Tarikh al-Sudan

Due to our recent readings of Redhouse's dated English translations of two chronicles by the imam Ahmad Ibn Furtu or Borno, we at the blog have decided to tackle Hunwick's translation of the chronicle Tarikh al-Sudan by Abd al-Rahman al-Sa'di. Unfortunately, Hunwick did not translate the entirety of the chronicle written by our Timbuktu author, skipping 2 chapters on Moroccan politics and later chapters on events after 1613, with the pasha administration and post-Songhay Middle Niger politics. That era, after 1613, when effective Songhay resistance was largely over and fewer large-scale empires operated in the "Western Sudan",  was for obvious reasons quite distinct from the "imperial" era of Songhay, Mali, or Ghana. 

As the general narrative of the Songhay Empire or the Western Sudan owes so much to al-Sadi and the Tarikh al-Fattash, reading this chronicle was basically an exercise in seeing how so many historians and documentarians have borrowed this or that idea, characterization, or plot point in their depiction of Songhay rulers like Askia Muhammad or Sunni Ali. We have read select chapters of the two surviving Timbuktu chronicles in the past, for our earlier projects on Ghana and pre-imperial Songhay history, so the early chapters were nothing new. As recent scholarship has shown, an overreliance on the Timbuktu tarikhs is problematic, as the authors had various political, ideological, and religious motives at play, and were relying on oral traditions for much of the earlier history of their region. For instance, today's scholars have called into question the idea of Ali Kulun and the Sunni dynasty of Songhay rulers, pointing to the alarming parallels with Tuareg oral traditions and folklore. Mande, Berber, Songhay, and Islamic influences intersect and shaped how Timbuktu chroniclers like al-Sadi perceived the Middle Niger and the "land of the Blacks" in surprising ways, and not always in what modern secular readers considered to be historically accurate style or methodology. 

Thus, one must use these sources very carefully while also coming to see something of the interplay or oral and written traditions in West African literature. One can read these chronicles and see commonality with the oral epics of Sunjata, or the oral epics of the Bamana people of Segu. For al-Sadi and his audience, chronicling the great past of his region while endeavoring to avoid offending the Pasha administration relied on portraying the later Songhay Askia dynasts as corrupt and decadent, yet celebrating the security, Islamic scholarship, and cosmopolitan ties of Timbuktu and Jenne in the Songhay Golden Age (scholars who traveled to Mecca, Egypt, North Africa or corresponded with illustrious figures from Cairo). Moreover, while the author was of "Berber" descent, he also mentions a Fulani ancestor, and probably possessed other West African non-Berber forebears. Clearly, he was a man of Timbuktu and identified with the region and its peoples, and Islamic devotion filtered the lens through which he viewed West Africa. In that respect, he resembled Ahmad Ibn Furtu, the chief imam of the mosque in Borno's capital during the reign of Idris Alooma. Like Ibn Furtu, his historical chronicle sought to stress the proper and just Islamic devotion of his class and preferred rulers. For al-Sadi, this seems to have been Askia Muhammad I and Askia Dawud, and one of course must question the portrayal of these rulers in the chronicles. 

It is also clear that the text pointed to the corruption and in-fighting among various siblings and cousins of the Askia royal family over the course of the 16th century as a cause for the empire's decline and relatively quick fall to the invading forces of Morocco. How the Songhay went from being able to raid Moroccan territory in the Dar'a Valley under Askia Dawud to being quickly routed by a relatively small Moroccan force armed with muskets in 1591 is difficult to conceive. Unless the Songhay state was already weakened by problems with succession that weakened its ability to maintain central authority and military capacity, muskets should not have been enough to topple Songhay. Unfortunately, al-Sadi has little to say about the slaves, artisans, and laborers, and little to say about the influence of women among the Songhay. The so-called subaltern groups were probably not seen by al-Sadi as significant historical actors, but glimpses of their role in the economy, political conflict, and marriage alliances of the Songhay rulers clearly emerge. Artisans, such as tailors and shoemakers, hardly appear in chronicle, despite the several workshops in Timbuktu run by tailors who were sometimes scholars themselves. We learn they had a quarter in Gao, created by Askia Dawud, which may also be a veiled reference to artisans as a casted group. 

Tarikh al-Fattash

Although so many questions remain pertaining to the authorship and interpolations in the Tarikh al-Fattash, one can see why it has become a priceless resource for understanding the history of the Songhay and the Niger Bend region. Attributed to Mahmud Kati and his grandson, with additional notes and references to a lost chronicle and family records, the text contains clear forgeries from the 19th century, predicting a future caliph of Masina. Nobili and other scholars have made a persuasive argument that what we know call the Tarikh al-Fattash was in fact an original 17th century chronicle by Ibn al-Mukhtar, and the 19th century forgery which drew upon the older text to promote a certain Ahmad of Masina. Apparently, other copies of the Tarikh al-Fattash have been located in the surviving libraries or collections of West African Arabic manuscripts, so future scholars may one day establish a clearer picture on the making of this particular chronicle. Unlike the other surviving Timbuktu chronicle, with a more clearly established author, part of the appeal and challenge of the Tarikh al-Fattash is endeavoring to make sense of its authorship and how it reflects a tradition of chronicles or "historical" writing in West Africa for centuries.

Unfortunately, however, we had to rely on the 1913 French translation of the text by Houdas and Delafosse. Despite its errors and dated footnotes to elucidate ambiguous passages or unclear translations, one felt it to be a more useful (and accessible) translation than the English version. Until a scholarly, annotated English translation of the chronicle is published, we shall have to rely on Houdas and Delafosse's translation. And, lest one be mistaken, the 1913 French translation is mostly serviceable. The incongruous mixing of authors makes for sometimes confusing reading, but the Tarikh al-Fattash provides a number of different oral traditions, slightly modified kingslists for the Zuwa and Sunni dynasties, and new data and references for everyone interested in the rise, decline and fall of the Songhay Askia dynasty. 

As the product of a Muslim intellectual (possibly a real Mahmud Kati, or Ibn al-Mokhtar), it invariably promotes a certain narrative of Songhay political power, religious practice, and Islamic civilizational models the Askiya state, under Askia Muhammad I, epitomized. While also reporting new oral traditions of the early history of West Africa and the Songhay, what the Tarikh al-Fattash emphasizes in servile lineages, slavery (the 24 tribes owned by the kings of Mali, who were then seized by the Songhay and provided tribute), and caste actually reveals something of the larger world beyond the Niger Bend in which Songhay was inextricably linked. For instance, the origins of one caste lineage is somehow imagined to have begun with a former slave owned by Christians in the Atlantic, possibly an allusion to the trans-Atlantic slave trade. One finds intriguing claims of an ancient Jewish population in the area of Tendirma before its formal establishment by the Askiyas. This may have served the purpose of acknowledging the Jewish presence in West Africa or calling attention to the deeper antiquity of this part of West Africa. A similar tactic was possibly used in the Tarikh al-Sudan when al-Sa'di suggested ancient Kukiya was a source of sorcerers for the Pharaohs of Egypt. Undoubtedly, oral traditions and legends permeated both of the Timbuktu chronicles in question, such as the origins of the Zuwa dynasty of kings or the chronology used to describe the early history of Ghana (Wagadu) or even the rise of the Sunni dynasty in the character of Ali Kulun. A great episode, of course not factual, can be found in the tale of Mansa Musa's hajj, when his farba produces an artificial river in the middle of the desert for the mansa's wife.

For our purposes, if the Tarikh al-Fattash is reliable, then it is priceless for shedding more light on social structure and practices of power among the Askiya rulers. It may reflect a greater dependence on slaves in the post-Songhay imperial period, but it reveals how the Askiya was expected to be generous, redistribute wealth, and, in at least some cases, employ enslaved labor for agriculture. Thus, an Askiya is said to have given the original Mahmud Kati several gifts for his sons to marry, including land with slave laborers to make it productive. Another story of Askia Dawud's generosity mentions him freeing the entire family of an old enslaved woman, even though the woman had only asked that the Askia ensure her children and grandchildren not be separated when sold to new owners. This seems to reflect the fact that slave trading in Songhay lands did indeed separate families. But even better for this old woman and her family, Askia Dawud freed her entire family and had an official document signed in front of witnesses to attest to her family's freedom. Freeing slaves was a virtuous act, but making gifts out of them for various Islamic scholars, nobles, and subordinates was supposedly another aspect of Askia Dawud's virtue. It is in this context we learn that the population of Gao consisted of 7,626 houses, not counting straw huts, to display how no one living in the city had not benefited from the largesse of the Askia dynasty.

