Africanobyzantina

Africanobyzantina is one of those deeply flawed but potentially fruitful analyses of the pre-Islamic past of Sudanic Africa. Positing a significant influence of Byzantium and medieval Nubian civilization on Sudanic Africa in the period of the 500s-700s, Theodōros Papadopoullos essentially restates the Hamitic Hypothesis for elucidating the rise of complex states and kingdoms in the Central and Western Sudan. However, he largely ignores pre-6th century history, overlooking any Egyptian and Kushite influences that permeated "Negro-Sudanese" Africa in Antiquity. So, using the Byzantine-sponsored Christianization of Nubia in the 6th century and the medieval Nubian kingdoms adoption of at least part of the Roman/Byzantine state apparatus and civilization, Papadopoullos endeavors to use a migration of said Nubians to the west to explain the development of civilizations like Kanem, Songhay, the Hausa states, and even the origins of the Jukun, Borgu, and Nupe. 

Like other theories based on the Hamitic Hypothesis, the vector of this civilizing current is presented as likely Zaghawa (although the Tuareg and their possible part eastern origins in northeast Africa is also considered), although the author fails to clarify how nomadic or seminomadic populations in the Sahara or Darfur and Chad were able to create kingdoms that brought Byzantine and oriental (Middle Eastern) statecraft to Black Africans. Presumably, actual Nubians and perhaps Copts and Persians, traveled to West Africa in large enough numbers to transfer aspects of their more "advanced" cultures but, naturally, our oral traditions and legends cited by the author fail to demonstrate this persuasively. Instead, what Papadopoullos achieves is a confused speculative theory based on outdated translations of Arabic sources (which he sometimes fails to address the contradictions of), problematic interpretations of said sources, and a large corpus of oral traditions collected by Frobenius, Meek, H.R. Palmer, and other Western colonial administrator-scholars and ethnographers. While there is undoubtedly great value in some of these traditions and, in the case of Palmer, local manuscripts written by locals in northern Nigeria, the methodological issues, language barriers, colonial context, and disturbing racialized framework adopted by these European scholars are never addressed or interrogated by Papadopoullos.

In spite of our criticisms of the book, there is nonetheless some merit to it. For instance, linguistic evidence studied by Claude Rilly does point to medieval Nubian contacts with peoples in western Sudan and eastern Chad. Some medieval Arabic sources do indeed reference contact between Nubia and the lands to their west. The Tuareg language does indeed include words of Latin or Greek origin that suggest a Christian past. And even some of the Kisra traditions analyzed by Papadopoullos seem to refer to historical events and personages relevant to the Persian conquest of Egypt and Sassanian conflict with the Byzantine Empire. And snippets of a pre-Islamic past that may have once been influenced by Christian Nubia can be occasionally seen here or there, if the references to Nasara or Christian-sounding practices are reliable in the traditions and accounts collected by Meeks, Frobenius and Palmer. Recent scholarship has also pointed out possible links between Nubia and the Lake Chad region through analysis of beads found at a site believed to have been a royal capital of Kanem, possibly Njimi. If the bead assemblage analyzed there was closer to those found in East Africa, and highly unlike the chemical composition of beads found at medieval sites in West Africa, the authors are probably correct to suspect trade links to the east that likely traversed Darfur and Nubia. 

Similarly, the aforementioned linguistic evidence of medieval Nubian influence on languages spoken between the Nile and Lake Chad points to potential Nubian trade, settlement, or migration into some of these areas. Some potential evidence of this can be seen in archaeological sites showing medieval Nubian extension west into Kordofan. Indeed, perhaps Muhammad Bello's tale of the Tuareg migration into Air from Kanem and Borno may have a kernel of truth, too, showing evidence of a Tubu, Kanuri, Tuareg, and Hausa interaction sphere by the 7th or 8th century that may have had ties to Nubia through trade. Archaeological evidence of pre-Islamic trans-Saharan at Marandet, Kissi and other sites that may have traded through the Fazzan or further east with the Nile Valley is also possible. Indeed, the Zaghawa word for king, kire, based on one Beria dictionary, sounds like it may be related to the Meroitic qore. In short, there are number of possible areas of influence from the Nubian civilizations, both Kushite and medieval, in the lands to the west. To what extent they actually influenced the Central and Western Sudan is unknown, but contacts were probable and likely predate medieval Nubia. 

Nonetheless, a deeper study of these aforementioned traditions and sources is required, especially with scholars who are well-versed local languages and have an understanding of how Islamic-influenced histories and legends draw on Jewish and Christian traditions. Due to his reliance on these highly problematic colonial-era scholars and colonial administrators, and the author's reliance on sometimes flawed translations of Arabic materials, he ends up promoting the Hamitic Hypothesis in a slightly different manner yet still flawed and lacking merit. It is also likely that some of the traditions recorded by locals, upon the insistence of Palmer or with his sponsorship, were influenced by more erudite traditions of Islamic history that included more specific knowledge of Sassanian Persian wars with the Byzantine Empire. Indeed, in East Africa, a Swahili poet even wrote about the Heraclius. To what degree the traditions collected by individuals like these actually reflect the Mandara, Borno, Nupe, or Hausa traditions of origin must be addressed, particularly in the ways traditions mutate or incorporate new figures over time. One must also look for actual evidence of migration of Persians, Copts, or Nubians in the period from the 6th century to the 8th century, too, since the author seems to think these Byzantine and eastern influences arrived via actual migratory movements that were associated with the Zaghawa (and, possibly, Tuareg, whose ancestors may have come from the east as well as Berber North Africa).

Christianity and the Garamantes

One topic we hope archaeologists could potentially answer is the possible conversion of the Garamantes to Christianity in the 6th century. We know of at least 4 or 5 6th century sources that refer to Christianity among the Garamantes or with their neighbors, although the most direct source is John of Biclar. John of Biclar, whose chronicle mentioned Garamantian envoys to the Byzantines requesting peace and to become questions, gives a date of 568 or so. However, earlier references in the 6th century hint at a Christian presence among the Garamantes or their neighbors. For instance, Cosmas Indicopleustes, the famous 6th century traveler who is an important source on Aksum during this period, alluded to the land of the Garamantes as one that included churches. 

While Cosmas Indicopleustes may have writing rhetorically to suggest how universal Christianity was, it is interesting that he wrote around 550, several years before the Garamantes sent a delegation to the Byzantine Empire (to the coast or Constantinople?). In addition to these aforementioned writers, Procopius, whose Buildings includes a section on churches and construction in Libya and North Africa during the reign of Justinian. Like the others, Procopius  was writing around the middle of the 6th century, and according to him, the Byzantine Empire promoted Christianity in Ghadames, Augila (including a church for the Mother of God), and among various Berber peoples like the Gadabitani. He rebuilt and refortified cities like Leptis Magna, where he also constructed a chapel in honor of Mary. 

One more 6th century writer of the Roman Empire also alluded, indirectly, to the Garamantes. In his epic on the campaigns of John against the Berbers, Corripus wrote that neighbors of the Garamantes (Nasamonians) were part of the Berber alliance that attacked John. The genre and type of reference used by Corripus here is probably exaggerating the number and diversity of Berber foes John Troglita fought to portray him as a more heroic figure. Nonetheless, we know from earlier incidents that the Garamantes did occasionally participate or join in raids against the Romans on the coast of Libya in earlier centuries. If the Garamantes or their neighbors were involved in the conflict with John Troglita, perhaps it helps explain why they were seeking peace with the Byzantines by 568?

Additional references to the Garamantes in relation to Vandal North Africa (epigrams of Luxorius which reference Garamantes and their dark skin) and the Mediterranean can be found. And The Archaeology of the Fazzan series found evidence of ongoing trade and exchange with the Mediterranean at Garamante sites. However, no evidence of a church has been found at the capital of the Garamantes or any other site. In fact, archaeologists found evidence for the persistence of use of pagan temples. Indeed, Islam itself does not appear to have spread in the capital of the Garamantes for a few centuries after Uqba b. Nafi attacked Garama. Brunschevig also cited evidence that suggests the Fazzanis were pagans in the late 700s. So, what happened? Was Christianization of the Garamantes real or did the distance and realities of Byzantine rule in coastal Libya make it an ineffective mission? Or was the Fazzan already fragmented with a state or chiefdom based at Waddan and, perhaps, Zawila, the real centers of the Fazzan who were more likely to have received an actual church? Was Knut Vikor's theory correct about Qasr Umm Isa in Kawar being Jado (Djado)? If so, perhaps the place name is a testament to that era of 6th century Christian expansion, though we lack any evidence that the Kawar site ever hosted Christians. Besides this speculative theory, references in the early Arabic sources to Egyptians and Rum on an oasis route that connected Egypt to areas of the western Sudan may hint at contacts with Copts and Byzantines in the desert via Fazzan and Kawar. 

