A Bulala Attack on Bilma

One of the interesting historical references in Maurice Abadie's Afrique centrale; la colonie du Niger is a possible Bulala raid that culminated in a massacre of people near Bilma, in Kawar. The alleged attack occurred in the 17th century, likely at a time when the Bulala sultans were already in the region of Fitri instead of Kanem. Thus, the attack probably took place when the Bulala were at a further distance from Kanem. Unfortunately, we could not locate any sources to corroborate this tradition. However, Nachtigal, in Sahara and Sudan, wrote a history of Bagirmi's kings based on informants who were descendants of the principal actors involved. One of the intriguing moments in his account of the reign of the Bagirmi king Burkomanda, whose regnal dates were probably 1635-1665, included far-ranging raids that reached Borku and Kawar. This same mbang of Bagirmi had a sister, Zara, married to the Bulala sultan. It is possible that the Bulala raid which massacred people in Bilma assembled for prayer was actually part of one of the Bagirmi king's expeditions. 

Kanem and the Bulala

Fra Mauro's world map from the 15th century indicates an awareness of the Bulala, labelled Bolala. Although not particularly accurate, the map nonetheless situated "Bolala" near Mergi, Bargemi, and Mandera (Mandara?).

From the late 14th century to the early 17th, the sultanate of Kanem was ruled not by the Sayfawa dynasty whose state had originated there, but by a rival dynasty known as the Bulala, who had driven the Sayfawa westward to Borno. How the Bulala rose to power, how they governed Kanem, and why they eventually relocated eastward to the Lake Fitri region are questions that the available sources address only partially and often contradictorily. Naturally, the origin of the Bulala rulers of Kanem is a topic worthy of close scrutiny. The exact conditions in which the Bulala rulers have been able to seize control of Kanem from the Sayfawa dynasty in the late 14th century, and how they ruled Kanem, are not sufficiently explored topics. Neither are the factors that led to their exodus from Kanem sometime in the 17th century. Some historians, using both oral and written sources from Borno, stress the rise of the Bulala to the east, in the Lake Fitri region. Supposedly, the early Bulala ruling lineage or dynasty claimed descent from either a son of Dunama Dibalemi or a later mai in the late 13th century. Over time, they gradually extended their power from a base in the east before killing a number of Sayfawa maiwa in the second half of the 14th century. Others, however, stress an early Bulala alliance with Shuwa Arabs, particularly the Hemet group, at some point in the 1300s and their ascent to domination of Kanem began with their attacks from the south. Lange, on the other hand, stresses the Bulala usurpation of Kanem does not totally explain the Sayfawa relocation to Borno. Indeed, changes in the environment, ecological factors, and the greater fertility of the land in Borno may have already led to the Sayfawa establishing a stronger base in Borno by the late 13th century. 

And what of Kanem under the suzerainty of the Bulala monarchs and the conditions in which they eventually (re)established their sultanate in the Lake Fitri region? Many scholars and historians, such as H.R. Palmer, Muhammad Nur Alkali, Jean-Claude Zeltner, Remi Dewiere, and Dierk Lange have relied on the Diwan, external Arabic sources such as al-Maqrizi, the chronicles of Idris Alooma’s campaigns written by Ahmad b. Furtu, and oral traditions, girgams, or observations of fired-brick ruin sites in Kanem and the Bahr el-Ghazal regions of Chad to speculate on this question. Scholars drawing on Bulala, Kanembu, and Tunjur traditions also add further details to the poorly understood 16th and 17th centuries in Kanem. Instead of revisiting in excruciating detail the Kanem campaigns of Idris Alooma (or, Idris b. Ali, r. 1564-1596), we believe a more holistic view of the Bulala sultanate in Kanem requires closer examination of Kanembu oral tradition, Bulala tradition, and an attempt at corroboration of various traditions collected from the Bulala, Kanuri, Tunjur, Bagirmi, and Waday states or peoples. Thus, in order to explore the question of Bulala origins, the establishment of a Bulala-ruled sultanate in Kanem, and their eventual decline by the 17th century, we shall endeavor to elucidate these questions through a combination of all the aforementioned sources. It shall be demonstrated that the Bulala sultanate was one which, if not initially of Sayfawa descent, recreated the administrative structure of the Banu Sayf state in Kanem. 