As for royal plantations (producing rice, it would seem), caste, artisans, and the poor, the Tarikh al-Fattash also reveals more than the Tarikh al-Sudan. The poor in Timbuktu and Gao supposedly received food directly from the Askia Dawud. In the first city, Dawud allegedly founded a plantation worked by 30 slaves to feed the poor. He also sent 4000 sunnu of grain to the qadi of Timbuktu to distribute for them. Intriguingly, to be a royal slave also conferred a degree of power, and could, in some cases (Missakoulah, the supervisor said to be from Baguirmi who oversaw a royal plantation and repeatedly gave away grain from it to the less fortunate) get away with independent actions and behavior (especially if their behavior in virtuous acts improved the status of their master). It is also in the Tarikh al-Fattash that references to the tailors of Timbuktu and artisans can be found. 

For instance, the Moroccan invading army included Arab shoemakers and artisans who sold their services after the pacification of the region. Supposedly, prior that, Timbuktu already had 26 establishments for tailors, the so-called tindi, which were run by a master who had, on average, around 50 apprentices. Some of the tailors were also scholars, such as a certain Boussa mentioned in the the chronicle. There must have been some kind of guild-like association for certain trades in towns like Timbuktu and Gao. Other artisan groups were treated as a caste, and expected to provide a tribute to the Askias (the blacksmiths, for example). Unfortunately, these chronicles, focused as they are on the Askias and scholars, do not tell us more about artisans, laborers, and farmers, and less about the use of enslaved labor in the salt mines or estates owned by non-Askiya. In the near future, a new translation of the Tarikh al-Fattash and critical study of it and other manuscripts may shed light on these questions, and the basis of Songhay royal power to the peasantry.

Tripoli Chronicle

Because Anne-Charles Froment de Champlagarde's loose translation of a Libyan chronicle was in French rather than the German summary of Krause, we were able to read the full text more easily and gleam certain details on the history of Tripoli and Tripoli-Fezzan relations. However, Alain Blondy's introduction is actually more useful for an introduction or overview of the history of Tripolitania and the Fezzan from the period of c.1500-1800. Blondy's lengthy introduction, for instance, helped situate the conflicts over Tripoli in the 1500s between European Christians and, eventually, the Ottomans while providing a Tripoli-based perspective on the Fezzan and trans-Saharan trade. Much of the actual chronicle tracks the often difficult state of relations between Tripoli and Murzuq while the later sections cover the rise of the Qaramanli and the brutal conditions under which Yusuf seized power after slaying his brother.

Unfortunately, we still don't learn much about the local "negro sovereigns" of the Fezzan except for their various revolts and refusals to pay tribute to Tripoli. But some interesting details emerge in Blondy's introduction and the original text on the Fezzan's relations with Katsina and Borno. For instance, the idea of the Awlad Muhammad dynasty as vassals or quasi-vassals of the Sayfawa dynasty as demonstrated by mai Umar b. Idris executing al-Tahir. Or the importance of "black" merchants in Murzuq, the capital of the Awlad Muhammad rulers. Given that Kanuri was once widely spoken in the region, it might be safe to assume most of these "black" merchants were from Borno, although Hausa traders from Katsina were likely present. Thus, the Fezzan was intimately linked to the larger economy of the Borno and Hausaland, and may have derived much of its textiles, leather goods, and grain from the "Central Sudan" neighbors to the south. 

Indeed, according to Claude Lemaire, about 500-600 slaves passed through the Fezzan from Borno annually, suggestive of the scale of the slave trade in the late 17th century between Tripoli and Borno. That number, though seemingly small, doesn't take into account high mortality rates or the role of Tripoli as a distribution center for African captives to other locations in the Mediterranean. As argued by other historians, Tripoli seems to have relied more heavily on this African slave trade through their tributary Fezzani neighbor than Borno, which raises questions on the role of the slave trade in Borno's economy. Yet influence or control of the Fezzan obviously mattered to the Sayfawa dynasty, since it allowed them to secure the trade routes to the Mediterranean and perhaps protect their own merchants active in the central Sahara or beyond. We would like to learn more about Idris Alooma's interests in the Fezzan during the 1570s and 1580s, as well as the mystery of an anonymous Spanish source from the 16th century mentioning direct military conflict between Borno and the Ottoman Empire in the Fezzan region.

Studies in the History of Pre-Colonial Borno

Studies in the History of Pre-Colonial Borno is one of those must-read texts on the history of Borno worthy of a new edition and a subsequent collection of essays that reflect the new scholarship on the history of Kanem-Borno. For instance, newer insights from archaeological excavations in Kanem and Borno, as well as the use of more local textual sources from the precolonial era for the study of Kanembu and Kanuri Ajami texts and linguistic analysis should be incorporated. Newer scholarship on Islam, Sufism, Ulama-State relations, the Kanuri Diaspora or Borno's connections with the lands further west and east are all topics of interest that recent scholarship has covered to varying extents. Or the topic of, perhaps, Kanem-Borno's social history, gender relations, oral literature, slavery as a local institution, or land tenure are also deserving of deeper scrutiny. 

Nevertheless, this collection of essays from the 1980s, despite the uneven nature of the contributions, is a must-read for everyone interested in Kanem-Borno. Connah's survey of the data from archaeological work in Borno and the Chad Basin provide a useful prehistoric background to human settlement and the development of metallurgy, towns, and trade. Abdullahi Smith's essay, for instance, offers a plausible theory for why claiming descent from Sayf may have appealed to the ulama of Kanem by the 12th or 13th centuries. Smith draws on the larger history and discourse of early Islamic history and genealogy, which would have been known to Kanem's ulama through their study of Arabic texts and travels to Egypt, Mecca, and the Maghreb. Of course, the actual chances of the Sayfawa dynasty being descendants of Sayf are very slim, but the more interesting question of the intellectual history behind it is fascinating. 

Muhammad Nur Alkali's contributions, on the other hand, appear to be based on his dissertation, which gives the reader a greater sense of the administrative organization of the Sayfawa state during their Borno period. Again, much of our knowledge of the details of administration and political office in pre-19th century Borno is scanty, but Alkali's contributions elucidate why the Sayfawa state was able to prosper for centuries as the dominant power in the Central Sudan through agriculture, trade, fishing, learning, cattle, textiles, leatherworks, salt, and the administrative apparatus that directed or promoted the aforementioned aspects of Borno's hegemony or cultural influence. Since our sources are still somewhat limited on the intricacies of the political system of the Sayfawa state, one should approach Alkali's interpretations with caution.

Additional contributors appear to have recycled past work or dissertations, but shed light on fiscal policy under the Shehus of the 19th century, Borno's relationship with Fombina before the colonial period, constitutional changes introduced by al-Kanemi, the decline of the office of galadima in the 1800s, Borno's relations with other powers (Morocco, Ottoman Empire, Mamluk Egypt) and Borno-Hausaland relations. Yusufu Bala Usman's essay on Borno relations with Hausaland before 1804 is worth reading for pointing to the lack of sources used by past historians (like Yves Urvoy) to depict Hausaland as a conquered region of Borno. Instead, Usman's chapter demonstrates that Borno's political and cultural influence in Hausaland was likely mediated through other means besides military conquest, and that the continuous plain running through the Hausa states and Borno favored trade, migration, contact, and relations which were not, based on our current sources, of a military nature. 

Thus, one cannot deny the central importance of Studies in the History of Pre-Colonial Borno for all students of Kanem-Borno. It suffers from several typos and more than a few chapters are speculative or rely on limited evidence, yet it reflects the importance of mostly local, Nigerian scholars for advancing scholarship. Unlike some of the external and colonial-era historians of Borno, the Kanuri, Nigerian, and African contributors to this volume evince a care for incorporating oral traditions and written sources in a balanced manner that avoids the diffusionism of Urvoy or Palmer while reflecting far greater immersion into the cultural and language milieus of Borno and its neighbors. This is not to say only Kanuri or Nigerian scholars should be allowed to study Borno, but their familiarity with the scene and desire to challenge or balance colonial-era narratives is refreshing. 

Borno and Saint Domingue (Haiti)

While perusing the excellent Corpus of runaway slave ads for Saint Domingue, we came across what appears to be one of the few other sources to mention "Borno" Africans in Saint Domingue. Instead of spelling the name of their homeland in the same manner as Descourtilz (Beurnon), it was rendered as Bernon. The 1789 advertisement in Affiches américaines also mentions that one of the "Bernon" fled his owners in the company of 3 Hausa named Aly, Dominique and Aza. Scipion, the man of "Bernon" nation, was likely very familiar with Hausa people due to Borno's long history in northern Nigeria. Perhaps they also shared an Islamic background that may have helped them transcend "ethnic" differences and find some commonality with other enslaved African Muslims in Saint Domingue. The text likewise mentions another maroon, Christophe of the "Bernon" nation. He was stamped Pommier and belonged to a different owner. 

