Gambaru

Migeod 1924

One of the most illustrious sites associated with the Sayfawa dynasty of Borno is Gambaru. Located only a few kilometers from the royal capital, Birni Gazargamo, Gambaru was said to have been a favorite retreat of the Sayfawa rulers. The site is also remembered traditionally as the construction of a magira named Aisa Kili N'girmaramma. According to H.R. Palmer, this queen-mother ordered the construction of Gambaru for Idris Alooma (r. 1564-1596). Others, referring to Idris Alooma's mother as Amsa, attribute the site to Amsa. Despite the contradictory traditions on the mother of this famous mai, Gambaru was apparently in use until c. 1808 or 1809, when the attacking forces of the jihad pillaged Gazargamo and other sites in the region. In an attempt to reconstruct the history of Gambaru, we shall share our own thoughts on the site based on studies by historians, archaeologists, and travelers. Understanding Gambaru's origins and its function as a palace site will elucidate how the Sayfawa maiwa utilized brick for elite architecture. It may also reveal a Bornoan example of how a small royal center could coexist with a much larger birni 5 kilometers away that was the real economic and political core of the state. 

Migeod (1924)

Naturally, one must begin with the origins. Since Gambaru was referenced multiple times by Ahmad b. Furtu, including an allusion to a mosque there, the site was already established by the reign of Idris Alooma (Lange 131). Traditions collected by Landeroin extend the origins of Gambaru as a Sayfawa center further back in time, to the 15th century. Per tradition, the area of Gambaru was where a Sao hunter, Gouma Kandira (also called Dala Gomami) lived. When the Sayfawa arrived in the region, he granted them permission to settle nearby. Over time, the Sayfawa (or their followers from Kanem) used their abundant merchandise to acquire additional lands from the local Sao. Over time, Gouma Kandira was tricked into buying too many goods on credit that he could not repay. This led to Gouma leaving the region and the Sayfawa making Gambaru their capital. However, they found the region was too densely wooded, too close to the river (causing frequent flooding) and the site was not favorable for horses (Landeroin 356). Interesting, this Sao chief, Gouma Kandira, may be identified with the Sao hunter who settled in Machena, Bolo Kandira (also known as Guma Kerbina). Although C.J. Lethem recorded a version of events which attributed Gouma Kerbina's departure from Borno to his father, the traditions of Gouma Kandira/Bolo Kandira (or Dala Gomami) were known as far west as Machina. By their own traditions, the ruling dynasty of Machina were said to be descendants of this man. 

Graham Connah (1981)

A different version of this tradition was reported by Palmer. In Sudanese Memoirs, Palmer wrote of the "So" Dala N'Gumami, clearly the same Sao leader Dala Gomami. However, instead of Gambaru, Palmer wrote that Dala lived at the town of Gaji Dibun. The followers of the Sayfawa were already using land nearby for pastureland, amazing the gigantic Sao leader due to their small size and horses (Palmer 66). This Sao hunter subsequently led the Sayfawa to the area of Gazargamo. The familiar tale of the trick of the henna was then used to defeat the Sao and kill nearly all, except for Dala N'Gumami. This Sao leader was said to have been a friend of the Sayfawa (67-68). Despite the absence of Gambaru in Palmer's version of this event, it should be remembered that Gambaru was located quite near to the site of Gazargamo. The lack of the toponym in Palmer's version may have been due to different informants attributing the Sao hunter's town to the general vicinity of Gazargamo and Gambaru, along the Komadugu Yobe. Undoubtedly, further evidence is necessary, but a Sau-Gafata connection for these communities may be assumed since they were still living near Gazargamo in places like Damasak at the time of Idris Alooma's reign.

Thurstan Shaw (1978)

Since oral traditions associate Gambaru with the Sao leader who led or welcomed the Sayfawa to the area of Gazargamo, the area was inhabited by Sao peoples long before Gambaru became a royal retreat for the rulers of Borno. Traditions are still imprecise for the exact process in which Gambaru became Sayfawa royal center. For example, Lange heard traditions in the region that reported the site was constructed by Aisa for Ali Gaji or Dunama Dibalemi. Furthermore, one of these kings did not like Gambaru because it lacked adequate space for horse racing (Lange 133). This is clearly an instance of modern tradition recalling the names of two of the most prominent Sayfawa monarchs and anachronistically turning Aisa into the mother or magira of them. Migeod, writing in the 1920s, also recorded that the mai rejected Gambaru as a capital, thereby leading to it becoming the magira's town (226). Palmer, in Bornu Sahara and Sudan, wrote of Aisa Kili N'Girmaramma having great difficulty in protecting the life of Idris Alooma from his cousin, Dunama Fannami and Abdallah. As regent for her son, after Abdallah's death, she was said to have built the palace and mosque at Gambaru to so Idris would not be corrupted by the manners of Gazargamo (Palmer 232). 

