizam Mulk Kanem-Borno. According to Mustapha, this text was composed in 1771 by the amir of Alarge. Perhaps better known as Muhammad Yanbu, he was the son of the Sayfawa mai, Ali b. al-hajj Dunama (r. 1747-1792, according to the chronology of Lange). While extracts from this text were translated and used for analysis by Kyari Tijani in Dynamics of Administrative Change in pre-Colonial Borno: A Comparative Study of the Sayfawa and Kanemi Dynasties (thanks to a copy provided by al-Miskin), Mustapha's thesis contains the complete Arabic text. This work, better known as the Al-Idara fi nizam al-mamlaka wa-l-imara according to Tijani, is essential for understanding the administrative structure of the state. Perhaps a more accurate reflection of the court as it was in the 18th century, it nonetheless includes information from the early history of the Sayfawa. For instance, the tale of a hyena, an old woman, and Ali b. Umar (r. 1639-1677).

According to  Al-Idara fi nizam al-mamlaka wa-l-imara, a hyena seized the sheep of an elderly woman. Subsequently, she attributed the loss to the injustice of the king. When word of this reached Ali b. Umar, the mai and some of his men tracked the hyena, noticed the sheep was dead, and brought the hyena back to the old woman. The mai had the hyena killed, gave the woman sheep in compensation, and apparently ordered the deaths of other hyenas in the region. 

In order to explain the story, here is the Arabic text (from p. 444 of Mustapha's thesis):

وناهيك من ذلك ان ضبعا افترس شاة عجوز في برني من عهد سلطان علي بن عمر فقالت العجوز بأعلى صوتها سبحان الله على ظلم يعني سبحان الله ان السلطان ظالم ولولا ظلمه لما افترس الضبع شاتي فانتهى هذا الكلام إلى الملك فأمر الملك بالركوب إلى نصرتها على الضبع فاتبع اثر الضبع حتى انتهوا إلى جبل مورانسيك فرأوا احد الضبع واتوا بها الى العجوز ولم تأكل الضبع الشاة إلا أنها جرجرتها وقتلتها وأمر الملك لها بشياء واراها عدوتها فقتلها وكذا في سائر بلاد برني

According to our friend, a specialist in hadith literature, the style, scan quality and possible corruption in the text complicates translation. We were also wondering about the place (Bornu or Birni?) and the name of the mountain. Yet he provided two translations for us:

A hyena preyed upon and captured an old woman's sheep in Bornu [??]. This was during the reign of 'Ali b. 'Umar. When this happened, the old woman said: "Praise be to God, what an injustice!" she meant "Praise be to God, the Sultan is unjust and were it not for his injustice, the hyena would not have preyed upon my sheep." The Sultan heard what she said and went out with a group of riders to help the old woman against the hyena. They tracked the hyena following it to mountain named MWRaNSYK. They found that the sheep hadn't been devoured but had merely been dragged around and killed. Then they brought back one of the hyenas to the old woman. They gave her some sheep [as compensation] and they killed the hyena before her eyes. And then they killed all the hyenas in the area.

Moreover, a hyena preyed upon and snatched away a sheep of an old woman in Bornu during the reign of Sultan 'Ali b. 'Umar. The old woman cried out in her loudest voice, "Glory be to God, what an injustice!" meaning, "Glory be to God, the Sultan is unjust, and were it not for his injustice, the hyena would not have devoured my sheep." This reached the king, who ordered his men to ride out [with him] to aid her against the hyena. They followed the hyena's tracks until they reached Mount MWRaNSYK, where they saw one of the hyenas and brought it to the old woman (The hyena did not eat the sheep, but it merely dragged it and killed it). The king ordered that she be given sheep and showed her its enemy, and he killed it. The same thing happened in all the lands of Bornu.

What is most remarkable about this anecdote, which is perhaps not meant to be taken literally, are the similarities to a tradition about Ibrahim b. Idris recorded by H.R. Palmer in Bornu Sahara and Sudan. According to Palmer, Ibrahim b. Idris (r. 1612-1619) was impious until later in life. Moreover, a familiar tale of an old woman whose goat was taken by a hyena led to the elder criticizing the mai. She allegedly said, "You take part in plays and dancing and racing; but you do not pray, neither do you follow religion or righteousness; had you done so, they hyaena would not have taken my goat." (p. 244). 

