Chess in Borno (Tsatsarandi)

 

A diagram of a Kanuri chessboard from Meek's "Chess in Bornu, Nigeria."

The game of chess has a long but poorly known history in Borno. According to a report on Borno based on information from North Africans who visited the region in the late 18th century, chess was a game played by elites. This brief report supports the few facts known about chess when Meek was in Borno. While he thought the rules of the game were the same as Western chess, a correction by P.G. Harris in 1930s indicated that this chess variant was played somewhat differently. In fact, the rules resemble North African/Middle Eastern forms of chess, which is no surprise since the game likely arrived from those regions. What's interesting to us is the use of Kanuri terms for various pieces, like the mai for king or the chiroma for the queen. And apparently castling was not allowed, nor were pawns allowed to promote to another piece. Players hissed when they put the opponent's king in check, too. One can surmise the game was also played in Hausaland, where Hausa names for the pieces of the game were known.

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. 

The Fazzan and Kanem

A view of Traghen included in Despois's study of the Fazzan's human geography in Mission scientifique du Fezzan.

One aspect of the medieval history of Kanem which has yet to be satisfactorily analyzed is the extension of the state to the Fazzan. Said to have begun during the reign of Dunama Dibalemi in the 13th century, scholars disagree on when Sayfawa rule this far north came to an end. Similarly, there is a debate about the Kanemi provincial ruler, based at Traghen, becoming autonomous and thus ending direct rule from Kanem sometime in the 14th century. Even as direct rule faded, Kanem’s institutional and cultural legacy endured well into the medieval and early modern periods. The evidence suggests that Kanem’s political and cultural influence persisted at least into the late 14th century and provided the foundations for later dynasties such as the Awlad Muhammad. This brief excursion will explore this theme through the brief external written sources, oral and written traditions of Borno, and the traditions of the Fazzan. 

Since written sources from the Fazzan during this period are scarce and external sources from Kanem-Borno and North Africa are largely silent on it, scholars have come to rely on oral traditions recorded in the 19th and 20th centuries. The general narrative suggests a ruler of the Fazzan installed by mai Dunama Dibalemi at Traghen. Remembered in the region as the Banu Nasur, they appear to have become largely autonomous or semi-autonomous. Then, at some indeterminate time, another ruling group, the Banu Khorman, are said to have defeated the dynasty of Kanem origin. The new rulers reestablished their capital at Zawila but appear to have lost effective authority sometime in the 15th or early 16th century. The dynasty which finally reestablished order and survived until the 19th century, the Awlad Muhammad, appear to have established themselves in the Fazzan by the mid-16th century. Their descent from a sharif from Morocco or Mauritania and the importance of the Fazzan as a crossroads for pilgrimage and trade may have made the founder of the dynasty a convenient figure to restore order. 

Much of the above overview of the history of the Fazzan is based on traditions that are actually contradictory. For example, J. Despois, in his "human geography" of the region in the Mission scientifique du Fezzan, was told that the Guend er Roum fortress near Traghen was used by the Banu Khorman before Kanem's conquest of the Fazzan (Despois 96). But Henri Duveyrier, who traveled in the region during the 19th century, was told the Traghen fortress ruins were associated with the Banu Nasur dynasty from Kanem (276). Does this mean the area's fortifications predate Kanem's northward expansion in the 13th century? And were the Banu Khorman also present in this part of the Fazzan so early? Similarly, J. Chappelle, whose study of the Tubu populations, Nomades noires du Sahara is an important work, suggests that Dunama Dibalemi installed a Tubu lieutenant to oversee the Fazzan at Traghan in c. 1258 (50). Once again, this is contradicted by the best chronology for the Sayfawa dynasty, Lange's, which indicates Dibalemi's reign likely ended by c. 1248. Furthermore, Ahmad b. Furtu's chronicle of Idris Alooma's Kanem campaigns referred to hostility between Dunama Dibalemi and the Tubu. Although apparently based on oral tradition, Ahmad b. Furtu's informants spoke of a war between the Tubu and the ruler of Kanem that lasted 7 years, 7 months and 7 days (Palmer 50). Consequently, it seems rather unlikely that Dibalemi would have appointed a Tubu leader of the Fazzan at Traghen. The sources are not adequate to answer the question, but the frequent Kanuri toponyms in Traghen may be a more reliable indicator of a Kanembu governor posted there. Clearly, there is a problem in the early scholarship on this period. Assuming Dunama Dibalemi had to have been the one who ordered the killing of Qaraqush's son in Waddan and then established Kanem's hegemony in the Fazzan in 1258 cannot sustain critical analysis.

What do the few textual sources on this period tell us? The earliest, the geographical text of Ibn Sa'id, was based on a lost account by Ibn Fatima. In his account, which is largely based on Ibn Fatima's descriptions of Kanem during Dunama Dibalemi's reign, the Fazzan is included in the domains of the Sayfawa (Levtzion & Hopkins 188). This same source, however, repeated the notion that Zawila was the capital of Fazzan (194). If so, one wonders if the decision to move the Kanemi capital to Traghen was made after Dunama Dibalemi's reign, perhaps when Kaday occupied the throne (1248-1277). Alternatively, Zawila may have continued to occupy an important position as the commercial capital while the official appointed by the Sayfawa was based in Traghen. It is unclear exactly how administrative arrangements functioned and where, but Ibn Sa'id implied Kanemi domination during the reign of Dunama Dibalemi. Furthermore, Ahmad b. Furtu and the Diwan reveal this mai owned tens of thousands of horses. It is difficult to imagine Kanem obtaining so many horses for military purposes without importing at least some of them through the Fazzan. Thus, it is possible Kanem's sway over Fazzan began sometime during Dunama's reign. Additional Arabic sources affirm Kanem's intervention in Waddan by the 1250s. According to al-Tijani, the king of Kanem intervened in Waddan and had a son of Qaraqush killed in 1258 for causing discord in the land (215). 

Ibn Khaldun, for his part, wrote of a gift of a giraffe from Kanem to the Hafsid ruler of Tunis in 1257. Ibn Khaldun is too brief in his description, yet he refers to the king of Kanem also as the ruler of Borno and locates their domains to the south of Tripoli (337). It is unclear if he meant the domains of the Sayfawa still extended into the Fazzan in his time or if he was referring to the period in question, but he writes in the present tense. Another 14th century writer, al-Umari, apparently had access to independent sources of information about Kanem. For instance, he relies on the authority of Abu Abd Allah al-Salaliji who personally met the ascetic shaykh, Uthman al-Kanimi (260). This source, whose nisba points to Morocco, presumably met the ascetic shaykh in Egypt or North Africa. Moreover, al-Umari described Kanem's domains stretching to Zalla in Libya (260). If al-Umari had access to informants who spoke with Kanemi ascetics and pilgrims, one may be able to surmise that his information on the borders of the state were at least partly updated. The lodge in Cairo where Kanemi pilgrims and students stayed was still active at this time, too (261). Therefore, it is not inconceivable for al-Umari's information on Kanem's border to be current. Lastly, al-Maqrizi also implied Kanem's continued domination of at least parts of the Libyan Sahara. According to him, Barqa was a northern neighbor of Kanem. This author, who lived from 1364-1442, possessed a surprisingly detailed amount of knowledge on Kanem, Borno, and neighboring regions. Indeed, from his use of Kanuri words like Afnu to refer to the Hausa and various peoples or regions in the Lake Chad area, al-Maqrizi must have had access to other sources of information on this part of Africa (354). Either through lost Arabic sources or from contact with pilgrims or students from Kanem-Borno, al-Maqrizi should be taken seriously. In contrast to el-Hesnawi, who was inclined to discount the writings of al-Umari and al-Maqrizi on Kanem's rule of the Fazzan lasting a long period, we believe the question is still debatable (El-Hesnawi 320). Certainly by 1463, however, the qaid of Tripoli received tribute from the Fazzan that was then sent to the Hafsids (322).

