Looking for Borno in Aïr Traditions

Whilst perusing  Documents Nigériens: Tome I, l'Aïr edited in French by Boubou Hama in the late 1960s, we came across references to Borno multiple times. Unfortunately, the corpus of oral traditions collected here are often of a very vague nature. Indeed, when recounting the history of the sultans of Agadez, informants appeared to be making composite figures of various sultans without any clear chronological precision. With these limitations, it is sadly difficult to use these traditions to better contextualize the relations between the Tuareg of Asben and Borno.

Nonetheless, some of the traditions do affirm a period of Bornoan hegemony of Aïr. For instance, one elder reputed to be over 100 years old, reported that that the people of the region had to pay tribute to the people of Borno annually. Part of this tribute consisted of animals (cattle?), slaves, and sometimes nobles. Since the tribute was too onerous, the Abzinawa decided not to pay it any longer. When Borno's representative came to collect it, the people of Aïr refused. The sultan of Borno, not named, prepared to go to war and came to Aïr with his army. But, the Tuareg had fled to the mountainous caves of Bagzam and withstood the besieging forces of Borno. Through a ruse conceived by a man named Hamed Yahya, the eldest, the Tuareg sent out an old camel stuffed with grains, dates, and water. When the Bornoan forces killed and opened the entrails of the camel, they found it full of provisions. This led the Bornoans to assume the Tuareg had sufficient food and water in their mountainous caves to continue to avoid engaging the king of Borno. Deciding to leave Asben, the Bornoan troops lifted their siege and returned to Koukaoua (Kukawa). Obviously, the reference to Kukawa is an anachronism here since this event is said to have taken place when Agadez was a small village or recently founded. This campaign is probably the ill-fated Bornoan expedition to Asben mentioned in the Kano Chronicle, taking place in the 1400s. 

Another informant cited in the study also referred to the same conflict with Borno. According to an elder named Ousmane ben Elhadj Kemel, the Bornoans collected an annual tribute from the Tuareg of Aïr consisting of a beautiful young girl. The Bornoan envoy was called Aganga (a Kanuri or Bornoan form of this word is not known to us) and was refused the tribute one year. According to tradition, the girl who was supposed to be given in tribute had a brother who refused to accept it. What is distinct about this version of events is that the girl's brother actually killed the Aganga, triggering an invasion from Borno. In addition, this tradition of the conflict mentions 3 camels whose stomachs were filled with ample food, giving the impression to the Bornoan troops waiting out the Tuareg hiding in the caves of Bagzan that their enemies had ample resources. Meanwhile, the Bornoan troops were running out of water and supplies, forced to abandon Aïr soon after. Another distinguishing trait of this tradition is that the Istanbul legend starts here, with the Tuareg sending their dignitaries to find a sultan in Istanbul during the time Borno's sultan was in the region. 

Other references to Borno or areas once affiliated with Borno are more arduous to connect with other sources. For example, one tradition based on information from Mohamed ben Agueb refers to Younoussou and Mohamed Ben Younoussou. The latter is mentioned for having attacking Gobir and forcing its ruler to flee their capital. In 578, a year equivalent to our 1182-3. But the context of this attack on Gobir and the conflict in Bilma are more suggestive of the 1700s. The reference to Fachi and Mohamed Younoussou appointing Ibrahim ben Ahmed as chief of Bilma seem to refer to the period of conflict over Kawar in the mid-1700s. 

Later on, Mohamed ben Younoussou defeated Gobir and went to war with Borno, occupying a Bornoan fortress built on a high hill. This campaign was advised by the Agadez sultan's vizir, Abdallahi ben Youssouf, who actually wantedt o weaken the Tuareg. Thus, the troops sent by Agadez to attack Borno found themselves completedly encercled by Bornoan warriors, who trapped the Tuareg on the hill. Eventually, Mohamed ben Younoussou was able to escape and reached Haedja, where he fought with a Bornoan leader named Ibrahim. It is possible this Ibrahim was a galadima of Borno sometime in the mid-1700s. By the end of the conflict, the Tuareg were defeated in 608 and force dto flee to Agadez where the Bornoans followed the Tuareg to Talmari, where they were defeated by the Acharifane. Upon his return to Agadez, Mohamed Elbaki was appointed as heir. 

The best we could do for trying to situate the above tale with the known history of Agadez-Borno wars is to suggest the campaign in which the Agadez sultan penetrated deep into Borno and was forced to flee happened during an attack on Gaskerou or Kawar in the middle decades of the 1700s. According to Landeroin, Bornoan forces did attack and pursue the Tuareg in that raid, before ultimaetly fleeing back to Borno.  In Koyam tradition, the place where the pursuing Bornoan army was defeated was not Talmari, although it is possible the Tuareg and Koyam traditions remember the place differently. 

The same source also included Borno or the Beriberi as enemies of Agadez during the reign of Sultan Mohamed "El Fadel," who reigned after the aforementioned Mohamed ben Younoussou. Apparently, the Beriberi and "Baghoussow" had crossed the Niger to provoke the Tuareg of Aïr on their own territory and committed massacres at Tiguida and Ingall before being vanquished by Mohamed El-Fadel. We could not be sure to what extent any Bornoan sources recall this, or if there is confusion on the part of the traditionists.

The Tuareg and Ali b. al-Hajj Dunama

Map from Studies in the History of Pre-Colonial Borno

One key factor of Borno’s 18th century decline during the “Late Sayfawa Period” was the loss of Kawar, a major salt production center and part of the trans-Saharan trade routes. During the long reign of Ali b. al-Hajj Dunama (r. 1747-1792), Borno not only suffered defeat at the hands of the Tuareg at Bilma in c. 1759, but some of Borno’s vassal states and regions suffered Tuareg depredations, particularly areas like Gaskeru under the shaykhs of the Koyam. Lovejoy, who has written extensively about the salt trade in West Africa, has relied heavily on Palmer (and, via Palmer, Jean) for the basic narrative of the Tuareg seizure of the Kawar salt trade to Hausaland. However, this momentous development in the 18th century Central Sudan is poorly documented. Besides passing references to Kawar and a conflict or war in Bilma in c. 1759-1760 in the Chronicles of Agadez, Palmer (and Jean) presumably drew on Tuareg oral traditions to show resistance from Borno to Kel Owey and other Tuareg acts of aggression. Intriguingly, however, oral traditions from Borno do not seem to refer to wars with the Kel Owey or Agadez Sultanate over Bilma. Instead, traditions collected from the Koyam refer to a disastrous battle in which forces from Gaskeru and additional warriors sent from Birni Gazargamo were massacred by the Imakiten Tuareg at Kaiguem, an area north of Kelle in Koutous. We propose a return to the sources and oral traditions to better understand relations between Borno during Ali b. al-Hajj Dunama’s reign and the Tuareg associated with Aïr. It shall be argued that Borno’s conflict with the Tuareg during the reign of Ali b. al-Hajj Dunama cannot be understood as a single, decisive war for Kawar, but rather as a series of fragmented commercial and military struggles involving multiple Tuareg groups, local intermediaries, and uneven Borno intervention. Beginning with the written sources from the time period in question, we will then attempt an analysis of the various traditions on this period recorded since the 19th century. It is hoped that the connection between the Koyam conflict with the southeastern Tuareg was indeed tied with the Kel Owey commercial rise in Aïr and Kawar.

Review of Precolonial Sources

Beginning with the main written sources, a number of 18th century or early 19th century texts refer to the Tuareg and the salt caravan to Hausaland. In addition, the Chronicles of Agades alludes to conflict with Borno or in Kawar in the second half of the 18th century. According to the French translation of Urvoy, the “combat” of Bilma took place in 1760.[1] Another conflict erupted in Bilma or Kawar during the affair of Dirfass in 1777-1778. The same collection of Agadez chronicles also contain earlier references to conflict with Borno in the 17th century, such as a possible war in 1685 and the Kel-Owey Tuareg attacking Borno in 1679.[2] These references to conflict in Kawar or with Borno are, unfortunately, very thin on the details. It is possible that the sultans of Agadez were not directly involved in instigating the conflict with Borno or the Tubu for Kawar, meaning that their royal chronicles shed less light on the conflict than Kel Owey oral traditions. But, according to Hamani, the Agadez sultans Muhammad Humad and Muhammad al-Udala (r. 1768-1792) were allies of the Kel Owey.[3] 

Besides the Agadez sources, written sources from Borno do, if indirectly, refer to conflict during the second half of the 18th century. A mahram dated by Palmer to 1752 referred to a failed attempt by the mai to enlist the Tura for war. When the Tura threatened to leave Borno and return to Dirku in Kawar, the Sayfawa ruler relented and reaffirmed their privileges.[4] While this predates the c. 1759 aggression in Bilma, there must have been some threat or campaign important enough to tempt the mai to enforce military service from a privileged group. A later mahram dated to 1785 also affirms the town of Laluri as belonging to the Beni Mukhtar Tura.[5] More written sources, such as poems and texts on Islamic rulership, the meaning of the Mune, and other texts exist, but not in translation. The sense appears to have been one of insecurity and conflict with various neighbors or vassal states. Indeed, a 19th century Mandara kirgam may be obliquely referring to this troubled political climate when elucidating how the motive of Ali b. al-Hajj Dunama’s aggression was Mandara’s resources.[6] This is certainly plausible as the Mandara campaign of 1781 took place after Borno’s loss of Bilma. Perhaps eager to reassert Borno’s status in the Central Sudan, the Sayfawa mai also wanted to acquire extra resources to make up for the losses to the Tuareg.

