A Bulala Attack on Bilma

One of the interesting historical references in Maurice Abadie's Afrique centrale; la colonie du Niger is a possible Bulala raid that culminated in a massacre of people near Bilma, in Kawar. The alleged attack occurred in the 17th century, likely at a time when the Bulala sultans were already in the region of Fitri instead of Kanem. Thus, the attack probably took place when the Bulala were at a further distance from Kanem. Unfortunately, we could not locate any sources to corroborate this tradition. However, Nachtigal, in Sahara and Sudan, wrote a history of Bagirmi's kings based on informants who were descendants of the principal actors involved. One of the intriguing moments in his account of the reign of the Bagirmi king Burkomanda, whose regnal dates were probably 1635-1665, included far-ranging raids that reached Borku and Kawar. This same mbang of Bagirmi had a sister, Zara, married to the Bulala sultan. It is possible that the Bulala raid which massacred people in Bilma assembled for prayer was actually part of one of the Bagirmi king's expeditions.