Old Nubian Miracle of St. Menas

A nice overview of a medieval Old Nubian text, The Miracle of St. Mena. Although the text is short, the message of the work must have meant something to a medieval Nubian audience and readers. One thing that stood out to us was the failure of the boatman or sailor to do his part by taking the egg to the church of St. Mena. By not doing what he promised, he made it harder for the woman to accept Christianity and convert. One can see the relationship between fertility or having children and Christian devotion was also relevant here, bringing to mind a Coptic custom which involved using a relic of a saint's body in the Nile to ensure it will flood. So, the unnamed woman here, eager to have children, turns to the St. Mena and Christianity and finds herself, her servants, and her livestock producing many children. The other intriguing thing about this short the depiction of St. Mena as a warrior, possibly a sign of the appeal of such saints to Medieval Nubia. 

Tentative Timeline of Hausa History

The following is an early attempt at a timeline for the history of the Hausa peoples of West Africa. Drawing on sources and publications commented upon or reviewed on this blog, I endeavored to create some sense of chronology for the sprawling world of pre-jihad Hausaland. In order to do full justice to this, I would have had to read and corroborate different oral traditions and translated chronicles, manuscripts or external textual sources to clarify, expand, and fully include the entirety of the Hausa world in their major developments. Alas, Hausa states like Katsina perhaps had a full chronicle or richer archive (said to have been destroyed during the Sokoto Revolution), but without much material, and with most of the surviving texts not translated into English or French, we were forced to do our best with the somewhat problematic dates in the Kano Chronicle. References to Hausa states from the Songhay world, Borno, Agadez, and North Africa occasionally helped, though we are still very much in the dark about the specifics of the early Hausa states. 

by c.650: Maranda, or Marandet, settled by this date. The city was a center for copper and the name, according to Hamani, meant henna. The capital city of Gobir after they moved south of Air was also named for henna, while the name Gobir is said to resemble the Coptic word for henna.

868-884: Reign of the first ruler of the Tulunids in Egypt, who also closed the old trade route used by Nubians and Egyptians to the Maghrib and Sudan that traversed the Oases. 

before 868/869: al-Jahiz in Iraq included the Marawa among the Sudan, along with the Abyssinians, Nubians, Fazzan and Zaghawa

872: al-Yaqubi mentions Maranda, possibly the earliest known Hausa state or town that was connected to trans-Saharan trade routes, as well as the Marawiyyun who were listed after Qaqu and before Maranda. Al-Yaqubi's brief account describes a kingdom of al-HBShH with a town called ThBYR, whose king is called MRH, next to the Qaqu, who lived under the yoke of the king of ThBYR. Kawkaw (Gao) appears to have dominated some of these kingdoms, including in its empire al-MRW (an extensive realm). In addition, al-Yaqubi referenced the kingdom of Malal, described as an enemy of Kanem, ruled by MYWSY. According to Hamani, there are many ruins of the ancient Azna people of at Amellal, east of Amandar, in Azawak.

-889/890: al-Yaqubi completed his Kitab al-buldan, which mentioned the Miriyyun, Zaghawiyyun, and Marwiyyun among the black slaves exported from Zawila

-c.903: Ibn al-Faqih mentioned Maranda and Marawa as locations on the trade route stretching from Ghana to Egypt

-c.956: al-Masu'udi described the Marka peoples as a group of Sudan in the west, after Kanem and before Kawkaw

-1030: al-Biruni included coordinates for Marawah

-c.1154: Maranda described by al-Idrisi as a populous town yet seldom visited because their merchandise is scare. Yet nomads stop there (from Kawar and Air?)

-1166-1182: Reign of Abdallah Bakuru of Kanem; Borno mahrams collected by Palmer mention his mahram granted to the Beni Mukhtar Tura in the Kawar (Dirku), and mention of conflict between Air (Ahir) and Dirku Tura

-c.1337-38: al-Umari's writings allude to a Berber sultan of Ahir (Air), who was considered greater than the Berber kings of Tadmakka and DMWshH

-1353: Ibn Battuta left Takadda, a city he described as exporting copper worked by slaves to Kubar. Sultan of Takadda, a Berber named Izar, was said to have been in a dispute with the Takarkari, another Berber sultans. Ibn Battuta later described Kahir as the country of the Karkari sultan, a grassy land where people buy sheep and dry the flesh, which is later exported to Tuwat

-Also, in 1353, an ambassador of Takadda's ruler at Biskara described the city as an importance stop for travelers to Mali

1355: Ibn Battuta's Rihla mentions Gobir as a non-Muslim kingdom importing copper and practicing human sacrifice

-c.1349-1385: Reign of Ali Yaji in Kano, first Kano ruler to embrace Islam

-1400s-Wangara Chronicle provides information on the arrival of Shaikh Zagaite in Kano

-1404/5-1424/5: Reign of Yunus as Sultan of Air

 -1421-1422: Mai Uthman ibn Dawud reigned (Uthman K.l.n.ma), deposed by kaygama Nikali b. Ibrahim and yerima Kaday Ka'aku; died at Afnu Kunu (Kano)

-c.1421-1438: Dagachi, Borno prince, came from South Borno with men and mallams to Kano. Queen Amina of Zaria likely dominated much of Hausaland 

-c.1438-1452: Borno attacked Asben/Air during this period, but couldn’t find water, ended by receiving tribute from lands west of Borno; Kano gave tsare to Borno

-before 1442: al-Maqrizi mentions Afnu and their king, Mastur (Afnu was Kanuri term for Hausa peoples). Neighboring Mastur's Afnu kingdom was another king, Manbu, and then the Kankuma people, then Kanku, then Abqaram, and then Yadi (ruled by Rabuma), followed by the king Hudami and the Inkirar tribe. In addition, Shadi, Mabna, Abham, Ata'na, Yafalam, and Makba, naked tribes, come next. 

-mid-1400s: Yusuf Bala Usman places Korau as king of Katsina

c.1450: Migration of Gobirawa from Air to their southern location

-1452-1463: Fulani go to Borno, according to Kano Chronicle while Gwanja merchants arrived in Katsina, Kanuri came in larger numbers, and Asbenawa came to Gobir

-c.1460: Agadez built, according to Marmol, though Hamani cites traditions and evidence of an earlier Hausa or Gobirawa presence at Agades

-1459-1536: Life of Ahmad b. Muhammad b. Muhammd Aqit b. Umar of Timbuktu, who visited Kano and Hausaland

-1463-1499: Reign of Muhammad Rumfa of Kano, many reforms introduced and al-Maghili came to Kano. War with Katsina for 11 years.

-1493: al-Lamtuni, probably from Air, wrote to al-Suyuti in Cairo

-1493-1528: Reign of Askia Muhammad I of Songhay

-c.1494: Ibrahim was ruling in Katsina, said to have promoted Islam and corresponded with al-Suyuti

-1499-1509: Reign of Abdulahi in Kano; Borno attacked Kano and Abdulahi and his mallams met with Borno's mai to humble themselves

by 1505: Zazzau had its first Muslim king

-1514-1515: Askia Muhammad of Songhay conquers/annexes Air region 

-1515-1516: Kanta Kotal, Kanta of Kebbi, revolts against Askia Muhammad

-1553: Askia Dawud signed peace treaty with Kebbi

-c.1561: Borno-Kebbi War, Borno said to have fielded an army of 100,000 against Kebbi after Kebbi attacks on Air region, but Kebbi defeated Borno 

c.1565-1573: reign of Abubakar Kado in Kano,presence of people from Bagirmi and Logone ("Lagoni") in Kano 

-1577: al-Nasir of the Awlad Muhammad dynasty in the Fazzan fled to Katsina, where he was well-received, after Ottomans annexed Fazzan

-before 1582: Merchant of Raguse who had traveled in West Africa for 7 years, reported to Anania that Kano was one of the three most important commercial centers in Africa (with Fez and Cairo) and the Portuguese had attempted to establish a comptoir there

-1582-1618: Reign of Mohamma Zaki in Kano; during his reign, Kano attacked and pillaged by the Kwararafa and the Kanawa fled to Daura

-c.1595: Birth of Abu Abdallah b. Masani b. Muhammad al-Barnawi al-Kashinawi in Katsina, to Borno parents

-c.1601: Katsina intervened in the civil war of Agades to support Muhammad al-Mubarak

-1626/27: Awlad Muhammad prince Muhammad b. Juhaym raised an army and retook the Fazzan from Katsina

1639-1677: Reign of Mai Ali b. Umar of Borno, who was praised in poem by Dan Marina for his victory against the Kwararafa

-1641-1671: Reign of Muhammadu Uban Yara in Katsina; conflict with Zamfara during his reign

-1648: King Katumbi of Kano died during conflict with Katsina

-1661-1675: Kanta Maliki of Kebbi's reign, decadence in Kebbi

-1667: Borno-Tuareg war; Borno prince Medicon sold into slavery after Agadez attacked Borno, but Mai Ali b. Umar was able to have the Pasha of Tripoli find and liberate Medicon; death of Katsina scholar Dan Masina (who also wrote a short work on the Yoruba)

c.1670-1703: reign of Dadi  in Kano; Kwararafa wars resulted in the Kwararafa taking the capital.