Seidensticker's Plan

Muhammad Nur Alkali similarly attributed the construction of Gambaru to the queen Amsa, mother of Idris Alooma, based on a praise song for her (Alkali 145). Likewise, Bivar and Shinnie, in "Old Kanuri Capitals," also reported the tradition of Amsa (or Aisa) as the builder of Gambaru (Bivar & Shinnie 3). Even a problematic praise song in J.R. Patterson's Kanuri Songs, for a magira named Aisa, referred to her as owner of Gambaru. Overall, most traditions concur on the identity (Amsa or Aisa) of the magira who built Gazargamo, although some attribute the son for whom it was built to Ali Gaji. The sense of the mai rejecting Gambaru as a capital may be an interpolation of the other traditions in which the Sayfawa rejected Gambaru (or its environs) earlier in the 15th century. Lamentably, the method in which the magira sponsored the brick buildings or walls of Gambaru is ambiguous. Traditions of craftsmen imported from Tripoli to complete the project may be unreliable. After all, the Sayfawa had sponsored brick buildings since the 12th century in Kanem. It is possible that workers were local artisans using skills that the Sayfawa had long sponsored for elite structures. Possible evidence of this can be found in the existence of a mai jalabvube in Gazargamo, the head of brickmakers (Seidensticker 245). In terms of the construction of the brick walls, Migeod did note that the bricks showed evidence that not all the bricklayers were equally skilled (Migeod 227). Nonetheless, a magira like Aisa Kili N'girmaramma possessed ample resources and had the structures built. Gambaru is the only known site with fired-brick ruins believed to have been built by a woman.

Palmer (1936)

Due to the consensus on the builder of Gambaru, what can we infer on the site's history from the 16th century to the early 19th century? Lange noted the reference to horses in oral traditions on the site, which brought to mind J.R. Patterson's district report on Borsari from the colonial period. If the mulima, a slave official in charge of the royal horse stables, was based at Gambaru, oral tradition may be alluding to this official. According to Patterson, the mulima collected the taxes from the villages or towns of Sage, Gilbossu, and Jaba. The mulima was based at Gambaru in the past. If Nachtigal was correct to identify the post of mulima as one held by slaves, this official was also at Gambaru and received the right to collect taxes or tribute from villages in the area. Of course, in the days before the abandonment of Gazargamo, the metropolitan district was densely populated and full of villages and towns. This means that in the past, the mulima may have held tax rights over a large population. Provisioning members of the royal family staying at Gambaru may have also entailed some fiefs or administrative rights over villages in the region. Sadly, it is unclear if the fiefs held by the magira were also included among those tied to Gambaru.

Palmer, Sudanese Memoirs

Indeed, a possible hint of Gambaru's past connections to the larger region can be seen in Denham's brief description of the site. Denham, presumably drawing on oral tradition, was told the nearby river was once very actively used by boats moving from Gambaru to Kabshary. The surrounding area was also once extensively cultivated (Denham, Clapperton, Oudney 156). This account, though brief, was based on traditions only a little over a decade after the site was abandoned, so it has a degree of reliability. The active river traffic, well-cultivated surroundings, and proximity to Gazargamo meant an economically dynamic regional economy. In fact, farms along the Komadugu Yobe were sometimes irrigated, according to Patterson. This facilitated the growth of cotton and food crops. Lastly, given that horses were of major importance for the military capacity of the state, one can be also be sure that the Sayfawa rulers who occasionally stayed at Gambaru kept a close eye on the mulima. In truth, the name of Aisa Kili N'girmaramma may also be a reference to horses or horse racing (Lange 133). This is highly suggestive of a link between horses, the magira, and Gambaru. Being in an economically prosperous regional economy that was densely settled meant Gambaru could draw on these ample resources.

Sassoon's photo of Gambaru ruins 

Unfortunately, little remains of the site of Gambaru besides the brick walls. Luckily, Musa Hambolu, who partly excavated Gambaru in the 1990s, focused on a few areas that shed additional light. One of them, a Yobe-type archaeological mound was a 2x2 excavation north of the palace. Another spot excavated was 4x4 in the southeast quadrant of one of the round hut foundations within the palace (Hambolu 221). In terms of the actual palace, Hambolu described it as oblong-shaped and featuring 10 compartments or sections. Overall, it measured 24 meters long from the southwest to southeast, 12 meters from southeast to northeast, 27 meters from northeast to northwest and 10.5 meters from its northwest to southwest axis, a total of 243 square meters. In addition, 5 possible hut foundations were detected, 4 of which were located within one of the 10 compartments (Hambolu 223). While less impressive when compared to the palace complex at Gazargamo (100,000 square meters), Gambaru's buildings with circular brick foundations provide possible clues to the use of space between the walled areas, or compartments. Hambolu's excavation of a hut foundation in the southeast quadrant revealed a structure with a diameter 4.4 and 5 meters for its inner and outer dimensions. The wall was 60 centimeters thick but Hambolu did not excavate the entire structure (Hambolu 224). A possible purpose of the site where 4 of these structures were found could have been for the use of the harem or women of the mai. Perhaps one of the circular structures was similar to what can be seen at Machina today, apparently used for giving audiences in front of it. 

