al-Kanemi and the Berawuna

 

Whilst perusing Gustav Nachtigal's Sahara and Sudan again, we came across an intriguing letter by Muhammad al-Amin al-Kanemi from 1828. Whilst reporting on an expedition in Kanem, what stood out to us was the word al-Kanemi used to refer to people of Borno: Berawuna. According to the footnote of Gustav Nachtigal, this word meant "people of Borno." We find this interesting since this was the word used by people in the Fazzan to refer to people from Borno as well as the Tubu. In other words, the term appears to recognize the common origin of the Kanuri in Borno with the Tubu. On the other hand, Barth, in his massive account of his travels in this part of Africa, reported that the Goranes called the people of Mao in Kanem Beránema, perhaps a reference to the Dalatoa. Likewise the Kel Ewey Tuareg apparently called the Teda Beráuni. Anyway, al-Kanemi's use of the term makes sense given his own Fazzani background.

One wonders if there is any connection here to the Hausa word for the Kanuri, Bare beri. We once thought that it may be a possible remnant of the alleged "Zaghawa" origins of early Kanem, particularly due to the existence of the ethnonym Beri by the Zaghawa. Now we wonder if it may be related to Beráuni or Berawuna/Berâouna. Or was the Fazzani term possibly related to the Beri? Someone with the requisite language skills and understanding of linguistics should explore this to understand the origins of the various ways people referred to the people of Borno and what we know as the Kanuri.  

Kanuri Women of Borno (Nigeria): Perspectives from the Little Kingdom of Musune

Editha Platte's Kanuri Women of Borno (Nigeria): Perspectives from the Little Kingdom of Musune is a fascinating but often flawed work on a topic still neglected by those interested in the history of the Kanuri. Unfortunately, this work, which appears to contain parts of her dissertation and subsequent research, was not translated well from the German. It is usually not enough to hinder understanding, but when combined with the repetition of pages in later sections, it is enough to make the last third of the text an arduous enterprise. The second half, focusing on the life cycles experienced by Kanuri women from birth to marriage, child-rearing, and divorce or widowhood, sorely lacked a conclusion to connect it with the earlier part of the book on titles held by Kanuri women. 

One was also expecting a conclusion to connect it to the possible question of looking at the Kanuri mai mbauji for possible insights into how the Sayfawa court was organized and run. After all, if these smaller chiefdoms or princedom courts, which were ruled by local dynasties who once occupied a vassal status as tributaries to Birni Gazargamo, could possibly shed light on that topic, it would have been of interest to see that argument made explicitly or with strong examples. Some of this likely can be found in a few of the older studies or inaccessible German resources or a more thorough reading on our part of the works of Cohen on the question of women and queen mothers. 

Nonetheless, Platte apparently did not wish to engage in a more detailed historical study using the various written sources from the precolonial era which do contain allusions to women titleholders and royal women. Indeed, thanks to Platte, we began to take another look at some of the mahrams in Palmer's Bornu Sahara and Sudan and references to elite women in Muhammad Yanbu's work. Some of the connections were, in fact, quite obvious and we are embarrassed to admit we did not do this earlier. For instance, the sokotoma Aisha  bt. Ali, who was mentioned in one of the mahrams, was likely the eldest daughter of the mai. Platte also makes fascinating references to the donning of male garb in some of the installation rituals for female titleholders among the Pabir, Bolwa, and other groups. One cannot help but wonder if some of these rites, forms of seclusion, and use of male dress were also part of Sayfawa court practice for the maira or moworam. 

Also of use is Platte's reference to some of the then-recent theories about the "Sao" and Kotoko. If Musune was once a "Sao" center that transitioned into a Kotoko polity whose ruling class later claimed Maumi origin (Maami-Ariwa, though commoners were of the Ngaala clan), then Musune's history can be contextualized within the broader context of ethnic and political changes in Borno from the 1200s to the 1500s. This model of Platte assumed the "Sao" were building centers or towns at places like Musune by the 1200s (by c. 1300 for Musune). Possible proof can be found in the giant "Sao" pots in this region, dated from the 1200s-1400s. Then, a Kotoko identity gradually emerged as the Massa expanded northward. This led to the absorption or displacement of the "Sao" already in the area. Subsequent changes began when the expansionist Sayfawa state in the 1500s began to incorporate the former "Sao" and Kotoko polities. Somehow, although it is not clear from the evidence utilized by Platte, Musune transitioned from a possible Sao-Tatala affiliation to Kotoko by the 1500s. Presumably, the new ruling dynasty was installed by the Sayfawa (or they began to claim common origin with the regional hegemon). 