-1671-1684: Reign in Katsina of Muhammadu Jan Hazo; Kwararafa attack on city failed due to intervention of prayers of Dan Masina

-c.1672: Kwararafa attacks Kano and Katsina

-1672-1680: Evliya Celebi was in Egypt, where he presumably gathered information on the Hausa (Afnu). Per Celebi, the Hausa included 7 tribes but only 1 was Muslim

-1674: Sultanate of Agadez conquers Ader/Adar after defeating Kebbi

-1685: Agadez war with Zanfara; Agabba of Agadez returns to Adar

-1687: Muhammad al-Mubarak of Agadez died during epidemic, succeeded by Agabba

-1689: Successful counterattack of Muhammad Agabba (Agadez Sultanate) against Gobir

-August 1711: Death of Prefect of Borno Carlo Maria di Genova near Katsina. Never reached Borno or the allegedly Christian Kwararafa

-1721: Muhammad Agabba of Agadez dethroned by brother al-Amin, fled to Adar and ruled among the Itisen from Birni-n-Ader until 1738

-1726: Tuareg of Air war with Gobir

1731-1743: Reign of Mohamma Kumbari in Kano, whose exactions on traders led to many Arabs relocating to Katsina in the 1730s. Sarkin Kano also said to have imported firearms through Nupe and fought with Gobir, led by Sobah. Borno launched campaign against Kano but battle averted (may have occurred during reign of Mai Ali b. al-Hajj Dunama)

1733: Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Fulani al-Kishwani composes a work on magic squares

-1737-1764: Ibrahim Babari ruler of Gobir, during his reign Alkalawa established as capital

-1738: Death of Agabba, sultan of Adar

-1741: Death of Muhammad al-Katsinawi, who studied in Borno

-1743-1753: Alhaji Kabe of Kano in hostility with Gobir (led by Barbari)

-1746-1759: Etsu Jibril of Nupe, promoted Islam

-c.1759:: Bilma War between Tuareg of Air and Borno, resulting in Tuareg of Agadez confederation becoming the dominant player in the movement of Kawar salt to Hausaland; Agadez Chronicles also report the Sultan attacking Gobir with Kel Owey.

-1764: Gobir sacks Zamfara capital

-1766: Appearance of a "Gambary" runaway slave in Saint-Domingue ad (Gambari being the Yoruba term for Hausa)

-1768-1777: Sarkin Kano Baba Zakki said to be first Kano ruler with a guard of musketeers

-1771-1789: Sarkin Gobir Bawa Jan Gwarzo considered by some to have invented the tradition of Coptic origins for the Gobirawa

-1774: Early appearance of Hausa runaway slave ad in Saint-Domingue (Haiti)

-1777-1795: Reign of Bawa Jan Gwarzo in Gobir

-1780s-1790s: Wealthiest trader in Porto Novo was Pierre Tamata, a Hausa former slave educated in France 

-1788: Gobir-Katsina hostilities, with Katsina the victor. Sarkin Katsina Agwaragi endeavored to make peace with the next Gobir ruler, Yakuba. 

-1808: Alkalawa, capital of Gobir, destroyed

Gobir and the Copts?

Although we lack firm evidence of any connection, one of the interesting traditions of Coptic or Egyptian or eastern origins in West Africa is that of the Gobirawa Hausa peoples. Although the Gobirawa, according to their own traditions and that of others, were the original inhabitants of Ayar or Air, to the North, they claim ultimate roots in Egypt. Indeed, when Landeroin collected oral traditions from the Gobirawa in the early colonial period, they reported that their ancestors were Copts who survived the splitting of the Red Sea. Undoubtedly, their claim of Coptic origin was influenced by the Islamic and Biblical stories, and perhaps the prestige attached to the ancient pharaohs. Other West African peoples similarly claimed roots in the East, but few with any Christian population. The Songhay, further west, recorded a tradition in the Timbuktu Chronicles of Kukiya once providing sorcerers to the Pharaohs of Egypt, but that tradition is quite different from claiming actual descent from the Egyptians. Nonetheless, our medieval Arabic sources suggest Maranda and neighboring polities were under the influence of Kawkaw, whose rulers may have originally came from Kukiya and could have represented an early influence from the Songhay regions on Gobir traditions.

But was it just an invented tradition or legend? Was it invented and promulgated by Gobir kings who wished to separate themselves from the Bayajidda legends and traditions of the other powerful Hausa states? Malam Issoufou seems to think so, although he lacks direct evidence for his proposition. However, he believes that Bawa Jan Gwarzo (r.1771-1789), a powerful Gobir king, was the one who started the tradition of Coptic or Egyptian origin to deny descent from Bawo and the tribute payments to Borno partly based on that tradition. Unfortunately, we lack direct evidence for this tradition being a late 18th century invention, although it is documented a few decades later by Muhammad Bello and Shaykh dan Tafa of the Sokoto Caliphate. Both authors referred to the Gobir tradition of free, Coptic origin, with the latter specifically linking it to Bawa Jan Gwarzo's refusal to send tribute to Borno (and mentioning their previous sojourn in Air before moving south). For Bello, on the other hand, he merely reports that what he could find out about Gobir was their alleged Coptic descent, perhaps based on informants from Gobir and other Hausa lands. 

While it certainly does seem plausible that the Copt tradition was a late 18th century invention, we are surprised that it would be seemingly accepted by Sokoto-era writers like Bello. Indeed, after the enmity and hostilities between Gobir and Uthman dan Fodio, one would expect more resistance or skepticism from Bello and Shaykh dan Tafa. Indeed, it makes one wonder if the tradition is actually far older and reaches back to distant memories of a Coptic and/or Nubian Christian presence in Air. In fact, one of the sites remembered by the Gobirawa as a former center before they left Air, Maranda (or Marandet), happens to mean henna in the Hausa tongue. Gobir, the name for the people, also resembles the Coptic word for henna. The first Gobir capital outside of Air, Birnin Lalle, also referred to henna, according to Djibo Hamani. While this may be a coincidence, it is interesting how the connection to henna was important for the Gobirawa in two separate capitals and it just so happens that Gobir almost sounds like the Coptic word for the same plant. Archaeologists have also found evidence of copper mining and proof that Maranda was a settlement by the 7th century if not earlier. While more work remains to be done about possible trans-Saharan trade goods or signs of cultural exchange, Maranda was known as an important trade center in the early Arabic sources on West Africa. For instance, Maranda was a major stop on the route that connected Egypt to Kawkaw (Gao) and Ghana. 

Our Arabic sources also suggest Egyptians and Nubians used to travel through the Oases route west of the Nile to reach the Maghrib and Sudan until the late 9th century, and that before the Islamic conquest, Rum (Greeks) were found in the oases. These Arabic sources likewise report that Egyptians and Nubians used to travel to the Fazzan and Barqa by another route. While Maranda itself appears, at least in al-Ya'qubi's 872 reference, to be a tributary state of Kawkaw (Gao), it was still around in the 12th century when al-Idrisi described it as a populous town attracting nomads. From Djibo Hamani's reconstruction of the region in the late 9th century, one can already see it was polyethnic with Berbers to the north, probably Zarma to the west, and the ancestors of the Gobirawa and Azna in Air. Groups related to the Zaghawa or Toubou were likely also present to the east and northeast, while Fazzanis, North Africans, and Egyptians would have traversed the region through this Central Saharan route. 

