Borno's Musketeers

Whilst perusing John Hunwick's Timbuktu and the Songhay Empire: Al-Sa'dī's Ta'rīkh Al-Sūdān Down to 1613 and Other Contemporary Documents we came across some intriguing allusions to Borno. In a translated source written by an unnamed Spaniard in 1591, some information pertinent to Borno reached the writer. According to his unclear sources, the ruler of Borno possessed 500 musketeers. The story about the conflict with the Turks is somewhat garbled and if relevant, might have been a reference to past disagreement over a fortress in the Fazzan. Intriguingly, the source does match other sources that speak of a Turkish presence in Borno (Anania, Ahmad b. Furtu) in the last few decades of the 16th century.