To what extent this aforementioned (and tentative) historical overview is accurate for Musune or the Kotoko is up for debate. One also wonders why Platte was perhaps more persuaded by the idea of the Sayfawa in Borno borrowing some of its titles or court practices from local "Sao" groups. For instance, the central role played by elite women as titleholders in the Sayfawa court in Kanem can be partially glimpsed from the Diwan for the 1100s. And why the Sayfawa would have needed to borrow so heavily from groups who, according to Platte, did not develop more elaborate political formations until the 1200s or 1300s, is not addressed. But as an introduction to one of the Kanuri princedoms of Borno and the life cycle of the Kanuri women, there is an ample amount of fascinating information. 

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.

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.

Mallam Abu Gantur's Uprising

 

 A map showing the area from Gajiram to Dikwa in Borno on Google. The revolt began near Gajiram and was defeated before reaching Dikwa in 1894. 

Another moment in which the peasantry of Borno were politically active and engaged in rebellion was the movement led by a charismatic mallam named Abu Gantur. Written sources and oral traditions are contradictory about specific details of the leader and the movement, but it represents a moment of peasant or talaka rebellion. Although rather distinct from the 1820s uprising of the Manga against al-Kanemi, it nonetheless demonstrates one of the extreme manifestations of subaltern groups contesting the political order in Borno. In this case, as a movement to free Borno from the rule of Sudanese warlord Rabih. However, like the Manga revolt, a charismatic religious figure provided the leadership for it, with religion (and superstition, depending on how one interprets the sources) and possibly millenarian beliefs shaping its discourse and actions. Let's take a closer look at the revolt to see how it both follows and diverges from the Manga rebels.

As always, we must begin with a discussion of the sources. Kyari Mohammed, whose Borno in the Rabih years, 1893-1901: The Rise and Crash of a Predatory State presents a fine analysis based on oral tradition and archival sources, perhaps offers the most comprehensive account of Abu Gantur's movement. Also, H.R. Palmer's Gazetteer of Bornu Province mentions Abu Gantur by another name, Mallam Buki, without any real analysis (Palmer 24). As for W.K.R. Hallam, whose The Life and Times of Rabih is detailed, reports some of the same traditions as Mohammed. However, he differs from Mohammed by asserting a Gombe origin for Abu Gantur (Hallam 145). Decorse and Gaudefroy-Demombynes translated an Arabic source in Rabah et les Arabes du Chari: documents Arabes et vocabulaire that mention a battle between Rabih with "Abou Qantour west of Dikwa (Decorse & Gaudefroy-Demombynes 13). Another source, Captain Julien's "Mohamed-es-Senoussi et ses États, likewise reports on Abu Gantur. Unlike the others, he suggests Gantour was based in or from Maiduguri. He was also said to have rejected the "Mahdi of the Turks" behind Rabih (Julien 132). The last source we could locate online was in an article from L'Afrique française: bulletin mensuel du Comité de l'Afrique française. According to this 1918 article, Gantur led a rabble of followers from Maiduguri against Rabih, but was defeated at N'Gomati. This article, published several years after the event, is of even less utility, but emphasizes the humble roots of Gantur's supporters. In addition to his work on the Rabih period, Louis Brenner's study of the al-Kanemi dynasty in the 19th century provides a number of interesting details on the crises of incompetent leadership, economic decline, and excessive taxation which made the peasantry of Borno less likely to support the al-Kanemi rulers. Overall, Mohammed's study, informed by archival research and fieldwork in Borno, likely presents the most reliable account of Abu Gantur.