One cannot help but wonder if these "Bernon" captives were part of the same group of prisoners of war who were sold into slavery and ended up in the Rossignol-Desdunes plantation. "Bernon" Africans seem to have been somewhat uncommon in Saint Domingue, although it is possible the ambiguous "national" labels assigned to Africans in Saint Domingue misidentified them. It is possible that enslaved West African Muslims united through religion, and may have adopted or assumed a name like "Mandingue" or "Hausa" which obscured the distinct origins of some members. Such a phenomenon occurred in Trinidad's Free Mandingo mutual aid society, whose members were not solely Mandingo. Alternatively, there were probably some Africans who spoke multiple languages and were lumped into one or another "nation" which did not accurately reflect their homeland.

As an empire mostly drawn into the trans-Saharan orbit, and primarily exporting other peoples as slaves rather than their own (with a few exceptions, according to Descourtilz), it is interesting to consider the connections of Haiti with the "Sudan" and Borno. While most "Muslims" in Saint Domingue were probably drawn from various Mande groups, "Senegal" and probably Hausa and some "Malais," the links to the Central Sudan may have also been important. One wonders if Haitian writers of the 19th century, reading French works that mention, sometimes in detail, various kingdoms in the heart of the continent, also thought of their own population, which still included people born in said regions. For example, Baron de Vastey's knowledge of Mungo Park and his detailed description of Segou was utilized as proof that Africa wasn't as "uncivilized" as Europeans usually depicted it. Surely, Baron de Vastey knew of "Bambara" and "Mandingue" in the kingdom of Christophe who could also enlighten him about their homelands. Perhaps Haitian writes were also familiar with Descourtilz's description of Borno, and that of other European accounts, which depicted a sophisticated Islamic kingdom with security, literacy, and order. Who knows, maybe the Borno Africans living in Haiti also offered an example of "civilized" Africans from ancient kingdoms that the kingdom of Christophe could reference for proof of racial equality and justification of monarchy?

Ghana

 

Sometimes Youtube can be useful. Like in this case, where this young lady's basic overview of the ancient kingdom (empire) of Ghana indicates someone who actually did their research. I have spent much of the last 48 hours going over secondary sources on this kingdom, the Soninke people, and English or French translations of Arabic sources on the history of the region. Even with advances in West African archaeology in Mali, Mauritania and nearby regions, I am amazed by how little we still know about Ghana (or, Wagadu), at least for eras prior to the rise of Islam. Can one really trace the origins of the state to agropastoralist stone masonry villages in Dhar Tichitt and related Mauritanian sites? There does seem to be evidence that some Mande groups once lived further north before the progress of the desert. Further, the evidence of Ghana itself, although more archaeological work remains to be done in the Awkar and nearby regions, do suggest a plausible origin sometime from the 4th to 6th centuries. Either way, by the time of the 8th century, Ghana was probably already the main source of gold for Sijilmasa, and the institutions associated with such a trade would not have appeared overnight.

But when going through the Arabic sources, one does arrive at some interesting theories of Ghana's origins. When used carefully with oral sources, they provide a picture of sorts of Soninke origins. The Timbuktu chronicles like Tarikh al-Fattash and its other Timbuktu counterpart suggest Ghana's existence predated Islam by at least a few centuries, and they attribute the origins of the kayamaga dynasty to "white" origin. This may reflect the fact that a 12th century king of Ghana, according to al-Idrissi, claimed descent from the family of the Prophet Muhammad. Or, it could indicate some degree of ancient intermarriage between Berbers and proto-Soninke peoples in the ancient past. Intriguingly, in the 11th century, al-Bakri mentioned at least two groups of "whites" living under the suzerainty of Ghana who were described as following their religion ("idolatry"). In one case, the "El Honeihim" whites were sent to the "land of the blacks" sometime after the Arab conquests in the Maghreb, but its possible the other group, identified as El Faman, may have been established in the region before. In addition to "whites" described as residing in the "Sudan," the Soninke kingdom of Ghana appears to have dominated the predominantly Berber and Arab trading entrepot of Awdaghust for some time in the 10th and 11th centuries, revealing the interest of Ghana in controlling the Saharan and Sahelian networks in trade to Sijilmasa and other parts of the Maghreb. If al-Bakri is to be trusted, the Berber and Arab residents of Awdaghust did not get along, so the representative of Ghana may have served as an intermediary between Berber, Arab and "Sudanese" residents in that bustling commercial town.

Clearly, there were "whites" (presumably Berbers) who were assimilated into local West African cultures, albeit one is described as endogamous in their marriage customs.  This shows that any "whites" who were involved with the origins of Ghana were likely people who adopted aspects of local culture rather than initiating centralized kingdoms of states. They may have been descendants of the cultural syncretism that some archaeologists argue appeared in Mauritania after 500 BC, when the Libyco-Berber presence is attested in the Dhar Tichitt, Walata, and associated areas. The old-fashioned Hamitic Hypothesis has been disproved countless times, but there likely was some degree of cultural exchange and influences between sedentary agriculturalists and pastoralists in Mauritania and Mali before Ghana's emergence.

Moreover, al-Bakri's account of Ghana's monarch and religion does not indicate any sort of "white" origin. Certainly, there is even far less evidence for Delafosse's "Jewish" theory of the origins of Ghana. If Jews from Cyrenaica had settled in the Awkar or other heartlands of the Ghana empire ca. 150-200 AD, establishing the kingdom by the year 300, one would imagine they would have left behind evidence in terms of synagogues, inscriptions, religion, or ritual objects in the Sahel or southern Sahara. Jewish populations were definitely present in the region several centuries later, after the increase in the scale of trans-Saharan trade. Another fanciful theory might attempt to link the origins of Ghana to Egypt or Nubia, but one would think evidence of such contacts should appear in the archaeological record. However, al-Bakri's description of royal funerary customs and the discovery of elite burials in the forms of tumuli in Mali and Senegal do suggest kings were buried with their possessions and some of their human servants, a custom that appeared on the Nile Valley thousands of years previously. This in itself proves nothing, however, and one finds no indication of Egyptian or Nubian deities in the territories associated with Ghana. 

Last, but certainly not least, one has the problematic origin theories of Frobenius, who saw a connection to the lost civilization of Atlantis in ancient "Black Africa." Through stories like "Gassire's Lute" and Frobenius's influential writings, he appears to have invented the idea of an epic cycle of stories of the Soninke, and wishes to connect them to his wider theories. While the Legend of Wagadu does indeed exist among Soninke populations dispersed across a large swathe of West Africa, and some of the oral traditions clearly reflect Islamization in their desire to trace the origin of Dinga to the Middle East, there is no evidence for an epic tradition akin to Frobenius's description. Undoubtedly, there is no evidence for ancient Atlantis or much of any contact between the Soninke and the Mediterranean world before the 8th century. 

As for the Arab ancestry of the 12th century Muslim king of Ghana identified by al-Idrissi, that is clearly a significant change from the "pagan" kings described in the 1000s. According to al-Bakri, kings like Basi and Tunkamenin were friendly with Muslims and included them in the royal administration. But besides the mention of one of Basi's son possibly being a Muslim, there is no evidence of significant penetration of Islam among the royalty of Ghana in the 11th century. Silla, a town identified by al-Bakri as resisting Ghana and having a Muslim king, may point to another example of a Soninke ruler converting to Islam. A century later, however, the kings of Ghana were affiliated with Islam and, per al-Idrissi, claimed descent from the Prophet's family. However, claims of sharifian descent are not unheard of among converted peoples. It only reveals the extent to which the king of Ghana and his Muslim contemporaries saw him as part of Islam.

However, the interplay of oral and written traditions of the Soninke and local chronicles do support some of the Arabic sources from al-Bakri onwards. For instance, one of the named kings of the 11th century, Tunkamenin, suggests a Soninke origin for the ruling dynasty. The title tunka among the Soninke signifies royalty, perhaps indicating al-Bakri combined the Soninke title with the name of the king. Soninke oral traditions also speak of a serpent associated with the fortune of the kingdom. Al-Bakri describes such a custom among an affiliated group in the Ghana kingdom (perhaps a Soninke sub-group). Furthermore, many of the towns along the Senegal, Faleme, and Niger rivers identified in the medieval Arabic sources appear in Soninke oral traditions of their dispersal from Wagadu. The patronymic clan names, serpent Bida, and other oral sources attest to the veracity of some of the North African, Iberian, and Middle Eastern geographies and reports. 

Moreover, the Timbuktu chronicles suggest the fall of the kayamaga (one of the titles of the rulers of Ghana after conflict with a group affiliated with a lower caste, servile origin, or ignoble roots. This may indicate the fall of the kayamaga after conflict with one of the "slaves of the state" lineages or caste groups. Perhaps the fall of the so-called Cisse dynasty represents the end of a non-Muslim line of kings, assuming the oral traditions are reliable on this point. But the line of kayamaga identified in the Tarikh al-Fattash suggest an end of their dynasty around the 7th or 8th century, identifying their last prince as Kanissa'ai. If true, were the kayamaga identified in the chronicle an early dynasty that was replaced by the Cisse? If the kayamaga line ended by the 7th or 8th century, they were certainly non-Muslim and perhaps the usurpers may have been of a servile lineage or caste group who decimated the old aristocracy.  