Is it possible that this early Hausa, ancient Gobirawa state or polity with a trading center, one which included copper and almost certainly textiles, leather products, beads, gold, salt, slaves (reported in Zawila in the Fezzan by al-Ya'qubi) was engaged in pre-Islamic trans-Saharan exchange? Is that the origin of the claim of Coptic descent? Christianity was said to have penetrated the Fazzan by the 6th century, when the Garamantes sent an envoy to Byzantium requesting peace and conversion to Christianity in 569 (according to John of Biclar). In addition, Procopius recorded churches built by Emperor Justinian in Augila and Ghadames in the mid-6th century. This would match Justinian's interest in spreading Christianity in Nubia to the 3 kingdoms there, Nobadia, Makuria and Alodia. In the case of the Fezzan and the Central Sahara, our sources are too few to give us any sense of Justinian's success there. However, Cosmas Indicopleustes did include the land of the Garamantes as one including churches when he wrote in the 6th century. Furthermore, the town of Qasr Umm Isa (possibly Djado) in Kawar, a region south of the Fazzan that was known to be in communication with the Garamantes by the 7th century (if not far earlier), may have had a Christian presence. Perhaps Garamantes who converted to Christianity or their trading partners from North Africa or Egypt influenced some of the toponyms in the region, as perhaps was the case for Gobir. Certainly, we know from Roman sources the Garamantes had southern contacts that included the mysterious Agisymba and probably other locations. Considering the early signs of pre-Islamic trans-Saharan trade at Kissi, and the importance of a northeasterly route from West Africa to Egypt, perhaps the Garamantes and Christian traders from the Nile Valley made it to Air and, despite the absence of churches, bequeathed aspects of their Christian heritage to the residents. This might explain why some of the Tuareg, for instance, use words of Latin or Greek origin to express concepts like sin or why the Gobirawa, whose ruling elites in ancient times may have welcomed these traders, incorporated them into their myth of origin.

I'm now more convinced that Christians from Egypt, Nubia and the Garamantes were engaged in trans-Saharan trade by the 6th century. We have Procopius's On the Buildings, describing Emperor Justinian constructing churches in Augila, Ghadames and promoting Christianity in Nubia. In addition, Cosmas Indicopleustes included the land of the Garamantes as an area that included churches (although this might have been more rhetorical). Last, but certainly not least, John of Biclar recorded a Garamantian delegation to Emperor Justin II of the Byzantines, requesting conversion to Christianity. The Garamantes by the mid-6th century may have not been a unified, powerful kingdom by this era, but since they were already engaged in trans-Saharan trade prior to their conversion in the 6th century, one can assume that some Christian Garamantes likely trekked into Kawar and southern lands. After all, the Garamantes were already experienced traders in the Sahara, and if the ruling elite converted to Christianity, it is possible some of its traders also converted.

The Egyptian and Nubian and Byzantine connection is important since we know that Justinian's attempt to convert Nubia was taking place not long after the Vandal Wars in North Africa. According to Procopius, Justinian was eager to convert pagans to Christianity while also strengthening and defending the borders. In Byzantine North Africa, we know Berbers from the Sahara were an occasional problem for the Empire, but perhaps the spread of Christianity in Ghadames and Garama was linked to this idea. Later Arabic sources also attest to an old trans-Saharan route used by Nubians and Egyptians to travel to the Maghrib and the Sudan. It is possible that at least one of these routes was used in Christian times, since the Arabic sources mention the Wahat route was once full of people (including Rum, or Greeks). So, if Egyptians and Nubians (the latter Christianized by the 6th century) were using this route to the west through the deserts, and probably trading with Garamantes or people further south, one can suspect that the Qasr Umm Isa in Kawar might actually have been named due to this early Christian presence.

Of course, one must admit that Christianity's influence was probably only slight upon the populations south of the Fazzan. And even the Fazzan itself may not have been deeply Christian since Uqba b. Nafi would conquer (or at least raid) it in the 660s, about 1 century after their conversion. A 9th century source, Sahnun, also records Malik ibn Anas (died in 795) responding to a question about the people of the Fezzan, declaring them blacks and implying they were pagans. If accurate, then perhaps the population had already lost the faith or were never deeply evangelized to begin with. If the Garamantes themselves were not deeply Christian, and the period of Christian evangelization among the Garamantes and their neighbors was brief, then it is no wonder that the Christian presence in trans-Saharan trade was quicky forgotten. The Gobirawa themselves, who were still not Muslim when described by Ibn Battuta as pagans of Kubar, may have welcomed Christians from the north as trading partners and possibly intermarried with them but little evidence of other influences can be seen. We imagine the situation to have been analogous with the Islamic era of trans-Saharan trading, with local rulers only gradually, sometimes over centuries, adopting Islam. Christianity, which was not in the region long enough for this, thereby never having the chance, although it may have influenced local beliefs and arts in ways overlooked by scholars.

So, was Gobir influenced by Christians and Copts who participated in the pre-Islamic trans-Saharan trade? The evidence, weak as it is, suggests yes. As a Hausa people with a more recent history in the far north, and in an area under the influence of Kawkaw in the 9th century and part of an important route that led to Egypt, Maranda and the neighboring polities were likely interacting with the Fazzan and beyond. By the 600s if not earlier, Maranda, one of the sites remembered in Gobirawa tradition, was already engaged in long-distance trade to places like Kissi and, probably, the Fazzan and Kawar. The Maranda polity, never one of the great kingdoms, nonetheless existed for centuries before the Gobirawa finally left Air by the 1400s if not earlier in the 14th century or so. That Gobirawa traditions even claim their ancestors were in Kawar for a long time before migrating into Air, one wonders if the claim to Coptic ancestry might, indeed, reflect the pre-Islamic trade in this part of the Sahara and Sahel. 

The Garamantes of Southern Libya

Charles Daniels wrote, in 1970, a short but summative work on the Garamantes. Of course, archaeologists and historians of today have access to more data, surveys, and excavations, including work at other sites across the Sahara. Nonetheless, Daniels, limited as he was by the state of archaeological research of his time and the handful of references to the Garamantes from Roman sources or Herodotus, was able to carefully wade through the confused or biased external sources and make some sense of the data from archaeology. Clearly, the Garamantes were not tent dwelling nomads or barbarians who lived only through brigandage. And while their material culture and architecture did seem to improve with the increase in imported goods from the Mediterranean, one wonders if craftsmen from the north were always responsible for the finer monuments and buildings. The Garamantes, as a civilization with roots in the last millennium before our era, and with ties to various advanced cultures, was perhaps capable of adapting and mastering other construction techniques besides mudbrick. That said, one wonders if the Garamantes were, as indicated by Daniels, more of a confederation. Therefore, their kingdom, despite most of its population probably being sedentary and living in the Fazzan oases, may have included Saharan pastoralists who did, occasionally, engage in banditry and attacks on Roman North Africa. This might explain part of the reason the Roman sources portrayed the Garamantes as Saharan bandits, if some of the allied Berber populations did attack coastal areas. 

In addition, Daniels draws from the general ancient literature on various Berber peoples across Libya and the Sahara to speculate about specific Garamantian customs and beliefs. He is likely correct about certain things, like the use of the Berber language, the Ammon cult, the practice of divination, and "looser" gender roles and polygamy among the Garamantes being shared with other Berber cultures. However, despite his acknowledgement of the racially mixed character of the Garamantes, he did not address the sub-Saharan and perhaps Tubu influences in Garamantian civilization. Surely, if the Garamantes were sometimes lumped into the "black" category by ancient Roman sources and were lumped into the "Sudan" category by medieval Arabic sources, the Garamantes likely exhibited many cultural traits of non-Berber origin, too. 

Early Western Sudan Timeline

The following is a timeline for the early Western Sudan, basically everything before imperial Mali. While there remains so much to discover and uncover about the Western Sudanic region before the major kingdoms converted to Islam and even deeper in antiquity, the paucity of written sources means we will probably remain in the dark for the foreseeable future on many aspects of its early history. That said, the early Arabic sources do contain a wealth of information on the area, from Takrur to Kawkaw. We decided to attempt a tentative timeline for the region (including the Sahara and sometimes North Africa or the Mediterranean) to illustrate some of the important personages, developments, locales, and events that transpired in our region from the 6th century until the end of the 13th. Since we mainly relied on written sources, the excellent  Corpus of early Arabic sources for West African History edited by Levtzion and Hopkins. Our other sources include Delafosse, Trimingham on Takrur, the French and English translations of the Timbuktu tarikhs, and Arabic Medieval Inscriptions from the Republic of Mali: Epigraphy, Chronicles, and Songhay-Tuareg History by Paulo Fernando de Moraes Farias.

