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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