Another picture by Sassoon

Besides Hambolu, other descriptions of the site are based on the ruins of the walls still standing. The earliest, based on a description by a Borno native to a European who never saw Gambaru, dated to the 1810s. This brief account merely alluded to the remains of "castles" and houses erected by "Christians" in the past. The association of the site with Christians is certainly perplexing, but Gronenborn has suggested this may be due to a past presence of European slaves or captives in the region. In this light, it is intriguing to note that the original article, published in The Quarterly Review, referred to copper coins used by the Christians being dug up at Gambaro. The use of the word "Christian" in Borno to refer to "pagans" or kirdi should not be forgotten. The association with "Christians" may very well refer to a non-Muslim group in the area or perhaps forcibly resettled nearby. Alternatively, the presence of European slaves and renegades in precolonial Borno, allegedly highly esteemed by the Sayfawa, could also have been present at Gambaru in the 16th and 17th centuries. 

Sassoon picture of standing wall

After The Quarterly Review, travelers who visited the site described Gambaru. Denham was the next to write of his visit to Gambaru's ruins. Noting the mosque walls enclosing a space of 20 square yards, he also observed the house of the sultan with gates opening toward the river. The private mosque attached to the sultan's house was also still observable, as well as other buildings of brick. Barth, who came next several years later, was only able to distinguish 1 wall and a building he believed was part of a mosque (Lange 131). Unmentioned by Lange are the allusions to artificial basins or lakes near Gambaru. Denham, for instance, wrote that Gambaru was located northwest of Lake Muggaby (Denham, Clapperton, Oudney 155). Barth observed what he thought were artificial basins or lakes in the area near Gambaru, too (Barth 345). Consequently, the capital district may have used canals or irrigation ditches that fed artificial lakes or basins of water for agricultural or other purposes. Gambaru, located near a major river, may have benefited from this as water was rerouted to the agricultural settlements whose farmers paid taxes or tribute.

Photo of Gambaru in Bivar & Shinnie's "Old Kanuri Capitals"

Moving into the 20th century, more detailed descriptions of the site emerged. The valuable insights and observations by 20th century visitors and archaeologists are weakened by the plundering of the site for bricks. Nevertheless, some walls still stood to an impressive height in the 1920s. When Migeod visited, he described the palace as 250 yards by 150 yards, with walls of burnt brick. The brick walls were supposedly used to divide the space into multiple yards or sections used for walking, horses, or gardens (Migeod 226). The Gambaru walls impressively still stood up to 8 feet in some sections. However, he did not see evidence of a great palatial house structure, writing, "A great palace in the form of a house did not exist." But, he did view the foundation of a round structure or hut of a large diameter in the northwestern corner of the site (Migeod 227). Even by the 1960s, Bivar and Shinnie viewed walls that still stood up to 3 meters (Bivar & Shinnie 4). Some sections may have been partly restored during the colonial era, but probably not in any way that substantially altered the layout. Even by the 1980s, when Wilhelm Seidensticker produced the only plan of Gambaru, some of the brick walls survived. Seidensticker's plan and study indicates the site's palace was really 10 interior courtyard divided by brick walls. These walls, 1 meter wide with the width of 7-8 stretchers, were differently fired since they were much darker in color (Seidensticker 65). 

Another image of Gambaru's remaining walls in Bivar & Shinnie

As evidenced by the contradictory reports of Gambaru, much of the site's history and architecture remain enigmatic. Even the question of a palatial house or brick house is ambiguous. While Denham, who saw the site a little over a decade after its abandonment, believed there was a large sultan's house and private mosque, later visitors were less confident. Migeod, in the 20th century, believed the brick walls were mainly used to separate the 10 or so compartments or sections, which each had their particular uses or purposes. Gambaru's possible "Sao" origins and link to the Dala Gumami or Gouma Kandira of Borno oral tradition is additionally ambiguous. Thankfully, traditions concur on the magira who ordered the construction of Gambaru. Likely the mother of Idris Alooma, this makes Gambaru one of the few (if not the only) Sayfawa fired-brick site which can be linked to a woman ruler. The site's location and proximity to Birni Gazargamo, the Sayfawa capital established by Ali Gaji, made it a part of a populous and prosperous region that engaged in irrigated agriculture, trade on the Komadugu and overland, and possibly the use of canals or ditches to create artificial lakes or ponds. Gambaru's connection with the mulima and occasional use by the Sayfawa rulers likely made it a popular site for the mai to escape the crowds at Gazargamo. Access to the mulima may have also facilitated the organizing of the horses for military expeditions. In short, the site was well-positioned and functioned as another manifestation of Sayfawa elite architecture in the history of Kanem-Borno. As a smaller royal site near Gazargamo, one cannot help but wonder which, if any, fired-brick ruins in Kanem served a similar purpose. If the antiquity of the birni can be traced to medieval Kanem, then it is difficult to imagine that Tié was the royal capital of Njimi. Was it not, perhaps, akin to Gambaru as a royal center visited by the rulers but not the large town or city sometimes implied in medieval Arabic sources? 

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