Although very limited and relying on oral sources to describe events centuries before their 17th century context, the Timbuktu chronicles do give us the capital of Ghana (Kumbi) and point to some type of conflict that may have reflected the impact of new ideas or intensified social relations (slavery, Islam, Mande caste systems, an expansion of Soninke trading diasporas?). Tamari's essay on the origins of the Mande caste system argues that it emerged among the Malinke peoples prior to the Soninke, appearing among the former by the 13th century. I would argue that it's probably older, and if the example of Ghana was a model of sorts to successor empires, there probably was some form of occupational castes among the Soninke during the period of Ghana. The caste system and Soninke social structure of the ethnographic present might demonstrate that Ghana's social structure consisted of free-born nobles, warriors, chiefs, traders, farmers, caste groups, and slaves. Perhaps the predecessor to the marabouts in pre-Islamic times were the priests of the "traditional" religion, associated with the "idols," ancestor veneration, secret societies, divination and rites. If the kayamaga line ended in the first century of Islam,  there may have already been dynastic change before the appearance of Ghana on the world scene, caused in part by servile populations such as the Kusa (slaves of the state) or conflict over control of the expanding trans-Saharan trade.

What this tells us about Ghana before the 8th or 9th century, I am not sure. Yet, the pre-Islamic foundations of the state appear quite clear, even predating evidence for trans-Saharan trade. It is only in the 12th century when evidence for Muslim kings among the royal dynasty appear, although some of the royalty and chiefs may have converted in the 11th century. Of course, the cousin of Tunkamenin identified as a ruler of Alouken, said to be a Muslim, had to hide his religion from his subjects. If true, this suggests that the Soninke rulers had to, at least publicly, support the "traditional" religion. But in order to control the distribution of gold from the south, impose a system of taxation, and demand tribute from subject towns or polities under its hegemony, there must have been political, economic, and social organization of some magnitude. By the 11th century, literate Muslims were involved in the administration, but one can surmise there already was something akin to Mande occupational castes for ironworkers, leatherworkers, and other occupations on the village level. Presumably, masons, weavers, craftsmen and other groups existed in the towns to produce the stone buildings in the royal city, but they might not have been organized into caste groups, if Djenne and Timbuktu exemplify a regional trend.

There probably were slaves of the king who may have served as local administrators or agricultural workers, while the majority of the population would have been "free" farmers or cultivators. Soninke traders must have also been on the move in southeastern Mauritania, the lands along the Senegal River, and the Inland Niger Delta relatively early on to ensure the distribution of gold from alluvial deposits in the south. Since Ghana did not directly control gold production, it is difficult to say who the people panning for gold were. Seasonal workers? As for the military of Ghana, al-Bakri's mention of 200,000 soldiers is impossible to verify. It also conflicts with his statement the land of Ghana was poorly peopled, unless the bulk of the soldiers came from lands further south among tributary towns. However, it does indicate the likely power and military might of the state, even if it was probably not a standing army. Either way, this military apparatus would have depended on an adequate supply of food, horses, arrows, spears, and other weapons, suggesting some degree of centralization to ensure distribution and security along trade routes.

Since the royal town, perhaps Kumbi, was affiliated with the "traditional" religion of "idolatry," ancestor veneration, sacrificial offerings, massive groves, and the massive mound burials of the royalty, religion must have played a role in legitimating the king's authority. According to ak-Bakri, the ruling king before Tunkamenin was blind, but had to hide it from his subjects. This could reflect a belief in the king's body as sacred or infallible. The Islamic influence prior to the 12th century must have been mostly concentrated in the towns and cities, but it is possible that Islamic-derived divination practices may have already exerted some influence on local practices among the Soninke. Some of the trading diasporas of the Soninke (Wangara?) may have been early converts to Islam, too. Whether or not the religion had any appeal to commoners or rural areas is unknown, but may have coexisted rather peacefully with local religions. If the conversion of some of the ruling elite to Islam weakened the dynasty's authority, it may have paved the way for factional conflict by the time of the Almoravid dynasty, and eventual fall ca. 1203 to the Sosso. It certainly would have required an adaptation or modification of earlier notions of royal authority, but the later Mali kings of the 13th century and 14th century appear to have combined local sources of royal authority with their Muslim religion. Indeed, if the Arabic sources can be trusted, an early Muslim king of Mali went so far as to destroy the idols of his "pagan" subjects, but retained his royal position.

So, what do we really know about early Ghana? It is likely that there was some connection to the Tichitt Tradition in prehistoric Mauritania, but Iron Age sites further south in Mali could prove to be the real origin of the state. There is no evidence whatsoever for a "Hamitic Hypothesis." Nor can one attribute the rise of Ghana to the stimulus of the trans-Saharan trade, although it definitely shaped later developments. The chronology of the ruling dynasty (or dynasties) is also uncertain, but the Soninke are unquestionably tied to it. What "Soninke" meant over 1000 years ago is of course not the same as our modern conception of it, naturally. Identities and languages were presumably fluid, and general similarities in conceptions of the world or social organization among Mande peoples probably indicate a degree of cultural similarity between differing ethnic groups. Ghana's significance as an empire comprised of different states and peoples is a testament to the cultural mosaic of the Sahel, and developments in Ghana also paved the way for transformations that altered the rest of West Africa.

Sources

Bakrī, Abū ʻUbayd ʻAbd Allāh ibn ʻAbd al-ʻAzīz, and William MacGuckin Slane. Description De L'Afrique Septentrionale. 2. éd. Alger: A. Jourdan, 1911. 

Burkhalter, Sheryl L. "Listening for Silences in Almoravid History: Another Reading of "The Conquest That Never Was"." History in Africa 19 (1992): 103-31. Accessed November 5, 2020. doi:10.2307/3171996.

Clozel, F.-J. (François-Joseph), and Maurice Delafosse. Haut--Sénégal--Niger (Soudan Franc̜ais): Séries D'etudes Pub. Sous La Direction De M. Le Gouverneur Clozel .. Paris: E. Larose, 1912.

Conrad, David C. "Oral Sources on Links between Great States: Sumanguru, Servile Lineage, the Jariso, and Kaniaga." History in Africa 11 (1984): 35-55. Accessed November 4, 2020. doi:10.2307/3171626.

 Conrad, David, and Humphrey Fisher. "The Conquest That Never Was: Ghana and the Almoravids, 1076. I. The External Arabic Sources." History in Africa 9 (1982): 21-59. Accessed November 5, 2020. doi:10.2307/3171598.

Diop, Majhemout. Histoire Des Classes Sociales Dans L'Afrique De L'ouest. Paris: L'Harmattan, 1985.

Fage, J. D. "ANCIENT GHANA: A REVIEW OF THE EVIDENCE." Transactions of the Historical Society of Ghana 3, no. 2 (1957): 3-24. Accessed November 5, 2020. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41405704.

 Gomez, Michael A. African Dominion: A New History of Empire in Early and Medieval West Africa. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2018

 Hopkins, J. F. P., and Nehemia Levtzion. Corpus of Early Arabic Sources for West African History. 1st Markus Weiner Publishers ed. Princeton [N.J.]: Markus Wiener Publishers, 2000.

Kassibo, Bréhima. "La Géomancie Ouest-africaine. Formes Endogènes Et Emprunts Extérieurs (West African Geomancy: Endogenous and Borrowed Forms)." Cahiers D'Études Africaines 32, no. 128 (1992): 541-96. Accessed November 5, 2020. http://www.jstor.org/stable/4392411.

Levtzion, Nehemia, and American Council of Learned Societies. Ancient Ghana and Mali. New York, N.Y.: Africana Pub. Company, 1980. 

Magnavita, Soja. "Initial Encounters: Seeking traces of ancient trade connections between West Africa and the wider world", Afriques, 04 | 2013, mis en ligne le 25 mai 2013, consulté le 05 novembre 2020. URL : http://journals.openedition.org/afriques/1145; DOI: https://doi.org/10.4000/afriques.1145

McIntosh, Susan Keech. "Reconceptualizing Early Ghana." Canadian Journal of African Studies / Revue Canadienne Des Études Africaines 42, no. 2/3 (2008): 347-73. Accessed November 5, 2020. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40380172.

Munson, Patrick J. "Archaeology and the Prehistoric Origins of the Ghana Empire." The Journal of African History 21, no. 4 (1980): 457-66. Accessed November 2, 2020. http://www.jstor.org/stable/182004.