First, one must begin with an example of how problematic oral traditions can be for reconstructing the history of Kanem. The traditions recorded by Landeroin for the Tilho Mission in the beginning of the 20th century, for example, attribute the Sayfawa arrival in Kanem after the Bulala had already ruled the area. According to this body of tradition, the ancient Kanem subjects of the Bulala were the Kanembu, Tomaghera, Kangou, Koubouri, Tsougourti, Djiloas and Bulala.[1] Clearly, Kanembu oral traditions contradict the mainstream narrative of the annals of the Sayfawa dynasty, which establish the origins of the dynasty in medieval Kanem. However, by the 20th century, oral traditions in Kanem appear to have postdated the arrival of the Sayfawa to the era after Bulala rule, likely a reference to the establishment of the alifa at Mao in the 17th century. In addition, tradition attributed the exodus of the Sayfawa to Borno due to the greater fertility of the soil, not Bulala aggression.[2] Since these traditions are countered by earlier written sources (Ahmad b. Furtu’s chronicle, the Diwan, external Arabic sources from the medieval period, the traditions and narratives collected by Heinrich Barth and Gustav Nachtigal), one must interpret them very cautiously when endeavoring to make sense of the history of Kanem.

Another major source from the colonial-era, Henri Carbou, also collected traditions from Kanem and nearby regions of Chad. According to his informants, the Bulala were already mixed with the Hemet Arabs when they chased the Sayfawa out of Kanem.[3] Later, he wrote of the Hemat Arabs as contributing to the formation of the Bulala tribe.[4] However, other Arabs, like the Essela faction of the Salamat, aided Borno against the Sao. To some extent, Carbou’s interpretation of traditions were more accurate than that of the Tilho Mission. For instance, he postdated the arrival of the Bulala sultanate at Yao after the rise of Waday.[5] This is in accordance with other sources for a 17th century date of the Bulala (re)establishment of their base in the Lake Fitri region. Unlike Nachtigal, who wrote of the Bulala as a mixture of the Kouka and Awlad Hemed Arabs, Carbou emphasized a different origin.[6] Instead, the Bulala were a mix of the Kanembu and Hemat Arabs who were defeated by the Tunjur, thereby leading to their invasion of the Lake Fitri region. It is there that the Bulala mixed with the Kuka and Abou Semen.[7] Unfortunately, the inexact genealogies of the Bulala sultans appear to leave many rulers out, but a Sayfawa origin is asserted. Carbou favored an origin from mai Ibrahim b. Dunama’s son, Ali Gatel Magabirna.[8] Carbou, luckily, cites some names of Bulala sultans remembered in Kanembu songs as Hassen, Derbali, and Kalo.[9] Kanembu traditions further recall the Bulala as builders of walls or fortified sites.[10] This appears to be confirmed by Ahmad b. Furtu’s descriptions of fortified sites occupied by the Bulala in the 16th century, such as Gharni Kiyala. Later, Carbou also recorded the Kanembu tradition of a Bulala king named Kalo, who led the resistance to Borno in what must have been the first half of the 16th century.[11] This Kalo was said to have been the father of a Bulala princess named Assakele, where a community of Kanembu still resided in the 20th century in an area named after her.[12] According to Kanembu songs, Assakele was seized by Kalee djerma Melei, a slave official of Borno’s ruler sent to Kanem. A war broke out between the Bulala and Kanem when this djerma seized Kalo’s daughter by force.[13]