294: Mint in Carthage (gold from West Africa a source?)

c.500: Imported cloth found at Kissi, evidence of pre-Islamic trans-Saharan trade

568: Garamantian ruler sent envoys to Byzantium

666/667: Uqba b. Nafi conquers Fazzan and Kawar, imposing tribute payments in slaves

before 732/33: Wahb b. Munabbih mentioned Nuba, Zanj, Qazan (Fazzan?), Zaghawa, Habasha, Qibt and Barbar as the race of Sudan 

734-741: During this period, Muslim raids of Habib b. Abi Ubayda 

740: Revolt of the Berbers during governorship of Abd Allah b. al-Habhab

744/45: Abd al-Rahman became governor of Ifriqiya; said to have begun digging wells on the Saharan trade route

757/58: Foundation of Sijilmassa

761/62: Tahard founded

804/820 or 823-872: Imam of Tahart sent Muhammad b. 'Arafa in a deputation to a Sudan king with a gift

814-15: Walls of Sijilmasa constructed

837: Death of king Sahaja king Tilutan

c.850: Foundation of earliest dynasty of Takrur, the Dya'ogo (Trimingham)

872/73: al-Yaqubi described Kawkaw as the most powerful kingdom of the blacks, obeyed by al-MRW, MuRDBH, al-HRBR, the kingdom of the Sanhaja, TDhKRYR, Zayanir, 'RWR and BQARWT; Ghana also powerful and described as having gold mines and vassal kings ('AM, Sama)

by 889/90: Anbiya people of Sanhaja mentioned by al-Yaqubi, camel nomads with royal capital at Ghust (Awdaghust) whose king lacks religion and raids the Sudan; Lamta Berbers who produce lamtiyya shields live between Zawila and Kawar, and adjoining Zawila to the route to Awjila and Ajdabiya

900: Death of Sanhaja king, Yalattan

c.903: Anbiya described as land of Lamta who produce the lamtiyya shields; people of Ghana grow sorghum and cowpeaes and wear clothes of skins

between 908-938: royal palace at Gao Ancien built

909: Tahart destroyed

918: End of reign of Tamim, Sanhaja king (Sanhaja divided politically again)

918/19: Foundation of Zawila in the Fazzan by Abd Alla b. Khattab al-Hawwari

944-45: Growth of power of Abu Yazid in Ifriqiya; Abu Yazid was born in Kawkaw to a Zanata father 

950/51: Ibn Hawqal went to Sijilmasa, saw many shaykhs and much wealth; Ibn Hawal heard from Abu Ishaq Ibrahim b. Abd Allah that the Sanhaja king of Awdaghust, Tinbarutan b. Usfayshar, king of all Sanhaja, had been ruling for 20 years and had 300,000 tents (plus shelters and huts) in his domain. Ibn Hawqal also reported story of Tinbarutan defeating a Berber tribe with the vast camel herd of his sister, the wealthiest person in the tribe

952: Check for 42,000 dinars in Awdaghust

961/2-972: Tin Yarutan b. Wisanu b. Nizar Sanhaja king, received tribute from more than 20 Sudan kings; also, this king aided the ruler of Masin against Awgham, east of Ghana, with 50,000 camelry

973: Death of Muhammad b. Yusuf al-Warraq, whose geographical work was a major source for al-Bakri

c.977: final version of Ibn Hawqal's work written, including mention of a check concerning a debt of Muhammad b. Abi Sa'dun in Awdaghust for 42,000 dinars and the kings of Tadmakka, Fusahr b. Alfara and Inaw b. Sabanzak

c.980: Dya'ogo dynasty of Takrur overthrown by the Manna who came from the Nyakhate clan of Dyara (Soninke)

by 990: al-Muhallabi describes Kawkaw (Kuku) as ruled by a king who pretends to be Muslim, names the town Sarnah and its markets

1009-10: Conversion to Islam by King Zuwa Kusay of Kawkaw; said by Trimingham to have moved capital from Kukiya to Kawkaw

1013/14: Earliest known epitaph from Essouk (Tadmakka)

1037-1065: Reign of Ferdinand I, "Galician" king who received a stone substance from the Dar'a valley that takes on the consistency of flax; Fernando I later sent a kerchief made of this to the Emperor in Constantinople,  who in return, sent him a crown

1040/41: Death of Warjabi, Takrur king who converted to Islam

1042: Earliest Islamic epitaph at Kawkaw

1043/44: Wazjay b. Yasin imposed Islam in Takrur 

1048: Early rise of Almoravids

1054/55: Sijilmasa residents massacre Almoravid garrison left in the town after Almoravids conquer it; Awdaghust invaded by Almoravids, and city described as divided due to conflict between Zanata and Arabs (Almoravids persecuted the residents for recognizing the suzerainty of Ghana)

1056-57: Yahya b. Umar fought Banu Gudala with the aid of Labbi b. Warjabi, the king of Takrur

1063: Start of reign of Tunka Menin of Ghana (Wagadu), nephew of previous ruler, Basi

1067-68: Commander of the Almoravids is Abu Bakr b. Umar

1076-77: Conversion of Ghana to Islam

1076-1180: Soso ruled by pagan Soninke dynasty with clan name Dyari-so (Trimingham)

1079-1082: Islam adopted by people of Gao (Mahmud Kati)

c.1083/84: Ghana attacked Tadmakka

1100s: Ghana said to raid Amima and Barbara peoples for slaves; Timbuktu growing in importance for trade

c.1100-1120: Reign of Banna-Bubu of Soso, when Fulbe appear in region and members of the royal family married wives from the So or Ferboe clan, becoming the Sose and Soso

1108: Death of queen S.wa at Gao Saney

1110: Death of Abu Abdullah Muhammad b. Abdu Llah b. Zaghi at Gao Saney, with a stela in Almerian style; death of king Abu Bakr ibn Abu Quhafa at Gao Saney

1116/17: Ghana's royal palace constructed (al-Idrisi)

1117: Death of Aisha, daughter of King Kuri, probably the same Korey or K.r.y in the Zuwa dynasty lists

1119: Death of Queen M.s.r (Gao Saney)

1120: Death of King Yama b. K.ma b. Zaghi, or Umar b. al-Khatta, a king who waged holy war

c.1125-1150: Zafun king received with honor in Marrakesh by Almoravids

1126: Death of Fatima, daughter of King Mama (or Yama or Nama) (Gao Saney)

1127: Death of Za (Zu'a) b. Queen Hakkiya (Saney inscriptions)

1140: Death of Bariqa, daughter of Kuri (Gao Saney inscriptions)

after 1154: Kawkaw mentioned as wealthy town reached by caravans from Egypt, Waraqlan, and Sijilmasa; inhabitants grow sesame, sugarcane, rice

1154: Completion of al-Idrisi's geographical work, which describes Ghana and Kawkaw as Muslim states 

1180: Soso dynasty overthrown by a soldier named Dyara Kante (Trimingham)

c.1199: letter to the king of Ghana refers to him as a pagan (perhaps a reference to the Soso?)

c.1203: Sosso conquest of Ghana

1203: Death of King Fanda, son of 'Aru Bani (Aru-Baani/Arbaani/Aru Bine/Arbine), son of Zaghi (or Zaghay)

1210: Funerary stelae of a Songhay woman, Buwy or Waybiya, at Gorongobo

before 1222: al-Sharishi described Ghana as Muslim kingdom with schools and many Maghribi merchants who stay, buy slaves for concubinage and are well-received by the king

1224: Wealthy Soninke families plus Arabs ad Berbers move to Walata (Biru), according to Delafosse

c.1235: Sundiata Keita defeated Soso king at the Battle of Kirina

1251: Death of Zuwa of Kawkaw

1253: Death of Ai'isha, daughter of king Zuwa Kayna (Gao Saney)

1264-65: Death of Yama Kuri (Yama Korey), son of king R.w.a (Zuwa)

c.1300: Manna dynasty of Takrur replaced by Tondyon

Fazughil Ramblings

While perusing the sources on the Wikipedia page for the Kingdom of Fazughli, I saw some interesting things. If Fazughili really was founded by people from Alodia who left during its decline or after the Funj conquest, I wonder if some of the observations from 19th century travelers or ethnographers could be useful. For instance, Alfred Peney, who visited Fazughli in the 19th century, contrasted the Hamaj of the plains with the mountaineers. However, none of the area seems particularly Muslim or devout, since they ate pork and did not pray or fast for Ramadan. In terms of religion, they appear to have possessed animal cults with special ceremonies for elephants, cows, dogs and other species. Indeed, Peney described on specific ritual involving the king and a dog during the sowing season. This ceremony involved the sacrifice of the dog at the end. Yet, according to Peney and Pierre Tremaux, the Fazughli meks were descendants of Alwa. 

Spaulding and other scholars still believe that the Fazughli rulers were, at least initially, Christians. They even endeavored to receive Catholic priests from the Franciscans in Sennar and prior to that, had Ethiopian priests. Spaulding also cited Bruce for a reference to a Christian polity that survived until the late 1700s in the area, but the short list of kings written by Frédéric Cailliaud seems to indicate meks with Muslim names by the end of the 1600s. That makes sense and is in accord with the c.1685 date for Sennar's conquest of Fazughli. The rest of listed meks often had short reigns and some were killed by successors or came to power long after their fathers died. 