Pollet, Eric, and Grace Winter. La Société Soninké (Dyahunu, Mali). Bruxelles: Éditions de l'Institut de sociologie, Université libre de Bruxelles, 1971. 

 Saʻdī, ʻAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʻAbd Allāh, and John O. Hunwick. Timbuktu and the Songhay Empire: Al-Saʻdi's Taʼrikh Al-Sudan Down to 1613 and Other Contemporary Documents. Leiden ; Boston: Brill, 1999. 

Tamari, Tal. "The Development of Caste Systems in West Africa." The Journal of African History 32, no. 2 (1991): 221-50. Accessed November 3, 2020. http://www.jstor.org/stable/182616.

Timbuktī, Maḥmūd Kutī ibn Mutawakkil Kutī, Christopher Wise, and Hala Abu Taleb. Taʼrīkh Al Fattāsh =: The Timbuktu Chronicles, 1493-1599 : English Translation of the Original Works in Arabic By Al Hajj Mahmud Kati. Trenton, N.J.: Africa World Press, 2011.

Yves Urvoy and Borno

Yves Urvoy's Histoire de l'Empire du Bornou remains a key text on the history of Kanem-Borno. Although published during the colonial era, and deeply indebted to the Hamitic Hypothesis, and based on, from what we could ascertain, several questionable and dated translations of Arabic sources from the medieval era, Urvoy's survey provides an early overview of Kanem-Borno civilization from its origins to the colonial conquests. Unfortunately, blinded by racialist ideologies and therefore offering just-so theories of "white" nomads from the north and east interacting with "black" peasant or sedentary populations to create the "Sudanic" state in early Kanem, Urvoy's racial biases became the foundation for his explanation of its genesis. 

Thus, the Sao and local "black" populations of the era were politically fragmented, 'primitive' and the great Sudanic kingdoms and empires could only have come about through "Hamitic" or "white" nomadic groups with their racial pride and contacts with the more advanced Mediterranean or Middle Eastern worlds. Without any evidence, Urvoy can reach such conclusions based on colonial-era racial ideologies and justifications. Indeed, at times Urvoy's condescending tone is quite palpable to the reader. So, Urvoy's text is weak in its theoretical foundations, offering a "racialist" perspective on African history with little to no evidence. Like Palmer, he interprets oral traditions of eastern origins as literal history, although without the faulty linguistic and etymological gymnastics of Palmer. 

That said, Urvoy provided one of the better overviews of Kanem-Borno's history from its little known origins to the colonial era. His study benefitted from the collections of oral sources and primary source materials unknown or inaccessible to European writers like Barth and Nachtigal in the previous century. Urvoy also had some familiarity with primary sources like the Agadez Chronicle and early archaeological excavations in the region, all tools that seem to have not been available to Barth or Nachtigal. Of course, one can also take issue with the faulty chronology and dates for the Sefuwa dynasty mais created by Urvoy, which are certainly less accurate than that of Lange. 

Moreover, some of his conclusions about the weakness of different Sefuwa kings in the 17th and 18th century may not account for the shifting base of power and authority over 1000 years. For example, a strong or reputable mai may not necessarily require constant military campaigns. One is tempted to think Urvoy may have been applying stereotypes based on the history of the Roman Empire or Europe to describe some of the allegedly weak or incompetent kings. However, we here at the blog appreciated his breakdown of Kanem-Borno imperial administration and his attempt at analysis, based on our limited sources, of various eras in the millenium-long history of the Sefuwas, and the attempts by the Shehu dynasty to defend the Empire.

The Kanuri of Bornu

Cohen's ethnographic study of the Kanuri people was based on research from the 1950s and 1960s in a village called Magumeri. Focusing on the household unit as the basic building block of Kanuri society, the basis for economic, familial, political, and productive activity, Cohen's The Kanuri of Bornu suggests a certain degree of continuity in Kanuri social structure that may stretch backwards in time for several centuries. Certainly back to the time of the Sefuwa dynasty's relocation to Borno from their Kanem, some of the features of 20th century Kanuri society may have already been in place. Of course, one must be careful using the ethnographic present to inform our understanding of precolonial eras. But, the period of British colonial rule seems to have continued many aspects of local government already in place by the Shehus, who in turn retained multiple aspects of Borno's political administration already established by the Sefuwa mais. Thus, one can reasonably assert that the household with its patriarchal, virilocal structure and emphasis on discipline-respect (for relationships between superiors and subordinates/clients) has probably been a dominant trend in Kanuri culture for at least a few centuries. 

Of course, the long process in which the ancestors of the Kanuri migrated to Borno from Kanem, interacting and intermarrying with other populations and becoming more influenced by Islam since the Islamization of the Sefuwas and their Magumi clan in the late 11th century, makes it difficult to know with certainty how many of the foundational elements of Kanuri society were present in the early days of the Kanem kingdom. Perhaps the early ancestors of the Kanuri during their days in Kanem were more nomadic or semi-nomadic, with less focus on agriculture and probably, as Cohen asserts, very decentralized politically. Nonetheless, the description of the household as observed by Cohen, with its focus on "discipline-respect" and the attraction of clients to wealthy men (or wealth in dependents and redistribution) probably go back several centuries. The organization of craft production on a guild model likely also exceeds far back in time, as does the widespread cottage industry level of production during dry seasons. Perhaps even under the reign of the mais peasants were able to assert some degree of agency through migration and complaints to officials, the representatives of the fief-holders who stayed in the capital of Gazargamu.

Thus, for those curious about how Kanem-Borno may have functioned in pre-19th century eras, Cohen's study offers some fascinating theories and details. Much of how trade operated in the distant past or perhaps the so-called feudal aspects of land tenure and administration in rural areas was likely different. Yet Cohen's ethnography suggests a great degree of continuity still present in the 1960s, albeit penetrated by "modernization" at varying levels. One also gets a glimpse of how the peasantry and artisans may have interacted with the upper classes through social relations filtered through the lens of the household. One weakness of Cohen's study, however, is the omission of urbanization as a historical factor in Kanem-Borno's long history. How did urban centers operate in the precolonial era? To what extent was or is there continuity? What about pre-moden wage laborers and the importance of slavery and the slave trade? Or Borno's complex history of empire and relations with neighbors? What we need next is a detailed history of Borno that integrates anthropological research with what the historical sources tell us...

Kanem-Borno and the East?

I have become obsessed with the question of east-west trade and cultural contacts in Sudanic Africa. After all, why wouldn't there have been contact of some sort between Nubia and the lands further west, especially in the Darfur, Kordofan, and Chad regions? From what I can tell, the most fervent proponent of theories connecting ancient Nubian civilizations with lands to the west was Arkell, who relied on inconclusive evidence and problematic assumptions. Sure, there may have been pottery at Chad sites that kind of resembles Meroitic pottery, but until archaeologists uncover more evidence (like obviously Meroitic or Christian Nubian items), the theory of east-west contacts and diffusion remains uncertain. Certainly, the eventual deciphering of the Meroitic language might reveal something about the nature of the Middle Nile's contacts with peoples to the west, just as additional excavations in Darfur and the Kordofan could reveal new connections.

How about after the fall of Meroe, particularly during the period of Christian kingdoms in Nubia? While Nubian and local Kanem-Borno sources seem to indicate no connections, a perusal of Vantini's collection of  Oriental Sources Concerning Nubia do suggest possible trade and conflicts between Christian Nubia and the lands to their west. Unfortunately, most of the Arabic sources on Kanem, and all the lands between Lake Chad and the Nile are confused, ambiguous, or contradictory. It does not help that Kanem's origins, apparently first ruled by "Zaghawa" peoples, are not very detailed in the various 8th-11th century sources. Early Arabic sources mentioning the "Zaghawa" and Kanem associate the two, although Kanem was already identified as multiethnic and consisting of agriculturalists and pastoralists. Early sources point to the lack of towns until the 900s, when Manan and perhaps Tarazaki are mentioned as "Kanem" or "Zaghawa" towns. It is described as a vast kingdom, in between Gao to the west and the lands of the Nuba (Nubians) to the east. By the 1100s, the "Zaghawa" are separated from Kanem by al-Idrisi, who suggests the Zaghawa now ruled a kingdom between Kanem and Nubia. In al-Idrisi's confusing account, the Zaghawa and another population (Tajuwa) are described as bordering Nubia, and al-Idrisi mentions a Nubian attack on a town of the Tajuwa people. His brief account also suggests the "Zaghawa" vassal state of Kanem produced handicrafts and included several well-populated villages. Other sources preceding al-Idrisi claimed the Zaghawa were fighting the Nubians (al-Masudi). 