Lamentably, it remains quite difficult to historicize and contextualize some of the traditions reported by Carbou. Take the Bulala king, Kalo, for instance. His mother was said to have been named Lafia.[14] The name Lafia appears as a mai named Lefia in H.R. Palmer’s Sudanese Memoirs. But, in Palmer’s sources, Lafia was the father of Jil, who was the father of Anas, who was the father of Salih.[15] Another Bulala sultan, who fought a losing war against Muhammad b. Idris, son of Idris b. Ali (r. 1497-1519), was named in the Diwan as Kaday b. Lafia.[16] Further identification of Lalo may be corroborated in Kanuri traditions of Aissa Kili bint Dunama, said to have been a daughter of the Bulala sultan Dunama b. Salma (r. c.1500-1530).[17] Assuming Idris Alooma’s mother was the daughter of Dunama b. Salma and not the other sons of Salma, who was the father of a Bulala princess remembered in Kanem as Assakele, then it is likely that Dunama b. Salma was in fact Kalo. However, traditions reported in Palmer’s Sudanese Memoirs are contradictory about Idris Alooma’s mother. According to Palmer, Aisa Kili succeeded Ali Gaji and ruled for 7 years. Ali Gaji was said to have married a daughter of the Bulala ruler, Umr. Moreover, Aisa Kili was allegedly a sister of Idris Alooma, and had lived among the Bulala.[18] Idris Alooma’s mother, named Amsa, was said to have been a daughter of Jil ibn Bikoru of the Bulala.[19] According to Lange, Dunama b. Salmama was one of the Bulala kings defeated by the Sayfawa mai, Idris b. Ali (r. c.1497-1519).[20] If so, this agrees with the chronology given by Dewiere (c.1500-1530). As for Aisa Kili, a girgam translated by Palmer listed her as a child of Dunama, and a “princess of the blood.”[21] This same girgam lists the parents of Idris Alooma as Ali and Hamsa, with no indication of Aisa Kili being the mother of Idris. As for contemporary written sources, Ahmad b. Furtu only wrote that Idris Alooma was related to the Bulala by marriage or parentage.[22] The only other source asserting a Bulala origin for Idris Alooma’s mother is Muhammad Nur Alkali, who cited tradition that Idris’s mother was the sister of the Bulala sultan, Abdullahi.[23] Consequently, one is left uncertain about the Aissa Kili who was  held by tradition to be the mother of Idris Alooma yet also remembered as Amsa. 

As the aforementioned accounts of Landeroin, Palmer and Carbou demonstrate, the question of Bulala origins remain an enigma. Early sources from Kanem, particularly the 16th century writer Ahmad b. Furtu clearly identifies the Bulala as attacking Sayfawa mai Dawud from the region of Fitri and Madama.[24] Furtu’s account is based on a lost chronicle from earlier in the 16th century as well as informed oral tradition. Since he lived much closer in time to the events in question than Kanembu or Kanuri informants of the early 1900s, it is perhaps wise to lend greater credence to Furtu’s account. Indeed, some corroboration of it can be found in the Diwan, which lists a number of Sayfawa rulers killed in wars against the Bulala during the late 1300s: Dawud b. Ibrahim, Uthman b. Dawud, Uthman b. Idris, Abu Bakr Liyatu, Sa’id, and Kaday Afnu.[25] This strongly suggests that the traditions recorded by Ahmad b. Furtu are likely correct, and the wars with the Bulala grew in scale during the late 14th century. It is precisely during this period when Umar, who likely reigned from 1382-1387, moved the court to Kagha. As for the earlier origins of the Bulala, a possible hint of an alliance with Arab groups who had recently migrated into the region may be found in a letter to the Mamluk sultan, Barquq, by mai Uthman b. Idris in the early 1390s. According to said letter, the Judham Arabs had pillaged the lands of Borno and apparently took the side of the “enemies” of the Sayfawa, likely the Bulala.[26] Furthermore, al-Maqrizi, writing in the 15th century, wrote of the rulers of Borno waging jihad against Kanem for their apostasy and rebellion.[27] Some have interpreted this as a sign that the Sayfawa rulers were waging war against the Bulala sultans, who may have received support from part of the Kanembu population. This may also be corroborated by Fra Mauro’s mid-15th world map, indicating a place called “Bolala” in an area roughly corresponding to Kanem or its east. This map serves as further indication of some type of Bulala polity in the region of Kanem by the mid-1400s. As for the Arabs mentioned in the letter to Barquq, the Judham Arabs may have included some of the Arab groups said to have been part of the early Bulala coalition. Indeed, according to Carbou, the Bulala were already mixed with the Hemat when they chased the Sayfawa out of Kanem.[28] Even Nachtigal was told by a Bulala sultan that the Bulala were a mixture of the Kuka and Awlad Hemed Arabs.[29] As for their precise ethnic origins, Zeltner has proposed that they may have been related to the Kuka, as they speak a language similar to that of the Kuka, Bablia, Kenga and Medogo.[30] On the other hand, Carbou believed that the Bulala were actually Kanembu and Hemat Arabs who invaded them, were defeated by the Tunjur (thereby leading to their invasion of Fitri) and then mixed with the Kuka and Abou Semen.[31] Nonetheless, this is contradicted by the earlier testimony of Ahmad b. Furtu, who cited traditions of the Bulala attacking Kanem from the east with the peoples of Fitri and Madama. This implies that the Bulala were a distinct group, although they may have included Kanembu elements in their coalition that later conquered Kanem.