This leads one to suspect that we are dealing with tropes meant to illustrate ideal and poor leadership of the Sayfawa maiwa. Ibrahim b. Idris was allegedly not religious and pursued a lifestyle of pleasure, signs of poor leadership in the mai. Consequently, the elderly woman berated him. As an elderly woman, she could represent the vulnerable subjects an ideal Muslim ruler must protect. However, Ali b. Umar, the nephew of Ibrahim b. Idris, was so pious and responsive that when an old woman's sheep was stolen and killed by a hyena, the mai tracked the hyena, killed it, and compensated the old woman's property. Muhammad Yanbu, a descendant of Ali b. Umar and able to look back at his reign as one of an ideal Islamic ruler, naturally inserted a story of an old woman and a hyena to show how a mai should respond to the needs of his most vulnerable subjects. 

Whether or not the events actually transpired is likely not the point. Instead it is meant to illustrate ideal sultans or kings. Similar traditions of Sayfawa maiwa responding to the complaints of women whose communities were attacked by the Tuareg (see Landeroin for an example on Ali b. Dunama's Air campaign after a Magumi woman's village was raided) or had their property stolen may reflect this trope. What is remarkable in the case of Muhammad Yanbu's anecdote about Ali b. Umar is the way it possibly reflects this larger traditional discourse, and may contain an implicit critique of Ali b. Umar's uncle, Ibrahim. Although tradition, which was likely the main source for Palmer on the reign of Ibrahim b. Idris, acknowledged Ibrahim b. Idris's transition to a pious and proper ruler, one cannot help but wonder if Yanbu was also glorying his own ancestor by inserting a similar story of Ali b. Umar.

The Contribution of Sayfawa Ulama to the Study of Islam 1086-1846 CE

Abubakar Mustapha's "The Contribution of Sayfawa Ulama to the Study of Islam C. 1086-1846 A.D." is an important but highly flawed work. Whilst occasionally proposing novel interpretations to controversial topics or themes in the history of Kanem and Borno, Mustapha's work often fails from a historical perspective. For instance, the questionable attempts to date the Islamization of Kanem to a period before Hummay, the speculative attempt to read Shi'a influences in the Mune, or the acceptance of al-Bakri's report of a rumor of Umayyads in Kanem illustrate real weaknesses in historical analysis. Thus, Mustapha was only partly successful in terms of offering a new approach to the history of Islam and Islamic study in Kanem and Borno. 

The most egregious case is in his attempt to antedate the Islamization of Kanem to a period before late 11th century. Although we have broached the question in our own speculative writings, Mustapha let wishful thinking shape his analysis. Naturally, he is likely correct about some Muslims trading in or reaching Kanem by the 9th century, but it seems quite unlikely that all the maiwa from Bulu to Abd al-Jalil were already Muslims. One also wonders about his interpretation of Uqba b. Nafi's expedition to Kawar in the 7th century. For Mustapha, "All available evidence seems to suggest that Uqba must have converted the people as they had shown not only their willingness and desire to accept Islam but also had demonstrated their support by giving him three hundred and sixty people to reinforce his army" (p. 19. Given the fact that our early sources on Uqba b. Nafi's escapades in the Fezzan and Kawar were written down centuries later, there is nothing that definitely establishes local converts to Islam at such an early date. Certainly by the 9th century, however, there were Muslims in Kawar and likely Kanem. But Mustapha wants this early wave of Muslim traders or itinerant preachers to have somehow achieved the conversion of the masses in Kanem before Hummay or the rulers of Kanem. 

