Medieval Kingdoms of Nubia

Derek Welsby's The Medieval Kingdoms of Nubia: Pagans, Christians and Muslims along the Middle Nile is a great synthesis of archaeology and historical studies on a period of over 1000 years in Nubia. Beginning with the late Meroitic period and post-Meroitic period, better represented in northern Nubia, Welsby outlines the entire history of Medieval Nubia from the emergence of Nobadia, Alwa and Makuria to the spread of Christianity and their eventual decline in the late Christian period by the end of the 15th century. Sadly, Lower Nubia is better represented by archaeological surveys and excavations and northern Nubian towns like Qasr Ibrim possessed more favorable conditions for the preservation of records. Thus, most of the book is really on the kingdoms of Nobadia and Makuria (both as independent states in the post-Meroitic period and as a unified kingdom). Alwa, the lesser known southern kingdom said to have been wealthier in some of the medieval Arabic sources, remains a mysterious entity but one that may, with future archaeological excavations at Soba and other sites, potentially elucidate the relationship of medieval Christian Nubia with African societies to the east, west and south. 

The main theme, if one can be selected for this detailed work, is that of continuity. Viewing Nubia through the lens of continuity beginning with the Kushite kingdom does suggest that Nubia, despite experiencing obvious historical changes and transformations, remains a civilizational unit defined by geography and culture. Indeed, even the Christian states which emerged by the 6th century were, during phases of the post-Meroitic period, preserving the Meroitic script and continuing to use and worship at Kushite temples or the temple of Isis at Philae. That said, the spread of the waterwheel and the adoption of Christianity changed the nature of worship while also continuing Nubia's ties to Coptic, Byzantine and Eastern Christian influences. But even that development can be partly traced to the Meroitic era, when Kush was closely connected to the Hellenistic and Roman worlds. Indeed, Greek became an important language for inscriptions of Nobadian and Blemmye rulers in the 5th and 6th centuries  as these peoples became federates of the Roman Empire in the turbulent 5th century. Intriguingly, the archaeological evidence does not support a large-scale migration along the Middle Nile of Blemmyes or Noubades, suggesting that the bulk of the population in medieval Nubia were likely descendants of the population already living in the region for millennia. In fact, Welsby even finds evidence of this development in the post-Christian period, when Makuria and Alwa fragmented and the formal Church disappeared. Even then, after centuries, some Christian-derived traits persisted in Nubia.

Viewed through the lens of continuity, one begins to wonder if the political fragmentation of Nubia into 3 then later 2 kingdoms mirrored the political fragmentation of the declining Meroitic phase. Can one see similarities in terms of the Meroitic state's northern officials and those of Makuria with regard to the eparchs in Qasr Ibrim? And to what extent was the Kushite kingdom's relations with societies to the east, west and south similar to arrangements which characterized the medieval Nubian kingdoms? Certainly, the medieval Nubians were interested in trade through the oases to the north and west, but was this actually a major route connecting the Nubian states to societies in Darfur or further west? And what to make of the Beja polities to the east, which, according to some Arabic sources, were Christians and aligned with the Nubians? One wonders if Nubia may have had access to goods from the west and south by acting as a middleman between the Red Sea ports of Aidhab and Suakin to the kingdoms further west, like Kanem. And what, if any, were the connections between medieval Nubia and Ethiopia? The Coptic sources suggest Nubia on at least one occasion (Makuria's ruler?) intervened to request the Patriarch to send another metropolitan to Ethiopia. Were the kingdoms of Makuria and Alodia also serving as routes for Ethiopian pilgrims traveling to Egypt and the Holy Land, as suggested by Ge'ez texts in medieval Egyptian sites? And to what extent were the peoples south of Alwa, despite not being Christianized, participating in trans-Sudanic trade like the Shilluk of later centuries?

Tentative Timeline For Medieval Nubia

Important dates and events in the history of Medieval Nubia, drawn largely from Vantini’s Oriental Sources Concerning Nubia and Fontes Historiae Nubiorum. Welsby’s work was also of pivotal importance. We may add additional dates for the Funj period and for what can be dated in Ethiopia, Egypt and Darfur.

-c. 739–656 BCE: Kushites rule as 25th dynasty of Egypt

-342 BCE: Nectanebo flees to Nubia after Persian conquest of Egypt

-200s BCE: Nubai lived to west of the Nile in separate kingdoms, not under the Meroites

-285-246 BCE: Reign of Ptolemy II Philadelphus in Egypt, contemporary of Arkamani (Ergamenes in Diodorus Siculus), Kushite king said to have been Hellenized and centered in Meroe

-274 BCE: Aithiopian Expedition of Ptolemy II of Egypt

-205-186 BCE: Revolt in Upper Egypt of Horwennefer and his successor

-25-22 BCE: Meroe and Rome at war, conflict ends with a treaty between Queen Amanirenas and -Roman Empire establishing the border between Roman Egypt and the Kushite state for centuries

-c.61-63: Roman reconnaissance expedition to Meroe sent by Emperor Nero

-80-90: Acts of the Apostles possibly written, including the tale of the Ethiopian eunuch of the Candace of Meroe who became a Christian 