What of the alleged Sayfawa origin for the Bulala sultans? Carbou saw their kings as descendants of a son of Ibrahim b. Dunama of Kanem, named Ali Gatel Magabirna.[32] Barth, however, thought the founder of the Bulala dynasty was Djil Shikomeni, said to have been a son of Dunama Dibalemi.[33] Palmer, citing sometimes ambiguous traditions or producing elaborate versions of them in Sudanese Memoirs, offers more detail. According to one tradition, the Bulala of Fitri seized power from Dawud Nikalemi, which is in accordance with Ahmad b. Furtu’s understanding. However, in a Bulala girgam, the Bulala were presented as the son of a daughter of the Borno sultan. The sultan of Kanem (Borno?) then attacked the N’Gizam of Kanem for hosting the Bulala, but failed. This led to a kaygama named Dawud rebelling and ruling N’Gizam and the Bulala.[34] Intriguingly, the Diwan does mention a kaigama called Nikali who engaged in a civil war against Uthman b. Dawud, who only reigned for 9 months (c.1421-1422).[35] Is it conceivable that the kaigama Dawud Nigalemi may be a partially erroneous memory of the Nikali who overthrew Uthman b. Dawud in the tale recorded by Palmer? Further evidence is required, but it does match the portrait of dissension and civil wars among the Sayfawa during the period after Dunama Dibalemi’s reign. Indeed, the Diwan similarly recalls another kaygama, Muhammad, who fought a war against Bir b. Idris (r. 1389-1421).[36] On the other hand, Palmer also wrote of the first Bulala mai being a Lafia, who lived at Kowa Bagale near Njimi. He was said to have moved to Fitri after a war with Dunama Dibalemi, leaving his son Jil, at Bagale.[37] Assuming that Dunama Dibalemi was anachronistically inserted into the narrative, there was indeed a Bulala ruler named Abd al-Jalil, son of Amiya, who killed the Sayfawa king, Dawud, in c.1376. Moreover, Ahmad b. Furtu wrote that there were no Bulala in the days of Dunama Dibalemi, suggesting traditions are anachronistically inserting the illustrious 13th century ruler into the later annals of Sayfawa and Bulala history.[38] Until further evidence is uncovered, it does appear that the Bulala ruling dynasty developed due to the civil wars of the Banu Sayf, eventually establishing themselves as the new masters of Kanem. By the late 19th and early 20th centuries, some of the traditions were possibly garbled or misunderstood by European travelers and colonial officials, whereas new traditions may have “replaced” earlier notions of the history of the Bulala. For instance, Nachtigal was told that the name, Bulala, was derived from a leader named Belal, the first to centralize the Bulala government.[39] Such an etymology seems like an example of a “just-so” popular etymology and lacks the rich details of other traditions tracing the genealogies of the Bulala sultans at Yao. The ambiguity and unanswered questions on the origins of the Bulala sultans is perhaps no surprise given the loss of written sources, relocation of their dynasty to the east, and the attested intermarriage or common parentage with the Sayfawa. 