A similar problem connected to dating the Islamization of Kanem can be found in the Umayyads and al-Bakri. Admitting his speculative reasoning here, Mustapha proposes identifying Hummay or Umme with the Umayyads. To be fair, he is no more ridiculous here than H.R. Palmer was on a number of grounds. But the main source for the Umayyad refugees reaching Kanem was al-Bakri, who knew little about Kanem and reported the Umayyad tale as something he heard asserted by "some" (see Corpus of Early Arabic Sources for West African History, p. 64. Consequently, we have far too little in terms of firm evidence for dating the Islamization of Kanem to a period from Bulu onwards. And in spite of Mustapha's useful analysis of the mahram issued to Muhammad b. Mani by Hummay, which outlines multiple generations of maiwa studying the Koran with Mani, there is not enough to truly establish which mai was the first Muslim ruler. Certainly, the account of Ibn Sa'id seems suggest it was in the later half of the 11th century. But the possible Ibadi influence in early Kanem and the appearance of Muslim names like Abd al-Jalil before Hummay demonstrate some degree of Islamic influence. For Mustapha, however, Mani would not have taught non-Muslims to read the Koran due to the precepts of the Islamic faith (to what extent this was true remains unclear, particularly for this period). Yet the largest problem facing Mustapha is a problematic source which is used to claim al-Aswani reported the rulers of Kanem were Muslims. Since al-Aswani was quoted by later authors like al-Maqrizi who mixed different sources or their own prose into their work, the section describing Kanem from al-Maqrizi's work appears to be drawn from more recent sources. Yet Mustapha tried to use this to problematically affirm an early Islamization of Kanem's ruling house by the late 10th century. 

Despite these issues with Mustapha's attempt to backdate the origins of Islam in Kanem, there are useful insights to be found. For instance, he claims Katuri is the Kanuri form of AbdulKadir, while Shu is Shuaib. If true, this is intriguing for increasing the number of early maiwa with Islamic names. Through his fieldwork, he also quotes a Kanuri song referring to the "Waseti" (Berbers) of Zaila, Tripoli, Dirku, and Siggidim as friends of the mai (p. 25). The close ties to Kawar, where Islam had penetrated by the 9th century, was undoubtedly important for the gradual spread of Islam further south in Kanem. Mustapha also finds evidence of the Ibadi influence in Kanem through the Kanuri term Liman Kaumi, similar to the Ibadi way of referring to their imams as Imam al-Qawni. Perhaps even the Kanuri term for North Africans, waseri, was derived from the Wasiliyya name applied to the Ibadis. Lastly, the possible role of the Tura Tazan in the teaching of literacy or philosophy is an intriguing notion, albeit not backed by much.

Similar problems abound the later chapters of Mustapha's study. Claims of the Shi'a influence on the Mune appear to be based on little more than similar verses used in the Mune and a letter written to an early Muslim governor of Egypt in the 7th century. Naturally, one must also wonder about the alleged role of Egyptians in the opening of the Mune during Dunama Dibalemi's reign. Why exactly this led to a shift toward a more Sunni orientation is not entirely clear, yet it's tied to the Ayyubids takeover in Egypt after the Shi'ite Fatimids. For much of his framework here, Mustapha relies heavily on the Idarah and the general narrative on Borno history which appears in that Arabic text, included as an appendix in the thesis. This is used as a larger framework for contextualizing the development of Islamic education and legal studies in Kanem and Borno until 1846. We waited in vain for an explanation of who Muhammad Yanbu was or the background to the Idarah and Kitab al-Borno which clearly were central to how Mustapha divided the history of the Sayfawa. 

Despite the quibbles and issues with contradictory and problematic assertions by Mustapha, he raises a number of legitimate and intriguing questions about the history of Islam in Kanem and Borno. He also challenges attempts to use the Shurb al-Zulal as a reformist text critical of al-Barnawi's time. There is value here in terms of how Mustapha elucidates the steps in an Islamic education in Borno. This is then followed by an overview of advanced Islamic study which led to the influence of kalam in later centuries. This period, in which the questions and answers raised by local scholars in their writings became more abstract and hypothetical, is an interesting notion that needed more explicit examples to properly refute authors like Bivar, Lavers, and Hiskett. Fortunately, more recent scholars have contributed to the study of Ajami in Borno contexts with regard to the Tarjumo used for tafsir. With additional scholarship on the intellectual output of Borno scholars, researchers can hopefully expand upon Mustapha's contributions here. 

Kuri Gana, Kagha and Organa/Orgena: Speculating on Knowledge of Kanem in Medieval Europe

 

Although this is speculative, we have long considered "Organa" in European planispheres, portolan charts, and maps to have been a reference to Kanem and Borno. Some consider "Organa" to have been Ouargla in the Sahara, but the inscriptions in maps from the 1300s and 1400s suggest Kanem and Borno. The strongest evidence of this identification is the Latin inscription from the 1339 portolan chart of Angelino Dulcert. To our knowledge, this is the earliest European source to use the toponym of Organa. But what makes its identification as Kanem more likely is the Latin inscription's reference to naked black populations attacked by Organa's Saracen king. Moreover, these peoples allegedly lived by a sea or coast. The best candidate for this area is therefore Lake Chad, where we know the rulers of Kanem occasionally engaged in wars or raids with non-Muslim societies near Lake Chad. 