-c.200: Pestilence in Nubia prevented entry of Septimus Severus 

-c.240 Meroitic rule in Dodecaschoenus around AD 240

-250-253: spread of a pestilence that began in Nubia

-253: Teqorideamani was reigning in Meroe

-Late 200s: According to Procopius ,the Noba lived in the oases to the west of the Nile before entering Lower Nubia

-280: Emperor Marcus Aurelius Probus liberates Coptos and Ptolemais from barbarian servitude to the Blemmyes, bringing some Blemmyes to Rome as captives

-291: Roman source mentions war between Meroe and the Blemmyes

-297: Revolt of Lucius Domitius Domitianus in Egypt

-297/298: Roman victory over Blemmyes and Meroe

-298: Emperor Diocletian cedes territory south of First Cataract

-320s-360: Reign of Ezana of Axum; Aksumite ruler left inscriptions recording battles with the Noba

-336: Eusebius mentions Aithiopians and Blemmyes in Constantinople

-337-338: Flavius Abbineus recorded his interaction with Blemmye federates

-373/374: Blemmyes said to have attacked a monastery in Sinai 

-392-394: Blemmyes had occupied the emerald mines in the Eastern Desert near Kalabsha, according to Epiphanius (monk from Palestine)

-395: Aithiopians attack Syene (Aswan) 

-423: According to Olympiodorus, the Blemmyes occupied five towns in Nile Valley 

-c.425-450: Appion, bishop of Syene region, bemoaned to the Roman emperors the attacks by Blemmyes and Anoubades

-c.450: Tantanti, phylarch of the Anouba, received letters in Coptic, one of which suggests he may have been Christian

-451: Council of Chalcedon

-452: Romans retaliate and defeat the Nubians and Blemmyes 

-480-490: Latest royal burial of a Nobadian king at Ballana 

-Early 500s: King Silko in Nobadia

-c.520: Kaleb of Aksum invades Himyar

-524: Emperor Justin of Rome (Byzantium) proposed to the Aksumite ruler sending Blemmyes and Noubades to assist him against Himyar

-531: Emperor Justinian sought to make the Aithiopians and Homeritae (Himyarites) his allies 

-537: Graffito in Greek carved on the wall of the Temple of Isis at Philae by Theodosios, a Nubian (Nouba)

-c. 543: Mission sent by Empress Theodora reached Nobadia

-550s: Longinus appointed first bishop of Nubia

-559: Eirpanome, king of Nobadia (inscription in Coptic commemorated conversion of the Temple at Dendur into a church in this year, or in 574)

-568: Chronicler John of Biclar noted that the Maccurritae became Christians

-573: Arrival of delegation from Makuria in Constantinople with gifts for the emperor, including elephant tusks and a giraffe

-580: Aksumites in the capital of Alwa

-619: Persians invade Egypt

-641/642: Arab invasion of Nubia

-652: According to al-Maqrizi, Nubians raided Upper Egypt and held Aswan and Philae until 652, leading to the baqt; king in Dongola was Qalidurut

-686-689: Patriarch Isaac of Alexandria wrote letters to the rulers of Abyssinia and Nubia to help resolve a dispute between the two

-c.700: King Mercurios of Makuria named the New Constantine in the Annals of the Coptic Patriarchs

-707: Union of Nobadia and Makuria by this year confirmed by epigraphic evidence; construction of cathedral in Faras 

-710: King Mercurios mentioned on foundation stone of a church in Taifa

-723-745: Muslim raids on Makuria

-725: Coptic revolt in Egypt

-739: Coptic revolt in Egypt

-748: King Cyriacus of Nubia intervened in Egypt after Patriarch Abba Michael was imprisoned by the emir, invaded Egypt with a huge army demanding the release of the patriarch

-mid-700s: King Cyriacus was “Great King” in Makuria, under whom served 13 kinglets

-c.750: death of Eparch Paulos-Kolla

-750: Coptic revolt in Egypt

-758: Letter in Arabic to king of Makuria (probably Cyriacus) about Makuria’s failure to uphold the baqt

-762-770: Raids by Muslims against Nubia

-798: Death of Petros, eparch of Nobadia

-796: Birth of Sufi saint of Nubian descent, Dhul-Nun al-Misri

-798: Death of Eparch Petros (tombstone at Old Dongola)

-835: Prince Giorgios of Nubia sent by his son, Zachararias I, to Baghdad to negative with the caliph’s court a remittance of the baqt payment (which was now to be paid every three years); Coptic sources indicate that Zacharias had trouble with rebels during this time before sending his son to Baghdad

-835-836: Nubian agent of Makuria who collected taxes on Nubians living in Egypt rebelled against King Giorgios

-c.850: King Johannes said to have reigned from Tilimauara until Philae

-854-855: Beja raid in Upper Egypt; possible around this time that el-Omari fought with the Nubians and Makurian king Giorgios appointed his nephew, Nyuti, to defeat him 

-866-902: First metropolitan of see of Faras was Abba Kyros

-c.868-884: Oases route through Sahara to “Sudan” and “Maghrib” discontinued; route through oases west of Nile once prosperous, with “Rum” (Greeks) and Egyptians and Nubians traveling to the west/Northwest and another route to the Fazzan

-883: Death of Eparch Johannes, eparch of Gaderon and son of the king of Makuria, Zacharias