If true, this indicates that the western extent of the Nubian states may have reached the Darfur area and the Kordofan. There may have been an interest on the part of Nubian states to pursue western trade routes that might have connected them to Kanem and, perhaps, the Maghreb. The Arabic sources on Kanem from the 8th-13th century point to stronger trade ties with lands to their north (through the Kawar and Fezzan, with Ibadite Berbers) than their east, though they are also somewhat vague about the rise of trade networks, towns, and possible regional trade. Furthermore, it is possible Arabic sources would not mention Nubian trade with the Zaghawa and Kanem if their trade routes were rarely traversed by North Africans or Arabs. Yet cryptic references to "black" Christians in the lands between Kanem and Nubia also suggest possible ties to Nubia, although the "Bakarmi" Christians may have been descendants of a group converted to Christianity around the same time as the Garamantes in the 6th century. Furthermore, the Bakarmi are described as being Muslim if residing by Kanem, pagan if neighboring the Zaghawa, and Christian when bordering Nubia, suggesting that they were a population under various influences from their western and eastern neighbors.

The best early source on the full extent of Kanem can be found in the 13th century account of Ibn Said al-Andalusi. He relies on the work of a Ibn Fatima who visited Kanem during the reign of Dunama, an expansionist king seen as promoting Islam and expanding the power of Kanem. If Ibn Said's account is accurate, Kanem possessed several towns around Lake Chad, dominated the Kawar oasis (the Diwan of Kanem mentions previous Kanem kings sending slave colonies to the region in the 1000s, perhaps to exploit salt mining?), and the king even possessed gardens near the capital, Njimi, with sugarcane plantations. He is described as ruling over various Saharan and Sahelian regions, including Berber subjects who were slaves of the king. Of course, by the 13th century, the kings of Kanem had been Muslim for generations, even predating the Sefuwa dynasty which replaced the "Duguwa" ("Zaghawa") rulers of early Kanem. Arabic accounts suggest a great degree of continuity in kingship, particularly in the "divine" powers or attributes of the mais of Kanem. Such "divine" features of Kanem kingship carried on well into the Bornu successor state/empire, too. If one were a diffusionist, one could try to attribute this to the influence of Meroe and ancient Nubia in the Chad region. Of course, there is no evidence for that, and the earliest date one could claim for Kanem's foundation would probably be the 7th century, centuries after the fall of Meroe. It is unlikely that "Zaghawa" and Teda or Tubu nomads in the Libyan Sahara or Chad region were connected to Meroe, but Ibn Said does claim the kings of Kanem migrated from the Nile. One must read that with caution, however, as medieval Islamic geographers connected the Nile to the Niger in West Africa, believing it ran from the Senegal and Niger rivers through Kanem before reaching Nubia and Egypt.

Based on the 13th century description of Kanem, it is clear the empire had already achieved some degree of a strong regional economy with control of Saharan salt deposits, southern Saharan trade routes, and a strong agricultural base in the lands to the south. They also had "pagan" enemies on the southern shores of Lake Chad and other lands to raid for spoils and captives to trade to their northern (and eastern?) partners. They were clearly trading with North Africa and Egypt, so why not Nubia? Trade routes through the east, particularly if the "Zaghawa" were still subjects, would have provided access to goods from Egypt, the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. The east could have also provided horses, luxury goods, glassware, textiles, precious stones, and cowries, the last being used as currency in Kanem by the 1300s. If the east-west trade routes could be secured in the lands between Kanem and Nubia, and prices were lower than paying for the added costs of distribution across the Sahara, why not pursue that? I suppose the importance Kanem attached to northern expansion into the Sahara during the 1200s suggests that was a likely focus of their monarchs, but an eastern trade route would have been a wise pursuit to have alternative access to Egyptian, Indian, Middle Eastern, and Asian commodities.

So, what would Nubia have received in return from trade with Kanem and lands to their west and southwest? It seems historians still have much work to do to uncover the nature of trade in medieval Nubia, making it difficult to come to any clear idea. However, Arabic sources point to large towns and trading centers connecting Nubia with Ethiopia, Egypt, the Beja (between Nubia and the Red Sea ports of Aydhab and Suakin) and lands to their west. There may have been a trade route connecting Alwa to trans-Saharan trade with the Maghreb, too. Enigmatic references to monasteries, Nubian settlements west of the Nile, and subject peoples (highlanders) in lands further west suggest the Christian states of Makuria and Alwa may have bordered the "Zaghawa" at various moments. Conflicts probably arose, but it is possible the Zaghawa may have seen an opportunity to engage in trade, perhaps exchanging captives, ivory, or even goods from the Maghreb for Nubian textiles, ceramics, foodstuffs, or Asian products. 

Kanem and its affiliated tributary regions could have provided some of the slaves that the Nubian states were allegedly dependent on for trade with Egypt and the Red Sea. Muslims may have played a role as intermediaries, especially so if they had their own quarter at Soba, the capital of Alwa. Nubia may have also exported some of its architectural traditions further west, perhaps diffusing the fired-brick technology to royal towns of Kanem before the rise of the successor Borno state. Kanem would have also had contacts with Nubia through Egypt, and it is uncertain if religious differences would have made Nubia an unattractive trading partner. If anything, trade between the two spheres of influence would have connected trade routes across Sudanic Africa, and perhaps promote Kanem's central position's advantage as a source of goods acquired from the trans-Saharan trade and Asian or Middle Eastern products entering the continent from East Africa or the Red Sea. Nubia, if trade relations with the Arabs, Egyptians, Beja, and Ethiopians were harmonious (sometimes Nubians raided Beja settlements, so relations were not invariably positive), would have been a great position to connect via the Nile and overland routes, to their western neighbors. Kanem would benefit by having two trade routes leading to Asian, European, and North African commodities and manufactured products. The other question is, who arranged and managed this trade? The kings of Kanem and Nubia? Muslim merchants? Evidence from Borno by the 1500s would suggest trade routes and caravans connected it to Darfur, Sennar, and the Red Sea, but by then most of the traders would have been Muslims.

Without additional archaeological work, this remains speculative. But it might explain a facet of relations across Sudanic Africa that possibly predates or coexisted with trans-Saharan trade relations. It also begs the question of intra-Sudanic relations, cultural exchange, architectural influences, The paucity of written sources from Kanem or Borno on their relationship with the lands to their east complicates the matter. Arabic sources on early Kanem do not reveal much and only hint at conflict or contact with Christian Nubia. They also give the impression that Kanem was less wealthy and important than Gao, Ghana, and Mali. However, if there was an east-west trade route that largely excluded North Africans, they might not have been aware of its magnitude and possible impact on the 'Central Sudan.' This might have contributed to the exponential growth of Kanem in the 13th and 14th centuries, as access to Eastern goods via Nubia could have provided Kanem with trading parters to their west and south, as well as another source of horses for their important cavalry. Perhaps in the near future historians and archaeologists will uncover more evidence of these aforementioned forms of intra-African trade. It might explain pre-Islamic Mediterranean or Egyptian goods found in West Africa, as well as the use of cowrie shells from the Indian Ocean as currency in Kanem and its western neighbors.

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Schultze, Arnold, and Philip Askell Benton. The Sultanate of Bornu. London, New York [etc.]: H. Milford, 1913.

Unesco. International Scientific Committee for the Drafting of a General History of Africa. General History of Africa. London : Berkeley: Heinemann Educational Books ; University of California Press, 1981.

Urvoy, Y. (Yves François Marie Aimé). Histoire De L'empire Du Bornou. Paris: Larose, 1949.

Vantini, Giovanni. Oriental Sources Concerning Nubia. Heidelberg: Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1975. 

A Focus on Kanem

 

Kanem c. 1100, according to Yves Urvoy. While his chronology is questionable and his study of Kanem-Borno reflects the colonial era in which it was produced, it remains an important source. The "Bagama" were the "Black Berbers" of al-Bakri, but some of the other named peoples or kingdoms in this map may not have existed in 1100.
 

One of the well-known polities of medieval Africa that, surprisingly, seems often overlooked, is that of Kanem. Take the recently published African Dominion by Gomez, for instance. His study of the famous civilizations that existed in the "Western Sudan" region along or near the Niger only references Kanem a few times. Sure, Kanem was part of the "Central Sudan" and probably culturally (and linguistically) different from most of the peoples to their west (with the possible exception of a few Nilo-Saharan speakers like the Songhai). But one would think the early conversion of Kanem's royalty in the 11th century and their state's longevity (or at least the longevity of the Sefawa dynasty of Kanem and Borno) would attract more interest. Is it, perhaps, due to the ignominious "honor" of Kanem's alleged reliance on the slave trade for its trans-Saharan economic relationships? Or, is it due to the general ignorance of most Westerners of the regions between the Niger and the Nile? Or is it partly a result of the questionable reliability of the Girgam and chronicles of Kanem-Borno, surely reflecting a pro-Sefuwa outlook? Surely, the Borno state of the Sefawa dynasty, which relocated to the areas southwest of Lake Chad by the late 14th century, has attracted much attention from scholars, particularly on the topics of Islam, diplomatic ties, trans-Saharan and trans-Sudanic links, and regional economies in the "Central Sudan."