Next, a short review of the movement. According to Mohammed, Abu Gantur was a Koyam Mallam sometimes called Mallam Buki or Mallam Njimtilo. His revolt began from the Nganzai area after Rabih's successful defeat of the Shehu of Borno (Mohammed 53). That he was also remembered as a Koyam Mallam is significant, since the Koyam were linked to Kalumbardo. Although the later incarnations of Kalumbardo appear to have lost their ascetic, Sufi orientation, Koyam mallams may have retained aspects of this Sufi orientation and reputation for piety. Indeed, according to tradition, Shehu al-Kanemi was reputed to be suspicious of a Koyam Sufi marabout linked to Kalumbardo and renowned for his spiritual power  (Mission Tilho 366). Zeltner, whose source is unclear, also reported that al-Kanemi himself had studied with the Koyam (Zeltner 200). It would be intriguing if tradition could confirm a link to Kalumbardo for Abu Gantur to the same Sufi tradition. 

Returning his movement, Gantur preached rebellion in the Nganzai area, near Gajiram. Claiming power over jinn or spirits, Gantur denounced Rabih. His supposedly uncoordinated movement with millenarian tendencies burgeoned into a following of 20,000 (Mohammed 54). His force defeated troops sent by Rabih, then burned Kuli, Marte and Mussene during their march to Dikwa, the capital of Rabih in Borno. These towns were burned or pillaged for refusing to join the rebels. Unfortunately, the rebels were defeated at Damagda, near Mufiyo. Rabih led troops armed with firearms against the mostly unarmed "rabble" behind Gantur. Intriguingly, Gantur's movement apparently lacked any ties to the resistance of the al-Kanemi dynasty, and aristocrats were opposed to Gantur. Mohammed suggests this was likely due to Gantur's expressed desire to seize control of Borno (56). This could be true, since the founder of the al-Kanemi dynasty had first emerged to political authority through seizing effective rule during a crisis. Thus, oral traditions of Shehu Kyari requesting mallams pray for the defeat of Gantur are plausible. Other traditions report that Gantur lost the support of the jinns after accepting a bridge from Rabih. Alternatively, it is possible that after marrying 3 women, the jinns left him (Mohammed 56). These traditions seem to imply that Gantur claimed to be the husband of a powerful jinn who left him out of jealousy. Thus, abandoned by the spirits, his mostly unarmed followers were powerless against a well-trained force armed with modern firearms. H.R. Palmer was simply told that Gantur lost due to being "remiss in his prayers" (Palmer 24). Hallam, on the other hand, repeated a variant of one of the traditions cited by Mohammed. Essentially, Gantar was abandoned by his jinn wife after taking a Kanuri bride given to him by Rabeh (Hallam 145).

In short, the rebellion, led by a charismatic religious figure of Koyam extraction, was brutally crushed. The Koyam of Nganzai and the Badawi of Gubio had their livestock seized by Rabih's government for supporting it. Even the Magumi Furibe were punished for supporting Gantur (Mohammed 88). Although the Koyam of Nganzai rebelled again in c.1896 and killed the chima gana Sugur of Gadim, the movement of Gantur was utterly eradicated. While popular tradition suggests supernatural causes for the defeat, one must look more closely at the nature of the movement and its popular support to understand why it failed to overthrow the Sudanese warlord, Rabih. Fortunately, Emile Julien's description of Abu Gantur provides some clues about the nature of the movement. According to him, "Abou Gantour" was based din Maiduguri, today the capital of Borno State in Nigeria. He was a faki who preached a holy war of national liberation against Rabeh, associated with the "Turks" in Julien's account. Through his friendship with spirits, Gantur allegedly held superior occult powers to that of the "Mahdi of Turcs." With this divine power assuring his followers of victory, peasants rallied behind him with calls of "Koun fi ye koun" (soit dans ce qui est). They were only armed with branches or sticks (Julien 132). Unfortunately, his 20,000 followers were defeated at N'Goumati when Gantur's forces charged Rabih's well-armed gunmen. Since the spirits didn't save him, he was killed, beheaded, and his followers ravaged (Julien 133). Julien's account suggests that Gantur may have seen Rabih as a supporter of the Mahdi. It is possible that some in Borno believed Rabih was a proponent of Mahdism since Hayatu of the Sokoto Caliphate hoped to win Rabih's support for an invasion of Sokoto (Mohammed 112). However, Julien's description of Gantur presents him as referring to Rabih as a "Turk" invader. It is not entirely clear, but it would appear that Gantur rejected Rabih's rule on the grounds of his "Turk" background and the authority of the Mahdi. Even though Rabih was not considered by most to be a genuine Mahdist, it would seem that Gantur presented him as one (Mohammed 108). His popular support must have also represented both the appeal of a charismatic religious figure, the belief in his spiritual authority and holiness, and the fact that the disconnect between the peasantry and the ruling class was too extreme for any genuine inter-class project of liberation. If the al-Kanemi dynasty had truly lost legitimacy after overtaxing the peasantry, particularly with the Kumoreji tax under Shehu Hashimi, and then lost whatever appeal afterwards by their utter failure to defeat Rabih, the peasantry had no choice but to rally around a religious figure.