And what of Kanem under the rule of the Bulala sultans? According to Zeltner, presumably relying on traditions, the Sayfawa rulers of Borno retained control of the entire northern shore of Lake Chad well into the 15th century. After 1460, however, the Bulala ruler Abd al Jalil b. Kade fought Borno over Buluj and 2 other villages.[40] Moreover, Idris Alooma’s grandfather went to war against the Bulala twice, eventually retaking Njimi 122 years after it fell to their rivals.[41] A Bulala sultan named Kaday ibn Abdul Jalil was said to have come to Borno and died at Lada after, allegedly early into the reign of Idris’s successor, Muhammad b. Idris. According to Ahmad b. Furtu, Bulala raids on Borno territory continued into the mid-16th century. In Kanembu tradition, the Bulala sultans were remembered for their fortified sites, too, such as Garni Kiyala, Ikuma and al Agafi.[42] This is perhaps no surprise given their conflicts with the Sayfawa rulers in Borno and ongoing depredations against Borno territory. Nonetheless, the Bulala rulers had close ties with the Banu Sayf. One sultan, Abd Allah ibn Jull, performed the pilgrimage to Mecca with Idris Alooma in 1565. He was described as “not very famous” and part of the suite of the mai.[43] The previously mentioned Aisa Kili, who may have been the mother of Idris Alooma and a Bulala princess, perhaps contributed to close relations between the two royal houses. 

 

Unfortunately, conflict arose again in the 1570s when Idris Alooma led multiple campaigns against the Bulala sultans. Very detailed accounts of those campaigns written by the chief imam, Ahmad b. Furtu provides the most complete description of Kanem in this era. Thanks to Furtu, we know of some of the Bulala fortified sites or towns. Luckily, Magnavita et al. have also used radiocarbon dating on some sites of fired-brick ruins in Kanem. At least two of the fired-brick sites in a cluster of central Kanem ruin suites were dated to the period between the 1400s to the 1600s, when the Bulala sultans held sway over the region. But, their fired-brick ruins were constructed at the slopes of the dunes and bottoms of depressions, unlike earlier Sayfawa-era sites.[44] In addition, the town of Mao was already an important center in Kanem by the 1570s. The Bulala political capital of the region is not clear, but it would seem that the sultans had managed to form alliances with the Tubu against Borno. Other groups to the east appear to have been under the suzerainty of the Bulala sultans, as Arabs and Kuka from the Fitri region felt compelled to meet with Idris Alooma near the Bahr el Ghazal.[45] This implies that the Bulala sultanate encompassed not just Kanem, but likely parts of the Fitri region and perhaps the northern part of what became the kingdom of Bagirmi in the 1500s.[46] Indeed, Bir b. Idris, a Sayfawa ruler, died in Bagirmi in c.1421.[47] The Bulala influence in the northern part of Bagirmi may have sparked the conflict with the Sayfawa lead to the death of this mai. The Bulala were even remembered in Kawar for one particularly brutal raid in Bilma during the 17th century, probably in the early 1600s, when Bulala forces massacred locals.[48] Intriguingly, Nachtigal recorded a raid from Bagirmi that would have reached Kawar in the 1600s, possibly referring to the same attack if Bagirmi and Bulala forces collaborated in a raid.[49] This same Bagirmi mbang, Burkomanda (r. 1635-1665), had a sister married to the Bulala ruler in Fitri.[50] Ultimately, in the 1400s and 1500s, the Bulala sultans may have held more power than the burgeoning kingdom of Bagirmi while also imposing tribute on lands east of Kanem.