As the few external Arabic sources seem to suggest, Kanem's authority over the Fazzan persisted at least until the end of the 14th century. This would imply that, despite conflict within the Sayfawa ruling house and wars with the Bulala and Sao, the rulers never completely lost sight of the important commercial route that linked them to the larger Islamic world. If the oral traditions in the Fazzan are accurate, however, things began to fall apart sometime in the 1300s or 1400s. Duveyrier repeated traditions of the Banu Khorman defeating the local Kanem administrators (Duveyrier 277). Gustav Nachtigal, also drawing from tradition, argued that the Banu Nasur dynasty in Fazzan became autonomous (Nachtigal 103). Some period of lengthy conflict ensued in the Fazzan, for Despois reported similar traditions on the foundation of the Awlad Muhammad dynasty. Apparently, the Awlad Muhammad founder sought to unite groups in dispersed gasr fortifications due to endemic conflict among the Banu Khorman, Nasur, and Jahma (Despois 108). If this tradition is a reliable indicator, the Awlad Muhammad concentrated people at a Nasur gasr and gradually reestablished a unitary state for the Fazzan. This may explain why political titles of Kanuri origin were adopted by the Awlad Muhammad rulers, since their rise to power may have been through an alliance with remnants of the local Kanemi administration. Intriguingly, J. Lethielleux reported that the people of the Wadi al-Ajal sent a deputation to Borno after the fall of the Nasur dynasty due to the incessant conflict with nomads (Lethielleux 17). If so, there may have been elements in the Fazzan who solicited the aid of the Sayfawa for restoring order. It was ultimately achieved by the Awlad Muhammad, who may have accomplished it with what was left of the Banu Nasur. 

Nevertheless, some of the traditions are contradictory about the legacy of Kanem's rule. To Despois, who was told of Kanem forces allegedly destroying Brak el Afia and the village of Maafen, the blacks of Kanem had a bad reputation (Despois 61). Lange, however, has proposed that Brak was attacked by Idris Alooma of Borno in the 16th century, not the period of Kanem's rule. Lange based this on Ahmad b. Furtu's chronicle of Idris Alooma's Borno campaigns, referring to an episode in which the mai returned from the hajj and attacked a place called Burak. This Burak was likely the Burak in the northern Fazzan where traditions recall a place destroyed by Kanem (Lange 117). Lange even goes so far as to suggest Borno may have retained or reinstalled a garrison at Traghen in the 16th century, from which the attack against Burak was launched (118). Further evidence of this is required, but it would affirm the idea of a more positive or at least neutral view of Kanem's authority in the 13th and 14th centuries. In truth, El-Hesnawi himself was told a tradition by a Fazzani elder of Aqar which reflects a more positive view of Kanem's period of rule. According to this informant, a large delegation of Fazzanis, from 6 nomadic groups, arrived in the capital of the ruler of Kanem to ask for Kanemi families to revive agriculture (El-Hesnawi 318). This problematic account could be referring to the settlement of slaves to work in the date-groves of the Fazzan. Alternatively, it may contain a kernel of historical veracity on the large-scale movement of free people from Kanem into Fazzan during the 13th and 14th centuries. Either way, it represents a positive tradition of Kanem for its settling of 6000 men and their families into the Fazzan and a revival of agriculture after the politically tumultuous years following the fall of the Banu Khattab of Zawila in the late 12th century. The shared tie of Islam also paved the way for peaceful communication since the Fazzani delegation was initially assumed to be invading infidels by Kanem. Fortunately, "But when the Kanemis saw the Fazzanis camped near their capital, performed the daily prayers and showed no signs of hostility, they recognized them as Muslims creating no danger" (318). Ultimately, the annexation of the Fazzan under Dunama Dibalemi may have been welcomed for providing political stability, security, and the revival of the economy.

But what was the nature of the Kanemi authority of the Fazzan? Some possible clues may be seen in the political structure of the Sayfawa state. Lamentably, our sources are richer for the Borno phase of this dynasty. Nonetheless, we have noted the survival of Kanuri political titles under the Awlad Muhammad sultans. Thus, they too had a yarima, kaigama, and galadima. It is possible that the local Kanemi administration used such titles like the Sayfawa court within the Fazzan. It is also possible that the idea of a dignitary whose title followed a cardinal direction may have been in place. The Awlad Muhammad, for instance, posted a brother of the sultan at Traghen as "Sultan of the East," or "Sultan el Shirghi" (Lyon 207). Furthermore, the local administration may have utilized the chima system for land grants and tribute collection on date-groves and gardens. The Banu Nasur may have also successfully, for a time at least, rebuilt or maintained gasr fortifications at key sites in the Fazzan. Traghen, their political capital, certainly benefited from this. Zalla and other important sites for the trade and pilgrimage traffic through the Fazzan would have necessitated security. Lyon, when traveling in the Fazzan in the early 19th century, heard the story of 500 donkeys who perished during the construction of Traghen's citadel (207). Undoubtedly, the large-scale immigration of people in conditions of security must have been the greatest contribution to the region's prosperity. With security for trade routes, free and enslaved people could move to or through the Fazzan, restore and expand oasis settlements. This may be the origin of the Oualad Kassoun of Traghen, a group Despois identified as the most ancient lineage there (Despois 250). Such families with deep roots in sites like Traghen also reshaped the towns and villages of the area based on their town and villages in Kanem and Borno. Clearly, this would explain the preponderance of Kanuri terms for castles, wells, springs, and other place names. Or the appearance of a dendal at Murzuk. Further ties to Kanem and Borno may have developed through the Tura traders holding the position of Zeilama, who may have contributed to the growth of the trade in horses for Kanem's military expansion in the 1200s.

In summation, we have presented evidence for the survival of Kanem's rule in the Fazzan into the late 14th or early 15th century. The administration at Traghen likely mirrored aspects of the Sayfawa court, and it is possible that the Awlad Muhammad partly borrowed Sayfawa court titles via the example of the Banu Nasur dynasty. Exactly when they became autonomous is ambiguous, but a breakdown of state authority must have occurred by the early 15th century. Due to distance and the frequent conflicts of the Sayfawa with the Sao and Bulala in the 1300s, the Kanemi official posted at Traghen was perhaps autonomous. His position may have been similar to the later galadimas of Borno who possessed great local autonomy on Borno's frotier. Then, the enigmatic Banu Khorman, who may have been of Berber or Arab extraction, were said to have defeated the Banu Nasur and made Zawila their capital. Traditions collected by Despois, however, hint at a possible alliance of the Awlad Muhammad and the Banu Nasur. The period of Kanem's rule in the Fazzan may have also facilitated economic growth with immigration and increase in trade through this vital trans-Saharan route. The oral traditions, sadly, are contradictory. Despite their limitations, they do provide evidence for a relatively durable Kanemi government which shaped the subsequent Fazzani regime, the Awlad Muhammad. The few external Arabic sources on Kanem during this era likewise affirm a long-lasting Kanemi influence in the Fazzan. 

Bibliography

Barth, Heinrich. Travels and Discoveries in North and Central Africa: Being a Journal of an Expedition Undertaken Under the Auspices of H.B.M.'s Government in the Years 1849-1855. New York: D. Appleton, 1857.

Chapelle, Jean. Nomades noirs du Sahara. Paris: Plon, 1958.

Despois, Jean. Géographie humaine. III in  Mémoires de la Mission scientifique du Fezzân, Vol. 3. Alger: Imbert, 1946.

Dewière, Rémi. Du Lac Tchad À La Mecque: Le Sultanat Du Borno Et Son Monde (XVIe - XVIIe Siècle). Paris: Publications de la Sorbonne, 2017.

Duveyrier, Henri. Les Touareg du Nord. Paris: Challamel Ainé, 1864.

 El-Hesnawi, H. W. 1990. Fazzan under the rule of Awlad Muhammad. A Study in Political, Economic, Social and Intellectual History. PhD. diss. School of Oriental and Africa Studies, University of London, 1986.

Gray, Richard. “Christian Traces and a Franciscan Mission in the Central Sudan, 1700-1711.” The Journal of African History 8, no. 3 (1967): 383–93. http://www.jstor.org/stable/179827.

Hopkins, J. F. P., and Nehemia Levtzion (editors). Corpus of Early Arabic Sources for West African History. Princeton, NJ: Markus Wiener Publishers, 2000.

Hornemann, Friedrich. The Journal of Frederick Hornemann's Travels, from Cairo to Mourzouk: The Capital of the Kingdom of Fezzan, in Africa in the Years 1797-1798. London:  G. and W. Nicol, 1802.

Lange, Dierk.  A Sudanic Chronicle: The Borno Expeditions of Idrīs Alauma (1564-1576) According to the Account of Aḥmad B. Furṭū : Arabic Text, English Translation, Commentary and Geographical Gazetteer. Stuttgart: F. Steiner, 1987.