If one accepts the interpretation of Cohen of Kanuri society as one in which powerful men (and usually men at this time) accumulated dependents who came to them for protection and security, then the lack of competent elites of the al-Kanemi dynasty left the peasantry no choice. If there were no legitimate leaders or wealthy elites who could provide protection and opportunities for advancement, the rural masses could only turn to a charismatic mallam like Gantur. Unlike the Manga Uprising of 1824, which included local Mangari leadership as well as a charismatic mallam, this rebellion lacked powerful elites to whom alliances or support could easily be extended. There was no galadima or Sayfawa mai the peasants could appeal to, from an alliance with, or use to legitimize their revolt. What would be more interesting to consider is why other towns or villages refused to join the movement. The movement's failure to appeal to more communities, including those with better arms, likely contributed to their downfall as it became clear Rabih's forces possessed superior firearms and military training. And if the traditions of Abu Gantur falling for a bride sent by Rabih suggest anything, there may be a hint at an attempt on Rabih's part to coopt the movement. While ultimately unsuccessful, Gantur's defeat was explained by supernatural reasons in tradition. More importantly, the absence of a well-armed, or at least a peasant accustomed to warfare spelled doom for Gantur. The Manga were accustomed to self-defense, had expertise in the use of poison arrows, and could hold their own against cavalry sent by al-Kanemi.

In conclusion, the revolt led by Abu Gantur represents a fascinating moment of peasant political mobilization in Borno. Though unsuccessful and brutally crushed, the uprising suggests many things about the nature of class, power, religion, and political contest. In order to best protect themselves and sometimes advance socio-economically, dependents attached themselves to patrons. The most talented ones sometimes became influential figures in their own right. Borno by the 1890s, however, was in crisis with a ruling elite probably devoid of legitimacy. Given these conditions of overtaxation and the failure of the al-Kanemi dynasty to provide protection, the peasantry turned to an influential Koyam mallam, Gantur, who may have adapted Sufi and ascetic practices from the Kalumbardo school. He claimed support from spirits and rejected Rabih as a foreign "Turk" and Mahdist. Without alliances from wealthy patrons with access to weapons, better arms, and more troops, the movement failed to coalesce into a broader rebellion across Borno. In fact, traditions suggest the al-Kanemi dynasty actively sought the defeat of Gantur. This failure to create cross-class alliances across more of Borno promised disaster for Gantur, whose followers were massacred at Damagda. The Manga uprising of the 1820s also failed, but that uprising included both a charismatic mallam and local elites with a well-armed peasantry. They also could use the Sayfawa to legitimize their revolt and use their important frontier location as a "bargaining chip" of sorts. 

Bibliography

Brenner, Louis. The Shehus of Kukawa: A History of the Al-Kanemi Dynasty of Bornu. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1973.

Cohen, Ronald. The Kanuri of Bornu. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1967.

Hallam, W. K. R. The Life and Times of Rabih Fadh Allah. Ilfracombe: Stockwell, 1977.

Julien, Émile. "Mohamed-es-Senoussi et ses États." Bulletin de la société des recherches congolaises 10, 1925.

Mohammed, Kyari. Borno in the Rabih Years, 1893-1901 : the Rise and Crash of a Predatory State. Maiduguri, Nigeria : University of Maiduguri, 2006.

Palmer, H.R. Gazetteer of Bornu Province.  Lagos: Govt. Printer, 1929.

Tilho, Jean (editor). Documents Scientifiques De La Mission Tilho. Paris: Imprimerie Nationale, 1910.