Salines of Bilma (Abadie).

In addition to these aforementioned sources, a number of European 18th century descriptions also establish that the Tuareg had achieved a monopoly of the trade in Kawar’s salt to the markets of Hausaland in the second half of the 1700s. For example, the journal of Hornemann referred to the Kel Owey Tuareg’s dominance of Asben. The same source referred to the Koyams (“Kojams”) living to the north of the principal town of Borno (Gazargamo) so his account was presumably written before the final abandonment of Gaskeru. More importantly, Beaufoy is cited for the salt caravan from Agadez to Domboo.[7] Thus, Hornemann’s journal, written in the 1790s, clearly establishes a Tuareg (and specifically Kel Owey) ascendancy, as well as the ties to Agadez for the trade in Kawar salt. Carsten Niebuhr, writing in German and basing his information on the Sudan from talks with Tripolitanian envoy and his African slaves from the Central Sudan, reported that Afnu (Hausaland) gets its salt from Asben. Niebuhr also referred to the Tuareg by the Kanuri term for them, indicating one of his informants was Kanuriphone or came from the Borno region.[8] While some of the salt from Asben’s own salines likely contributed to the supply of desert salts to Hausaland, Niebuhr’s information was collected in the 1770s. Consequently, it is possible that Kawar’s salt production was also being exploited by Tuareg traders in Katsina, Kano, and other Hausa cities. The use of the Kanuri term for the Tuareg also shows the degree to which the Tuareg were a known and identifiable group in 18th century Borno, possibly through their raids and pillaging of Kutus, Muniyo, Koyam centers, and other parts of Greater Borno. Last, but certainly not least, North African and Fezzani informants in the late 18th century reported that Borno still exported salt (perhaps natron is meant), but the people of Agadez controlled the salt caravans from Domboo to Cashna (Katsina). Supposedly, the Tuareg only paid brass and copper to peasants or oasis dwellers of Kawar for their salt. The overall picture suggests the Agadez merchants controlled the trade in salt from Borno (Kawar) to Katsina.[9]

This sense of Tuareg control of the Kawar salt trade to Hausaland is confirmed in a number of 19th century writings by European travelers to the region. Richardson, for example, noted that the Aïr Tuareg were in possession of the Bilma salt caravan. Moreover, a “short time ago,” Borno destroyed or stole the supplies used by this caravan, causing the loss of hundreds of camels.[10] Since Richardson did not give a year for this act of Borno’s sabotage, we can only assume that well into the 19th century, Borno tried to impede the Tuareg traders. Heinrich Barth also observed the history of Tuareg conflict with Borno and the salt caravan. According to Barth, the Kel Owey had an alliance with the people of Azanéres that was linked to the Bilma salt exchange. Furthermore, Barth believed this trade of the Asben-affiliated Tuareg trading Bilma’s salt to Hausaland only began about 100 years ago.[11] This agrees with the Agadez chronicle of the Tuareg of Aïr engaging in a war or battle at Bilma in c. 1759. Elsewhere in his account of his travels, Barth also referred to Ali b. al-Hajj Dunama’s violent struggles with the Tuareg in the middle of the 18th century: “He made great exertions in every direction, but his efforts seem to have resembled the convulsions of death…”[12] Although he confusingly referred to the mai as Ali Omari, recalling Ali b. Umar of the 17th century, it’s quite clear that Barth was referring to Ali b. al-Hajj Dunama. He even named his successor correctly as Ahmad. That this period was a turbulent one in Borno’s history can also be found in Barth’s allusion to Ali b. al-Hajj Dunama’s campaigns against the Bade (Bedde).[13] Nachtigal, for his part, wrote of the responsibilities of the yerima including oversight of the southeastern Tuareg groups while the galadima was responsible for the Bade and western Borno. Thus, during the conflicts with the Tuareg in the 18th century, the yerima was presumably the first official meant to respond to the crisis. This is perhaps contradicted by oral traditions of the Koyam, however, who remembered a kaigama named Ali, allegedly a son of Ali b. al-Hajj Dunama, who came to their aid when their community was attacked by the Imakiten Tuareg at Gaskeru.[14] Clearly, a major dimension of conflict with the Tuareg during this period involved Koyam and other groups living outside of Kawar.

Map of Hausaland, Asben and Borno by a Hausa mallam (in Hornemann's Journal).

Revisiting Colonial-Era Scholarship

Moving into the colonial period, more precise traditions of conflict between the Tuareg and Borno were recorded. Jean, whose Les Touareg du sud-est. L'Aïr. Leur rôle dans la politique saharienne was published in 1909, was the first to explore what actually happened in c. 1759. Unfortunately, his account is garbled and may mix events associated with Borno’s failed siege of the Tuareg forces at Bagzam with events in the 18th century. In Jean’s retelling, the Bornoan forces abandoned their siege of the Tuareg at Bagzam and, when fleeing to the east, were pursued by the Kel Owey to the wells of Ashegur. There the Kel Owey defeated the forces of Borno, took hundreds of prisoners, and established them at Bilma.[15] It is difficult to say to what extent this tradition is accurate, but it does correctly identify the Kel Owey as protagonists in this conflict. Later, the sultan of Agadez and the Kel Gress went to Fachi and Tuareg suzerainty of the region was established. But, in c.1765, Kel Owey traders were massacred in Borno. This prompted a counterattack in which the sultan of Agadez, Mohammad Almoubari invaded Borno and seized cattle. Supposedly, the Tuareg marched almost to Kuka (Gazargamo) and ensured free access to the area for Tuareg traders.[16] A number of problems exist with this narrative, despite Palmer, Lovejoy and later authors repeating it. If the named sultan is correct, then this was probably Muhammad al-Mubarek, a powerful sultan of 17th century Agadez. Various sources refer to specific wars or battles with Borno during his reign. On one of those occasions, forces from Agadez did reach the capital of Borno. But, that attack occurred in the 1660s, not the 1760s. Besides, the sultan of Agadez in c. 1765 was Muhammad Humad. While Rodd identified him as the son of Mubarak, Hamani’s genealogy of the kings of Agadez names his father as Usman.[17] That some type of conflict likely emerged may be seen in the allusion to the Kel Owey as the Tuareg group targeted by Borno’s violent massacre. In this context, their presence in Borno was due to people of Bilma demanding supplies from Borno. Once there near Lake Chad, they were poorly received and most were killed. The specific reference to the Kel Owey, the sultan of Agadez (at the time, an ally of this group) and the bravery of the Kel Férouan in the expedition against Borno are details that could very well refer to the 1760s.  Furthermore, that the sultan of Agadez at the time was an ally of the Kel Owey reinforces the idea that the sultan may have sent forces to aid the Kel Owey against Borno. 

Despite his garbled reconstruction of Tuareg oral tradition, the narrative of a 1765 invasion from Aïr that reached just before Gazargamo has been repeated by subsequent scholars. The unavoidable Palmer, in Bornu Sahara and Sudan, essentially repeated Jean. Thus, the War of Bilma began in 1759 and in that conflict, Kel Owey achieved victory against Bornoan soldiers. Again, the 1765 reference to the massacre of Kel Owey in Borno and the response from the Agadez sultan are presented uncritically.[18] As Palmer did, other colonial-era scholars largely repeat this narrative or merely stress different aspects of Tuareg tribute demands or the workings of the salt trade. Abadie, as one colonial-era example, merely referred to the Tuareg domination of Kawar probably beginning before the Tubu presence but had to admit the Kanuri traditions remembering a Tubu presence first.[19] In his "Tarikh El Khawar," Le Sourd reported that the Kanuris of Guezebi-Guassar sent tribute to the Kel Owey. Yet prior to that relationship, they paid tribute to the “Temaghra” Tubu. Further, the Koyam were said to have once lived in villages between Agram and Fachi in the distant past.[20] This reference to the Koyam in Kawar and their ties to its trade before the Tuareg may be implied by the mountain east of Bilma’s main mountain, called Diotko, after the Diotko of Borno. Abadie was told the Diotko, or Jetko, were said to have been traders of salt and dates in the region.[21] The Jetko, like the Koyam, were a pastoralist group related to the Koyam. Urvoy, on the other hand, provided some key information on the Tuareg groups involved in Kawar and to the lands south of Aïr. For instance, his Histoire de l’Empire du Bornou mentions the Amakitan Tuareg in Koutous, demanding tribute from sedentary farmers, yet the Ikaskazane of the Kel Owey were installed to the west of the Amakitanes, with a center at Garazou in Alakoss.[22] It would be worthwhile to further explore the extent to which the Kel Owey and Amakitan groups coordinated their actions or engaged in joint raids, especially if directed against Koyam and Jetko traders in Kawar with links to Borno’s trans-Saharan and desert salt trade.

The area of southeastern Niger to Lake Chad (Maikorema Zakari).