-900s: Alwa reported to be more powerful and prosperous than Makuria 

-903: Ibn al-Faqih mentions route used by traders to travel from Egypt to Ghana, which passed through the Wahat Misr (Oases of Egypt) to Marawa, Maranda, Kawkaw (Gao), and Ghana)

-910-915: Abu Mansur Makin raided Nubia

-943: el-Masudi reported that Kubra Ibn Surur, king of Dongola, ruled Alwa while Ibn Hawqal reported that the king of Makuria was king of Alwa

-950: Makurian ruler raided oases in Egypt

-c.955: Ibn Hawqal visited Nubia 

-956: Makuria raided the Oases and attacked Aswan

-960-966: Nubian vizier Kafur ruled Egypt

-964: Nubian king marched on Aswan

-980-1003: During tenure of Patriarch Philotheus, contacts recorded between Ethiopia and the King of the Nubians (King George of Nubia received a letter from Ethiopian ruler, asking for his aid to receive a metropolitan from the Patriarch of Alexandria)

-985: Ibn Selim traveled through Nubia

-Late 900s-early 1000s: Akhbar al-zaman mentions the kingdom of Zaghawa as vast, large and at war with Nubia

-c.1000-1006: Raphael and David reigned as kings of Makuria and Alwa

1002: King Raphael said to have introduced novelty of brick domes to the buildings of Dongola

-1004-1033: Patriarch John Abdun of Antioch humbled himself to a Nubian monk, Shishi or Sawsana. 

-1006: Abu Rakwa, member of Spanish Umayyads, fled to Nubia but given back by the king of Makuria

-1008: Decree of al-Hakim in Egypt allowing Copts who wish to leave the right to go to Byzantine, Nubian, Abyssinian or other territories

-1036/1037: Death of Bishop Marianos of Pachoras (Faras), buried at Ibrim

-1036-1094: Reign of Fatimid caliph al-Mustansir Billah, the son of a Nubian slave

-1066: Nasir ed-Dawla raided Nubia but was defeated

-1069: Inscription at Debeira mentioned the title “admiral supreme”

-1078-1092: Cyril II Patriarch of Alexandria; during his tenure, king Solomon of Nubia (who had abdicated in favor of his nephew, George, to lead a life of asceticism) dies in Cairo 

-1106: Birth of future Makuria king Giogios

-1113: Death of Giorgios, archbishop of Old Dongola for 50 years

-1130-1158: Reign of Giorgios in Makuria

-c.1155-1190: Reign of Moses Georges, said to have ruled Alwa and Makuria

-1155: King Moses Giorgios, king of Dotawo, was also Eparch of Palagi

-Before 1170: al-Idrisi repeated report from travelers to Kawar that Nubia (Makuria) had attacked town of Samnah, of the Taju kingdom bordering Nubia

-1172: Makuria attacked Aswan and Upper Egypt; Richard of Poitiers recorded that the king of Nubia makes war on pagan neighbors

-1173: Shams ed-Dawla Turanshah, brother of Saladin, takes Qasr Ibrim

-1181-1221: Reign of Lalibela of Zagwe dynasty in Ethiopia

-1182/83: Reynald of Châtillon’s said to have raided Aidhab

-1203/1204: Nubian ruler on pilgrimage to Holy Land visited Constantinople

-1242: Madrasat in Cairo built by Kanem for pilgrims

-1253: Revolt of the Arabs in Upper Egypt

-1270: Beginning of Solomonic Dynasty in Ethiopia

-1272: Makuria raids Red Sea port of Aidhab 

-1275: Shekanda, nephew of King David of Nubia, appeals to the Sultan of Egypt for help and replaces David on the throne of Nubia after an invasion from Egypt (after King Dawud had raided area near Aswan)

-1276: Treaty between Mamluks in Egypt and Makuria giving northern part of Maris to Muslim control

-1280: Nubian pilgrims in Holy Land mentioned by Burchard of Mount Sion

before 1286: Ibn Sa’id al-Maghribi’s Book of Geography, borrowing from lost work, describes Kanem in great detail: King Muhammad, capital of Njimi, old capital was Manan, Kanem ruled over Fezzan, Tajuwa, Kawar, “Zaghawa” east of Manan

-1285/86: Invasion of Nubia from Egypt, ultimately leading to defeat of King Semamun of Nubia and his replacement by a nephew appointed by the invading army from Egypt

-1289-1290: Muslim invasion of Makuria, king fled Old Dongola (Semamun)

-1291: King Semamun kills king installed by Egypt, restores the baqt agreement with Egypt

-1292: Nubian king gave excuses to sultan of Egypt for nonpayment of baqt

-1298: Sultan al-Malik an-Nāṣir Muḥammad ordered closing of churches in Fustat and Cairo

-1301: Mamluk Sultan passes edict introducing more discrimination against Christians and Jews, extending it as far as Dongola

-1304: Lord of Dongola (King Ayay) brought tribute to the court of the Sultan in Egypt, asks and receives an army to support him in a struggle with unnamed enemies 

-1312: Nuba king brings gifts to the court of Mamluk Egypt (1311 king Kerenbes, who was said to have killed his brother?)