Zeltner, J. C. Pages D'histoire Du Kanem: Pays Tchadien. Paris: Harmattan, 1980.

Tarikh el Kawar

Michel Le Sourd's "Tarikh el Kawar" was published in Bulletin de l'I.F.A.N. in 1946. However, since the author was able to collect oral traditions from various parts of Kawar from people still old enough to recall precolonial days, there is some value in this rather short article. Lamenting the lack of interest by literate Kanuri and others in Kawar, Le Sourd attempts a broad overview of Kawar history based solely on oral traditions. Without even referring to the external medieval sources or references to the region from Kanem and Borno, Le Sourd's study is probably most useful for a glimpse of Kawar in the last 2 or 3 centuries. 

According to Le Sourd, the populations of Kawar in chronological order are the following: Soo (Sao), Konnas, Terras, Kanuris and Tubus. Unfortunately, none of his informants apparently gave him information on the Konnas and Terras, who were perhaps the people of Kawar when the region was described in medieval Arabic sources from the 9th century onward. As for the Sao, that appears to be a legend accompanying every Kanuri population. Indeed, some of the same traditions of the Sao familiar from Borno are repeated here, with a few minor differences. In fact, Fachi appears to have retained a stronger connection to legends of the Sao, perhaps a testament to the region's importance during the reign of Ali b. Dunama in his campaigns against Air (Le Sourd 4). However, Fachi traditions remember the sultan of Borno also killing the Sao of Fachi. Moreover, the story of the Kanuri using henna and a trick to trap the Sao is reported, even though this tradition is really more pertinent to the area of Birni Gazargamo or Borno proper (5). Alternatively, the memory of the Soo in Kawar could also be linked to the Tubu name for Seguedin, called Soo by those in the Tibetsi (15). Perhaps the name Soo for Segedin once covered a broader area of Kawar, but then mixed with Kanuri legends of the Sao?

Intriguingly, the Sao are remembered in tradition for the use of the ksur or fortified sites across the area (2). Even the town name Agram supposedly means fortified village in Kanuri, although a possible Berber etymology has been proposed elsewhere (35). The Kanuri association of fortified sites with the Sao probably means that the towns or villages already had fortifications before their arrival, though the Kanuri may have expanded or maintained them. 

As for the Konnas and Terras, perhaps the latter is an allusion to the Tura? As in the Tura who also migrated to Borno and of whom some examples of early mahrams have been located. The early Tura mahrams suggest close ties between Kanem and Dirkou which began by the 1100s. Indeed, close relations between the rulers of Kanem and Dirkou (as well as other parts of Kawar) likely began before the 11th century. As for the Konnas, the appellation brings to mind a word used in Borno for pagans to the South, said to be associated with Kwararafa. Since it is highly unlikely for people from Kwararafa to have preceded the Kanuri in Kawar, if there is any connection with the Kwona or Kwoana in Borno, it may simply be a reference to a pre-Islamic population living in Kanem before its Islamization during the time of the Terras (Turas?).

With the arrival of the Kanuri, a better sense of the history of the region begins. According to his informants, Le Sourd found that nearly every site in Kawar was previously inhabited by the Kanuri when the Tubu arrived. Thus, the Kanuri were at Guezebi-Guassar first, before the Tubu (6). The Tomaghera Tubu who migrated into the area intermarried with them, becoming the Guezebidas (7). Similarly, Dirku was said to have had a Kanuri population already when the Tubu arrived (10). Furthermore, Kanuri were the first at Sara, Djado, and Djaba. When recounting the legend of Dalla Kerkaou of Sara, Le Sourd also alludes to the Tuareg of Air ruling Djado, but the chronology for this probably legendary story is ambiguous (16). Is this a reference to the period of Air control in Kawar during the 18th and 19th centuries, or referring to a more ancient conflict between the peoples of Air and Kawar? Last but not least, the Koyam were also present in villages stretching from Agram to Termit (28). Their presence in the region, if they are indeed the Kay referred to in the Diwan, is likely of far deeper antiquity and may be linked to the early salt trade between Kawar and Kanem-Borno.