__________. Le Dīwān Des Sultans Du (Kānem-)Bornū: Chronologie Et Histoire D'un Royaume Africain (de La Fin Du Xe Siècle Jusqu'à 1808). Wiesbaden: F. Steiner, 1977.

__________. “LES LIEUX DE SEPULTURE DES ROIS SEFUWA (KANEM-BORNU): TEXTES ECRITS ET TRADITIONS ORALES.” Paideuma 25 (1979): 145–57. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23076442.

__________. "Un document de la fin du XVIIe siècle sur le commerce transsaharien." In: 2000 ans d’histoire africaine. Le sol, la parole et l'écrit. Mélanges en hommage à Raymond Mauny. Tome II. Paris : Société française d'histoire d'outre-mer, 1981. pp. 673-684. (Bibliothèque d'histoire d'outre-mer. Études, 5-6-2)

Lange, Dierk, and Silvio Berthoud. “Al-Qasaba et d’autres Villes de La Route Centrale Du Sahara.” Paideuma 23 (1977): 19–40. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40341580.

__________. "L'intérieur de l'Afrique occidentale d'après Giovanni Lorenzo Anania (XVIe siècle)". Cahiers d'histoire mondiale, 14, no. 2 (1972): 299-351.

Lemaire, Claude. "Mémoire des observations que le sieur Claude Lemaire, consul de france au royaume de tripoly, a fait en voiagent le long de la coste de derne et du golfe de la sidre, en 1705 et 1706, et sur diverces relations qu'il a eu du soudan, qui signiffie pais de nègre" in Omont, Henri (editor). Missions archéologiques françaises en Orient aux XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles, Part 2. Paris: Imprimerie Nationale, 1902.

Lethielleux J., Le Fezzan, ses jardins, ses palmiers. Tunis, Institut des belles lettres arabes, 1948.

Lyon, George Francis. A Narrative of Travels in Northern Africa in the Years 1818, 19 and 20, Accompanied by Geographical Notices of Soudan and the Course of the Niger. London: J. Murray, 1821.

Martin, B. G. “Kanem, Bornu, and the Fazzan: Notes on the Political History of a Trade Route.” The Journal of African History 10, no. 1 (1969): 15–27. http://www.jstor.org/stable/180293.

__________. “AHMAD RASIM PASHA AND THE SUPPRESSION OF THE FAZZAN SLAVE TRADE, 1881-1896.” Africa: Rivista Trimestrale Di Studi e Documentazione Dell’Istituto Italiano per l’Africa e l’Oriente 38, no. 4 (1983): 545–79. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40759666.

Miss Tully. Narrative of a Ten Years' Residence at Tripoli in Africa. London: H. Colburn, 1817. 

Nachtigal, Gustav and J. Gourdault (trans). Sahara et Soudan. Paris: Hachette et Cie, 1881. 

Palmer, H.R. Sudanese Memoirs: Being Mainly Translations of a Number of Arabic Manuscripts Relating to the Central and Western Sudan, Vol 1. 1st ed., new impression. London: Cass, 1967.

Thiry, Jacques. Le Sahara Libyen Dans L'Afrique Du Nord Medievale. Leuven:Peeters Publishers, 1995.

Venture, M. "Notions sur le royaume de Fezzan  et sur la route qui y conduit en partant de Tripoly de Barbarie", Bulletin de la Société de géographie de Paris, 2e série t. 4, (1835): 185-195.

Revisiting the Tura

A problematic part of H.R. Palmer's list of Tura mahrams in the 3rd volume of Sudanese Memoirs.

One of the more interesting components of the Kanuri population are the Tura. Gustav Nachtigal, who wrote copiously about Borno and its peoples in the late 19th century, saw them as an essentially Teda group who became indistinguishable from the Kanuri peoples of Borno. In addition to Nachtigal's observations of their origin, H.R. Palmer translated a large number of mahrams from the Beni Mukhtar branch of the Beni Habibi Tura. Some of these Tura mahrams claim to refer to the ancestors of the Beni Mukhtar Tura in 12th century Kawar. While we have discussed this aspect of their past in another post, we want to take a look at the other mahrams issued to members of this group by the Sayfawa rulers of Borno. Doing so helps to unveil their deeper origins in Kawar, their possible ties to the Fazzan, their Tubu origins, and their claims to sharif descent. 

First, who are the Tura? In the fourth volume of his Travels, Barth referred to their Tubu connections and their chief, the Dirkema. In the second volume of his Sahara and Sudan, Nachtigal referred to them multiple times. The office of Jerma was the chief of the Tura. In his charge were the royal stables, personal security of the mai, and an administrative distict on the Komadugu Yoobe near Gazargamo (Nachtigal 251). Muhammad Nur Alkali, however, argued that the officer in charge of the royal stables was the Mulima. It is possible that some holders of the position in the time of Sayfawa may have been Tura, but Nachtigal made an error. As previously mentioned, Nachtigal also noted the Tubu component in the Tura. They were also associated with Dirki in Kawar, so the chief was called Dirkema. In Borno, they shared the Kanuri speech and manner of life (173). Even the Sugurti included a Tura sub-section (173). Indeed, the Tura population were also linked to the dignitary called Fergima. Nachtigal thought this title went to the person with general supervision of Dirki in Kawar (255). 

Other observers and scholars have clarified matters, at least partially. Hamidu Bobboyi, in his fine dissertation, wrote of the Tura as a group tied to Borno's long-distance trade. They were given the settlement of Lalori and a local leader, the Ghuzuma, by the Sayfawa. Indeed, Alib. Umar's daughter was said to have married Ali Kellu, a Tura, who received the title of Suganderema and the right to collect the "corn tax" in Gazargamo (Bobboyi 128). The Tura were similarly important in the horse trade (140). Essentially, Bobboyi uses the Tura mahrams to present a brief overview of their history.  Other studies do the same. For instance, Le Sourd's "Tarikh el Khawar" alludes to the Tura briefly as the "Terras" who lived in Kawar before the Kanuri. Another colonial-era author, J.R. Patterson, translated a praise song to Zerma Ibrahim, son of a princess and son of Margi, of the Tura tribe. This song, which he entitled "The Song of the Zakkama to the Zerma" in Kanuri Songs, is said to date from the reign of Ali b. Umar in the 17th century. Furthermore, it corroborates Nachtigal's association of the office of Jerma to the Tura. A marriage alliance with the Sayfawa dynasty is also explicit, although there is no sense of Ibrahim as a leader of the Tura in Borno.

In order to explore the origins of this group, one must engage with Palmer. Palmer, whose Sudanese Memoirs and Bornu Sahara and Sudan contain many primary sources, was very much a product of his time. His scholarship often relies on faulty etymological reasoning and a racialized theory of sub-Saharan African history. Nonetheless, he did collect and translate many traditions and manuscripts in Borno. Thanks to his Sudanese Memoirs and Bornu Sahara and Sudan, several Tura mahrams and a girgam are accessible. But using these sources requires very careful interpretation. Nonetheless, they provide tantalizing clues for the origin of the Beni Mukhtar Tura. Indeed, of all the documents on them included in the mahrams, the Beni Mukhtar appear in 6. They are always said to share an origin with the Beni Habibi Tura, too. In their mahrams, they are linked to the horse trade, Dirku in Kawar, sometimes the Tubu (who intermarried with them in Kawar), and sharif ancestry through Hassan. In addition, their genealogies suggest their forebears were Zeilama, or chiefs of the Fazzan, before Dirku.

What do the mahrams suggest historically? Consulting the third volume of Palmer's Sudanese Memoirs is quite revealing. The earliest mahram to mention a Tura is actually attributed to the Hummay, who reigned in the late 11th century. According to this source, which focuses on Muhammad b. Mani for his role in the Islamization of Kanem, refers to a Tura Tuzan (Tuzar?) as a pillar of the kingdom (4). It is unclear who this person was, but it suggests that a "Tura" who likely hailed from Kawar received a grant of immunity from Hummay. The next mahrams which refer to the Tura, said to date from the late 1100s during the reign of Abd Allah Bakuru, allude to conflict with the Tuareg of Air. This is actually plausible, and the mahrams suggest the active intervention of the mai in Kanem to resolve conflicts. The "Tura Mahram of Dirkuma Ibrahim" explicitly connects this history to the Beni Mukhtar (6). If this genealogy is accurate, then the ancestors of the Beni Mukhtar, who were linked to the Beni Habibi (in Kawar?), must have been Kawarians referred to in external Arabic sources. Their location in Kawar, a region known for its trade in alum and its importance as Kanem's main artery to the north, led to an early Islamic presence there by the 9th century. By the late 12th century, natives of Kawar, like the poet Abu Ishaq Ibrahim al-Kanemi, born in Bilma, was said to have Banu Sulaym Arab ancestry. It would seem that the "discovery" of Quraysh ancestry might date back to these early encounters with Arabs in the Fazzan and Kawar by the mid-11th century.