The sultanate in Kanem appears to have maintained practices of the Sayfawa with certain adaptations due to demographic and ecological shifts. In terms of their state’s administrative structure, it appears to have continued the Sayfawa system, with titles like galadima, djerma, yerima, sindilma and more. Such titles still existed among the Bulala in Fitri.[51] It is very likely that the Bulala state managed to impose tribute on parts of the Lake Fitri region, northern Bagirmi, and upon the Kanembu in Kanem for resources. They must have also continued to engage in some degree of trans-Saharan trade through Kawar and perhaps with lands to the east. Within Kanem, their subjects were said to encompass the Tomagheras, Kangus, Koubouri, Tsougourtis, Djiloas, and Bulala.[52] A Kuka population in Gujer may have accompanied the Bulala when they conquered Kanem in the 14th and 15th centuries.[53] Adding further detail is the brief mention of the Bulala by Ahmad Baba of Timbuktu. Writing in response to North Africans about which black population were permissible to enslave, Baba wrote of the Bulala as composed of Muslim Fulani, Shuwa Arabs, and “Sudan” who were sometimes enslaved and sold by Borno.[54] One may surmise that the trona deposits of Foli were also exploited by this point, making salt, trona, livestock, leather and possibly captives probable items of exchange for the economy. Lastly, the Bulala sultans may have played a role in the rise or maintenance of “casted” populations, the Haddad. The common ancestry of some Haddad and the Bulala was still known in the early 20th century.[55] To what extent specific caste-like groups associated with specific types of labor developed in Kanem is unclear, but the Bulala sultans may have played a role in at least continuing it across Kanem.

 

Another poorly understood aspect of Kanem’s history is the fall of the Bulala sultanate in the region. Many sources concur on attributing its decline to the coming of the Tunjur from Waday. The standard narrative suggests that, following Idris Alooma’s successful campaigns, the Bulala sultans continued to reside in Kanem and likely sent tribute to the Sayfawa mai. However, at some point in the 17th century, after the rise of Waday (likely in the 1630s, according to Nachtigal’s chronology), part of the Tunjur population led by a son of the last Tunjur king, Dawud, migrated west. At some point after the fall of the Bulala sultans in Kanem, Borno sent the first alifa, Dala Afuno, who ruled from Mao. Zeltner, drawing on Gros’s study of Tunjur oral traditions and other sources, believed that the Bulala may have gradually shifted from Kanem due to environmental factors as it became more arid in the 17th century. Furthermore, the Tunjur, who may have begun migrating to Kanem in the 1630s at the earliest, may not have been powerful enough to seriously threaten or unseat the Bulala sultanate.[56] Bulala traditions from the Fitri region shed little further light. A king, Djili Esa Toubou, who had been raised in Bagirmi, was said to have conquered Fitri from the dry Massoa region.[57] This Djili Esa Toubo, or Djil Essa Tubo in Hagenbucher’s spelling, was said to have come to the aid of the Abou Semen against the Kuka and was succeeded by 20 sultans until 1967.[58] This Djil, or Djili, may be equated with the Abd al Jalil mentioned by Palmer as the first Bulala sultan ruling the Kuka at Gao (Yao?).[59] This narrative seems to imply that the Bulala had already left Kanem by the time of Djili Esa Toubo, so possibly in the decades after the rise of Waday and during or after the immigration of the Tunjur in Kanem. In light of the uncertainty caused by the lack of firmer dates for the establishment of Waday, the migration of the Tunjur, the relocation of the Bulala, and Borno sponsoring an alifa at Mao, one can only follow Zeltner’s argument for the Tunjur migration in the 1630s. By 1642, the Dala Afuno of Mao was likely present, probably to restore order in Kanem and ensure the province’s (re)integration in Borno’s sphere of influence.