Unquestionably, this memory of Koyam or Jetko traders active in Kawar was surely another aspect of the Koyam conflict with the Tuareg during the 18th century. Unsurprisingly, this is precisely where the Koyam traditions described by Landeroin are the most detailed on Tuareg conflicts. In fact, conflict with the Imakiten (and likely other Tuareg) began as early as the 17th century, when Kalumbardo was destroyed by Tuareg raiders. The 18th century settlement at Gaskeru, under the effective leadership of shaykhs descended from the founder of the earlier Kalumbardo, was probably connected to traders in Kawar. Hence, it is likely not insignificant that the only conflict with the Tuareg reported by Landeroin was with the Imakiten Tuareg of Koutous who attacked Gaskeru with the aid of other Kel Aïr:

Sous le commandement d’Abdoullaÿ, frère cadet de Beker, les Touaregs Imakiten du Koutous, aidés des Touaregs de Azbin, vinrent attaquer Gaskérou. Abdoullaÿ demanda du secours au Maï Ali, qui lui envoya son  fils, le kaïgama Ali. Ensemble, ils repoussèrent les Touaregs jusque dans leur pays. Mais, ayant voulu pénétrer dans l’intérieur de celui-ci pour reprendre les captifs et les troupeaux razzés, les pillards firent front avec toutes leurs forces et au combat de Kaïguem, au Nord de Kellé, les Koyams furent massacrés en grand nombre.[23]

Perhaps even more significantly, the mai sent his kaigama, the top military official, to aid the Koyam against the Tuareg. When they pursued their enemy to Kaiguem, north of Kelle, the Borno forces were massacred and the shaykh, Abdoullay, was killed. This detailed account of utter defeat is, of course, referring to the Imakiten Tuareg who regularly raided parts of Borno. Nevertheless, it is possible this event took place before 1781 since a kaigama named Ali died in that campaign.[24] If the kaigama remembered in tradition was the same man, Abdoullay may have died in conflict with the Tuareg before 1781. To verify this, of course, would require a gargam or more precise genealogies or successions for the kaigamas of 18th century Borno. Overall, this tradition of conflict with the Tuareg supports the notion of how complex and multivalent the relationship with the Kel Aïr Tuareg was at this time.

Thoughts on Postcolonial Scholarship

With the postcolonial era, more precise studies of Kawar, Borno, and the Tuareg of Aïr appeared. Lovejoy, whose detailed study of the desert salt trade drew heavily on Jean and Palmer for Borno’s conflict with the Tuareg, also provides some dates for a Tuareg attack at Gaskeru (c. 1787-1792) before it was finally abandoned.[25] Maikorema, on the other hand, reported the Jetko of Yari Jetko were attacked by the Tuareg, so they moved to Tal Bul, north of N’Gigmi.[26] This is in concordance with attacks on the Jetko and Koyam during the 18th and 19th century by Tuareg bandits. Scholars such as Muhammad Nur Alkali likewise noted the importance of the loss of Kawar for Borno’s economy. Furthermore, the growing independence of the vassal rulers of Muniyo and the Daagirawa, based on an alliance against Tuareg raiders, may have been another sign of Borno’s failure to provide the necessary security for its client states in the 18th and 19th centuries.[27] 

Vikor's map of the Tuareg Salt trade in The Oasis of Salt.

Vikor, in The Oasis of Salt, provides the best synthesis for the Kawar or Fachi-centered aspect of the conflict with the Tuareg. Thus, the familiar tale of the Tuareg defeating Borno forces at the well of Ashegur north of Fachi is maintained. This victory was achieved with the aid of the sultan of Agadez. Additionally, the Itesan held Fachi while the Kel Owey chased the Bornoan forces to Kawar. But, and here is a key difference, Vikor stressed the role of Teda raiders in attacking the Tuareg. One such attack took place in 1768-9, when Isandalan Tuaregs were attacked at Jado. Another Teda attack on the salt caravan led to a major battle in 1777, where the Tuareg leader was named Dirfass.[28] This notion of the Tubu playing a disproportionate role in these conflicts with the Kel Aïr was also believed by Djibo Hamani. For his part, Hamani viewed this period as one in which Borno’s rulers were less involved in the affairs of their vassal states on their western border, areas often raided by the Tuareg: Muniyo, Kutus, Damargu. In Kawar, the Tuareg were seen by Hamani as clashing with the Tubu in 1759, 1768/9, and 1778.[29] Though Vikor recognized the role of Borno in the conflict of 1759, Hamani seems to prefer contextualizing it as one of Tubu raids on Tuareg traders or pilgrims, thereby causing counterraids or battles. Such a perspective, however, ignores the role of Borno in the earlier conflict and the tradition of a Kel Owey group massacred in Borno in c. 1765. Even if that tradition has been problematically reported by Jean, there seems to have been some clear Borno involvement in the fight with the Tuareg. Such a view can find quick support in Borno’s support for the Koyam shaykh, Abdoullay, during this period.

In the study of Aïr’s political economy during this era, Kathleen O’Mara’s dissertation presents a compelling case for the commercial and political ascent of the Kel Owey. In her study, the Kel Aïr alliance won a battle at Bilma in 1759/60. The rights to tribute and monopoly over Kawar’s salt trade went to the Kel Owey and Kel Geres. The Sarkin Turawa of Agadez also received taxes or tribute from a bulama of Kawar. Lastly, she argued against Grandin’s theory of the Kel Geres controlling Bilma in the 1500s, finding no evidence for such an assertion.[30] More importantly, her materialist analysis of the Kel Aïr in the late 1700s and early 1800s emphasizes how the seizure of Kawar’s salt trade was an impetus for agro-pastoral expansion. With the growth of a Kel Owey commercial class investing in salt, agricultural production, livestock, and trade in textiles, slaves, leather products, and items acquired through trans-Saharan trade via the Fezzan or Ghat, the Aïr Tuareg system became a fully tributary one that maintained the dominance of the "nobles."  In fact, the continuation of the sultanate structure in Agadez as an intermediary of Tuareg groups in Aïr, plus their own source of legitimacy via Islam, provided a balance with Kel Owey elites who rose to dominance during the 18th century. Finally, the growing economic integration with the Hausa states to the south and, eventually, the Sokoto Caliphate, contributed to a southward migration as more Tuareg elites began to rely on the labor or tribute from servile or free dependents laboring in agriculture. This process must have fueled further Tuareg settlement in lands to the south, in addition to the ecological pressure during periods of extended droughts in the Sahel. As one can likely imagine, this process among the Kel Aïr of the second half of the 18th century would have included the Amakitan and Kel Owey groups. 

Conclusions and Evidence 

As the evidence suggests, Borno’s conflict with the Tuareg during the lengthy reign of Ali b. al-Hajj Dunama was complex. The battle for Kawar was merely one (and an important one) aspect of this era, the Late Sayfawa Period. The fissures in the imperial system of the Sayfawa state were widening as vassal states rebelled, Borno failed to provide security for others, and internal contradictions and conflicts fueled dissension. Borno’s response to the disastrous 1759/60 war over Bilma revealed how significant it was to the state’s trans-Saharan and Sudanic economy. By also responding to attacks on the Koyam at Gaskeru, the Sayfawa were likewise acting to defend their frontier inhabited by groups who were also tied to Kawar and the trade in desert salts. This means that Borno’s response was based on the goals of protecting its own economic, political, and military interests. That the Bilma salt trade was of such importance can be seen in the dynamic rise of the Kel Owey Tuareg during this time, whose burgeoning power also encouraged further Tuareg depredations and settlements in lands south of Asben. That conflict extended to Borno’s peripheral tributaries such as Muniyo and Koutous is linked to the growth of Tuareg settlement to the south, itself facilitated by the Kawar salt trade and the Hausa markets of centers like Kano and Katsina. To properly analyze this period, one must interrogate closely all sources, particularly the problematic oral traditions (or the debased or elaborated forms reported in colonial sources).

[1] Yves Urvoy, “Chroniques d’Agades,” 161.

[2] Ibid., 160, 162, 170

[3] Djibo Hamani, Le sultanat touareg de l'Ayar: au carrefour du Soudan et de la Berbérie, 261.

[4] H.R. Palmer, Bornu Sahara and Sudan, 46.

[5] Ibid., 47.

[6] Eldridge Mohammadou, Le royaume de Wandala ou Mandara au XIXè siècle, 44.

[7] Friedrich Hornemann, The Journal of Frederick Hornemann's Travels, from Cairo to Mourzouk: The Capital of the Kingdom of Fezzan, in Africa, 113, 180-182. 

[8] Carsten Niebuhr, “Das Innere von Afrika", 981, 986.

[9] Association for Promoting the Discovery of the Interior Parts of Africa, Proceedings of the Association for Promoting the Discovery of the Interior Parts of Africa, Volume 1, 154, 157, 167.

[10] James Richardson, Travels in the Great Desert of Sahara in the Years of 1845 & 1846 Containing a Narrative of Personal Adventures During a Tour of Nine Months Through the Desert Amongst the Touaricks and Other Tribes of Saharan People; Including a Description of the Cases and Cities of Ghat, Ghadames and Mourzuk, Volume 2, 143.

[11] Heinrich Barth, Travels and discoveries in North and Central Africa Including accounts of Tripoli, the Sahara, the remarkable kingdom of Bornu, and the countries around Lake Chad, (1890), 154, 158.

[12] Ibid., Travels and Discoveries in North and Central Africa Including accounts of Tripoli, the Sahara, the remarkable kingdom of Bornu and the countries around Lake Chad, Volume 2 (1857), 281.

[13] Ibid., 599. 

[14] Landeroin, “Notice historique” in Documents scientifiques de la Mission Tilho, 399. 

[15] C. Jean, Les Touareg du Sud-Est: l'Air ; leur rôle dans la politique saharienne, 119-120.