-1314 to 1344: Reign of Amda Seyon in Ethiopia

-1316: Dominican mission to "Ethiopia" (Nubia) Sultan of Egypt sends Abdalla Barshanbo (a nephew of King David) with support of an army to become king of Dongola, replacing Kerenbes but Kenz ad-Dawla eventually becomes King

-1317: Throne Hall in Old Dongola converted into a mosque

-1323: Kerenbes seizes throne from Kanz ad-Dawla but is eventually defeated by him 

-1324: Mansa Musa of Mali goes on pilgrimage

-1327-1339: Benjamin patriarch of Alexandria; Ethiopian Ewostatewos met him in Cairo after traveling through Nubia, where he left a favorable impression on the Nubian king

-1330: Bishop Tavoli appointed to Dongola by the Latins

-1365: Gebel Adda became capital of Makuria (or Dotawo), no longer Dongola

-1385: El libro del conosçimiento de todos los reinos referred to Genoese merchants traveling to Dongola

-1391-1392: Letter of Sultan Uthman (Bir) b. Idris of Kanem-Borno to Mamluk Sultan Barquq, complaining of depredations of Judham Arabs and asking the Mamluk ruler to free any Kanem-Borno Muslims sold into slavery in Egypt, Syria. Judham Arabs are said to have killed the previous Borno king, Amr the Martyr b. Idris, son of al-Hajj Idris, son of al-Hajj Ibrahim

-1397: Regent of Nubia fled to Egypt, escaping his cousin 

-1434-1468: Reign of Zara Yaeqob

-1442: Black slaves in Egypt plot to revolt, appointing their own sultan, vizier, etc. and plundering cereals until put down by the Mamluk government

-1447: Antonio Malfante’s Latin letter mentions "Indian" merchants who were Christian at Tawat

-1480-1483: Felix Fabri met Nubian Christians in Jerusalem during his pilgrimage

-1484: King Joel of Dotawo reigning

-1486: Janim el-Ajrud el-Ainani, Kashif of Manfalut, fled to Nubia 

-1517: Ottoman conquest of Egypt

-1518: Emir 'Alī b. 'Umar went out on a raid against the Lord (ṣāḥib) of Nubia

-c.1520-1527: Nubian emissaries visit Ethiopia, asking Lebna Dengel for priests. Nubia reported to be divided into captaincies.

-c.1526: According to Leo Africanus, the king of Nubia is always at war, sometimes with the people of Gorhan and sometimes with those to the east of the Nile

-1607: Deposed Abd al-Qadir II of Sennar fled to Ethiopia, performed obeisance to Susenyos

-c.1611: Wadai state founded by Abd al-Karim

1618-1619: Ethiopian Emperor Susenyos campaigned against Sennar

1637: Gondar established as capita

-1644/5-1681: Reign of Badi II of Sennar (Funj Sultanate)

-Late 1660s: Shaykh Ahmad b. Muhammad al-Yamani, from the Nile Valley, visited Kulumbardo

-1672: Plan to send Catholic mission to Nubia through the Fezzan aborted due to fall of Pasha Osman in Tripoli

-1700-1702: Theodor Krump traveling from Sennar to Egypt with people from Borno and the Fezzan, reports caravans from Darfur, Borno, Fezzan reach Sennar

-1703: Fra Damiano da Rivoli tried to reach Borno from Sennar but didn’t pursue caravan route; a Borno caravan leader in Sennar told him the journey would take 60 days

-1744: Ethiopia-Funj Sultanate War during reign of Badi IV

A Glimpse of Sudanic Africa in the Late 1500s

Dierk Lange and Silvio Berthoud's translation of the relevant sections of Giovanni Lorenzo Anania's L'Universale fabrica del mondo, overo cosmografia is a great service for those interested in the history of Sudanic Africa but cannot read Italian. Their translation and brief introduction elucidates how the subsequent editions of Anania's work expanded some sections on the interior of West Africa particularly those related to Kano. In addition, Anania's work includes references to a number of regions in the Lake Chad area, including Logone, Mandara, Bagirmi, and even information on the area of Darfur before the Keira sultans came to power in the 17th century. While, sadly, much of the information is based on Leo Africanus, Barros, Cadamosto, Marmol and other printed sources, Anania's contribution sheds light on European knowledge of Western and Central Sudanic Africa by 1582, before the fall of Songhay and preceding the existence of Wadai and Darfur as powerful kingdoms. 

One of the most interesting informants for Anania's work was Vincenzo Matteo, an Italian merchant from Raguse who had spent 7 years traveling in Sudanic Africa. Apparently, he was trying to travel to Ethiopia but was unable to do so. However, during his time in the "Land of the Blacks", Matteo was able to spend time in important cities like Kano and witness its economic ties to North Africa and Cairo. According to Matteo, Kano was one of the three most important commercial centers in Africa, along with Cairo and Fez. A large, walled city with 18 gates, the Portuguese allegedly tried to establish a comptoir there only to be frustrated by Cairo merchants who persuaded the sarki to say no to the Christians. How, exactly, would Portuguese have reached Kano in the 1500s if not from the south is a little difficult to understand, but it speaks to the European recognition of Kano's commercial significance. Indeed, for the trade in gold, ivory, pepper, the Hausa state had attracted many "white" gentlemen from Cairo who lived in comfort with horses and several slaves. This very same informant, Matteo, also claimed to have brought kola nuts to the sultan of Morocco.