Unfortunately, there is a gap in the historical record for the next Tura mahrams. After first appearing in their records and traditions in the 11th and 12th centuries, the Tura next appear in a mahram issued by the court of Idris Alooma. In this "Tura Mahram Idris Bugalmarambe," the Tura presented a horse as a gift to Idris Katagarmabe. Then, the document tells us that the Tura were excused from military service in the time of Idris Alooma (r. 1564-1596). In fact, the mahram reports that Idris Alooma abolished the requirement of the Tura to travel to Dirku and Zeila, no longer requiring them to import horses from Egypt (6). This mahram does not explicitly reference the Beni Mukhtar, but it is implied to refer to the same group. That they wanted to cease their arduous trade in horses is also significant. It is in the 16th century we find written sources that allude to the horse trade between Borno and the north. Leo Africanus, for example, wrote of the trade of slaves for horses in Borno. Anania, writing later in the 16th century, similarly noted the large-scale trade of horses from North Africa to Borno via the Fazzan. This trade in horses is not mentioned in earlier, medieval sources on Kanem despite the importance of cavalry for Sayfawa military expeditions or raids. Moreover, the previous mahrams said to date from the late 1100s do not mention horses at all. Sometime between the 12th century and the 16th, the Beni Mukhtar (or a related Tura group) must have either expanded the scale of their horse trading activities or shifted to the trade in horses. The titles of Zeilama might be a reference to this period where their influence in the Fazzan facilitated the movement of horses from North Africa. Was this during the period of Kanem's suzeraintry of the Fazzan? While the Banu Nasur ruled from Traghen, were the Zeilama Tura overseeing commerce from Zawila?

The following Tura mahram is also dated to the reign of Idris Alooma. Simply a girgam for Dirkuma Muhammad, it lists his origins among the Beni Mukhtar. It attributed the origins of Laluri as a Tura town to Idris Alooma. It affirms the other mahram exempting the Tura from military service. However, it does not include any mention of voluntary Tura trading expeditions to Dirku or the food and supplies they were to receive from the Figidoma, Yawama, and Tagama (7). Given the many military conflicts that occurred during Idris Alooma's reign, it is intriguing that he ended the requirement for the Beni Mukhtar to trade horses. Was this due to changes in the nature of the horse trade at this time, making the Beni Mukhtar less necessary? Ahmad b. Furtu's chronicle of his ruler's campaigns did include a conflict against the Tubu in Kawar, perhaps hinting at new trade relationship for horses.

The subsequent mahram, "Tura Mahram Hamsawa," elucidates the Tubu Dibiri origin of the Tura Beni Habibi Hamsawa. This mahram implies that the Tura Beni Habibi stayed in Dirku, where a Tubu named Adam married Hafsa. Their descendants became known as the Tura Beni Habibi (8). A similar girgam for the Tura Habibi Aisawa also hints at a Dirku base for the Beni Habibi. In this case, yet another Tubu, Abdullahi of the Balgada Tubu, married Aisi Kili of the Beni Habibi. He entered her clan. According to Palmer's translation, there were apparently 16 sub-groups of this clan (Beni Habibi or Habibi Aisawa?) (13). This further supports the notion of the Beni Habibi remaining in Dirku while the Beni Mukhtar splintered and migrated to Borno. If the Beni Habibi remained in Dirku, it is possible that their descendants became part of the Gezebida, the mixed Kanuri-Tubu of this part of Kawar.

Besides these mahrams referring to the Tubu ancestry of some Beni Habibi branches, the other mahrams focus on the Beni Mukhtar of Borno. One, said to date from the reign of Ali b. Umar (1688), although his reign was over before this year, confirms the status of Laluri as a Tura settlement. It does introduce a new element by referring to the "father" of the Beni Mukhtar, Hajj Muhammad ibn Dublu (8). Another mahram, from 1752, stresses the Beni Mukhtar's ties to Laluri and names the owner of the document as Dirkuma Muhammad Aisami. Further detail of the settlements associated with different leaders of the Beni Mukhtar reveal that, in addition to Laluri, Gawa Dali, and Magabura were held by members of the group (9). An additional mahram from 1752 alluded to conflict with mai Ali that was resolved when the Tura threatened to return to Dirku. Apparently, the Sayfawa sultan tried to enlist them for military service, which they rejected on the grounds of their descent. The Sayfawa conceded and, after cancelling the expedition, imposed a token tax on the Tura (10). This document implies that the Tura retained links to Kawar as late as c.1752 and their presence in Borno was important enough for the mai to concede rather than risk their relocation. If this transpired, one may surmise that their status descendants of the family of the Prophet and their possible economic activities within Borno were of great importance. Yet, by the time of Ahmad (r. 1792-1808), the Tura refused to travel north to trade for horses. They did accept the responsibility of supplying local horses to the Sayfawa (11). 

Finally, the most recent mahrams of 19th century origin present a number of questions. One, dated to 1806, implausibly references Shehu al-Kanemi. Chronological inconsistencies aside, the document tells us that the Tura of Marte had given a daughter to the mai. Al-Kanemi for his part insisted that only the Tura chiefs are free of taxes. In addition, the Dirkuma is entitled as chief of the Tura, implying his higher status among the Tura leadership (11). Of course, Dirku was sometimes implied as a general name for Kawar, too. Palmer proceeded to list the genealogy of the Tura on the next page of Sudanese Memoirs, but it is unclear where this information came from. It nonetheless provides a general estimate of the Tura spending 350 years in Borno and 220 years in Dirku. In Dirku (probably a general term for Kawar), the Tura chiefs were Zulama, Dirkuma, and Amarma, implying a Fazzan position to the north. This is followed by a list of various Tura groups: Arwalinwa, Wadali, Jilbana, Zuganda, Amzura, and the Beni Ishak (12). Of this last group, they were tied to Gazbi (likely al-Qasaba of medieval Kawar). This presumably legendary account at least connects the Beni Ishak to Gazbi and the past of Kawar. Lange, in A Sudanic Chronicle, tied Gasbi and al-Qasaba to Dirku (124). 

How does one make sense of these traditions and mahrams of Tura origins? Palmer, who naturally wanted to emphasize "white" or exotic origins, tried to connect them to Arabs, the Fazzan, Traghen, and other lands. The Hausa word for whites, turawa is also brought up. Yet the Kanuri appeared to use the word wasili for "whites" from North Africa. The Tura records affirm at least partial Tubu ancestry. Their possibly deep roots in Kawar are apparently recalled among the traditions of Kanuris in that region. Their ultimate origins are thus to be found in Kawar, where multiethnic trading communities with ties to Ibadi Berber Muslims appeared by the 800s. In the medieval sources, Kawar was apparently more famous for exporting alum or salt rather and its medieval inhabitants were not particularly noticed for engaging in the trade of horses from North Africa to Kanem. By the 16th century, however, the Beni Mukhtar Tura were involved in this trade. They appear to have left the salt trade in the hands of the Koyam and focused on horses. When or how their claims to be descendants of the Hassan began is unclear, but given the early penetration of this region by Muslim traders from the North, it may have begun by the time of the 12th century. Furthermore, given the Beni Mukhtar's ties to the horse trade and external sources alluding to a large-scale trade of horses at Fazzan to Borno, one wonders if the title of Zeilama among ancestors of the Tura may be an allusion to the period of Kanem's hegemony in Fazzan (1200s-1300s). Surely, Dunama Dibalemi's campaigns would have required horses for his armies and controlling the Fazzan would have ensured security on that route. But by the end of the 16th century, the Beni Mukhtar were less interested in traveling to the north for this trade. Their status or claim to descent from Hassan likely contributed to the concessions made to them by the Sayfawa. They nonetheless also continued to raise horses in Borno.