So, let's shift our focus back to Kanem, its obscure origins, and the foundations of the well-known Borno empire of more recent centuries. It is difficult to trace the origins of Kanem, as the earliest Arabic references to it are probably from the 7th or 8th centuries. Arabic external sources allude to it as a kingdom of the "Zaghawa" people, which is probably a reference to a plethora of nomadic "black" Saharan and Sahelian populations north and east of Lake Chad (Tubu, Zaghawa, Teda, ancestors of the Kanembu and Kanuri peoples). However, there may be references to groups related to the founders of Kanem from the time of Herodotus and Antiquity. For instance, the "Ethiopian" troglodytes hunted by the Garamantes, according to the "father of History," may very well have been ancestors of the Tubu peoples, who are known to have resided in caves of the Tibetsi region during winter months. It is also likely that the carbuncles used by pharoanic Egypt and traded by the Garamantes came from the land of the Tubu peoples, who very well could have become part of the Garamantian trading network in the Fezzan and central Sahara. Additional obscure references to the lands north of or near Lake Chad may be the account of Julius Maternus's trip to Agisymba with the king of the Garamantes in the first century of our era. If "Agisymba" was a province of the Garamantian network or subject kingdom that rebelled, perhaps in the vicinity of Lake Chad, as suggested by Lange, then it could very well be an early example of long-distance trade networks across the Sahara between what would later become parts of Kanem and the Libyan Fezzan. Since little is known about the Garamantes themselves, perhaps some of their population or at least trading partners were the forebears of groups like the Goran.

While the nature of contact between the Garamantes and the peoples to their south remains a topic of debate, it is likely that the Garamantes were known to the nomadic or semi-nomadic populations north of Lake Chad. Indeed, the very name Kanem points to the region as the "south," with a founding dynasty likely from lands further north. Perhaps the Garamantes and groups who were ancestors of the Tubu, Zaghawa, Kanembu, and related peoples collaborated through trade. The question of the origin of the Garamantes themselves may point to ancient intermarriage with Saharan populations akin to Tubus, perhaps resulting in "mixed-race" populations similar to those existing among some of the Tuareg and Saharan or Sahelian populations of today. While the Tubus were nomadic groups, a relationship based on trade or mutual interest could have aligned them with sedentary groups like the Garamantes, who relied on intensive irrigation as the basis for their towns and villages in the Fezzan's oases. Perhaps they provided captives to the Garamantes for agricultural labor, too, raiding their neighbors for slaves to incorporate in their own society and to sell to the north.

It is possible a similar dynamic existed with peoples to the south, who may have come to rely on nomadic Nilo-Saharan speakers to protect their villages and trading caravans, provide cattle or watch livestock and establish, if possible, direct ties with the Fezzan and areas to the north and east. This could explain why Leo Africanus and others claim the kings of Borno, the Sefawa dynasty, were descendants of the Berdoa of Libya, probably a reference to the ancient northern origins of the Kanem-Borno kings among the nomadic groups of the Central Sahara and their trading allies to the north. Indeed, references to Christianized populations in the Tibetsi area in external Arabic accounts may also reflect a close relationship between the Garamantes and Goran, allegedly converted to Christianity in the second half of the 6th century. Palmer's Sudanese Memoirs also include origin stories in which the people of Borno claimed descent from Christian Aksum, which Palmer believed was a reflection of the Christian past of some of the early contributors to the making of the Kanuri peoples. Of course, there is no evidence for any Christian origins of early Kanem, but nomadic groups whose people contributed to the confederation or alliance of clans that ruled during the so-called Duguwa dynasty reflect matrimonial alliances between the ruling Magumi clan and Tubu-Deza peoples (as well as the Zaghawa). They also would have likely encountered Christians in the Fezzan and Nubia, which might explain place names like Qasr Umm Isa. Clearly, the origins of Kanem, in part, owe much to nomadic populations to the north, unlike the mostly sedentary populations of the Soninke who developed Wagadu/Ghana to the west.

Of course, any attempt at elucidating the origins of Kanem-Borno must take into consideration proto-urban and urban sites south and east of Lake Chad. With increasing signs of social complexity and ironworking around Lake Chad from 500 BCE to 500 CE, the peoples of the lands south of the nomadic peoples were also transforming their settlements and social organization. Sites like Zilum, for instance, were walled settlements with thousands of inhabitants, showing evidence of craft specialists and, perhaps, cultural influences from afar. For instance, Koro Toro pottery, said to resemble Meroitic pottery, (maybe only through the use of geometric designs) in Chad very well could reflect a movement of ideas or cultural exchange with Nubia. The horses and donkeys used in the Lake Chad basin region probably also came from Nubia or Egypt. The use of fortifications at sites in the Lake Chad basin also point to conflict, perhaps between early city states (the so-called "Sao") possibly in conflict over resources or trade, or with incoming herders from the north. But relations between nomads and sedentary farmers were not always based on conflict, and early Kanem was a multiethnic state consisting of farmers as well as pastoralists. The ultimate origins of Kanem, probably by the 7th or 8th century, lay in a union of herders, farmers, and nomadic peoples who may have continued trade and social relations that first developed from the time of the Garamantes and likely connected the region to lands to their east and north. 

With the rise of the Duguwa dynasty, said to have begun under King Dugu in the 700s or 800s, the so-called "Zaghawa" rulers of Kanem, identified in external Arabic sources, ruled over a multitude of peoples in what was probably a decentralized state. It may have been similar to that of states ruled by other nomadic peoples in the Saharan region, like the Sanhaja confederation to the west. Unlike Saharan Berbers, however, early Kanem appears to have resisted conversion to Islam until the 11th century, when a few of the Duguwa dynasty leaders, according to the Girgam, converted. The ruling dynasty probably intermarried with women from different clans among the nomadic sub-groups, if Lange is correct, and likely drew revenue from tribute, raids, wealth in livestock and fees on trading caravans. Close ties via marriage between the ruling dynasty and various nomadic groups was probably key to ensuring their loyalty and protecting trade interests. Kanem was a significant trading partner for the provision of slaves to Ibadite Muslim traders based at Zuwila in the Fezzan, and, according to al-Bakri, included Muslims among their subjects at least since the fall of the Ummayad caliphs. A group of refugees of the Umayyads supposedly resided in the lands of Kanem, if al-Bakri's to be trusted. Intriguingly, stories of Umayyad refugees seeking succor in Nubia but failing to find it appear in histories of Nubia. Perhaps some of the Ummayads who sought refuge in Nubia made it to Kanem, possibly traveling west from Nubia or south from Libya? Early Kanem's kings, said to wear silk and woolen garments and possess no towns until the 10th century, may have been quite mobile, moving around their vast domains while ruling over a loosely structured state that protected trade interests and organized raids. They imported textiles, cloth, and other manufactured or luxury goods from the north in exchange for slaves. 

Kanem's early kings, said by external sources to be "divine" to their subjects, and often secluded, were probably expected to redistribute some of their wealth to their dependents, and often counted their wealth in terms of livestock or camels. The state's dependence on slave trading likely necessitated some form of military organization, probably based on cavalry, camelry, and the archers mentioned in the Arabic sources. As the "Zaghawa" eventually were living in between Kanem and Nubia, and supposedly at conflict with Nubia, one would not be surprised if Kanem and its vassal states or peoples were raiding and trading far and wide between the Niger and Nile, perhaps playing a pivotal role in the development of trade routes or towns in the Darfur region by the 12th century, if al-Idrisi is reliable. Unlike the states to the west, such as Ghana and Kawkaw (Gao), al-Bakri's and al-Idrisi's descriptions of Kanem seem to indicate it was less known, perhaps received fewer visitors and traders. Al-idrisi's description of Manan and Njimi, two of Kanem's towns, suggest little commerce and wealth. The "Zaghawa" town to the east, en route to Nubia, however, was surrounded by villages and possessed some commerce, perhaps pointing to trade contacts with Egypt and Nubia and some kind of tributary or trade partnership with Kanem. 

Unfortunately, without substantial advances in archaeological work in the Kanem region, which might one day identify Manan, Tarazaki, Njimi (the capital after Manan, when the Sefuwa dynasty took power) and other sites described in external Arabic sources, much of early Kanem remains shrouded in mystery. Their early towns were said to be constructed with reeds, so early Kanem towns probably did not use brick, clay, and mud-brick. But were their towns walled? Did their small towns have a separate quarter for Muslim traders? Were "casted" groups of blacksmiths already in existence? Did climate change place additional pressure on Kanem to move further south, perhaps contributing to the eventual relocation to Bornu? Was there a feudal-like system in place in which the king appointed officials or subordinates as local rulers over conquered territories in exchange for tribute? And was early Kanem's expansion tied to the appointment of relatives of the king  to high positions in the court and provinces, paving the way for dynastic succession struggles?