Also of interest is Le Sourd's observations on differences in spoken Kanuri in Kawar. According to his observations, the Kanuri spoken in Fachi, Djado and Tedjerhe in the Fazzan are similar and distinct from other Kawar villages (23). It is also asserted that these areas were once closer to Zeila, too  (22). Although travel between the Kanuriphone populations was negatively impacted by insecurity, their similarities despite the distance between the Fezzan and Fachi illustrate the latter's economic importance. The similarities to Djado lead one to wonder if that area was once also more economically important for a short route to the Fezzan. Fachi certainly was of great economic significance for trade. Moreover, traditions suggest Fachi, or Agram, was also an important site as early as the 15th century for the Sayfawa ruler, Ali b. Dunama. Its links to the Koyam salt traders are areas worthy of further investigation. 

In summation, Le Sourd's exposition on Kawar history, based solely on oral traditions, raises a number of interesting questions. That the current peoples of the area, of Kanuri and/or Tubu origin, attribute a Sao presence predating other groups could likely be a result of widely shared Kanuri legends of the Sao. If so, then this suggests the Kanuri population may be associated with movement into Kawar during the period of Sayfawa rule in Borno. Since some of the legends current in Kawar even refer to traditions on the origins of Birni Gazargamo to the South, one wonders if the 1400s might be a plausible period of origin for some of the Kanuri in Kawar. Of course, the close relations between Kawar and Kanem before this period could also have led to Kanembu and Kanuri-speaking communities in the area long before the 15th century. But the traditions of the Kawar Kanuri of peoples called Konna and Terra preceding them may be an allusion to the pre-Islamic and medieval population of the oases. Their disappearance may have been due to a merging into the Kanuri population, as the Tura of Borno suggest. 

The Song of the Zakkama to the Sultan of Bornu

The Song of the Zakkama to the Sultan of Bornu is the last praise song in J.R. Patterson's Kanuri Songs (1926). Meant for the sultan, Aman Alimi, or Ahmad b. Ali, the praise song provides a window to view the Late Sayfawa Period court on the eve of the fall of Gazargamo in 1808. Ahmad Ali, who reigned from 1792-1808 in Lange's chronology, was remembered in the Diwan for supporting the poor and scholars. Since his father reigned for so long (1747-1792), it is possible he was also quite old by the time took the throne. Either way, like his father, he was a devout man identified as a savant in a time of generally good conditions. However, Ali Eisami's testimony does suggest a famine occurred in c.1792, which is unsurprisingly not mentioned in the praise song. 

Nonetheless, the praise song remembered for him follows the same conventions of the genre, and stresses his genealogy. Indeed, Ali b. Umar of the 17th century appears to be mentioned along with other illustrious ancestors in the Sayfawa dynasty. Of course, as one would expect, some of the praise is unrealistic or merely symbolic, like the assertion of Borno's rule over Mali (Melle), which surely must only mean the Fulani in Borno (whose ancestors came from the west centuries earlier). Praising the mai as the "scourge of pagan towns" or "firm like a fixed rock" point to military leadership, determination and other attributes of kingship. Like past praise songs, one notes a pattern of attributing fertile land and harvests to the leadership of the mai. However, as recorded in the Diwan, Ahmad b. Ali was also generous and seen as a "ruler of Islam." This suggests that some of the sources of authority and power for the Sayfawa rulers was indeed their status as Islamic savants, supporters of Islamic scholarship, and promoting the religion. 

Of course, we know all was not good in Borno. During Ahmad b. Ali's reign, Wadai attacked Kanem. In addition, the appearance of a poem (in Palmer's Bornu Sahara and Sudan) expressing anti-Fulani sentiment may be a hint of tensions between Fulani communities and others in Borno. What were once at least cordial relations with some Fulani in Borno (evidence from a mahram reconfirmed during the reign of Dunama b. Ali in the early 18th century) appears to have declined by the late 1700s. One might even detect the assertion of Sayfawa rule in this praise song over the Fulani as a reflection of this atmosphere of hostility. This led to, by c.1807, open conflict between some Fulani in Borno with the galadima, followed up by the later attacks on Birni Gazargamo. Only with the intervention of al-Kanemi, a celebrated mallam, were the Sayfawa able to retake their ancient capital. Of course, by the end of his reign, Ahmad b. Ali was old and supposedly blind, according to Brenner's study of the al-Kanemi dynasty. Thus, he was unable to provide the type of leadership necessary to defeat the jihadist forces. 