To what extent can Fazughli really be seen as the successor of Alodia? Perhaps in its gold and the trade between Ethiopia and Nubia. If they traded gold for food and other goods from Sennar (and probably Alodia before the Funj Sultanate) also traded with Ethiopia (and hints of this can be seen in the Portuguese reports of Nubians who were once Christian and having much gold) then Fazughli probably played a similar role before the fall of Alodia. The Nubians who were the target of a planned campaign by the Bahr Negash, who were only 5-6 days travel away from his domains, were possibly Nubians living in the Fazughli region already in the early decades of the 1500s. These same Nubians may have also been the ones who requested priests from the Ethiopian emperor, as detailed in the narrative of Francisco Alvares. Nubian Christians were probably already living or trading with the Fazughli region for centuries and, once a group of them did establish a kingdom there, they were a minority who lacked the necessary clergy (and perhaps force) to spread Christianity. Thus, they relied on the Ethiopians, although Krump saw their priests as ineffective. By the end of the 17th century, the Funj conquered Fazughli by c.1685, making Christianity even less likely to persist. But that would have made little difference to most of the population, who became nominal Muslims or were never Christian to begin with. 

Olympius, Black Venator of Vandal Carthage

Latin poet Luxorius wrote a tribute of sorts to a popular, dark-skinned venator or beast-fighter in 6th century Carthage. A translation of the poem can be found here, translated by Art Beck. Below is Luxorious's praise of Olympius, who was an Egyptian:

The reason you’re so popular is that we’re grateful

for the show, Olympius, animal fighter. And

your name fits your gnarled body –– with the neck,

shoulders, biceps and back of a Hercules.

Astonishing, quick, daring, impetuous and ready for anything;

that you’re black doesn’t hurt your looks a bit.

Nature created, dark, precious ebony. Royal purple

glimmers deep within the noble murex.

Blue-black violets blossom in the soft grass.

Dark jewels invest us with a special grace.

The dusky trunk of the terrible elephant thrills us.

Black incense and pepper from the Indies civilize

us. Need I say more? Scarred by your countless

wins, you’re as beautiful in the people’s love

as those elegant fops are hateful.

Adar in History

Djibo Hamani's L'Adar précolonial (République du Niger): contribution à l'étude de l'histoire des états Hausa is  an interesting account of a region of the Hausa world sometimes forgotten or ignored. It's about what was really a peripheral area of the Hausa world, and one for which written sources only truly appear in the 1600s (although references to its powerful neighbors could be found a few centuries earlier). According to him, it was peopled by Azna (a Hausa population) that was once based in Air to the north, but migrated in small groups under different chiefly lineages by c. 1000 to 900 years ago, in various waves. they were probably migrating south due to pressure from Tuareg pastoralists and the declining environment of Air for agriculturalists. However, unlike the Gobir or Gobirawa Hausa, the Azna who migrated south into Adar never consolidated into a single state that ruled the area. It was then conquered by Kabi (sometimes spelled Kebbi, a Hausa state that was once part of the Songhay Empire under Askia Muhammad but then went its own way in the 1500s and became, for a time, a powerful Hausa kingdom dominating Adar and other Hausa areas. Then, after 1674, when prince Agabba of Agades defeated the ruler of Kebbi, the Agades Sultanate decided to annex Adar. Agabba, later deposed by his brother from the throne of Agades, moved south and established himself as the Sultan of Adar. Thus, Adar was unified under the Istambulawa sultanate of Air, which was, despite sometimes threatening other Hausa states or even Borno, was politically unstable (the Air sultan was seen by the Tuareg as a mediator and sometimes had little direct rule over the Kel Air Tuareg clans and tribes, which sometimes fought amongst themselves or defied directives from the Agades Sultan). So, long story short, the Adar Sultanate, a tributary of Agades, ruled a unified Adar but then later lost control of most of it in the 19th century.

The jihad of Uthman dan Fodio began in nearby Gobir, which caused changes in Adar since it too became, at least in theory, subject to the caliphs of Sokoto. The Adar ruling dynasty was initially split, like the Tuareg in Air, about supporting Uthman dan Fodio but once the sultan in Agades threw his support behind the jihad, Adar's ruling dynasty also accepted Sokoto. The caliph Muhammad Bello, son of Uthman dan Fodio, even gave the rights to the tribute of part of Adar to Tuareg allies. The 19th century then later saw the partition of Adar as the Kel Geres Tuareg took the Eastern part (they were more assimilated to the local area) while another Tuareg confederation seized the north of Adar. The Sarkin Adar, or local dynasty, was reduced to a small section of the province and lacked access to enough troops or revenue to seriously threaten or defeat the Tuareg who now dominated most of Adar. However, the 1800s saw the greater integration of Adar into the world of Hausa trade and international commerce and Islam spread more deeply. Adar's case is somewhat interesting as a peripheral Hausa region which never developed its own unified ruling dynasty until the Istambulawa of Air conquered it, but they themselves were reduced to little power in only a little more than a century. However, the 19th century witnessed more conversions to Islam, the growth of the mallam population, and, likely, an increase in the enslaved population as Adarawa and Tuareg traders traveled to Sokoto, Kano, and other markets.

Yet Adar's case makes one think that perhaps its Azna (local Hausa population of diverse origins) and their village-based level of political organization may have been what most of Hausaland was like before the development of the major states like Kano, Katsina, Gobir, etc. The close association between religious authority in the "animist" belief system and political authority in Adar may provide hints as to the origin of the earliest sarakauna in Hausaland. Furthermore, the case of Adar illustrates how loose the authority of Hausa or Central Sudanic states over other regions could be. Indeed, the Sultan of Agades, who could demand tribute from Adar, was clearly unable to assert his control over the region in any meaningful way in the 19th century to restore order. And despite Adar's importance for caravan routes to more important markets in Katsina and Kano, or even for the provision of horses to Kebbi (or Kabi) from Air, Adar remained rather peripheral in the grand scheme of Hausa states. Nonetheless, the region's larger significance in Hausa history can be found in a few episodes detailed by Djibo Hamani. For example, Jibril b. Umar, the mallam and scholar who had traveled to Egypt and Mecca and taught Uthman dan Fodio, was a native of Adar. Although his later jihadist movement differed from Jibril b. Umar on the question of Muslims who do not practice Islam lacking faith, Uthman dan Fodio clearly saw his teacher as the spiritual forerunner of his own attempts to restore and reform Islam in Hausaland. Later on, Adar also witnessed the rise of another reformer who imposed his own jihad in Adar, against the "animist" Azna and Tuareg who did not follow Islamic precepts. This figure, Muhammadu Jelani, was such a radical that he even preached social equality and racial equality in an Adar where the Tuareg nobility saw themselves as superior to the maraboutique clans as well as the Adar commoners. 

Perhaps more recent scholarship can shed more light on the particularities of this region. Although based on both textual sources and oral traditions, Hamani's book was published in the 1970s. Today, with more advances in recent scholarship and perhaps new interpretations of the written sources, the history of Adar, and by extension, Kebbi, Air, and Gobir may challenge some of Hamani's conclusions. For instance, what exactly transpired between 1674, when Agabba of Agades defeated the ruler of Kebbi, and 1721 or so, when Agabba finally establishes himself permanently in Adar as the sultan. And perhaps the nature of Adar's role in trade between Air and Kebbi or Air and other Hausa states was more important than we realize, especially if the salines the Kel Air possessed access to before they gained control of Bilma's salt were already highly prized or valued. One also wonders about the relationship between the "pagan" cults of the Azna villages and the relationship with Islam after the Istambulawa conquest. If, for instance, the Kel Geres were already established in the eastern part of Adar and more sedentary, and even their nobles were more racially mixed than other Tuareg nobles, perhaps there was also a deeper penetration of Islam in the eastern part of Adar? 

Medieval Kingdoms of Nubia

Derek Welsby's The Medieval Kingdoms of Nubia: Pagans, Christians and Muslims along the Middle Nile is a great synthesis of archaeology and historical studies on a period of over 1000 years in Nubia. Beginning with the late Meroitic period and post-Meroitic period, better represented in northern Nubia, Welsby outlines the entire history of Medieval Nubia from the emergence of Nobadia, Alwa and Makuria to the spread of Christianity and their eventual decline in the late Christian period by the end of the 15th century. Sadly, Lower Nubia is better represented by archaeological surveys and excavations and northern Nubian towns like Qasr Ibrim possessed more favorable conditions for the preservation of records. Thus, most of the book is really on the kingdoms of Nobadia and Makuria (both as independent states in the post-Meroitic period and as a unified kingdom). Alwa, the lesser known southern kingdom said to have been wealthier in some of the medieval Arabic sources, remains a mysterious entity but one that may, with future archaeological excavations at Soba and other sites, potentially elucidate the relationship of medieval Christian Nubia with African societies to the east, west and south. 