Mai Ali b. Umar in the Fazzan

While revisiting el-Hesnawi's Fazzan under the Rule of the Awlad Muhammad. A Study in Political, Economic, Social and Intellectual History, we came across one document from 1652 included in the second volume. This volume, consisting of a plethora of Arabic texts from the 1600s, 1700s and early 1800s, with many untranslated, are manuscripts kept by families in the Fazzan. The aforementioned document form 1652 surprisingly refers to Ali b. Umar of Borno (r. 1639-1677). The illiterate people recorded by the scribe apparently used the "first coming of Sultan Mai Ali" to testify when they began farming plots in the region of Aqar. It is not clear if these farmers used the pilgrimages of Ali b. Umar to mark time due to the presumably impressive sight his group made. It is also unclear which pilgrimage they are referring to. Since Ali b. Umar traveled to Mecca multiple times, this 1652 account could be referring to either the 1642 hajj or the 1648 passage, though 1642 seems more likely. Part of the confusion stems from the problematic way Girard alluded to Ali b. Umar going to Mecca with his father, Umar, in 1642. Since Lange's chronology suggests Umar b. Idris was dead by 1639, the first hajj of Ali b. Umar as mai may have been the 1648 hajj. It is also interesting to consider why, despite many pilgrims passing through the Fazzan, Ali b. Umar's was more meaningful or distinct. 1652 was the year of rapprochement between the Pasha of Tripoli and Ali b. Umar, but one finds it hard to imagine illiterate peasants in the Fazzan were closely following that development. The mai of Borno was not the onlhy black king who traveled through the Fazzan or Libya, either. Is it possible the mai was celebrated and revered in the Fazzan and probably well-treated by the Awlad Muhammad sultans?

Abu Ishaq Ibrahim al-Kanemi

Wikipedia's Map of the Almohad state.

Whilst revisiting old notes, we came across references to the poet Abu Ishaq Ibrahim al-Kanemi. Comparing how Djibo Hamani wrote about him to the short description of him in the second volume of Arabic Literature of Africa: The writings of Central Sudanic Africa. Vol. 2 raises many questions. Hamani, like the editors of the Arabic Literature of Africa, draws from an exceedingly difficult to find study by Mohammad Bencherifa. Bencherifa, the author of Ibrâhîm al-Kânimî (m. 609/1212–1213), figure illustre dans les relations culturelles entre le Maroc et Bilâd al-Sûdân uses all known works in Arabic that mention al-Kanemi. Consequently, it is the best study of al-Kanemi and used by both of our sources.

Where do the accounts differ? Djibo Hamani, whose Quatorze siecles d'histoire du Soudan Central: Le Niger du VIIè au XXè siecle refers to Bencherifa, adopts a somewhat speculative approach. Hamani, like our other source, mentions al-Kanemi's birth in Bilma, a town in Kawar. He apparently arrived in Marrakesh in 1198. As for his surnames, Hamani interprets al-Zakawani as an allusion to the Zaghawa, an appellation used by medieval Arabic sources to refer to some of the populations living in Kawar and Kanem (Hamani 57). In addition, al-Kanimi was said to have possessed a mastery of the Arabic language. He impressed the court of Almohad Marrakesh and befriended a prince, also named Abu Ishaq Ibrahim (al-Mansur). Through his elite connections, al-Kanimi was said to have married an Almohad princess named Zahra and to have moved to Seville. But by c.1212, al-Kanemi had died in Marrakesh (58). As one might expect, Hamani also wrote of al-Kanemi's writings in defense of his skin color. Alas, none of his poetry survives except for fragments of his verses praising Almohad rulers. The ultimate reason why al-Kanemi may have reached Marrakesh in the first place could have been diplomatic. Hamani seems to concur with Bencherifa that al-Kanemi may have traveled there on behalf of the rulers of Kanem, interested no doubt in securing trade routes after the fall of the Bani Khattab in the Fazzan (57). This diplomatic purpose may have also been why al-Kanemi spent a lot of time with the envoy of Saladin at the Almohad court, Ibn Hummaya. 

Arabic Literature of Africa: The writings of Central Sudanic Africa offers a very different interpretation of al-Kanemi. The editors present the variants of al-Kanemi's name in the sources. Rendered as Ibrahim b. Ya'qub al-Dhakwani al-Kanemi, the editors also mention his name written as Abu Ishaq Ibrahim b. Muhammad b. Faris b. Shakla b. Amr b. Abd Allah al-Sulami al-Dhakwani in al-Dhayl wa'l-takmila. Instead of mentioning the Zaghawa, they stress the Dhakwani origin in a branch of the Banu Sulaym, Arabs who migrated west from Egypt in the mid-11th century. Apparently, al-Kanemi wrote a poem about his Dhakwani ancestry, too. However, this source agrees with Hamani about the poet's birthplace in Bilma. Since his skin color was described by contemporaries as "jet-black," at least al-Kanemi's mother was black. Indeed, if his skin color was very dark, it is possible that any Arab ancestor was more than one generation ago. If one assumes al-Kanemi was probably born around 1155, then his Arab ancestor who came to Kawar might have been born a century before him. Interestingly, the ruler of Kanem when he traveled to Marrakesh is remembered in the Diwan for being very dark-skinned, too. Lange has suggested this was due to his mother, Hawa, being a Dabir, a Kanembu group. Is it possible al-Kanemi's mother came from a Kanembu population rather than a Teda-Daza one? In addition, al-Kanemi was said by one source to have been educated in Ghana before traveling to Marrakesh. Furthermore, his defensive poems about the color of his skin were addressed to both his wife, Zahra and the poet al-Jirawi. Lastly, he died in Andalusia, not Marrakesh.

A map of Kawar in The Oasis of Salt: The History of Kawar, a Saharan Centre of Salt Production by Knut S. Vikor.

Obviously, part of the divergence of opinions on this obscure Arabic poet and grammarian can be traced to the source material. Lost works, fragments of his poetry quoted by others or references by later chroniclers or writers likely led to errors about him. One thing is clear, however: al-Kanemi was a highly respected poet from Kanem. His dark-skin and verses in praise of it also suggest something about possible views in the Maghreb of this period. After all, why write verses in a defensive tone about one's color unless others were denigrating it? This early form of racism or colorism did not completely hinder his social ascension if he was accepted at the royal court as a great poet whose renown even reached the eastern Mediterranean. The accounts also agree on a Bilma and Kanem origin for al-Kanemi. By the late 12th century, Kawar was in Kanem's sphere of influence, thereby explaining the al-Kanemi nisba. What can one possibly surmise about al-Kanemi from this bundle of facts, speculations, and contradictions?

First, the Banu Sulaym origins. In Corpus of Early Arabic Sources for West African History edited by Levtzion and Hopkins, 2 references to the Banu Sulaym can be found. According to Ibn Khaldun, they were Arabs who lived in Ifriqiya, opposite the Targa (331). But, it is likely that some branches of the Banu Sulaym lived further east, in today's Libya, during the 11th and 12th centuries. If so, and al-Kanemi's alleged Banu Sulaym origins are not fabricated, he was probably a descendant of a member of this group that migrated to Kawar from today's Libya. Since his Arab pedigree might have dated back a few generations, this would match a timeline of the late 11th century for his Arab ancestor to have migrated to Kawar. Bilma, whose first appearance in written history can be traced to the late 10th century author al-Muhallabi, was already a major town or settlement in Kawar by the time of al-Kanemi. In fact, al-Idrisi's description of the region points to its wealth through the trade in alun (salt?) and its residents who traveled far as merchants. For instance, Ankalas, the town he identified as having the most trade, had residents who traveled to the Maghreb and Egypt. Its local ruler was said to be a generous Muslim (123-124). The region would naturally have attracted both traders and nomadic groups traversing the desert. In Bilma, which Yaqut described as a town with a sultan subject to the Zaghawa ruler (Kanem), al-Kanemi was likely exposed to people of Arab, Berber, Kanem origin. Our poet, al-Kanemi, was undoubtedly a product of this multicultural, Islamic space.

Close ties to Kanem are further supported by problematic mahrams which allude to the local Kawarian elites seeking protection from the mai of Kanem. Allegedly dating to the late 12th century, probably during the reign of Abd Allah Bakuru, they illustrate Kawar's strong ties with Kanem. Likewise, the Diwan indicates Kawar roots and connections for a number of maiwa in 11th century Kanem. In truth, al-Kanemi himself allegedly told a story about a supernatural phenomenon in Kanem that indicates he had traveled there. In this story, reported by al-Umari but derived from the Takmila by Abu Abd Allah Muhammad b. Abd al-Malik al-Marrakushi, al-Kanemi reported sightings of a objects that resemble pots of moving fire at night. When traveling at night, people in Kanem saw it and it moved away as they tried to get near (260). This strange tale is difficult to interpret, but might be some type of meteorological or astronomical phenomena. It nonetheless suggests that al-Kanemi also traveled to Kanem. Thus, it is possible part of his education, which must have included robust training in Arabic language, the Quran and poetry, took place in Kanem. 

