Shuwa Arabs Documentary

After watching this same channel's series on the Kanuri, we decided to check out their other videos. They are short and of course are not anywhere close to a complete history. Nonetheless, it is interesting to see people from the region interviewed and discussing their traditions and history. The Shuwa Arabs appear to have been present in Kanem by the 14th century, where a reference to them seems evident in a letter from the Sayfawa mai to the Mamluk sultan, Barquq, written in 1391/2. According to that letter, Judham Arabs even killed a mai, so nomadic Arabs had become involved in the unstable conditions in Kanem related to civil war and the Sayfawa versus Bulala. This documentary focuses on aspects of Shuwa Arab culture and traditions, like marriages or the former importance of camels. 

Lovejoy on Asante

Here is a short video on Asante by Paul Lovejoy, a historian who has studied the trade in kola nuts that connected Ghana with the Central Sudan. 

Oyo Empire

Despite some video quality troubles and a few errors, this short lecture by Paul Lovejoy is well worth the listen. Oyo was a northern Yoruba state with a cavalry and links to the Nupe, Bariba and Hausaland. Ali Eisami was also enslaved in Oyo so the state was connected to Borno via trade and the slave trade. I just wish we had more sources on the history of this fascinating Yoruba empire. Robin Law's monograph endeavored to make do with the fragmentary oral traditions, limited external sources and later Yoruba histories of the post-imperial Oyo years. What he accomplished was quite impressive for reconstructing the political, economic, social, and administrative features of Oyo, but it all seems so speculative. 

Walatta Petros

This is a nice video on a remarkable Ethiopian woman. Due to our ongoing interests in Ethiopia and the Jesuits, the hagiographical literature on Walatta Petros is a fascinating text to tackle.

Borno Music: Ganga Alitama Bornoye

Beautiful music from Borno is always a delight to find. The alita playing is very delightful and seems appropriate in a region like Borno, which enjoyed centuries-long ties to musical styles from the larger Islamic world. The drumming is a little repetitive but this is probably a fair indicator of what music was like in precolonial Borno. In that era, perhaps there were larger bands of instrumentalists and dancers and praise singers. 

Nicholas Said of Borno

 

We have been thinking about Nicholas Said again. This short video on his life does a nice job explaining who he was, but we're thinking about Said's autobiographical writings and legacy as part of a larger story of Borno natives abroad through the slave trade. This would take us to Brazil, Saint-Domingue (Haiti), possibly Cuba, Sierra Leone (as well as other parts of West Africa), Tripoli, Turkey, and the US. We are still unsure of James Albert actually being a Bornoan, but we'd like to include him alongside Ali Eisami and Nicholas Said as among our most usable sources.