The main theme, if one can be selected for this detailed work, is that of continuity. Viewing Nubia through the lens of continuity beginning with the Kushite kingdom does suggest that Nubia, despite experiencing obvious historical changes and transformations, remains a civilizational unit defined by geography and culture. Indeed, even the Christian states which emerged by the 6th century were, during phases of the post-Meroitic period, preserving the Meroitic script and continuing to use and worship at Kushite temples or the temple of Isis at Philae. That said, the spread of the waterwheel and the adoption of Christianity changed the nature of worship while also continuing Nubia's ties to Coptic, Byzantine and Eastern Christian influences. But even that development can be partly traced to the Meroitic era, when Kush was closely connected to the Hellenistic and Roman worlds. Indeed, Greek became an important language for inscriptions of Nobadian and Blemmye rulers in the 5th and 6th centuries  as these peoples became federates of the Roman Empire in the turbulent 5th century. Intriguingly, the archaeological evidence does not support a large-scale migration along the Middle Nile of Blemmyes or Noubades, suggesting that the bulk of the population in medieval Nubia were likely descendants of the population already living in the region for millennia. In fact, Welsby even finds evidence of this development in the post-Christian period, when Makuria and Alwa fragmented and the formal Church disappeared. Even then, after centuries, some Christian-derived traits persisted in Nubia.

Viewed through the lens of continuity, one begins to wonder if the political fragmentation of Nubia into 3 then later 2 kingdoms mirrored the political fragmentation of the declining Meroitic phase. Can one see similarities in terms of the Meroitic state's northern officials and those of Makuria with regard to the eparchs in Qasr Ibrim? And to what extent was the Kushite kingdom's relations with societies to the east, west and south similar to arrangements which characterized the medieval Nubian kingdoms? Certainly, the medieval Nubians were interested in trade through the oases to the north and west, but was this actually a major route connecting the Nubian states to societies in Darfur or further west? And what to make of the Beja polities to the east, which, according to some Arabic sources, were Christians and aligned with the Nubians? One wonders if Nubia may have had access to goods from the west and south by acting as a middleman between the Red Sea ports of Aidhab and Suakin to the kingdoms further west, like Kanem. And what, if any, were the connections between medieval Nubia and Ethiopia? The Coptic sources suggest Nubia on at least one occasion (Makuria's ruler?) intervened to request the Patriarch to send another metropolitan to Ethiopia. Were the kingdoms of Makuria and Alodia also serving as routes for Ethiopian pilgrims traveling to Egypt and the Holy Land, as suggested by Ge'ez texts in medieval Egyptian sites? And to what extent were the peoples south of Alwa, despite not being Christianized, participating in trans-Sudanic trade like the Shilluk of later centuries?

Tentative Timeline For Medieval Nubia

Important dates and events in the history of Medieval Nubia, drawn largely from Vantini’s Oriental Sources Concerning Nubia and Fontes Historiae Nubiorum. Welsby’s work was also of pivotal importance. We may add additional dates for the Funj period and for what can be dated in Ethiopia, Egypt and Darfur.

-c. 739–656 BCE: Kushites rule as 25th dynasty of Egypt

-342 BCE: Nectanebo flees to Nubia after Persian conquest of Egypt

-200s BCE: Nubai lived to west of the Nile in separate kingdoms, not under the Meroites

-285-246 BCE: Reign of Ptolemy II Philadelphus in Egypt, contemporary of Arkamani (Ergamenes in Diodorus Siculus), Kushite king said to have been Hellenized and centered in Meroe

-274 BCE: Aithiopian Expedition of Ptolemy II of Egypt

-205-186 BCE: Revolt in Upper Egypt of Horwennefer and his successor

-25-22 BCE: Meroe and Rome at war, conflict ends with a treaty between Queen Amanirenas and -Roman Empire establishing the border between Roman Egypt and the Kushite state for centuries

-c.61-63: Roman reconnaissance expedition to Meroe sent by Emperor Nero

-80-90: Acts of the Apostles possibly written, including the tale of the Ethiopian eunuch of the Candace of Meroe who became a Christian 

-c.200: Pestilence in Nubia prevented entry of Septimus Severus 

-c.240 Meroitic rule in Dodecaschoenus around AD 240

-250-253: spread of a pestilence that began in Nubia

-253: Teqorideamani was reigning in Meroe

-Late 200s: According to Procopius ,the Noba lived in the oases to the west of the Nile before entering Lower Nubia

-280: Emperor Marcus Aurelius Probus liberates Coptos and Ptolemais from barbarian servitude to the Blemmyes, bringing some Blemmyes to Rome as captives

-291: Roman source mentions war between Meroe and the Blemmyes

-297: Revolt of Lucius Domitius Domitianus in Egypt

-297/298: Roman victory over Blemmyes and Meroe

-298: Emperor Diocletian cedes territory south of First Cataract

-320s-360: Reign of Ezana of Axum; Aksumite ruler left inscriptions recording battles with the Noba

-336: Eusebius mentions Aithiopians and Blemmyes in Constantinople

-337-338: Flavius Abbineus recorded his interaction with Blemmye federates

-373/374: Blemmyes said to have attacked a monastery in Sinai 

-392-394: Blemmyes had occupied the emerald mines in the Eastern Desert near Kalabsha, according to Epiphanius (monk from Palestine)

-395: Aithiopians attack Syene (Aswan) 

-423: According to Olympiodorus, the Blemmyes occupied five towns in Nile Valley 

-c.425-450: Appion, bishop of Syene region, bemoaned to the Roman emperors the attacks by Blemmyes and Anoubades

-c.450: Tantanti, phylarch of the Anouba, received letters in Coptic, one of which suggests he may have been Christian

-451: Council of Chalcedon

-452: Romans retaliate and defeat the Nubians and Blemmyes 

-480-490: Latest royal burial of a Nobadian king at Ballana 

-Early 500s: King Silko in Nobadia

-c.520: Kaleb of Aksum invades Himyar

-524: Emperor Justin of Rome (Byzantium) proposed to the Aksumite ruler sending Blemmyes and Noubades to assist him against Himyar

-531: Emperor Justinian sought to make the Aithiopians and Homeritae (Himyarites) his allies 

-537: Graffito in Greek carved on the wall of the Temple of Isis at Philae by Theodosios, a Nubian (Nouba)

-c. 543: Mission sent by Empress Theodora reached Nobadia

-550s: Longinus appointed first bishop of Nubia

-559: Eirpanome, king of Nobadia (inscription in Coptic commemorated conversion of the Temple at Dendur into a church in this year, or in 574)

-568: Chronicler John of Biclar noted that the Maccurritae became Christians

-573: Arrival of delegation from Makuria in Constantinople with gifts for the emperor, including elephant tusks and a giraffe

-580: Aksumites in the capital of Alwa

-619: Persians invade Egypt

-641/642: Arab invasion of Nubia

-652: According to al-Maqrizi, Nubians raided Upper Egypt and held Aswan and Philae until 652, leading to the baqt; king in Dongola was Qalidurut

-686-689: Patriarch Isaac of Alexandria wrote letters to the rulers of Abyssinia and Nubia to help resolve a dispute between the two

-c.700: King Mercurios of Makuria named the New Constantine in the Annals of the Coptic Patriarchs

-707: Union of Nobadia and Makuria by this year confirmed by epigraphic evidence; construction of cathedral in Faras 

-710: King Mercurios mentioned on foundation stone of a church in Taifa

-723-745: Muslim raids on Makuria

-725: Coptic revolt in Egypt

-739: Coptic revolt in Egypt

-748: King Cyriacus of Nubia intervened in Egypt after Patriarch Abba Michael was imprisoned by the emir, invaded Egypt with a huge army demanding the release of the patriarch

-mid-700s: King Cyriacus was “Great King” in Makuria, under whom served 13 kinglets

-c.750: death of Eparch Paulos-Kolla

-750: Coptic revolt in Egypt

-758: Letter in Arabic to king of Makuria (probably Cyriacus) about Makuria’s failure to uphold the baqt

-762-770: Raids by Muslims against Nubia

-798: Death of Petros, eparch of Nobadia

-796: Birth of Sufi saint of Nubian descent, Dhul-Nun al-Misri

-798: Death of Eparch Petros (tombstone at Old Dongola)

-835: Prince Giorgios of Nubia sent by his son, Zachararias I, to Baghdad to negative with the caliph’s court a remittance of the baqt payment (which was now to be paid every three years); Coptic sources indicate that Zacharias had trouble with rebels during this time before sending his son to Baghdad

-835-836: Nubian agent of Makuria who collected taxes on Nubians living in Egypt rebelled against King Giorgios

-c.850: King Johannes said to have reigned from Tilimauara until Philae

-854-855: Beja raid in Upper Egypt; possible around this time that el-Omari fought with the Nubians and Makurian king Giorgios appointed his nephew, Nyuti, to defeat him 

-866-902: First metropolitan of see of Faras was Abba Kyros

-c.868-884: Oases route through Sahara to “Sudan” and “Maghrib” discontinued; route through oases west of Nile once prosperous, with “Rum” (Greeks) and Egyptians and Nubians traveling to the west/Northwest and another route to the Fazzan