Another early center of Islamic scholarship in West Africa, Ghana (the ancient kingdom and not today's Ghana), may have been where al-Kanemi furthered his studies. Ghana certainly gained a reputation by the 12th century as a kingdom where one could find jurists, scholars, Quran readers, and people who traveled to al-Andalus or Mecca. Descriptions of Ghana from al-Bakri, al-Zuhri, Abu Hamid al-Gharnati, and al-Sharishi mention these details in their works from the 12th and 13th centuries. Therefore, it is not inconceivable for al-Kanemi to have studied in the Western Sudan. In fact, his roots in Kawar might have been a factor if salt from the oases was sold to lands west of Kanem by the 12th century. Unfortunately, no sources exist to verify Islamic and Arabic literary education in Ghana that attracted students from as far away as Kanem. It would certainly be plausible for al-Kanemi's education to have been in Kanem and Kawar, where Islam was established and the Sayfawa rulers promoted the religion. This seems more likely given the deeper roots of Islam in Kawar than in Ghana. Even in Kanem, one of the early Muslim maiwa, Bir b. Dunama, was remembered in tradition as a pious and learned man. Ahmad b. Furtu, whilst chronicling the Kanem campaigns of Idris Alooma, alludes to him as a "learned and God-fearing sultan." Thus, the Sayfawa maiwa may have even sponsored his education or been the ones responsible for sending al-Kanemi to Marrakesh in the first place.

Overall, much of the life of Abu Ishaq Ibrahim al-Kanemi remains a mystery. Was he really educated in Ghana? Was his first voyage to Marrakesh a diplomatic mission on behalf of the king of Kanem? If so, are there any extant Almohad accounts of Kanem's diplomacy with Marrakesh, as with the Hafsids in Tunis? Moreover, was he of Banu Sulaym descent and when did they establish a presence in Kawar? If his education in Arabic grammar and poetry took place in Kanem, was he close to the Sayfawa dynasty? If so, was his mission to Marrakech ordered by Salma b. Hawa? What was his life like as a dark-skinned black man in the Almohad court? Many of these questions are unanswerable with the currently available evidence. Nonetheless, it is probable he was educated at least partly in the kingdom of Kanem. If he was serving in a diplomatic capacity at the Almohad court, he would need to be an educated figure to best represent the kingdom with Muslim powers to the north. Apparently, he was so impressive a poet and grammarian that it was worthwhile for him to stay. To conclude, here are some of his verses composed in praise of the Almohad ruler, Yaqub al-Mansur, recorded by Ibn Khallikan (translated by Levtzion and Hopkins in the Corpus, p.163):

He removed his veil but my eyes, out of awe, saw him 

through a veil.

His favor drew me near, but being near, out of awe, I 

found myself distant.

Birni Gazargamo: A Borno Metropolis

 

An aerial view of Birni Gazargamo in Graham's Connah's "The Daima Sequence and the Prehistoric Chronology of the Lake Chad Region of Nigeria"

What was Birni Gazargamo? We have previously explored some of the traditions regarding this major city in the precolonial Central Sudan. What was the city actually like, however, from its origins in c. 1472 to its fall in c.1808? The city was described as vast, surrounded by fertile lands, featured impressive walls and included a palace complex with fired brick walls. Unsurprisingly, the city also attracted traders and Islamic scholars. How did the Sayfawa dynasty, beginning with Ali b. Dunama, transform Gazargamo into this African metropolis of economic power? The combination of skilled leadership, effective security and control of trade routes, textile production, livestock rearing, Islamic scholarship aided its development. Likewise, state-oriented migration fostered the rapid development of a metropolitan region that may have reached a population of 200,000. We will explore this process by first tracking the sources on Gazargamo chronologically. Then, we shall briefly discuss aspects of the city and its surrounding districts. This will reveal that Birni Gazargamo was an exceptional Sudanic city that grew into an economic and political powerhouse under the Sayfawa dynasty.

The early period of Birni Gazargamo's existence as a city is ambiguous. Traditions previously examined indicate "Sao" presence in the area. Either through a ruse and violence, or gradual coexistence shaped by economic exchange, the followers of the Banu Sayf were able to establish a foothold in the region. Since the Sao Gafata were still living near Gazargamo by the reign of Idris b. Ali (r. 1564-1596), one can presume that Gazargamo was built in a part of the Komadugu-Yobe area inhabited by earlier Chadic peoples. As for early Gazargamo itself, the origins of its fortifications are unclear. Heinrich Barth attributed its walls to mai Dunama b. Muhammad (Vol 2, 649). Another source, a list in verse of the Sayfawa rulers in H.R. Palmer's Sudanese Memoirs (Vol. 2), attributes the wall of Gazargamo to Ali b. Dunama. Since Gazargamo was near non-Muslim groups who occasionally rebelled, one would assume Gazargamo was likely fortified or at least walled at its inception. However, it is possible that Dunama b. Muhammad strengthened the walls of the capital or enlarged them during his reign. As for other developments in Gazargamo at this early stage, the reign of Ali b. Dunama presents some clues. Since he brought peace to the internal conflicts of the Sayfawa rulers and was able to make the hajj in c.1484, one may presume the conditions within Borno were stable. Conditions were at least secure enough for the ruler to leave his domains for an extended period of time. The location was also well-chosen. If the traditions of the Imikitan Tuareg are any indication, the region around Gazargamo was favorable for herding. The city's location near two rivers, access to river transport, salines, and fertile soil meant that Ali b. Dunama chose an excellent spot for the capital. With the consolidation of a Sayfawa capital, the Ali b. Dunama and his successors could also support a larger court, invite Islamic scholars, and attract trans-Saharan and regional traders.

Ruins from one of the fired-brick walls at the palace of Birni Gazargamo. Photo in Connah's Three Thousand Years in Africa : Man and His Environment in the Lake Chad region of Nigeria.

Unfortunately, the best known source on the early period of Gazargamo is Leo Africanus. Since it is unclear if Africanus actually visited Borno, one must carefully interpret his writing on the powerful kingdom. To Africanus, the king of Borno lived in a large village. Unlike his description of other cities in Sudanic Africa, one gets the sense here that Gazargamo was still a small town. But, since Africanus's description of Borno is ambiguous and problematic, it is possible that his information is outdated or highly inaccurate. For instance, it repeats outdated information derived from classical antiquity about the Garamantes and applies it to Borno. For these reasons, it is difficult to use as a source for early Gazargamo. Regardless, by the late 1500s, Anania described it as "C'est une immense ville avec beaucoup de trafic..." (Anania 347). Ahmad b. Furtu, the chronicler of Idris b. Ali's campaigns in Borno and Kanem, frequently described Gazargamo as the "great city" (Furtu (in Sudanese Memoirs Vol. 1, 65). Likewise, the construction of brick or clay mosques in Gazargamo allegedly began under the reign of this mai (A Sudanic Chronicle 72). If the old mosques built of stalks were no longer acceptable, one can assume the capital was attaining a more metropolitan and impressive infrastructure. It is tantalizing to ponder if the appearance of the impressive brick walls of the palace complex in the center of Birni Gazargamo date to the period of Idris b. Ali or his immediate predecessors. In addition, Anania describes a city that was clearly a major market center with many Turks and North Africans moving to the kingdom (Anania 349). Borno provided captives for trans-Saharan trade, but the leather industry was also important as a commodity traded to the Fezzan (Anania (349-351). If the sources from the 16th century are any indication, it is clear that the city of Gazargamo grew into a major urban area by the second half of the 16th century. In fact, Muhammad Nur Alkali speculated that the city and the connected chain of settlements near it covered around 100 square kilometers by the second half of the 1500s (Nur Alkali 62).