Indeed, the Latin inscription for Organa reads, "Iste rex Saracenus permanet senper in armis cum Saracenis maritimis, scilicet cum una tera Nigroom qui senper vadunt nudi et sine aliquo vestimento." The French translation of De la Roncière rendered this as "Ce roi des Sarrasins demeure toujours en guerre avec les Sarrazins des bords de la mer, c'est-à-dire avec les  nègres qui vont toujours nus, sans le moindre vêtement." The "tera Nigroom" is likely a reference to a "black land" or "land of the blacks," but also close to a sea or body of water. The best candidate for this is Kanem, although it is possible a Saharan region like Ouargla was confused with Kanem further south. To strengthen the identification of Organa as Kanem, one can also note that its position east of Mali and south from Sicily onward points toward the Lake Chad area.

But in 1339, other sources do speak to the kingdom of Kanem engaging in wars or raids against "black" people who lived near a large body of water. According to Dierk Lange's chronology based on the Diwan of Kanem-Borno, there was a king named Kuri Gana (Kuri the Younger) who reigned in c. 1339. This king was said to have died in war with the "Sao" at Ghaliwa, possibly Ngala. This king's name in Kanuri was produced in Nachtigal's list in Sahara and Sudan of Sayfawa maiwa as Kure ghana Ben Abd Allah, dated to 1350. Since Lange's chronology "works best" for the Sayfawa, a date of c. 1339 seems more likely. This date also happens to be around the same time that Dulcert's portolan chart listed a place called Organa. Consequently, one wonders if the name of Kanem's mai, Kuri Gana, was perhaps deformed into "Organa" across the Mediterranean. Then, Kuri Gana's name became the established name for the toponym representing the Kanem/Borno areas. This would require the name of Kanem's mai to have reached Dulcert quite quickly, however. Even if he rose to the throne a year or two before 1339, his name would have had to have reached Dulcert rapidly in order to appear in a corrupted form on a map in 1339.

Exactly how the initial letter was dropped is unclear, but the idea of a Saracen king fighting "naked" dark-skinned people by a sea might match Kuri Gana and the Sayfawa. After all, the Diwan attributed the death of Kuri Gana and 3 other maiwa to wars with the "Sao" in this period. Moreover, if one follows Palmer in Bornu Sahara and Sudan, Kuri Gana (named Kore al-Saghir here) died at N'geliwa, in the area of Marte. This area in the 1300s would have been closer to the shores of Lake Chad and perhaps explain why reports of a "Saracen" king fighting "black" people without clothes by a sea reached Dulcert. Since it is unlikely that areas near the Mediterranean coast would have been defined as a "black land" (perhaps based on the Arabic term for the land of the blacks), Kanem and the Lake Chad region are the best fit for "Organa" in 1339. 

The next step to confirm this pet theory would be to examine subsequent mentions of Organa in the 1300s and 1400s European cartographic corpus. Understanding how the name Kuri Gana would have been pronounced in 14th century Kanembu or the routes through which it was deformed in Arabic and Latin are additional necessary steps. Resolving the later conflation of Organa and Ouargla (or another Saharan region) is also necessary.  More importantly, if the toponym Organa really was derived from the name of a Kanem king who reigned at the end of the 1330s, it could partially confirm the maiwa of this era engaging in wars with the "Sao" on the other side of Lake Chad, in Borno. Our theory might also have more merit than the often playful and inventive linguistic wordplay and reconstruction of Palmer.

That said, the Kagha (origin of the term kaigama) seems like a very reasonable contender, too. The word Kagha seems to have been established in medieval Arabic sources by the end of the 1200s for designating part of Borno (Jaja, Kaka, Kagha). But how that transmogrified into Organa is unclear. The Kuri Gana or Kore Gana etymology we proposed may explain the appearance of the "gana" part of "Organa" but also requires dropping the initial k and a vowel. It also is unlikely that a Kanem king with such a short reign possibly right before the time Dulcert's map was finished could be the source of the toponym Organa (Orgena). Thus, the Kagha theory is more plausible, although how that was turned into Orgena/Organa is far from clear.