Anania's work also tells us much about the powers of the Central Sudan. In this time, Kebbi, or Cabi, was still powerful enough for its ruler to be called an emperor by the "Blacks" of the area. Yet, the ruler of Borno seems even more magnificent, since Anania reported that the mai was able to field 100,000 troops against Cabi multiple times. While this is probably exaggeration, it does support the notion of Borno's great power and influence in the region, particularly in the exchange of gold, leather, horses, and slaves in the area. Anania's source also attests to the presence of Turkish mercenaries and adventurers and North African scholars in Borno, illustrating the state's strong ties to the Mediterranean. While particulars of the various towns and states of the Lake Chad region are less detailed, we learn that Mandara (or Mandra) was important for its iron minerals while other towns south of Lake Chad were engaged in trade with Mandara for iron or even centers of pilgrimage, like Galeo. One can gain a snapshot of some of the non-Muslim and Sao peoples living around Lake Chad whilst Borno was in the process of conquering or had just finished conquering these peoples, as recorded by Ahmad b. Furtu. 

Anania's brief mention of Uri and Goran, or what may have been the equivalent to Leo Africanus's Gaogo, are similarly worthy of mention. Uri, which appears to have been the commercial capital of the state which preceded Darfur and Wadai, was a major center of trade. Its king, supplied with weapons or arms from Cairo, was powerful enough to dominate several peoples such as the Zaghawa, Dagio, Masalit, Mimi, and other peoples in the vast region of western Sudan and eastern Chad. According to Anania, the Goran or Gauga were also worthy of attention. Although his wacky theories comparing the Goran to the Romani peoples or even claiming they were the descendants of ancient Egyptian priests of Isis are examples of pure speculation, the Goran, as a Tubu or Teda people, helps us to understand one of the early European references to a Tubu people. 

Even the Western Sudan and parts of West Africa in contact with the Portuguese are, in part, included in the description of the interior of West Africa. The kingdom of Benin, for example, or the Wolof and Mandingue peoples, appear with brief entries. Timbuktu is still at its apogee, with gold brought by "Mandinghi" merchants and attracting merchants from North Africa and Cairo. The Songhay rulers may have still upheld a prohibition on Jewish merchants, a lingering legacy of al-Maghili's influence on Askia Muhammad. There may even be a reference to the Tuareg and their tifinagh script, since Anania mentioned their use of the litham. Western Sudan, under the imperial base of Songhay, and Central Sudan, where Borno was entering a Golden Age, witnessed an efflorescence of culture and commerce that likely saw the consolidation of the 'Sudanic Road" from the Western Sudan to the Nile or Red Sea. Sadly, Vincenzo Matteo never made it to Ethiopia from West Africa, but such a journey would have held immeasurably great historical value for much of the African interior. 

A Novel by a North African

Apuleius's The Golden Ass is a hilarious tale of a man transformed into a donkey. Written in the 100s, perhaps during the reign of Marcus Aurelius, the North African author combines comedy and moral education in a tale of magic. Lucius, the protagonist, and central character in novel loaded with inset stories, suffers from an unnatural interest in magic and sex, ultimately leading to his accidental transformation into an ass by Photis, his lover (and slave of Milo and Pamphile, the witch). P.G. Walsh's translation ably renders into the English language much of Apuleius's wicked humor and satire of social relations, the Roman Senate, "catamite" priests, and unfaithful servants. Walsh's translation does not "modernize" the text to make it too informal or contemporary, so it still almost reads like something a Latin-speaker wrote over 1800 years ago. 

Like other ancient "novels" of the Roman Empire, the narrative structure brings to mind Arabian Nights through its several stories of infidelity, disloyal slaves, sorcery, supernatural events, bandits, greedy estate-owners, and, in the tale of Cupid and Psyche, a fable with Platonist or philosophical implications. Cupid and Psyche's tale occupies a significant chunk of the text, suggesting its central importance to the religious and philosophical themes pertinent to the soul and love, humanity and the divine. Psyche's desire for connection, her curiosity, and her eventual reunion with Cupid (and the other gods) suggest a possible route for human connection to the higher powers. Like Lucius, Psyche's curiosity and need for companionship drive her toward peril, but humble service to the gods (even a human-like Venus, overwhelmed with envy for the unsurpassed beauty of Psyche) with acceptance of one's mistakes lead to her salvation. 

Like Heliodorus's Ethiopian Romance, the novel shifts its settings and deals with a variety of trials that Lucius must survive or escape, although there is no Charicleia or female figure he truly loves (Photis was only useful for her sexual services). The intervention of the gods and belief in divine providence abounds in both texts, although the two lovers in Heliodorus's romance are directly linked to two main deities of the Greek pantheon and lack any of the moral flaws of Lucius. Since Lucius is a flawed person with moral shortcomings, his character is more believable and compelling than the star-crossed lovers in the Greek romances. Of course, since Heliodorus and Apuleius were both familiar with the literary heritage of the Greek language, The Golden Ass shares much of the same mythological and literary allusions with the ancient Greek "novels."