To see you is to see the world filled with light

And to attain one’s desire 

You are the chief of the chosen Arabs, fair of skin

And you the chief of the light skinned Debaba Arabs

West, Melle, the land of the Fellata is yours

And yours Aliarge

Your slaves were in battle order, and all armed; you came and entered their ranks

Your kingship is on a pinnacle as high as that of any of your ancestors

You are the strength of Bornu

You are the scourge of the pagan towns

Ruler of Islam

To-day you are the prop of the world

Yours the town of Makibirrum honey-sweet

To-day you have become as honey to all the princes

Your town Makibirrum, and you the son of Gumsu who wore a turban

Fadallam’s son

Son of the owner of the town of Ngalji the less, and Ngalji the greater, (Ngalji) Buro

You call the owner of Bidi, with its thousand roads, your elder sister

You have sat, have grown up, were born (with your brothers)

But you have excelled them all 

By the length of a train of a hundred camels 

Yours the town of Kakere Karowa

A woman, your mother, has a sieve made of gold

You are the chief even of her who owns the ‘Sokkutu’ head dress and the sieve

A sieve of gold

You give a tithe of gold for the fast month

And alms of a fine horse

Of your chiefs and of your juniors

To-day you are the (protecting) shade

What men call your kingship,

Is like the bite of a caterpillar and like black anger

That is kingship

(Habits) like (those of) a mason wasp, that is kingship

Which makes the children of others its own, that is kingship

(Habits of) an old goat which frightens away the young of others, that is kingship

(The fleetness of) a huntsman’s stick,

(the lightness of) a broken calabash,

that is kingship

To be firm as the fixed rock, 

that is kingship

(If you prepare for war) When the

rainy season comes, (your advisers say) there are tornadoes

(If) when the hot season comes, (they say) the sun is hot

(If) in the winter, (they say) there is cold

Make your own plans as your father used to make his,

Leave others’ plans and they will follow yours

(For) you are like a carrier’s pad made of the male ‘kamga’ bush.

Which, if a man takes on his head, wears his head away

If he moves it to his shoulder it wears his shoulder away

If you leave it on the ground, you leave what the Sultan has put in your care

East, the land of the Beni Hassen is yours

West, the Beni Mala Feram pool,

The watering-place of one thousand cattle

Yours Makabiroma, Mai Haji of Mecca Damaram

Sultan Haji of Mecca,

Has every attribute of kingship

Kaigama Ali whose mother was Rashi and father Idirisa,

Has all his father’s attributes

Mohammadu owner of Lergam town, and whose mother was Mune, and his father Aji,

Has all his father’s attributes

The head of Ngala City, Kadabu the lion, son of Duna Haman,

Has all his father’s attributes

Fusam, daughter of Umar, whose towns are Bantigu and Tarmuswa

Has all the attributes of power

Mai Ibrahim son of Aman, son of Aman the son of Saifu

Has all his father’s, Aman Saifumi’s, attributes

You whose town is Lergam, whose mother was Mune, Mai Mohammadu,

whose father was Haji

Mai Haji of Mecca Damaram, whose mother was Fanna

You have attained to the topmost heights of power

You son of Gumsu, Gumsu Amina daughter of Talba, you Ibrahim,

Have attained to your father’s place among the great

(During your reign) One rainy season gives seven harvests

A he-goat gives milk and oxen give milk

Because of his kingly power set forth to war (you men of his)

Because of his good luck, set forth to war

You, son of Haji, who are the owner of Ngeleru, whose mother was Gumsu

Gumsu Amina, Talba’s daughter

You have attained to the greatness of your father Arri son of Umar

And Amadu was Arri’s son

You have attained to your father’s greatness

And Ibrahim was Amadu’s son

You have attained to your father’s greatness

Son of Dalatu, Mari Arri of Minarge town

You have every attribute of power

To the East we look to worship, pray, give alms and sit in congregation,

To-day you hold it with a rod of gold

The West, the world’s back, 

You hold with a rod of gold

The North, the world’s foot, 

You hold with a rod of gold

The South, the world’s head,

To-day you hold with a rod of gold

May God (put a future) full of health before you

May God (leave a memory) of happiness behind you

Reign in health, the health of Fusam

Long life, good fortune, perfect health be yours

Reign amidst happiness.