[16] Ibid., 121.

[17] Rodd, People of the Veil, 415, Hamani, 452. 

[18] Palmer, Bornu Sahara and Sudan, 86.

[19] Maurice Abadie, Afrique centrale: La colonie du Niger, 177.

[20] Michel Le Sourd, "Tarikh El Kawar,: Bulletin de l'I.F.A.N VIII, (1946) 6, 28.

[21] Abadie, 5.

[22] Yves Urvoy, Histoire de l’Empire du Bornou, 91. 

[23] Landeroin, 399.

[24] Mohammadou, 55.

[25] Paul E. Lovejoy, Salt of the Desert Sun, 229.

[26] Maikorema Zakari, Contribution à l'histoire des populations du sud-est Nigérien Le cas: Mangari (XVIe - XIXe s.), 83.

[27] Muhammad Nur Alkali, Kanem-Borno Under the Sayfawa: A Study of the Origin, Growth, and Collapse of a Dynasty (891-1846), 268, 314.

[28] Knut S. Vikør, The Oasis of Salt, 212, 216.

[29] Hamani, 267.

[30] Kathleen O’Mara, A Political Economy of Ahir (Niger): Historical Transformations in a Pastoral Economy, 1760-1860, 114, 124, 343.

Timeline of Air History

by c.650: Maranda, or Marandet, settled by this date. The city was a center for copper and the name, according to Hamdani, meant henna. The capital city of Gobir after they moved south of Air was also named for henna, while the name Gobir is said to resemble the Coptic word for henna.

872: al-Yaqubi mentions Maranda, possibly the earliest known Hausa state or town that was connected to trans-Saharan trade routes, as well as the Marawiyyun who were listed after Qaqu and before Maranda. Al-Yaqubi's brief account describes a kingdom of al-HBShH with a town called ThBYR, whose king is called MRH, next to the Qaqu, who lived under the yoke of the king of ThBYR. Kawkaw (Gao) appears to have dominated some of these kingdoms, including in its empire al-MRW (an extensive realm). In addition, al-Yaqubi referenced the kingdom of Malal, described as an enemy of Kanem, ruled by MYWSY. According to Hamani, there are many ruins of the ancient Azna people of at Amellal, east of Amandar, in Azawak. Lastly, al-Yaqubi wrote of polities or peoples called Zayanir, the kingdom of 'RWR, and more.The kingdom of al-MRW had a capital called al-Hya.

-889/890: al-Yaqubi completed his Kitab al-buldan, which mentioned the Miriyyun, Zaghawiyyun, and Marwiyyun among the black slaves exported from Zawila

-c.903: Ibn al-Faqih mentioned Maranda and Marawa as locations on the trade route stretching from Ghana to Egypt

-c.956: al-Masu'udi described the Marka peoples as a group of Sudan in the west, after Kanem and before Kawkaw

-before 967-988: Ibn Hawqal's work goes into great detail on the Sanhaja and Berbers of the southern Sahara, mentioning clan and tribal groups still around in Mali and Niger. Those mentioned include Tarja, Sattata, Makita, Karka, Kilsanadat, Istafan, Imkitan.

-1068: al-Bakri's work mentions a land called Hir (Air?)

-c.1154: Maranda described by al-Idrisi as a populous town yet seldom visited because their merchandise is scare. Yet nomads stop there (from Kawar and Air?)

-1166-1182: Reign of Abdallah Bakuru of Kanem; Borno mahrams collected by Palmer mention his mahram granted to the Beni Mukhtar Tura in the Kawar (Dirku), and mention of conflict between Air (Ahir) and Dirku Tura

-after 1269: Ibn Sa'id's geographical treatise refers to Berbers between Kawkaw and Kanem who were converted to Islam by the ruler of Kanem (and they provide camels used by Kanem's raids)

-c.1337-38: al-Umari's writings allude to a Berber sultan of Ahir (Air), who was considered greater than the Berber kings of Tadmakka and DMWshH

-1353: Ibn Battuta left Takadda, a city he described as exporting copper worked by slaves to Kubar. Sultan of Takadda, a Berber named Izar, was said to have been in a dispute with the Takarkari, another Berber sultans. Ibn Battuta later described Kahir as the country of the Karkari sultan, a grassy land where people buy sheep and dry the flesh, which is later exported to Tuwat

-Also, in 1353, an ambassador of Takadda's ruler at Biskara described the city as an importance stop for travelers to Mali. One caravan of merchants that passed through Takadda included 12,000 camels.

1355: Ibn Battuta's Rihla mentions Gobir as a non-Muslim kingdom importing copper and practicing human sacrifice

-1404/5-1423/4: Reign of Yunus as Sultan of Air

-1423/4-1429/30: Reign of Akkasan

-1429/30-1449/50: Reign of Alisau

-c.1438-1452: Borno attacked Asben/Air during this period, but couldn’t find water, ended by receiving tribute from lands west of Borno; Kano gave tsare to Borno

-1449/50-1453: Reign of Amini; brief reign of Ibn Takuma in civil war

-1452-1463: Fulani go to Borno, according to Kano Chronicle while Gwanja merchants arrived in Katsina, Kanuri came in larger numbers, and Asbenawa came to Gobir. Reign of Abdulahi Burja in Kano

-1453-1461/2: Reign of Ibrahim

-c.1460: Agadez built, according to Marmol, though Hamani cites traditions and evidence of an earlier Hausa or Gobirawa presence at Agades

-1461/2-1477/78: Reign of Yusuf

-1477/78-1486/7: Reign of Muhammad al-Kabir

-1486/7-1493/4: Reign of Muhammad Sattafan

-c.1492-1493: al-Maghili in Takedda

-1493: al-Lamtuni, probably from Air, wrote to al-Suyuti in Cairo

-c.1493: Letter form al-Suyuti to the rulers of Katsina and Agadez; reference to human sacrifice of slaves by Gobirawa when they are ill

-1493/4-1502/3: Reign of Muhammad b. Abd al-Rahman

-1493-1528: Reign of Askia Muhammad I of Songhay

-1500/1501: Askia Muhammad I of Songhay drove Tilza of Air out of his sultanate

-1502/3-1516: Reign of Muhammad al-Adil and Muhammad Humad

-1516: Askia Muhammad's campaign against al-Adala, sultan of Agadez

-1516-1518: Reign of Muhammad in Agadez

-1517/18: Askia Muhammad of Songhay campaigns against Kebbi

-1518-1541/2: Reign of Ibrahim Muhammad Sattafan

-1541/2-1553/4: Reign of Muhammad

-1553/4-1591/2: Reign of Muhammad al-Adil b. al-Hajj al-Aqib

-c.1561: Borno-Kebbi War, Borno said to have fielded an army of 100,000 against Kebbi after Kebbi attacks on Air region, but Kebbi defeated Borno (yet Muhammad Kanta died after)

-1591/2-1593/4/5: Reign of Akanfaya

-1593/4/5: Reign of Yusuf ibn alhaji Ahmad with brief interlude of 4 months under Muhammad ibn al-Mubarek

-early 1600s: Town of Illela founded by Asben immigrants (part of Katsina kingdom)

c.1601: Ibn al-Mubarak fled to Kazway in Borno during civil war with his cousin Yusuf, ruler of Agadez (date from H.R. Palmer)

-c1619-1639: Reign of al-hajj Umar b. Idris of Borno; Waldede-Jirmi Affair during his reign, in which Shaykh Jirmi was killed by Sultan Umar and Waldede fled to Bagirmi. Shaykh Umar Waldede was said to have traveled to Agadez and Timbuktu for study, was part of the Fulani diaspora. 

-1621/2-1654: Reign of Muhammad al-Tafrij

1639-1677: Reign of Mai Ali b. Umar of Borno, who was praised in poem by Dan Marina for his victory against the Kwararafa

-1654-1687: Muhammad al-Mubarak's reign in Agadez

-1657: Agadez began exporting senna to Fezzan (Girard)

-1667: Borno-Tuareg war; Borno prince Medicon sold into slavery after Agadez attacked Borno, but Mai Ali b. Umar was able to have the Pasha of Tripoli find and liberate Medicon

-1674: Sultanate of Agadez conquers Ader/Adar after defeating Kebbi

-1675: Prince al-Hajj Aknafaya of Agadez went on 2nd pilgrimage to Mecca

-1679: Muhammad al-Mubarak, Sultan of Agadez, invades Borno, troops led by Muhammad b. al-Hajj Ibrahim, surnamed Amma Fatim, with Kel Away Tuaregs

-1681: Prince Akanfaya of Agadez went on third pilgrimage

-1683: Muhammad al-Mubarak of Agadez brought about peace between Kel-Oui and Itissines at In-Teboraq 

-1685: Agadez war with Zanfara; Agabba of Agadez returns to Adar

-1687: Muhammad al-Mubarak of Agadez died during epidemic, succeeded by Agabba

-1687-1720: Reign of Muhammad Agabba of Agadez

-1689: Successful counterattack of Muhammad Agabba (Agadez Sultanate) against Gobir; Awlad Muhammad ruler fled to Katsina

October 1710: Fra Carlo Maria de Genoa met an Agadez prince at Taraghen in the Fezzan

-1721: Muhammad Agabba of Agadez dethroned by brother al-Amin, fled to Adar and ruled among the Itisen from Birni-n-Ader until 1738

-1721-1722: Muhammad al-Wali replaced al-Amin as sultan of Agadez

-1723-1735: Reign of Muhammd ag-Ghaisha, nephew of Agabba

-1726: Tuareg of Air war with Gobir

-1735-1740: Reign of Muhammad Humad

-1738: Death of Agabba, sultan of Adar

-1740: Kel Owey Tuareg invade the palace of Agadesand slaughter many people

-1740-1744: Reign of Muhammd Ghuma 

-1744-1759: Second reign of Muhmmad Humad

-c.1759: Bilma War between Tuareg of Air and Borno, resulting in Tuareg of Agadez confederation becoming the dominant player in the movement of Kawar salt to Hausaland; Agadez Chronicles also report the Sultan attacking Gobir with Kel Owey.