Undoubtedly, further research must be done to clarify, elaborate, and expand on the period of Bulala domination of Kanem. Sadly, the sources that do exist are Borno-centric or mainly focus on Kanuri traditions. Deeper examination of Kanembu oral traditions and songs may shed further light on the period of Bulala rule. Nonetheless, one can corroborate aspects of the traditional history through a multiplicity of sources. They are not enough to reconstitute more of Kanem’s history in the period, but they are revealing. The Bulala appear to have usurped control of Kanem by the late 14th century, and their state likely continued practices of the Sayfawa in administrative structure. The state likely controlled the Fitri region (however loosely) and perhaps parts of the northern section of Bagirmi. It is similarly likely that the Bulala sultans may have sponsored the migration of the Kuka into Gujer as well as some of the Shuwa Arabs. Their state may have reinforced or sponsored caste lineage groups for specific types of labor and forging. Despite their recurring conflicts with the Sayfawa maiwa in Borno, close relations were ensured through marriage alliances and even joint pilgrimages to Mecca. When relations were cordial or not disrupted by Bulala raids or refusal to send tribute, they likely enjoyed much local autonomy. It is our hope that with more surveying in Kanem and dating of sites with brick walls or ruins, the era of Bulala hegemony may receive further attention.

________________

[1] Moïse Landeroin, “Notice Historique,” in Documents scientifiques de la Mission Tilho, 1906-1909, 388.

[2] Ibid, 354. 

[3] Henri Carbou, La région du Tchad et du Ouadai II, 34.

[4] Ibid, 51.

[5] Carbou, La région du Tchad I, 292.

[6] Ibid, 300. 

[7] Ibid, 301.

[8] Ibid, 18.

[9] Ibid, 303.

[10] Ibid, 305.

[11] Ibid, 306.

[12] Ibid, 37. 

[13] Ibid, 44. 

[14] Henri Carbou, La région du Tchad, II, 47. 

[15] H.R. Palmer, Sudanese Memoirs III, 29.

[16] Lange, Diwan, 79.

[17] Rémi Dewière, Du lac Tchad à la Mecque, 379.

[18] Palmer, Sudanese Memoirs II, 42-43. 

[19] Ibid, 44. 

[20] Lange, Diwan, 79. 

[21] Palmer, “The Bornu Girgam,”79.

[22] Palmer, Sudanese Memoirs I, 19.

[23] Muhammad Nur Alkali, Kanem-Borno Under the Sayfawa, 200. 

[24] Palmer, Sudanese Memoirs I, 17. 

[25] Lange, Diwan, 76-77.

[26] Yusufu Bala Usman (editor), Studies in the History of Pre-Colonial Borno, 165.

[27] Lange, “L’eviction des Sefuwa du Kanem,” 327.

[28] Carbou, La région du Tchad II, 34. 

[29] Carbou, La région du Tchad I, 300.

[30] Jean-Claude Zeltner, Pages d’Histoire du Kanem, pays tchadien, 107. 

[31] Carbou, La région du Tchad I, 301.

[32] Ibid, 18. 

[33] Lange, Diwan, 76.

[34] Palmer, Sudanese Memoirs II, 32. 

[35] Lange, Diwan, 77. 

[36] Ibid.

[37] Palmer, Sudanese Memoirs III, 28-29. 

[38] Palmer, Sudanese Memoirs I, 50.

[39] Gustav Nachtigal, Sahara and Sudan IV, 34.

[40] Zeltner, 111. 

[41] Palmer, Sudanese Memoirs I, 17.

[42] Zeltner, 110. 

[43] Collet Hadrien, “Royal Pilgrims from Takrūr According to ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Jazīrī (12th–16th Century),”193.

[44] Carlos Magnavita, “New Luminescence and Radiocarbon Dates for Kanem-Borno Fired-Brick Elite Sites in Kanem, Chad: Bayesian Chronological Modelling of Settlement Construction,” 12.

[45] Zeltner, 151.

[46] Hints of possible Bulala rule in the north of the future kingdom of Bagirmi appear in Nachtigal’s account of Bagirmi history. Carbou claims it was actually the Kuka who imposed tribute on the north of Bagirmi (La région du Tchad I, 298).

[47] Lange, Diwan, 77.

[48] Maurice Abadie, La colonie du Niger, 133.