The Song to the Galadima

The "Song to the Galadima" in J.R. Patterson's Kanuri Songs can more easily be connected with a known galadima who ruled from Nguru in the early 18th century. Using a girgam of galadimas published in H.R. Palmer's Gazetteer of Bornu Province, we know that a galadima named Dunama Aisatami held the office for about 3 years. Using the regnal lengths of all the previous tenants of the office since its foundation under the Sayfawa mai Umar b. Idris (r. 1619-1639), we can tell that Dunama Aisatami held the post sometime in the early 1700s. If we make the assumption that the position of galadima was instituted in the beginning of Umar b. Idris's reign, then Dunama Aisatami may have began to serve sometime in c.1706-1717.

Knowing from the girgam that Dunama Aisatami only held the post for 3 years, one can see how the praise song, by its very nature, must have embellished and exaggerated the accomplishments of some of the elites. From what is known from Palmer and Patterson, Dunama gained the position in a somewhat unusual manner. His father, Iruma, had refused the position and died. His son, Dunama, paid the fee for his late father to occupy the position nominally before becoming galadima himself. Apparently, if the praise song is reliable, he occupied the important position long enough to defend Borno's western borders, impose Islam on pagans, and engage in valiant warrior behavior. According to Patterson's notes, Dunama Aisatu's mother was also the princess of Hadija, one of Borno's western dependencies, and he was related to the ruling family in Muniyo, too. This makes sense as the post of galadima was to defend and oversee Borno's western borderlands, and marriage alliances with local dynasties supported by Borno would have been essential to create buffer states and assert Borno's economic and political interests across the region. 

Indeed, the significance of the galadima is best indicated by the following line, "When the Galadima comes to the capital, eleven of the Birni titles cease to exist." The office was so central to the state that its occupant was like second after the mai in Gazargamo. Perhaps it is an inappropriate analogy, but the galadima was like a viceroy whose responsibilities were important enough to warrant a brick palace structure at Nguru. Keeping in mind the growing economic importance of Hausaland, one can also see the galadima being essential for providing security for trade that connected the Hausa states with Borno, especially for the trade in salt, natron, horses, leather, textiles, slaves, and kola nuts.

Galadima Dunama

Vulture of Nguru town

Who drives away the birds of Bornu

Dunama son of Magira whose father was Mala

You are easier to withstand than the swoops of the white hawk

Outside the capital you are a valiant warrior but a meek man in the town

When the Galadima comes to the capital,

Eleven of the Birni titles cease to exist

When anyone says you are liberal,

Your liberality is the polished spear

Rather than the Nuguruma should drive me in front of him

Better than seven hippopotami should drive me in front of them

Galadima Dunama

Nguti the town of your slaves

During your attack on the town which lasted from the forenoon to the afternoon, 

You made Muslim converts even of the pagans of Garmangal

You fought and conquered it and gave it to your mother

Kaiuri and Lefiya Loiloi

Kaigama Dunama, that husband of mine (his wife says)

is no husband to look after his wife and family,

he is a man to bear a polished spear

I love you only for what you give me

(When you go to war) either I become a beggar, or I receive presents

Or I put white ants in your nose

Your wiles are like the wiles of a wry-necked calabash water-bottle

Don’t forget your sly tricks

If you forget your whiles the jackal will fall upon the jujube fruit 

Galadima Dunama son of Aisata daughter of the princess Mangu

(The Galadima) is a nephew of Zainaba daughter of the ruler of Muniyo

Dunama, you are like a ball of fused metal, like corn mixed with pebbles

A man whose teeth are not made of iron cannot overcome you

Fear makes a man be wounded in the back

He is a brave man who receives his wounds in the front of the body

You Galadima Dunama, prevented the people of the town of Ngutuwa from saying their morning prayers

You burnt Garamgalga and made its inhabitants captives

God has granted you all your desires

Gura Zau Zau’s song is a pleasant one

Galadima my master has dismissed me with a present of twelve slave maidens and twelve slave youths all of six spans.