-1759-1763: Reign of Muhammad Ghuma

-1763-1768: Reign of Muhammad Humad (third time)

-1765: Kanuri massacred Kel Ewey Tuareg, leading to retaliation by Sultan Muhammad of Agadez who attacked Borno, marching to the gates of the capital

-1768-1792: Reign of Muhammad al-Udala

-1780s: Earliest known Kel Owey settlement on the trade route from Ahir to Katsina established at Magami

-1792-1797: Reign of Muhammad al-Dani

-1797-1809/10: Reign of Muhammad al-Baqiri

-by 1800: Many in Agades had moved south to Hausaland

-1809/10-1818: Reign of Muhammad Humad

-1818-1828: Reign of Ibrahim

-1828-1835/6: Reign of Muhammad Ghuma (2nd reign)

-1835/6-1849: Abd al-Qadir's reign in Agadez

Traditions on the Origins of Birni Gazargamo

A map by Dierk Lange from A Sudanic Chronicle: The Borno Expeditions of Idris Alauma (1564-1576).

The traditions on the creation of Birni Gazargamo, the capital of the Sayfawa dynasty in Borno established during the reign of Ali b. Dunama (r. 1465-1497), perhaps begun in 1472, provide interesting glimpses of the region at the time of Sayfawa consolidation in Borno. According to oral traditions collected from Borno among the Kanuri and Bade as well as traditions that were recorded in the chronicles of Agadez, the Sao, Bedde, Tuareg and Sayfawa interacted in the choosing of this site for the royal capital. Parsing through the traditions and written sources raises significant questions about the nature of Sayfawa-Sao relations in the 15th century. Furthermore, the possible participation of the Immikitan Tuareg and the Bade in this process is one that becomes increasingly plausible with a thorough examination of the evidence, both textual and oral. 

Let's begin with the local Borno traditions. According to traditions collected by Landeroin during the Tilho Mission, Ali b. Dunama attacked the Sao chief at Gambaru (traditions suggest Ali b. Dunama tried to establish a capital there first), where he was later defeated (Landeroin 355). However, the mai was able to obtain permission to settle in the region and trade with the Sao. This tradition suggests the Sayfawa were not strong enough to dislodge the Sao (Sao Gafata?) from the region of Gazargamo, but were able to establish a presence through trade. Another tradition mentions the use of economic entanglements and debts for securing the land. However, the account stresses the abundant merchandise of the Sayfawa and how they were able to purchase land with it, gradually establishing homes with the permission of the Sao leader, Dala Gomami (Landeroin 356). Unfortunately for the Sao leader, he purchased too many goods from the Sayfawa's followers, and being unable to pay the debt, decided to leave the area to the Sayfawa. This was because the Sayfawa planned to use the outstanding debts as a justification for war. Intriguingly, this plan of selling on credit to the Sao chief was supported by his brother, suggesting that conflicts within the Sao political elites created an opening for Sayfawa domination of the future capital, Birni Gazargamo.

Despite the Sao leader leaving the area to those he was indebted to, many Sao remained in the region. Since the followers of the Sayfawa (or Toubbas, as recorded in the traditions by Landeroin) used henna, they tricked the Sao who wanted to imitate this usage of henna into tying up their hands. This facilitated the Sayfawa attack on the remaining Sao, who were defeated and fled. According to tradition, this alleged attack took place in 1452 (Landeroin 357). This would have been during the reign of Ghadji b. Imata, according to Lange's chronology. Naturally, one could ask if the specific year given in the traditions is really reliable, although it is certainly plausible. If taken at face value, one may surmise that the area around Gambaru was first seized during the reign of Ghadji b. Imata, but Ali b. Dunama was the one who finally established the capital on a more permanent basis at Gazargamo. As for military conflicts, the Diwan records multiple Sayfawa rulers who died in conflict with the "Sao" in the 1300s: 

1. 1335-1339: Reign of Salma b. Abdallah of Kanem, died in war with Sao

2. 1339-1340: Reign of Kuri le jeune in Kanem, died in war with Sao

3. 1340-1341: Reign of Kuri le aine (the elder) of Kanem, died in war with Sao

4. 1341-1342: Reign of Muhammad b. Abdallah of Kanem, died in war with Sao

These conflicts took place over a century before the c.1452 victory of the Sayfawa in Gambaru. Of course, one cannot say these conflicts were with the same group of Sao, but it would be interesting if the tradition recorded by Landeroin might be alluding to the same area. If so, the Sayfawa had already had their eyes on the Gambaru region long before the mid-15th century. Only after a century of consolidation, did the final subjugation of the area took place. In fact, if the Diwan is reliable, conflict among claimants to the throne erupted between Uthman b. Kaday and Ali b. Dunama (Lange 79). This likely would have prevented Ali b. Dunama from finally shifting the capital to Birni Gazargamo or at least stalled it. Just like the Sao of the region, divisions between the Idrisid and Dawudid branches of the Sayfawa were probably exploited by others to protect their autonomy or for plunder.

Lending some credence to the traditions cited by Landeroin are the traditions collected by H.R. Palmer. Palmer, who published traditions and manuscripts found in Borno, repeated a very similar story of a ruse involving henna to defeat the Sao. In the second volume of Sudanese Memoirs, Palmer included a narrative entitled "The So Dala N'Gumami." The name of this Sao leader is clearly the same as the Dala Gomami recorded by Landeroin, but Palmer provides the name of his city: Gagi Dibun. In Palmer's version, however, it is unquestionably clear that it was Ali Gaji Zeinami, or Ali b. Dunama, who orchestrated the trick using henna (Palmer 68). A number of other details emerge in Palmer's variant of the tradition. So Dala N'Gumami lived as a friend or ally of the Sayfawa, whereas the version of Landeroin suggests he fled the region or left since he could not pay his debts. Interestingly, there is a reference to the Sao leader going to Kano and the impatience of the Sayfawa to build a mosque (Palmer 67). This would suggest long-standing ties to Kano and some familiarity with Islam on the part of So Dala N'Gumami. Considering the penetration of Islam in Kano by the 1300s and the presence of Muslims from Kanem in Borno by the 1200s, this is not surprising, even if the Sao leadership had no interest in converting to Islam. After all, according to the Diwan, rulers like Dunama Dibalemi were said to have died at Zamtam, an area not too far from the future site of Gazargamo in c.1248. A 14th century mai, Ibrahim b. Bir, was buried at Diskama, a locality perhaps to be identified as Damasak, a Sao Gafata stronghold in the 16th century (Lange 74).

The other traditions recorded by Palmer are difficult to interpret. One of them, "The Bade Tribes" in Sudanese Memoirs, suggests the Bade had followed the Sayfawa from Njimi to Wudi, an earlier capital in Borno. At the same time, Bade were already living in Arege 4 years before the establishment of Gazargamo as the capital. If true, this would suggest the Bade were living near the future capital of Borno by the 1450s or 1460s. Furthermore, the discovery of the site of Gazargamo allegedly took place when residents of Wudi pursued an escaped cheetah and found the area of Gazargamo to be much more fertile and abundant than Wudi (Palmer 86). But what is somewhat remarkable here is a convergence with the traditions recorded by Landeroin about a chief or leader of servile origin appointed by Ali b. Dunama. According to Palmer, three brothers named Makinta Baro, Makinta Yatku and Kaloma Arge were chiefs of an early town called Gamgar. Palmer wrote, "These men were brothers, they came from Wudi to Borno" (Palmer 86). If by Borno the capital is meant, perhaps one of these three men named Makinta was the individual also named Mankinta who served Ali b. Dunama as a leader of servile origin at Wudi (Landeroin 355). If these traditions are correct, some of the Bedde may have been incorporated into the administration of Borno as administrators of servile origin. The Badi may have already been alluded to as western neighbors of the areas of Borno under Sayfawa rule during the time of Dunama Dibalemi (Hopkins & Levtzion, 187). The "Badi" also lived on or near the northern shores of Lake Chad and would have been in a position to know of the future site of Gazargamo.