 The final book, which tells of Lucius's initiation into the mysteries of Isis and Osiris, presents a shift in tone in the novel as it drops it satirical tone and seems to openly embrace worship of Isis and proper religious behavior. In its embrace of the mysteries and its description of various rituals, this must surely be the world's first occult novel. Like a fable, it calls upon the reader to pursue knowledge in the proper way and practice moderation in sex and curiosity. Lucius, educated though he was, had to endure harrowing experiences as a donkey before he could learn this essential lesson, and find a way out of he morally corrupt world he experienced first-hand as a beast of burden. Much of the details of Lucius's initiation is left unrevealed to the reader, but the novel purports to offer right living and service to the mystery cults as the path to knowledge and success. Instead of the avaricious estate-owners, unchaste wives, effeminate pseudo-priests, violent bandits, abusive centurions, or miserly wealthy who hoard their riches to no purpose, the cult of Isis offers a path away from these ethical dilemmas. 

As an influential text in the history of the Western canon, I could not help but wonder if this novel may have influenced Antoine Innocent's Mimola. The Haitian novel directly links the Vodou loas to the dieux lares of the ancient Mediterranean. Like Lucius, Mimola is afflicted by supernatural means, although in her case it has more to do with the family's rejection of the ancestral spirits. Like Lucius, Mimola and her mother must persevere over the course of a number of trials, culminating in their pilgrimage to Saut d'Eau. Again, like Lucius, Mimola is initiated as a priestess in Vodou and is freed from her affliction. Perhaps any and all similarities between the two novels end here, yet they share a critique of Christianity (the baker's adulterous wife is likely a Christian, while in the Haitian context nationalists of Innocent's era were critical of the Catholic Church's influence). Like Apuleius, Innocent sees the syncretism of "pagan" beliefs and their positive social impact as the basis for community, the city-state. I would like to further explore any possible links between Apuleius and Haitian authors in the future, particularly as it relates to the occult, initiation, and connaissance. Milo Rigaud's Jésus ou Legba? may be the best place to look, especially since Rigaud linked Vodou to ancient Egypt and Nubian religions, of which Isis was a major figure. 

The Golden Age of the Garamantes

This week's episode from the History of Africa Podcast is a fascinating one on the Golden Age of the Garamantes. And yes, it would be "cool" if the language of the Garamantes was a Nilo-Saharan one written with proto-tifinagh. The theory of a Garamantes connection with populations in the Tibetsi, Kawar, and later Kanem is certainly an intriguing one, as is the worship of Amun by the Garamantes possibly finding an echo in later customs of the Zaghawa and Kanem states.

Sheikhs of the Koyam and the Legacy of Kalumbardo

Family Tree of Koyam Shaykhs

Nestled in the northwestern borderlands of the Borno state, near the edges of the Sahara and the caravan routes connecting the Central Sudan to North Africa and the Nile Valley, the Koyam were a pastoralist sub-group of the Kanuri whose reputation for Islamic learning outlasted the dynasty they served. Their settlement at Kalumbardo — and later Gaskeru — became one of the most remarkable centers of Sufi practice in precolonial West Africa.  Although the community was important enough to contribute to the origin of the Zinder state's ruling dynasty as well as to the spread of Sufi and Islamic practices across Borno and, perhaps, Wadai and Bagirmi, we unfortunately know too little of the community's history. Besides the oral traditions collected by Landeroin at the beginning of the 20th century and occasional references to Kalumbardo's widely respected shaykh in the 17th century in Maghribi sources, a comprehensive history of the community remains undone. Fortunately, what can be gleaned from the history of Sidi al-Baghdadi's movement in the Air desert plus other references to Sufism and asceticism in Kanem-Borno and Sudanic Africa, sheds some light on the history of the Kalumbardo community.

First, its shadowy origins. Muhammad Bello described a community called Kalumbardo that was in existence by the time of Umar b. Idris, mai of Borno in the years 1619-1639. Of course, this was not the first center of Sufism in Borno and certainly not the first mallamti or community or fief recognized by the mai's of the Sayfawa. Indeed, according to Rémi Dewière, Sufism of the Shadilya sect was practiced in Borno before the 17th century. Evidence of this was detected in his study of Ahmad b. Furtu's chronicles of mai Idris b. Ali. Indeed, practices close to those of al-Sadili as well as earlier references to ascetics in Kanem during the 14th century point to likely Sufism in Borno long before the 1600s. However, the history of Kalumbardo is a better documented history of a community defined, in part, by Sufist practices or influences. 

 

According to Muhammad Bello of the Sokoto Caliphate, this first Kalumbardo community was led by a Shaykh Waldeed and al-Waliyy b. al-Jarmi, a Tuareg. The two leaders, Fulani and Tuareg respectively, were said to have spread Sufism, and the former allegedly had studied in Agadez and Timbuktu. This suggests that the original Kalumbardo community was led by two reputable Sufis with links to Agadez and Timbuktu, prominent centers for Islamic scholarship that had been under Songhay control in the 1500s. Moreover, according to Bello's account, Umar b. Idris had al-Jarmi executed while Waldeel fled to Baghiri. This account of the mai's crackdown on the first Kalumbardo community sounds very similar to Bello's recounting of the end of Shaykh al-Baghdadi in Air. Said to have been killed by the sultan of Agadez at Aghalanga, the conflict was instigated by court-affiliated scholars who urged the sultan to target Shaykh al-Baghdadi. Thus, we may have something of a common literary trope in which a venerated Islamic holyman is martyred by a secular ruler whose court-aligned ulama see in the holyman a threat to their own status and the power of the sultan. Of course, in the case of al-Baghdadi in Air, his status as a sharif added another layer of threat. 