One would assume the transition to Islam did not shatter or transform the foundations of the state, as the style of kingship and continued marriages with nomadic groups persisted under the Sefuwa rulers. Indeed, various descriptions of Kanem's kingship from medieval Arabic sources resonate with late 18th century accounts of Borno provided to Descourtilz by "Beurnon" Africans in Saint Domingue. Indeed, one of the reasons Borno kings sometimes took the effort to become learned was the association of education with supernatural powers, again connoting kingship with supernatural authority. It is possible the Kanembu and Kanuri were practicing their own form of a deeply ancient form of sacral kingship, common among Nilo-Saharan groups who were present in Sudan as well as Chad. It is possible that the prominence of queen mothers in the Borno girgam is also a legacy of past traditions of matrilineal descent, something found among the Tuareg as well as Nubia. While it is unlikely that the "divine" or sacral kingship of Kanem really was indebted to Nubia or ancient Egypt, but Lange has argued that the mysterious mune opened by a 13th century Muslim king, Dunama, may have been Amun. Palmer's Sudanese Memoirs also claimed that one of the mythical ancestors of the Kanembu clans was a man named Mune. And the term mani among "pagan" Zaghawa and Beli peoples was a "ram" kept in a cave with other sacred objects. Perhaps the mune opened by Dunama was something akin to a ram, which may have been deeply rooted in Nilo-Saharan pastoral sacral kingship, connecting the mai to ancient cattle cults? Either way, one suspects the king was associated with divine authority in some form. He was said to eat alone, only drink in the presence of high nobles, and speak to subjects through an interpreter while seated behind a screen or in a cage. Intriguingly, the "Duguwa" name survived after the Sefuwa came to power, but arguably became associated with a casted group, blacksmiths. Ethnographic studies complicate any simple association of the Duguwa with casted blacksmiths and hunters in Kanem today, but it does raise some possibilities. Perhaps the origin of the divine or semi-divine kingship of Kanem-Borno may derive from an early association of chiefs and kings with control of metal, forgers, and the "mysteries" and social separation of blacksmiths. Thus, the seclusion of the king may have had distant origins in the control of iron weapons, tools, and metals, indispensable for economic and military development that may have given the Duguwa dominance over other clans. An association of the king with both livestock and metals may have combined as sources of royal legitimacy and mystical meanings.

While the kings of Kanem adopted a fabricated Yemeni origin and became Muslims, many of its subjects were not Islamized until several centuries later. An Islamic superstructure was probably added to the state, and Islam and literacy may have led to the early development of schools and a limited bureaucracy. Kanem's relations with Muslim rulers in Egypt and the Maghreb were aided by the ruling dynasty's conversion, and the various pilgrimages undertaken by Kanem's mais undoubtedly put Kanem on an international scale. For example, the presence of a Kanemi poet at the court of the Almohads already suggests a degree of education and international connections. Dunama Dibalemi, the same Islamic king whose reign was described by Ibn Said al-Andalusi in the 13th century, wanted a reputation as an Islamic reformer and jihadist, ruling over a Muslim state while raiding pagan neighbors on the southern shores of Lake Chad. Among his other subjects were Berbers, supposedly Islamized by Dunama and used in his raids, according to Ibn Said. It was also during his reign that one finds the earliest references to Bornu and subject or vassal provinces along the shores of Lake Chad, as well as royal farms of the mai where sugarcane and other crops were cultivated. Although Ibn Said does not tell us if the laborers were royal slaves, it is likely the case that by the 1200s, Kanem's rulers owned vast estates of land worked by slaves of the crown. Indeed, even pre-Sefuwa rulers, such as king Arki in the 11th century, was said to have sent slave colonies to various sites in the Kawar region (perhaps for extracting salt?). If true, this may have been an early Kanem variant of the slave plantations of the kings of Songhai, or the plantations of 19th century Sokoto.

Ruling over a vast territory, directly or indirectly, required at least some degree of rudimentary bureaucracy. While Scott MacEachern argues for understanding the states of the region as concentric circles, with a primary core, tributary secondary circle, and an outer sphere of lands available for plunder or raids, is probably apt, it is possible that some of the titles and administrative functions of the Borno state were already practiced in Kanem. For instance, military commanders, feudal-like fiefdoms, and aspects of a regional economy based on the exchange of salt, textiles, slaves and ivory were probably already in place by the 1200s, and surely established by the 1400s when the Bulala usurpers (aided by the Tubu) drove the Sefuwa out of Kanem. Kanem's military organization may have been more efficient by the 13th and 14th centuries, including canoes or pirogues for use on Lake Chad as well as, perhaps, 100,000 soldiers. Kanem's kings had already extended dominion over the Fezzan and key trading posts of the Central Sahara by the 1200s, and were engaged in commerce and diplomacy with a variety of powers in North Africa and Egypt. The question of possible commerce and trading ties to Christian Nubia and the Red Sea may likewise indicate another dimension of the state's eastern extent, perhaps even explaining the origin of brick architecture for royal palaces, elite homes, and mosques. It is possibly the case that Kanem was also producing textiles for export to its Sudanic neighbors, as well as using bits of cloth for currency.

Thus, by the 13th century, Kanem was a vast state, probably decentralized and requiring some form of administrative organization that was likely the model for the Borno state of the Sefuwa in the 1400s and 1500s. One can assume some of the social and economic organization of Borno can probably be traced to Kanem, including its forms of social stratification, the differences between the peasantry and nobles, the role of the state in trade and production, and the organization of craft specialists in towns. It is probably the case that the brick architecture of Borno owes its origins to earlier uses of the same construction material in Kanem, perhaps originating in an attempt to architecturally mark the distinction between the homes of elites and commoners. Whereas in the past, when Kanem's king and subjects were said to live in homes of reeds, it is possible that successors to Dunama initiated brick walls and construction to further accent their differentiation. It also suggests they were no longer living a "nomadic" lifestyle of their forebears, preferring established residences that may have contributed to their declining control of nomadic subjects like the Zaghawa in the east or Tubus in the north.

Naturally, there is a danger in the using the ethnographic presence and historical evidence from the Borno period to reconstruct Kanem. But evidence of the breakdown of alliances with nomadic groups to the north can be found in the Tubu alliance with the Bulala in the 14th century. Additional evidence of friction from the Tomagra migration to the Tibetsi from Kanem in the 16th century similar points to conflicts within the original clans of Kanem. The question of Islam and religion may have played a role in this as many of Kanem's population were not Muslims, or only superficially so. The movements of populations from Kanem to Borno, probably part of state policy, also led to the creation of new ethnic groups like the Kanuri, who nonetheless can also be found in oasis towns and villages to the north (again, part of state policy). Clearly, conquests and intermarriage between Chadic-speakers around Lake Chad and Nilo-Saharan groups occurred, and may have contributed to the dynastic conflicts in Kanem after Dunama's reign, when descendants of various lines of the Sefuwa battled over the crown. The state's policy of granting mahrans to learned Muslims and awarding a great deal of autonomy to them during the Borno period may have already contributed to a weakening of state authority in Kanem over some of its provinces, just as ambitious officials and claimants to the throne also vied for authority. Of course, it could also very well be the case that the decline of Kanem in the 1300s owed more to over-expansion and reliance on a feudal-like structure of fiefdoms, which encouraged breakaway provinces or vassals as well as direct challenges to the authority of the king. Moreover, the opening of the mune may have further diminished the legitimacy of the Sefuwa in Kanem, perhaps explaining why former allies like the Tubu supported the Bulala.

Overall, the question of Kanem and its early origins remains a tantalizing subject. There is much speculation and, possibly, over reliance on external Arabic sources and the Girgam. While they help piece together some of the early history of the region and its socio-political organization, additional knowledge attained through archaeology is indispensable for gaining a fuller picture. Undoubtedly, this post itself has repeated or created some of its own speculative claims about Kanem, even suggesting that some of the features of Borno as described by Barkindo almost surely applied to Kanem by the 1100s or 1200s. However, re-reading the corpus of Arabic sources on West Africa, as well as "Oriental" sources on Nubia, point to interesting potential ties and relationships based on trade, commerce, ideas, and military conflict. Like the Gao state's wars with Kanem or possible conflict between Christian Nubia and the Zaghawa near the Chad-Sudan borderlands, there is so much to uncover in the history of the Lake Chad region. These undoubtedly help provide a fuller picture on the nature of the so-called Sudanic state and the impact of trans-Saharan and trans-Sudanic networks in African history.

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