The other group said to have played a role in the eventual site of the Sayfawa capital in Borno are the Amakita Tuareg. The tradition of their presence in Kanem and Borno can be found in the Agades Chronicles as well as Muhammad Bello's account of the region. According to Bello, the Sokoto caliph writing in the early 19th century (probably with access to manuscripts or at least oral traditions from Ayar), the ancestors of the Sayfawa found their "Berber" kinsmen ruling over a group called Amakita in Kanem (Bello, 71-72). In his chapter on Ayar, Bello later lists the Amakita as one of the original five clans in that region (Bello 76). As for the more detailed account found in the Agades Chronicles, Yves Urvoy's translation of Manuscript B includes the full tradition of the Amikitane Tuareg guiding the mai to the site of Birni Gazargamo. According to this source, the tribe of the Sandals (or Amakita) refused to accept the nomination of Ilisaouane as king of Ayar. However, in the ensuing war, they were defeated and the grand part of their population left Ayar. However, after driving out black populations to the south and seizing their lands, the lack of a sultan drove them to migrate to Kanem. Perhaps this is a reference to the original need for a sultan of Ayar in the first place, to restore order or act as a mediator between the Tuareg clans and facilitate trade. It was in Kanem where the Saoutantane tribe of the Amakita eventually guided the mai to the site of Birni Gazargamo. In exchange for a gift, a member of this group promised to guide the sultan of Kanem to the site, which his tribe knew of since they passed the cold season in the area of Birni Gazargamo. The same source also mentions that this tribe had been raided by the sultan of Borno, too. One wonders here if the traditions are recalling moments of civil war between the different branches of the Sayfawa dynasty, with perhaps different times they raided the Tuareg, though tradition recalls Ali b. Dunama raiding Ayar (Landeroin 355). Yet, despite guiding the sultan of Kanem to the site of Birni Gazargamo and allegedly contributing to the construction of the wall, this Tuareg group requested permission to return to Ayar, although agreeing to maintain peace with Borno (Urvoy 158).

How does one make sense of this Tuareg tradition of showing the Sayfawa the site for the capital of Borno? According to Djibo Hamani, the Immikitan Tuareg would have started to leave Ayar sometime after 1429/1430 when Alhaji Alisau became sultan of Ayar and reigned approximately 20 years (Hamani 145). This would mean that the Immikitan likely began an exodus to the south/southeast in the 1430s and 1440s, likely leading to more contact (and perhaps, conflict through raiding) with Borno. If the name "Amakita" is a reference to the amenokal of the Immikitan, the Amiki, then what might be recorded in this tradition is the submission of the Immikitan Tuareg to the Sayfawa dynasty in the 1400s. One also wonders if the "Makinta" and Mankita" remembered in the other traditions could be alluding to the same individual. A thorough examination of this word in Bade, Kanuri, and Tamasheq languages might clarify the matter, but it does raise some questions about a possible explanation for the similar-sounding words of Amakita, Makinta, Mankita the Immikitan. Nonetheless, the name Makinkta as a title still exists in Borno for designating the head of a ward. Regardless of this speculative train of thought, there are traditions in both Ayar and in Borno that allude to conflict between the two during this time. The raids experienced by the Saoutantante could have taken place during this same period in the mid-15th century, although their origin likely began in the 14th century and earlier centuries. Indeed, Hamani cites traditions collected from Kutuba of the court at Agadez that alluded to frequent raids from Borno to seize women and frighten the Tuareg (Hamani 133). Other traditions record the galadima of Borno coming to Ayar to receive a tribute (Hamani 134). In addition, the Kano Chronicle records one attack by Borno against Ayar that, in Palmer's chronology, must have taken place between c.1438-1452. Although the attack failed due to the lack of adequate water supplies, it does support the above traditions of Borno attacks and raids in the 15th century, as well as an extension of Borno's influence in lands to its west (Palmer 75). When one recalls that the Immikitan would have likely been in Damergu and Kutus at this time, they could have become vassals or tributaries of Borno as a Tuareg group in closer proximity. In terms of Borno traditions, a Tuareg attack on a Magumi village triggered Ali b. Dunama's attacks against the Tuareg, and perhaps the tale of his construction of an artificial pond at Fachi for additional sources of water and fish to supply his troops to attack them (Landeroin 355).

Unfortunately, reconciling these traditions on the origin of Birni Gazargamo remains incredibly difficult. On the one hand, Palmer and Landeroin recorded traditions that overlap and suggest a long period of coexistence and exchange between the Sayfawa and the Sao (Gafata?) in the period before Ali b. Dunama established the capital. But on the other hand, these same traditions may be compressing events that developed over 2 centuries or more. Both also allude to a ruse or trick, which may be a tradition designed to mask the fact that the Muslims from Kanem lacked enough outright power or numbers to seize the land. To what extent the Bade or Bedde and Tuareg contributed to this is unclear. The Bade traditions and Landeroin mention someone named Mankinta or Makinta, with the latter claiming he was left in charge of Wudi (Garoumele) during one of Ali b. Dunama's expeditions against the Tuareg. Above we speculated that Makinta bears a superficial resemblance to Amakita, a group remembered in Ayar tradition and by Muhammad Bello for once living in Kanem, perhaps broadly conceived to include parts of Borno. It seems unlikely that an Immikitan Tuareg captive would have been left in charge of Wudi during one of Ali b. Dunama's campaigns, but it is possible that this Tuareg group may have seasonally visited the area around Birni Gazargamo for pasturage. We find it unlikely that they would have aided in the construction of the walls of Gazargamo, but it is possible that they contributed to the choosing of the site as capital. As to what happened to the Sao in the region, the closest ones to Gazargamo a century later appear to have been the Gafata, who were very much a threat to Birni Gazargamo. Besides them, the Sao Tatala living further to the east along the southern shores of Lake Chad could have also absorbed some of the Sao groups forced out of the area of Gazargamo in the 15th century.

Sources

Hamani, Djibo. Au Carrefour Du Soudan Et De La Berbérie: Le Sultanat Touareg De L'Ayar. Niamey: Institut de recherches en sciences humaines, 1989.

Hopkins, J. F. P., and Nehemia Levtzion. Corpus of Early Arabic Sources for West African History. 1st Markus Weiner Publishers ed. Princeton [N.J.]: Markus Wiener Publishers, 2000.

Lange, Dierk. 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.

__________.  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.

Mission Tilho. Documents Scientifiques De La Mission Tilho...Paris: Imprimerie Nationale, 1910.

Palmer, H. R. “The Kano Chronicle.” The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland 38 (1908): 58–98. https://doi.org/10.2307/2843130.

____________.Sudanese Memoirs: Being Mainly Translations of a Number of Arabic Manuscripts Relating to the Central and Western Sudan. London: Cass, 1967.

Urvoy, Yves. "Le Chroniques d'Agadès". Journal de la Société des Africanistes 4 (1934): 145-177. https://doi.org/10.3406/jafr.1934.1573

Late 12th Century Kanem and the Tuareg

Whilst perusing old notes on the Diwan (Lange's translation) as well as other sources, we wanted to revisit the early references to the Kindin of Ahir in Borno mahrams originally composed in the late 12th century. In H.R. Palmer's Bornu Sahara and Sudan, 2 mahrams dated to 1184 and 1192 are said to have been composed during the reign of Abdallah Bikur (Palmer 17). However, the regnal lengths in Dierk Lange's chronology challenges this. According to Lange's study of the Sayfawa dynasty, Abd Allah Bakuru likely reigned c.1166-c.1182 (Lange 70). However, it is possible that the mahrams translated and published by Palmer were copies which contained errors or mistakes in the dates. Without a closer look at the Arabic originals used by Palmer and researching other mahrams perhaps left in private collections, we cannot confirm or deny this. However, it is likely that Lange's chronology is more accurate and reliable than that proposed by Palmer.

Moving on to the mahrams in question, entitled "Abdallah Bikur" (1184 CE) and "Dirkuma Ibrahim" (1192 CE) by Palmer, one finds reference to conflict between the "Kindin Ahir" and the people of Dirku, in the Kawar oasis. The first one begins by alerting the reader to its purpose of elucidating the origin of the Beni Mukhtar (Palmer 17). Then, the narrative shifts to recounting a kidnapping of two Dirku girls by two sons of Sultan Sule of Ahir. Sule, perhaps a shortened form of Sulayman, is also mentioned in the mahram dated to 1192. However, in the 1184 incident, princes (maina) of Dirku named Bagarma, Fatar and Ali retrieved their daughters. This led to a Tuareg counterattack as the Dirku princes killed the Kindin princes. Unfortunately, Dirku was unable to withstand the Tuareg attack, so the residents fled to the "Birni" of Abdallah Bikur. Whether or not the mai lived in a birni-styled home is unclear, but this was presumably Njimi. Fortunately for Dirku, the powerful Kanem mai was able to intercede by offering the Kindin 3 non-noble subjects in exchange for the deaths of the two princes. This account suggests the rulers of Kanem also oversaw Kawar, or at least were recognized as a powerful intermediary. Furthermore, the offering of 3 non-nobles for the killing of two Kindin princes may also be a hint of the greater power of Kanem.

The next mahram, from 1192, focuses on a conflict over camel theft between the Kindin of Ahir and Dirku. It also begins with a reference to the origin of the Beni Mukhtar, whose original home was among the Tura Beni Habibi, before shifting to a narrative of conflict between Sule of Ahir and Dirku. According to this text, the Kindin of Ahir could not commandeer camels of Bure in war (Palmer 18). The text, at least as translated by Palmer, is rather difficult to interpret. It also alludes to the flight of the Dirku people to king Bikur of Kanem for protection in 1192. If the date is not an error for the conflict alluded to in the previous mahram, then the residents of what may have been Tamalma (Palmer speculates the use of the title Amarma is a reference to this part of Kawar) had also sought protection from Kanem. Moreover, the genealogy of Dirkuma Ibrahim alludes to ancestors whose titles, Zeilama, suggest ties to Zawila in the Fezzan. In other words, the rulers of Dirku in Kawar were closely linked to the Fezzan and may have once ruled there or held titles as representatives of Kanem's interest there in the early 12th century or 11th century.