John Lavers, in his article "Diversions on a Journey of the Travels of Shaykh Ahmad al-Yamani," adds further detail to the history of this earlier Kalumbardo. According to him, some traditions remember the Tuareg leader of the first Kalumbardo as al-Jarmiya al-Tarqi as a teacher of Abd al-Karim b. Jame, the first sultan of Wadai. While other traditions claim Wadai's founder had studied at Bidderi in Baghirmi, this location in the Baghirmi kingdom was a settlement associated with the Torobbe Fulani and Islamic scholarship. However, it does not necessarily contradict the other tradition associating Wadai's founder with the Tuareg at the first Kalumbardo. After all, the Shaykh Waldeel of Muhammad Bello was said to have escaped Borno for Baghirmi. Thus, this early Kalumbardo community, which probably arose before the reign of Umar b. Idris, enjoyed or later extended itself through its persecution, far links to Agadez, Timbuktu, Bagirmi and Wadai. And to make things even more confusing, it is possible that, according to traditions cited by Lavers, it was Ibrahim b. Idris, a brother who reigned as mai before Umar b. Idris, who had been responsible for destroying the first Kalumbardo community.

What occurred after the dissolution of the first Kalumbardo community, which appears to have lacked the ethnic Koyam affiliation or identification of the second Kalumbardo? We know that, by the 1660s, during the reign of Ali b. Umar of Borno, Kalumbardo was again associated with a venerated Shaykh whose piety, scholarship, and asceticism led to his reputation reaching Sinnar and North Africa. He was Shaykh Abdullay al-Barnawi, or Abdullay b. Abd el-Djelil. According to Bobboyi, he was a scion of the Sayfawa dynasty and the first Shaykh of the re-formed Kalumbardo town or settlement, also called Belbelec. While it is said that many mothers of Sayfawa rulers were women from the Koyam, and the Koyam reputation for Islamic scholarship was still respected in the 19th century since Shehu al-Kanemi had apparently studied with them, the exact origins of the Koyam's presence in the northwestern borderlands of the Borno state remain unclear. Indeed, Lovejoy's Salt of the Desert Sun suggests Kawar origins of the Koyam, perhaps indicating the early Sayfawa dynasty's northern alliances with nomadic populations in medieval times through marriage alliances with women from their clans. This appears to be true, if the Koyam are indeed the same as the Kay mentioned in the Diwan and their links to Kawar and the salt trade suggest their economic importance in Borno. Nonetheless, in the traditions and sources cited by Maikorema Zakari, this Abdullah founded the second Kalumbardo with 40 Koyam during the reign of Ali b. Umar (a mai famous for his piety and support for Islamic scholarship). While the Koyam, a pastoralist sub-group of the Kanuri later split into the Kel Etti and other branches, in the 17th century, under Shaykh al-Barnawi, this particular Koyam community enjoyed great repute. Indeed, the first Shaykh, said to have been born in 1614, was associated with miracles, great learning, and even attempts at social reform with Tuareg and Tubu bandits in the area. This Kalumbardo shaykh was credited with converting many non-Muslims, marrying slave girls and then giving them (with his children by them) to Tuareg and Tubu, and promoting Islamic asceticism among his followers. 

But who was this Abdallah al-Barnawi? According to the Nashr al-Mathani, ultimately relying on the account of Kalumbardo given by Ahmad al-Yamani of Arbaji, al-Barnawi enjoyed mystical powers. He was a man said to have been light in color, tall, possessing middle build and had large eyes. He took a vow of poverty and members of his community often pursued separate areas for retreat, or khalwa. They regrouped for communal prayers and chanting. Shaykh al-Barnawi also appeared to have been a fervent believer in the ability of people to change and respect for life. After all, the same North African source, Nashr al-Mathani includes a brief anecdote of al-Barnawi's anger when a disciple prayed for God to destroy the Tuareg. In addition to his embrace of prayer and meditation, al-Barnawi also possessed a thorough knowledge of the Koran, grammar, theology, and other texts. He was said to have read the Alfiya of Ibn Malik on grammar and may have even studied in modern-day Sudan with Dafa 'Allah of Arbaji. If true, this may explain one of the reasons al-Yamani of Arbaji traveled to Kalumbardo in 1671, because its leader had been known in the Funj Sultanate. If so, this suggests far-reaching networks of Islamic scholarship, Sufist practices, and mutual influences between Borno and the Funj Sultanate. Perhaps the Islamization of Wadai and Darfur in the 17th century facilitated this process, as a trade and pilgrimage route that traversed Sudanic Africa was likely of growing importance in this era. In fact, Nashr al-Mathani also mentioned al-Yamani's travels to Air, where he studied under Ahmad al-Targui al-Lamtouni. Similarly, Norris's Sufi Mystics of the Niger Desert also claimed al-Barnawi had studied in or near Agadez with Uwayis, just as Lavers argued that the Tuareg Ahmad as-Sadiq b. Ab. Muhammad Uways had traveled to Arbaji. These far-flung networks connected Borno's Kalumbardo with Air, the Sinnar Sultanate, and North Africa. In this light, it is perhaps of interest that the ascetic practices described by Sufis in Air, the Sinnar Sultanate, and Borno would be interesting to compare, particularly with regards to the khalwa, wird, the role of music, group meditation, fasting, the presence of spirits and beliefs about the sanctity of animal lives.