By the 17th century, Birni Gazargamo's status as an impressive metropolis was clearly established. According to the enslaved French surgeon who wrote about Borno based on his access to sources from the sultanate and interviews with people who traveled there or knew the kingdom, the royal capital was described as a vast city with beautiful houses (Girard, in Dewiere 608). From this description, the city was probably already encompassing a huge area with houses, likely rectangular and made of clay or earth, which North Africans would have been familiar with in the Wasiliram quarter near the palace. Indeed, according to Ali Eisami, the wasiliram quarter for "whites" from North Africa was near the residence of the king (Koelle 425). This means the North Africans who stayed in the capital likely saw the palace complex with its impressive fired brick walls and probably stayed in homes in a rectangular shape with courtyards. Besides the city's reputation as an enormous city, Gazargamo was threatened by foreign attack in the 17th century. For instance, in c.1667, the capital was threatened by the Tuareg of Air, invited by rebels opposed to Ali b. Umar (r. 1639-1677), who was able to defeat them (Girard, in Dewiere 603-604). Jukun tradition similarly recalls an attack by Kwararafa on Gazargamo that was only repelled when the Borno forces convinced the Tuareg to help them defeat the southern pagans (Fremantle 35). These accounts undeniably illustrate Gazargamo was a walled city. Its imposing defenses made besieging it difficult.

Part of the palace wall in Birni Gazargamo. Photo from Connah's in Graham's Connah's "The Daima Sequence and the Prehistoric Chronology of the Lake Chad Region of Nigeria."

Moreover, additional sources from the time of Ali b. Umar provides details on the capital. Entitled, "An Account of Ngazargamu" in H.R. Palmer's "Two Sudanese Manuscripts of the Seventeenth Century," authorship of manuscript is attributed to a Muhammad, also called Salih. The son of a Mallam named Isharku, the account is supposedly based on written histories of Birni Gazargamo (Palmer 544). Although much of the account describes a Fulani scholar named Umr ibn Othman, it is interesting for highlighting the influence of cosmopolitan Muslim scholars in precolonial Borno. First, by calling attention to the hosting of this illustrious scholar by the zarma Muhammad Margimi, the account suggests that a "ward" of Gazargamo was associated with this dignitary of the royal court. Also significant, the renowned Fulani Muslim scholar was made an imam of the mosque by Ali b. Umar. Intriguingly, only 76 people prayed at this mosque associated with Ali b. Umar (546). Was this the small mosque associated with the palace? Later on, the narrator of this source wrote that Gazargamo possessed 4 Friday mosques, each with 12,000 worshipers. As this figure is likely an extreme exaggeration, it is intriguing that a mosque of Ali b. Umar was only used by 76 people. Is this the mosque Barth to have only had 5 aisles (Barth, Vol. 4, 23)? Offering further evidence of the huge concentration of people in the area are the courtiers of the gumsu of the mai. She allegedly had 60 nobles, 40 slaves, and 20 men who commanded 1000 slaves each to fight for her. Even more extraordinary is the source's assertion that Gazargamo possessed 660 roads, cleared and widened (547). This latter point is contradicted by descriptions of the city from the 18th century. According to these sources, Gazargamo lacked a regular layout, and streets besides a dendal were undermined by the houses placed in a seemingly "haphazard" manner. It is difficult to imagine Gazargamo could have had these many roads, particularly wide ones, given the lack of a grid-like pattern for streets. 

In spite of its obvious problems, the aforementioned account is suggestive and useful for understanding the city of Gazargamo. For instance, at least one dignitary had a quarter of the town associated with him, the zarma. The kaigama may have also had a large quarter assigned to him, including possible fired brick walls at his own palatial estate (Gronenborn 115). In addition, Petis de la Croix's description of trans-Saharan trade from Tripoli to Borno in the late 17th century mentioned the caravan traders staying in Borno for 6 months (Lange, "Un document de la fin 681). If accurate, then a large number of people in Gazargamo were North African traders who resided in the capital's wasiliram for half the year. Bobboyi has also identified Garibaya, one of the Friday mosques of Gazargamo, as the probable mosque of Shaykh Hajrami, a prominent scholar of the capital (Bobboyi 20). Finally, a Kanuri praise song translated by J.R. Patterson in the 1920s may allude to a zerma, Ibrahim b. Margi, who was related to the zarma Muhammad Margimi. According to the praise song, he was of the Tura, a son of Margi. Well, Nachtigal's understanding of this title in the Sayfawa court associates it with an administrative district on the Komadugu Yobe near Gazargamo. He was also in charge of the royal stables and personal security of the mai (Nachtigal, Sahara and Sudan Vol. 2 251). Last, but certainly not least, the inflated population figures for worshipers of the 4 Friday mosques could be an allusion to the use of an outdoor space to accommodate huge numbers of people. In the "Gazir" dialect of Kanuri spoken by Ali Eisami, dendal also meant place of prayer, or mosques (Koelle 278). Is it possible that large, outdoor streets or courtyards were used for prayer outside the principal mosques of the capital, likely constructed with brick or clay?

Kanuri house types, according to page 299 of  Ronald Cohen's The Structure of Kanuri Society.

Heading into the 18th and 19th centuries, one finds more detailed descriptions of the royal capital. First, sometime in the late 17th or early 18th century, a Koyam shaykh named Umar lived in the city. According to traditions collected for the Tilho Mission, this Umar was the son of the founder of the second Kalumbardo settlement. After the death of his father by Tuareg bandits in 1677 or 1678, Umar led his followers as far as Noufe. He returned to Borno sometime during the reign of a "Hadji," he received support from the mai for a community as Gaskeru (Tilho Mission 398). Interestingly, a later Koyam Shaykh, Ahmad, fled to Gazargamo after the Imakiten Tuareg sacked Gaskeru. He stayed in the area of Sandaram, a place where shaykh Umar was said to have prayed for water earlier (probably in the beginning of the 1700s. Popular tradition attributed the necessary rain for the creation of a pond or reservoir at Sandaram to this Umar (400). More detailed accounts of the city, besides miraculous stories of a Koyam shaykh praying for rain in the capital, reached more Europeans in this century. For example, the enslaved abu Bekr es Siddik of Jamaica, briefly mentioned Birni Gazargamo as the birthplace of his mother. His mother, who appears to have been of Hausa origin, was born in the city of Borno to a father of Katsina and Borno (es Siddik 104). His maternal ancestry points to deep ties between Katsina and Birni Gazargamo in the 18th century. Another writer, Brown, who heard of Borno from Darfur, knew that the capital was walled, had 4 gates in each cardinal direction, and was near a small river. Johann von Einsidel heard of Borno's capital from North Africa. There, he was informed the capital was called Mokouwi, and had almost 10,000 houses (Einsiedel 437). This figure of 10,000 should not be taken literally, but exemplifies how North Africans believed it was a bustling city. Even in the 18th century, Gazargamo may have been attacked by the Tuareg in 1765, when the Agadez sultan invaded (Lovejoy 229). 

By far, the best account of the city in the late 18th century can be found in the report of Lucas and Ledyard. Basing it on the experiences of North Africans or Fezzanis who had seen the capital of Borno, one assumes these informants resided in the wasiliram section of the city. This could explain why the houses of Gazargamo are described as rectangular with a court (Lucas & Ledyard 134). A large Gazargamo house could reach the following dimensions: 20 feet long, 11 feet high, 11 feet in width. Outside the house, a yard with a wall was used to keep cattle. Clay or mud with stones as mortar were used in the construction of houses (140). This resembles the earthen house Nachtigal lodged in during his time at Kukawa. Like the future Borno capital, Gazargamo's streets had an irregular layout with houses placed without rule. Nonetheless, the city was of a greater extent than Tripoli with mosques of brick and earth. The weekly market was held outside the walls of the city while the daily provisions market was held inside the walled town (143). This source even specifies children of a deceased mai stayed in the palace until they reached maturity (150). Since some kings allegedly had hundreds of children, like mai Ali's 350, one can imagine the palace complex was full of people. Unsurprisingly, some of the features described here are similar to those of Kukawa in the late 19th century. There Nachtigal stayed in an earthen house, or soro (Nachtigal Sahara and Sudan Vol. 2 150). Like Kukawa, Gazargamo certainly presented signs of a division of labor in crafts and production for sectors like weaving (159). The dendal undoubtedly served as a center for public life, too (153). In the case of Gazargamo with its oval shape, the dendal was said to run from the western gate to the palace.

A sketch by Heinrich Barth of the ruins of Gazargamo. Note the palace complex still visible in the center.