Djibo Hamani's map of Tuareg migrations toward Ayar in Au carrefour du Soudan et de la Berbérie: le sultanat touareg de l'Ayar. Note that the Kel Ayar spent time in Jado and then remained in eastern Ayar. While other groups also migrated toward the east of Ayar, the Kel Ayar may have already had closer contacts with Kawar.

So, what do the mahrams tell us? If the years are accurate, perhaps we should be looking more closely at Abd Allah Bakuru's son, the first "black mai" (Lange 71). If, however, we accept that the sultan at the time was indeed Abd Allah Bakuru whose reign fell in between 1166 and 1182, we can find intriguing clues from the Diwan. After all, the Diwan indicates that Abd Allah Bakuru's grandmother, F. Sama, gifted 100 camels to him and 100 camels of another type to his brother. Lange interprets the Diwan as suggesting the F. Sama named here was the grandmother of Abd Allah Bakuru, but it is possible she was the mother of his grandfather, Bir (reigned c. 1140-1166). According to the Diwan, this F. Sama was also the daughter of a man named S.karam of the Kay tribe (Lange 69). If the Kay, or Kayi, were already significant in Kawar, particularly at Dirku, perhaps the great-grandmother of Abd Allah Bakuru linked him genealogically to the local elites of Dirku. In fact, as early as Bulu, the rulers of Kanem appear to have had links to Dirku, since his mother was said to be of the Kay of D.r.q. (Dirku) in the Diwan (Lange 67). Moreover, the Diwan also mentions Dirku as one of the sites where Arku established 300 slaves during his reign (c.1023-1067). Perhaps most important in what the Diwan demonstrates is the great wealth in camels of F.Sama and their essential role in the economic life of Kawar. The second mahram indicates this by referring to the area's protection under Kanem and the long-standing ties between the Sayfawa and local elites in Dirku and other parts of Kawar, including protecting their camel herds.

However, from reading Ibn Said's account of Kanem during the reign of Dunama Dibalemi, which borrows largely from a lost work by Ibn Fatima, we learn that the ruler of Kanem used Berbers he forced to convert to Islam for their camels and as troops for raids (Hopkins & Levtzion 188). If these "Berbers" were the Kindin of Ahir (broadly conceived), then one might be able to surmise that the rulers of Kanem had already vassalized or imposed tribute and camel supplies on some of the Berbers to the west of Kawar before the reign of Dunama Dibalemi. If so, so then the mahram's reference to the Kindin under Sule commandeering camels in war may be alluding to Kindin subjects of Kanem forcibly using camels from another province of Kanem to meet their obligations to the mai. This is a bit of a leap, but would suggest that some of the Kel Ayar Tuareg (or their ancestors) had perhaps been Islamized by Kanem and tributaries of the Sayfawa dynasty by the reign of Abd Allah Bakuru or his son, Salmama. 

But who was this Kindin king, Sule? Revisiting Djibo Hamani's study of the Sultanate of Agades offers some tantalizing possibilities. According to Hamani, the Kel Away have traditions of passing through Kawar before settling in Ayar. Hamani interprets oral traditions as best supporting a timeline of a 12th century migration from the Fezzan by the Kel Away (Hamani 88). If so, the group's time at Jado and in Kawar would have brought them in contact with Kawar's population at centers like Dirku. While the Kel Away later established themselves in Ayar, they often nomadized in the northeastern part of Ayar, where contacts with Kawar could have been maintained even before the Kel Away seized control of Kawar's salt trade in the 18th century. Alternatively, the Kel Away or other future Kel Ayar groups may be descendants of the "Lamta" said to live between Zawila and Kawar, mentioned by al-Ya'qubi in the late 9th century (Hopkins & Levtzion 22). Perhaps some of the Berber Muslims in Kawar at this time were Lamta? Regardless, it is possible the Kel Away may have become subjects of Kanem (however loosely) during the 12th century. Instead of a sultan or king, Sule may have been an ag-gode of the Kel Away or tribal chief of another Kel Ayar group who passed through Djado and neighbored Kawar across the Ténéré Desert. It is difficult to say there was any Ayar "king" of the region at this time, and the traditions of Borno's 'rule' of Ayar seem to date it to the 1300s and 1400s, particularly raids from Borno and the seizure of Tuareg girls from wives and concubines (Hamani 133-135). The Sultan of Ahir described by al-Umari appears to have no connection to the later Sultanate established in the early 1400s, though it was politically independent and may have been a loose confederation (Hopkins & Levtzion 274.

Unfortunately, many of details of the episodes of Kanem's intervention in Ayar and Kawar relations in the late 12th century remain elusive. It it possible the accounts described in the mahrams published by Palmer are indeed referring to Tuareg relations with Kawar and Kanem that suggest Kanem's growing influence over the Kel Ayar in the 1100s. In terms of a specific Tuareg group, the Kel Away appear to be good candidates, if one accepts that they began migrating from the Fezzan into Djado during this century, then migrating into Ayar. They likely would have had some degree of conflict as well as exchange with the people of Kawar during this period, and perhaps their location in Djado and Ayar woud have led to them being one of the groups once subservient to the mais of Kanem. The mahrams suggest that this process was already underway during the reign of Abd Allah Bakuru, whose own ties to Dirku and the Kawar were strong. 

Works Cited

Hamani, Djibo. Au Carrefour Du Soudan Et De La Berbérie: Le Sultanat Touareg De L'Ayar. Niamey: Institut de recherches en sciences humaines, 1989.

Hopkins, J. F. P., and Nehemia Levtzion. Corpus of Early Arabic Sources for West African History. 1st Markus Weiner Publishers ed. Princeton [N.J.]: Markus Wiener Publishers, 2000.

Lange, Dierk. 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.

Palmer, H. R. The Bornu Sahara and Sudan. London: J. Murray, 1936.

Attacking Birni Gazargamo (c.1667)

During our attempts to revisit the sources for the enigmatic state or polity known as Kwararafa, we encountered Jukun traditions of Kwararafa's conflict with Borno. One of these episodes, first discussed by Heinrich Barth (who did not name his sources), was an attack on Birni Gazargamo from Kwararafa at the same time as a Tuareg attack. It was said to have occurred during the reign of Ali b. Umar (r. 1639-1677), whose victory against Kwararafa was recorded by a Katsina poet, Dan Marina. In addition, reports of Borno's conflicts with the Tuareg reached Europeans at Tripoli, just as the chirurgien esclave also wrote of Borno's wars with the land of Prester John. Upon closer examination, and particularly with the aid of Richard Gray's work on the ill-fated Borno missions of the Church, it is possible to support some of the Jukun traditions of Kwararafa as a regional power in the 17th century. How exactly it looked in the 16th or 15th century is more difficult to untangle, although traditions from Hausaland and the Kano Chronicle suggest Kwararafa was a power to be reckoned with by the 14th century. In order to clarify the issue, one must enter debates on the chronologies of various kings lists of Kano, Katsina, Zaria, and try to identify when and if the famous Amina of Zaria ever conquered Kwararafa. Sadly, and this may be due to Kwararafa having developed as a multiethnic confederacy in which the Jukun may have been latecomers, Jukun traditions seem to be mainly useful for the period of the 17th century onward rather than these earlier centuries.

However, in the 17th century and early 18th century, reports of Kwararafa as a "Christian" kingdom in conflict with Borno reached Europeans. Claude Lemaire, a French consul in Tripoli with a keen interest in the history of what is now Libya, recorded reports and observations that support this. For instance, in a 1686 letter, Lemaire wrote about trans-Saharan commerce through the Fezzan. In addition, the previously mentioned history of Tripoli by an enslaved surgeon included several observations on the kingdom of Borno. Included in Dewiere's fine dissertation, the relevant sections of Girard's Histoire chronologique du royaume de Tripoly de Barbarie appear to allude to Kwararafa multiple times. Since Girard was confused about the exact geography of the African interior, he believed Ethiopia bordered Borno. And since, already by this time, Europeans believed the "Kwararafa" to be Christian, we suspect Girard confused Kwararafa with Borno. Nonetheless, when reading his account, he uses the word cridi for the so-called Christian black slaves in Tripoly. Upon closer examination, it is very likely that Girard was actually repeating the word kirdi, used in Borno for pagan peoples. This misunderstanding was continued by Lemaire, who then repeated it to the Church, whose missionary arm in the Propaganda Fide began an ill-fated Borno Mission to reach Kwararafa. Needless to say, Kwararafa was not Christian at all, but Gray cites fascinating letters and reports that suggest the cross was a venerated symbol. Someone should revisit these and other sources from the archives of the Propaganda Fide to see what else may be useful for reconstructing the history of Kwararafa.

But, we digress. In short, external, written sources do support the existence of Kwararafa as a regional power in the 17th century. Its conflicts with Kano and Katsina undoubtedly contributed to problems with Borno, too, since the Sayfawa rulers had interests in trade and commerce with these major Hausa states. For example, as late as c.1671, Kwararafa, under Agwabi, attacked Kano. Lemaire, writing in 1706, described "Gourourfa" as powerful, waging war on Borno on religious grounds. The point about religion here is likely a misunderstanding on Lemaire's part, but it shows that even into the early 18th century, relations between Borno and Kwararafa were still marked by conflict. Intriguingly, in 1707, Lemaire wrote of an ambassador of Kwararafa in Borno. This must have been around the time that Borno appointed its own representative, a zanua, to Kwararafa. This position, according to Meek's Sudanese Kingdom, was maintained in Wukari until the 20th century. 