-883: Death of Eparch Johannes, eparch of Gaderon and son of the king of Makuria, Zacharias

-900s: Alwa reported to be more powerful and prosperous than Makuria 

-903: Ibn al-Faqih mentions route used by traders to travel from Egypt to Ghana, which passed through the Wahat Misr (Oases of Egypt) to Marawa, Maranda, Kawkaw (Gao), and Ghana)

-910-915: Abu Mansur Makin raided Nubia

-943: el-Masudi reported that Kubra Ibn Surur, king of Dongola, ruled Alwa while Ibn Hawqal reported that the king of Makuria was king of Alwa

-950: Makurian ruler raided oases in Egypt

-c.955: Ibn Hawqal visited Nubia 

-956: Makuria raided the Oases and attacked Aswan

-960-966: Nubian vizier Kafur ruled Egypt

-964: Nubian king marched on Aswan

-980-1003: During tenure of Patriarch Philotheus, contacts recorded between Ethiopia and the King of the Nubians (King George of Nubia received a letter from Ethiopian ruler, asking for his aid to receive a metropolitan from the Patriarch of Alexandria)

-985: Ibn Selim traveled through Nubia

-Late 900s-early 1000s: Akhbar al-zaman mentions the kingdom of Zaghawa as vast, large and at war with Nubia

-c.1000-1006: Raphael and David reigned as kings of Makuria and Alwa

1002: King Raphael said to have introduced novelty of brick domes to the buildings of Dongola

-1004-1033: Patriarch John Abdun of Antioch humbled himself to a Nubian monk, Shishi or Sawsana. 

-1006: Abu Rakwa, member of Spanish Umayyads, fled to Nubia but given back by the king of Makuria

-1008: Decree of al-Hakim in Egypt allowing Copts who wish to leave the right to go to Byzantine, Nubian, Abyssinian or other territories

-1036/1037: Death of Bishop Marianos of Pachoras (Faras), buried at Ibrim

-1036-1094: Reign of Fatimid caliph al-Mustansir Billah, the son of a Nubian slave

-1066: Nasir ed-Dawla raided Nubia but was defeated

-1069: Inscription at Debeira mentioned the title “admiral supreme”

-1078-1092: Cyril II Patriarch of Alexandria; during his tenure, king Solomon of Nubia (who had abdicated in favor of his nephew, George, to lead a life of asceticism) dies in Cairo 

-1106: Birth of future Makuria king Giogios

-1113: Death of Giorgios, archbishop of Old Dongola for 50 years

-1130-1158: Reign of Giorgios in Makuria

-c.1155-1190: Reign of Moses Georges, said to have ruled Alwa and Makuria

-1155: King Moses Giorgios, king of Dotawo, was also Eparch of Palagi

-Before 1170: al-Idrisi repeated report from travelers to Kawar that Nubia (Makuria) had attacked town of Samnah, of the Taju kingdom bordering Nubia

-1172: Makuria attacked Aswan and Upper Egypt; Richard of Poitiers recorded that the king of Nubia makes war on pagan neighbors

-1173: Shams ed-Dawla Turanshah, brother of Saladin, takes Qasr Ibrim

-1181-1221: Reign of Lalibela of Zagwe dynasty in Ethiopia

-1182/83: Reynald of Châtillon’s said to have raided Aidhab

-1203/1204: Nubian ruler on pilgrimage to Holy Land visited Constantinople

-1242: Madrasat in Cairo built by Kanem for pilgrims

-1253: Revolt of the Arabs in Upper Egypt

-1270: Beginning of Solomonic Dynasty in Ethiopia

-1272: Makuria raids Red Sea port of Aidhab 

-1275: Shekanda, nephew of King David of Nubia, appeals to the Sultan of Egypt for help and replaces David on the throne of Nubia after an invasion from Egypt (after King Dawud had raided area near Aswan)

-1276: Treaty between Mamluks in Egypt and Makuria giving northern part of Maris to Muslim control

-1280: Nubian pilgrims in Holy Land mentioned by Burchard of Mount Sion

before 1286: Ibn Sa’id al-Maghribi’s Book of Geography, borrowing from lost work, describes Kanem in great detail: King Muhammad, capital of Njimi, old capital was Manan, Kanem ruled over Fezzan, Tajuwa, Kawar, “Zaghawa” east of Manan

-1285/86: Invasion of Nubia from Egypt, ultimately leading to defeat of King Semamun of Nubia and his replacement by a nephew appointed by the invading army from Egypt

-1289-1290: Muslim invasion of Makuria, king fled Old Dongola (Semamun)

-1291: King Semamun kills king installed by Egypt, restores the baqt agreement with Egypt

-1292: Nubian king gave excuses to sultan of Egypt for nonpayment of baqt

-1298: Sultan al-Malik an-Nāṣir Muḥammad ordered closing of churches in Fustat and Cairo

-1301: Mamluk Sultan passes edict introducing more discrimination against Christians and Jews, extending it as far as Dongola

-1304: Lord of Dongola (King Ayay) brought tribute to the court of the Sultan in Egypt, asks and receives an army to support him in a struggle with unnamed enemies 

-1312: Nuba king brings gifts to the court of Mamluk Egypt (1311 king Kerenbes, who was said to have killed his brother?)

-1314 to 1344: Reign of Amda Seyon in Ethiopia

-1316: Dominican mission to "Ethiopia" (Nubia) Sultan of Egypt sends Abdalla Barshanbo (a nephew of King David) with support of an army to become king of Dongola, replacing Kerenbes but Kenz ad-Dawla eventually becomes King

-1317: Throne Hall in Old Dongola converted into a mosque

-1323: Kerenbes seizes throne from Kanz ad-Dawla but is eventually defeated by him 

-1324: Mansa Musa of Mali goes on pilgrimage

-1327-1339: Benjamin patriarch of Alexandria; Ethiopian Ewostatewos met him in Cairo after traveling through Nubia, where he left a favorable impression on the Nubian king

-1330: Bishop Tavoli appointed to Dongola by the Latins

-1365: Gebel Adda became capital of Makuria (or Dotawo), no longer Dongola

-1385: El libro del conosçimiento de todos los reinos referred to Genoese merchants traveling to Dongola

-1391-1392: Letter of Sultan Uthman (Bir) b. Idris of Kanem-Borno to Mamluk Sultan Barquq, complaining of depredations of Judham Arabs and asking the Mamluk ruler to free any Kanem-Borno Muslims sold into slavery in Egypt, Syria. Judham Arabs are said to have killed the previous Borno king, Amr the Martyr b. Idris, son of al-Hajj Idris, son of al-Hajj Ibrahim

-1397: Regent of Nubia fled to Egypt, escaping his cousin 

-1434-1468: Reign of Zara Yaeqob

-1442: Black slaves in Egypt plot to revolt, appointing their own sultan, vizier, etc. and plundering cereals until put down by the Mamluk government

-1447: Antonio Malfante’s Latin letter mentions "Indian" merchants who were Christian at Tawat

-1480-1483: Felix Fabri met Nubian Christians in Jerusalem during his pilgrimage

-1484: King Joel of Dotawo reigning

-1486: Janim el-Ajrud el-Ainani, Kashif of Manfalut, fled to Nubia 

-1517: Ottoman conquest of Egypt

-1518: Emir 'Alī b. 'Umar went out on a raid against the Lord (ṣāḥib) of Nubia

-c.1520-1527: Nubian emissaries visit Ethiopia, asking Lebna Dengel for priests. Nubia reported to be divided into captaincies.

-c.1526: According to Leo Africanus, the king of Nubia is always at war, sometimes with the people of Gorhan and sometimes with those to the east of the Nile

-1607: Deposed Abd al-Qadir II of Sennar fled to Ethiopia, performed obeisance to Susenyos

-c.1611: Wadai state founded by Abd al-Karim

1618-1619: Ethiopian Emperor Susenyos campaigned against Sennar

1637: Gondar established as capita

-1644/5-1681: Reign of Badi II of Sennar (Funj Sultanate)

-Late 1660s: Shaykh Ahmad b. Muhammad al-Yamani, from the Nile Valley, visited Kulumbardo

-1672: Plan to send Catholic mission to Nubia through the Fezzan aborted due to fall of Pasha Osman in Tripoli

-1700-1702: Theodor Krump traveling from Sennar to Egypt with people from Borno and the Fezzan, reports caravans from Darfur, Borno, Fezzan reach Sennar

-1703: Fra Damiano da Rivoli tried to reach Borno from Sennar but didn’t pursue caravan route; a Borno caravan leader in Sennar told him the journey would take 60 days

-1744: Ethiopia-Funj Sultanate War during reign of Badi IV