What was the fate of the second Kalumbardo community? Its shaykh, Abdullah al-Barnawi, was killed by the Tuareg in an attack that occurred in 1677 or 1678. Before the demise of its leader, the community received support from the mai of Borno. According to Lavers, a qadi named Abu Bakr went to Ali b. Umar, claiming the Kalumbardo leader was plotting a revolt. The shaykh was called to Birni Gazargamo, impressed the mai and then received support as the mai sent artisans to erect brick buildings in his settlement. This must have been part of the town's rise as it received exemption from taxes (which was likely recognized in writing via a mahram, recognizing the community's tax-exempt status) and attracted students, farmers, hunters, traders, and others. If the traditions collected in the Tilho Mission are reliable, Belbelec developed into a town of great extent. Unfortunately, its good fortunes were not to last. Famines and Tuareg attacks culminated in one raid by the Immikitan Tuareg that resulted in the death of the shaykh. Nonetheless, the town would relocate and prosper in Gaskeru, after al-Barnawi's son, Umar, led the community to as far away as Nupe. It was during this era of dispersal after 1678 that one person from the community, remembered as Mallam in the traditions, chose to settle in the area of Zinder or Damagaram and became its first sultan.  

The dispersed Kalumbardo community, led by Umar, eventually returned to Borno, staying at the capital until the mai (a son of Ali b. Umar?) granted Umar's community tax-exempt status at Gaskeru. At Gaskeru, the mai allegedly sent 1000 workers for the construction of a mosque and Gaskeru. And, according to the traditions collected for the Tilho Mission, Shaykh Umar reigned with justice, not oppressing the population. In this regard, one can see shaykh Umar's power as, per Lavers, a theocratic state within Borno that attracted residents through its just ruler and, perhaps, tax-exempt status. Successive shaykhs of the Koyam at Gaskeru began to claim a more political role, appointing disciples as chiefs or imams of areas under their control. The same aforementioned traditions claim the area controlled by the Koyam shaykhs even had 1000 villages under its control. This suggests that the community at Gaskeru became akin to some of the so-called fiefdoms discussed in the works of Muhammad Nur Alkali and Ronald Cohen on Borno land tenure and administration. Bakr, or Beker in the French Tilho Mission rendering, a son of Shaykh Mustapha, is remembered as having more loyal supporters than Mai Ali b. al-Hajj Dunama of Borno, whose soldiers abandoned him and let him become wounded in the 1781 invasion of Mandara. Unlike the mai, the Koyam shaykh, who did not personally arm and supply his 1000 followers, was said to have been complimented by the Sayfawa sultan for his devoted followers.

The latter days of Sayfawa rule did lead to troubled times for the Koyam shaykhs, however. Abdullah, the brother of Bakr, faced the Tuareg of Kutus and the Air Tuareg. With the help of the kaigama, Ali, they were able to push the Tuareg back but their forces were massacred when they pushed into Tuareg territory. Then, under Shaykh Ahmadu, the son of Bakr, Gaskeru was attacked and destroyed by the Tuareg. Ahmadu then led the community to Birni Gazargamo, to the Sandaram quarter. Under Shaykh Ibrahim b. Abdullah, they refused to return to Gaskeru and were settled at Zigaba. Another dispersal took place after Goni Mokhar attacked Gazargamo, leading to the flight of the Koyam and Mohammad Aitami becoming the shaykh. Later, after al-Kanemi became the effective ruler of Borno, he acknowledged Muhammad Aitami's tax-free status. This shaykh eventually died in 1835, after which another split among the Koyams and then another reunion under Shaykh Yamiama at Biskour.

While the two centuries or so of history of the Koyam is sadly not as documented as the period under its first shaykh, the traditions and other historical references do provide a fascinating overview of a Borno Islamic community linked to Islamic asceticism. By the end of the precolonial era, only a small subset of the Koyam population preserved the ascetic practices of chanting, spiritual retreats and fasting. Nonetheless, its survival over the centuries and its link to other parts of Africa attest to its importance. Not solely as a center for Borno Sufis and as a group who helped protect Borno's northern borders from Tuareg incursions, but as a group which influenced important figures in the annals of Borno's political history, like al-Kanemi, but also contributed to the rise of Wadai and Damagaram. Lastly, the first shaykh, with links to North Africa, Air, and Funj Sultanate, was esteemed enough to be widely venerated across much of Islamic Africa. One only wishes that al-Barnawi or one of his followers had written a text, like the Qudwa, that could tell us in more detail the practices and ideas of such a prominent figure in Borno's history. For instance, did al-Barnawi's community also believe in the presence of spirits in their prayer circles or gatherings? To what extent was al-Baghdadi's movement a model or influence? And were Sufi practices and fuqara villages in the Funj Sultanate, observed by Krump, perhaps similar spaces with some degree of overlap in belief and practice with Kalumbardo and Gaskeru?

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