Among the less reliable descriptions of Gazargamo are Abdallah of Affade. An informant to Ulrich Seetzen in Cairo, young Abdallah was definitely exaggerating to the skeptical Seetzen. If one trusts Abdallah, Gazargamo used water from wells, which is plausible (Seetzen 168). But one must interpret carefully for any meaningful glimpse of Gazargamo when Abdallah tells us the principal mosque had 7 towers (minarets?) and the rich lived in elevated stone homes (176). Likewise, it certainly did not take more than 1 day to cross the city (175). Similarly, the sources do not suggest that a formal school at the principal mosque was funded by the mai. Study circles at mosques in the capital existed, but one gathers that Abdallah wanted Seetzen to believe Gazargamo had an equivalent of al-Azhar in Cairo. Abdallah's description of the mai distributing alms and feeding the poor through a cook he hired to prepare meals could be true (177). After all, the Diwan described Ahmad (r. 1792-1808) as caring about the plight of the poor (Diwan 82). Whether or not one believes the mai held in captivity French slaves who produced cannons for him is another story (Seetzen 180). Abdallah's exaggerated account of Borno's capital nonetheless features some accuracy, and even if not as sizable as Cairo, was clearly a cosmopolitan city with a towering central palace and many earthen and brick buildings.

Additional accounts of Birni Gazargamo of the 18th century or early 19th are usually less detailed than the previously mentioned. Natives of Borno sold into slavery and transported to Saint-Domingue in the Caribbean referred to the ruler of Borno as rarely leaving his palace (Descourtilz 146). They also alluded to the royal practice of placing goods in public places and using courtiers to arrest thieves and sell them into slavery (146). Hamsatu Zanna Laminu, in her Scholars and Scholarship in the History of Borno, includes Goni Musa Ngalbiyama of Gazargamo. His sangaya in the 1700s allegedly had 500 students (Laminu 12). Ali Eisami, a native of a village in the Gazir, or capital, province, told Koelle about the many districts in the area. Some of the names refer to the meiram (princess) and magira, hinting at possible towns or villages assigned in fiefs to members of the royal court (Koelle, Grammar of Bornu or Kanuri Language vii). Elsewhere, Eisami informed Koelle that Gazargamo had 7 gates with gatekeepers (Koelle, African Native Literature 420). A court near the king's residence was called the kandegei (321). Eisami similarly told Koelle in Sierra Leone about words related to salt production, wrestling, street, tailors, and schools (here the yard where a religious teacher took in students). It is probable that the words Eisami used are the same as those in Gazargamo. Eisami conspicuously did not include a word for chess, a game which the earlier account of Lucas and Ledyard described as a pastime of elites (Lucas & Ledyard 154). 

Heinrich Barth's sketch of the dendal area of Kukawa.

Next, we consider the city's fall. According to Barth, who interviewed an elder who witnessed the fall of Gazargamo, the mai fled the city through its eastern gate while the Fulbe entered via the west. The city was later retaken with the aid of al-Kanemi, but abandoned as enemies affiliated with the Sokoto Caliphate overran the western provinces of Borno. In addition to the pillaging and abandonment of the city, bricks from its palace complex were reused or recycled for other construction outside the city, thereby depriving posterity of a clearer idea of what the palace looked like. When visited in the 1820s by the Borno expedition of Denham, Clapperton and Oudney, Old Birni was said to have covered 5-6 square miles and hold a population of 200,000. Its site extended nearly to Lake Muggaby (Denham 154). Barth, who visited the site a few decades later, noted its oval shape, its circumference of nearly 6 miles and the palace, which was large but included a seemingly small mosque. He also noticed evidence of artificial basins at Gazargamo and Gambaru (Barth, Vol. 4, 23). Consequently, long after its fall, the site was still impressive. 

Archaeologists and academics who have visited the site in the 20th and 21st centuries affirm many of the written sources on Gazargamo. Bivar and Shinnie, whose great plan for Gazargamo was first included "Old Kanuri Capitals," described its earthen rampart of 7 meters in height. The distance across the area enclosed was around 2 kilometers (Bivar & Shinnie 3). Gronenborn collected oral traditions near the site of Gazargamo which attributed its brick palace to Tripoli craftsmen (Gronenborn 115). In light of the deeper antiquity of brick architecture in Kanem at sites associated with the Sayfawa dynasty, this seems rather unlikely. Graham Connah, for his part, wrote of Gazargamo's site being flat, and around 2 kilometers across. The majority of the residents probably lived in structures of wood, stalk and grass (Connah 229). Magnavita, who focused on the palace structure, found that the palace and its immediate environs covered 100,000 square meters. A base of burned brick 20 m by 20 m was probably a minaret (Magnavita 61). The palace walls were of 6-10 feet in height (59). Finally, Lange, who visited the site, noted the high earthen rampart, the rising brick walls of the palace, 7 gates, and that the Komadugu Yobe was visible from the top of the palace walls (Lange, A Sudanic Chronicle 115). The palace complex was likely a number of buildings with brick walls or enclosures (116). 

A sketch by Gustav Nachtigal of the courtyard of the earthen house he lodged in at Kukawa.

Despite modern findings suggesting a smaller population size and perhaps more typical "Sudanic" city, Gazargamo was clearly an impressive site. As brick buildings were usually only built for the mai or prominent dignitaries, like the galadima of Nguru, the palace complex would have been visible from afar and a clear assertion of power. Likewise, the nobility and courtiers were almost entirely based at Gazargamo. Brenner, for instance, found that nearly every person of courtly rank lived at the capital (Brenner 19). These elites, or at least those of non-servile origin, would have been part of households with many dependents (wives, children, slaves). Many of them were even awarded chima near the capital with administrative oversight. For example, the fugoma, of slave origin, was the governor of Gazargamo (Nachtigal 253). Another official, the jerma, received an administrative district on the Komadugu Yobe near the capital (251). The digma, who handled the king's correspondence, had an administrative district around the royal residence (252). Besides these court officials, many others were based in Gazargamo and received fiefs or administrative districts in the capital province, Gazir. The magira, meiram, and other officials would have mainly lived in the capital and employed their subordinates to collect taxes. This could mean large households that boosted the population density of the capital. 

But how did the capital function? What mechanisms were in place to regulate the markets, establish law and order, and maintain the city as a vital economic network? Muhammad Nur Alkali's work highlights officials called jongoma. While the Zanna Arjinoma acted as the go-between for the mai when dealing with North Africans, the jongoma collected taxes from traders. Each trade also had a head of the trade or profession who was responsible to the mala kasuube in charge of the market. Thus, petty traders, butchers, smiths, and others were organized and represented in the market system. The talba functioned as the head of police, providing a measure of law and order in this bustling city (Koelle 404). As was the case in Kukawa in the 19th century, the dendal was probably the place for socializing and for the rare public appearances of the mai. For more private, domestic gatherings, a fage, or enclosed area around a shed functioned as a place for adult men to gather (287). Wrestling, chess, a variant of mancala, Islamic scholarship and Quranic education, and labor in various arts and crafts must have occupied much of the time of the populace. Moreover, during the dry season, a large influx of people may have occurred. Nicholas Said, who left Kukawa whe still young, described the city's population as more than doubling in the dry season (Said 13). If fewer people were preoccupied with agriculture at that time, there may have been larger numbers moving into the capital to sell their wares, shop, or perhaps visit mosques. When one considers the vast hinterland of the Gazir province and its over 30 districts, the capital's metropolitan region may have hit 200,000 (Koelle, Grammar vii).

Carlos Magnavita's map of the palace complex of Gazargamo from Birni Gazargamo- the early capital of Kanem-Borno.

Through this exploration of the history of Birni Gazargamo, it should be clear that Borno's capital was an exceptional Sudanic belt city. Even if the figure of 200,000 is exaggerated and some of the traditional and written sources embellish or contradict each other, the city was undoubtedly the product of Sayfawa exploitation of all available resources. Through favorable geography, trade, textile production, salt trade, trans-Saharan trade, agriculture, herding, fishing, the sponsorship of Islamic centers of learning, and the exploitation of teeming numbers of peasants and slaves, the city grew to be an immense economic powerhouse. In decline even before the rise of the Sokoto Caliphate, Gazargamo fell to the jihadists. Borno never again regained a capital of such economic significance for regional and trans-Saharan trade. Nonetheless, the city was a product of the Sayfawa dynasty's dynamic leadership and shaped the subsequent capital, Kukawa. Many of its features experienced by Barth and Nachtigal were likely, in part, built on the model of Gazargamo. While archaeological evidence for Njimi in Kanem as a vast urban complex is still missing, Gazargamo may have been modeled on the past royal capital in Kanem. If so, then the tradition of urbanism in Kanem-Borno has deep roots reaching back to the late first millennium CE. 

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