So, conflict between Borno and Kwararafa persisted even into the 18th century. However, at some point, Kwararafa was said to have paid annual tribute to Borno. This idea, apparently reaching Koelle in Sierra Leone via Ali Eisami, should be verified with other sources. Nonetheless, the establishment of permanent envoys between Borno and Kwararafa by the early 1700s may indicate the beginning of more cordial relations. If the decline and disintegration of the confederacy hastened, it would be another reason for more peaceful relations between the two states to become the norm. Interestingly, Adamu, author of The Hausa Factor in West African History, researched oral traditions from the Abakwariga Hausa communities in the region. According to his chronology, two famous malams from Kano and Katsina were said to have settled in the area by the late 1600s. In addition, traditions recorded by Europeans at Wukari indicate the discovery of salines during the late 1600s. The Kwararafa kings, based on Wukari, likely sought to boost the trade in salt, horses, textiles, and other products. In fact the growth of the Abakwariga population was said to have supported crafts and production, especially Hausa-descended blacksmiths. Moreover, Meek, who visited the site of the old Kwararafa capital before Wukari, noticed dye-pits of the Abakwariga as well as pottery fragments with designs like those of the Jukun. This may indicate that already, before the shift of the capital to Wukari in the 17th century, the Hausa communities were an important part of the kingdom's economy.

This brings us back to the conflict with Borno. If Girard's chronology is reliable, we know that in 1667, Ali b. Umar went on the pilgrimage to Mecca. However, upon his return, he found Borno to be in ncivil war. Rebels had tried to seize control, calling for aid from the sultan of Agades against the officers loyal to Ali b. Umar. During this unstable time, a prince of Borno, Ali b. Umar's nephew, was taken captive and sold into slavery across the Sahara. Meanwhile, if the stories reported in Jukun tradition are reliable, a Kwararafa army decided to take advantage of the political instability and attack Borno. According to the Gazetteer of Muri Province edited by Freemantle, the Kwararafa ruler, Katakpa invaded and attacks Gazargamo at the same time as the Tuareg. Unfortunately for them, they were defeated when the besieged Bornoan forces made a deal with the Tuareg and jointly attacked the "pagans" of Kwararafa. What followed was a tale of supernatural magic as the Borno ruler was said to have supernatural control of fire and the Jukun ruler could control rain. Meek, on the other hand, reported from Jukun tradition at Pindiga slightly different details. Supposedly, one story of war with Borno took place under the reign of Adi Matswen. 

While the traditions are somewhat ambiguous on the chronology and perhaps even when Wukari became the capital of Kwararafa, it does appear to be the case that one of the Kwararafa attacks on Birni Gazargamo took place around 1667. Whether or not this was tied to the celebration of Ali b. Umar's victory in a poem by Dan Marina is unclear, since the poet was believed to have died before 1667. If so, then it may have been a celebration of Borno's military intervention against Kwararafa earlier in Ali b. Umar's reign, perhaps after Kwararafa, led by "Adashu," attacked Kano. If the poem by Dan Marina is reliable, Ali b. Umar's forces pursued Kwararafa into their own territory. Regardless of chronological problems if one attempts to connect Dan Marina's poem with the c.1667 conflict, Barth, who likely heard the tale of Birni Gazargamo under attack from the Kwararafa and Tuareg via oral traditions, reported something similar to traditions from the Jukun of Wukari. Of course, the colonial officials who recorded this from the Jukun may have also drawn heavily from Barth, but there reasons to suspect the narrative is largely correct. And if it occurred due to internal strife and civil war in Borno, one can understand more clearly how the Kwararafa and Tuareg of Ahir were able to threaten the capital.

Historical Materialism and the Kel Ahir

Kathleen O'Mara's A Political Economy of Ahir (Niger): Historical Transformations in a Pastoral Economy, 1760-1860 adopts a historical materialist approach to analyze transformations in the Ahir region's political economy once the Kel Owey federation become the dominant Tuareg group in that region. Focusing on class and a materialist interpretation allows greater clarity on how the Tuareg of this region of the Sahara shifted from a pastoral economy to a more centralized, agro-pastoral tributary economy in the 18th century. Thus, the transformations of the state and economy in the Ahir (or Air) region predate the jihad and establishment of the Sokoto Caliphate. According to O'Mara's view, the Ahir sultanate government's "glorious period" in the 1500s was not fully tributary, although the sultanate administration survived with the rise of Kel Owey hegemony and commercial expansion in order to protect the interests of the Tuareg elites, imajeren. Essentially, the seizure of the Kawar salines, especially Bilma, was an impetus for further trade and agro-pastoral expansion. This, in turn, was accompanied by the increasing centralization and development of a regional economy in Hausaland, particularly after the establishment of the Sokoto Caliphate. In other words, Borno's loss of Kawar in the 1760s favored the Ahir Tuareg, particularly the Kel Owey, who reaped huge profits from the sale of salt to Hausaland, where a burgeoning market and growing manufacturing (textiles, leather, etc.) centers in places like Kano fueled more Tuareg trade. 

Indeed, to O'Mara's view, Ahir became so connected to the larger, regional economy of the Central Sudan that trans-Saharan commerce became less important and Agadez's population moved to lands in the Sudan. The cycle fueled more economic growth as the Kel Owey, as well as other Tuareg groups, increasingly used captives and "free" dependents, often Kanuri, Hausa, or Dagera, to work farmland in Damergu. Agricultural production in the more fertile lands of the Sudan favored Tuareg commerce since the grain from these areas could be used to trade with the Kawar oases (and to ensure adequate grain supplies for the Ahir  region). This, of course, meant that the Ahir Tuareg could be less dependent on the meager agricultural resources of the Ahir region or from grain supplied by the independent Hausa states. With the growth of a Kel Owey commercial class investing in salt, agricultural production, livestock, and trade in textiles, slaves, leather products, and items acquired through trans-Saharan trade via the Fezzan or Ghat, the Ahir Tuareg system became a fully tributary one that maintained the dominance of the "nobles."  In fact, the continuance of the Ahir sultanate structure in Agades as an intermediary of Tuareg groups in Ahir, plus their own source of legitimacy via Islam, provided a balance with Kel Owey elites.

As one might expect in a highly unequal, hierarchical arrangement that was the Ahir political economy from 1760-1860, conflict within the elites (vertical) and between "nobles" and other groups (ineslemen, dependents of various types, etc.) was a constant. Dependents, both "free" and servile, could change masters easily and the Kel Ahir Tuareg had to find ways to maintain a system of exploitation of their labor. Like the free Dagera, Kanuri and Hausa groups conquered by Tuareg groups, the Tuareg "class" system allowed for significant local autonomy to settlements of slaves and others. In addition, manumission was frequent while intermarriage and absorption of captives into the lineage (as fictive children) meant enslavement was, according to Barth at least, less horrific than in other locales. One wonders, however, tow hat extent conditions here were similar with regard to slavery in the Sokoto Caliphate and Borno, where a history of slave settlements and even plantations existed. Nonetheless, O'Mara wishes to highlight how enslavement and exploitation of captives for their labor in agriculture, livestock rearing, carrying goods, or salt production was similar to the tribute extracted from "free" dependents in the Kel Ahir class system. Clerical lineages, too, tried to occasionally resist through the ideology of jihad or even becoming warriors themselves, yet they could not build a diverse enough coalition 

Through an ideology of noble dominance and control of camels, the most important animal in the pastoral economy, these nobles justified their position through the protection they could provide to dependents and clerical lineages. Their ownership of camels furthered their position as guides for caravans from North Africans, traders in their own rights, and for the use of camels to carry salt or other products. However, claims to noble status were always dynamic, and were frequently adjusted genealogically after the fact to legitimize the imajeren domination. This is connected to the purpose of the Agades Sultanate itself, instituted to resolve conflict between Tuareg groups in Ahir as well as to secure the overall interests of an elite group. Ongoing conflicts between the Kel Owey and others, naturally meant that the hegemony of any specific federation was always up for grabs, which in turn justified elite positions as "protectors" of their dependents against other Tuareg or non-Tuareg foes. 

This is all rather fascinating and engaging. However, some of what O'Mara proposes is either implausible or debatable. For instance, many of the political offices in the Ahir sultanate are of Hausa origin. Perhaps this suggests that the transformation of the Kel Ahir from a pastoral economy to a fully tributary one required the adoption of administrative features found in the Sudanic states to their south, especially Borno and the Hausa. Moreover, the increasing sedentarization of some Tuareg and the growth of agricultural ventures owned by Kel Ahir in Damergu, Zinder, or the Caliphate could be seen as similarly following patterns from Songhay, Borno, and Hausa history. Indeed, even the justifying ideology of elite rule via protection offered to dependents could be seen in the case of Borno, which failed to provide the necessary protection for its subjects in Kawar, western Borno, and northern Borno. Unlike Borno, however, the Ahir Tuareg federations structure and "looseness" and the ecological conditions of the southern Sahara could make it rather fragile. But, the exploitation of producers, a free and slave peasantry, seems to be a common for the Central Sudan, where chronic insecurity was also present despite the existence of large Hausa states or Borno (when it was a regional hegemon).