[49] Nachtigal, Sahara and Sudan III, 405.

[50] Ibid.

[51] Hagenbucher, “Notes sur les Bilala du Fitri,” 50.

[52] Landeroin, 388.

[53] Nachtigal, Sahara and Sudan III, 74.

[54] Ahmad Baba, Miʻrāj al-ṣuʻūd,  48.

[55] Carbou, La région du Tchad I, 52.

[56] Zeltner, 192-193. 

[57] Carbou, La region du Tchad I, 308.

[58] Hagenbucher, 50.

[59] Palmer, Sudanese Memoirs II, 30.

Aisa Kili bint Dunama

A favorite of the seraglio of the ruler of Borno in the 1820s based on a sketch in Denham, Clapperton and Oudney. The woman bears an uncanny resemblance to the magira photographed in Palmer's Bornu Sahara and Sudan.

One of the great female rulers of Borno, Aisa Kili N’girmaramma, remains a mystery. The exact chronology of her regency, the conditions that led to her occupying the throne, and how she was able to lead military expeditions and protect a young Idris Alooma are not clear. However, they are aspects of a pivotal period in Borno’s consolidation as a major regional power. Said to have been the mother of Idris Alooma in some traditions while others others assert she was a Sayfawa ruler related to Dunama, her parentage has been tentatively identified with Dunama b. Salma of the Bulala rulers in Kanem. Using references based on Kanembu oral traditions recorded by Henri Carbou, it is possible to more confidently identify Aisa Kili as a daughter of the Bulala ruler remembered as Kalo, probably the very same Dunama b. Salma who was defeated by Idris Alooma’s grandfather, Idris b. Ali (reigned c. 1497-1519). In fact, her seizure by Borno forces may have contributed to the conflict between Idris b. Ali and the Bulala sultans that reignited during the reign of Muhammad b. Idris (c. 1519-1538). Once in Borno, however, the Bulala princess was married to Ali, the father of Idris Alooma. In spite of Ali’s death in c. 1539, Aisa Kili was able to reign in her own right and protect the interests of her adopted homeland.

Lamentably, it remains quite difficult to historicize and contextualize some of the traditions reported by Carbou. Take the Bulala king, Kalo, for instance. His mother was said to have been named Lafia.[1] The name Lafia appears as a mai named Lefia in H.R. Palmer’s Sudanese Memoirs. But, in Palmer’s sources, Lafia was the father of Jil, who was the father of Anas, who was the father of Salih.[2] Another Bulala sultan, who fought a losing war against Muhammad b. Idris, son of Idris b. Ali (r. 1497-1519), was named in the Diwan as Kaday b. Lafia.[3] Further identification of Kalo may be corroborated in Kanuri traditions of Aissa Kili bint Dunama, said to have been a daughter of the Bulala sultan Dunama b. Salma (r. c.1500-1530).[4] Assuming Idris Alooma’s mother was the daughter of Dunama b. Salma and not the other sons of Salma, who was the father of a Bulala princess remembered in Kanem as Assakele, then it is likely that Dunama b. Salma was in fact Kalo. However, traditions reported in Palmer’s Sudanese Memoirs are contradictory about Idris Alooma’s mother. According to Palmer, Aisa Kili succeeded Ali Gaji and ruled for 7 years. Ali Gaji was said to have married a daughter of the Bulala ruler, Umr. Moreover, Aisa Kili was allegedly a sister of Idris Alooma, and had lived among the Bulala.[5] Idris Alooma’s mother, named Amsa, was said to have been a daughter of Jil ibn Bikoru of the Bulala.[6] According to Lange, Dunama b. Salmama was one of the Bulala kings defeated by the Sayfawa mai, Idris b. Ali (r. c.1497-1519).[7] If so, this agrees with the chronology given by Dewiere (c.1500-1530). As for Aisa Kili, a girgam translated by Palmer listed her as a child of Dunama, and a “princess of the blood.”[8] This same girgam lists the parents of Idris Alooma as Ali and Hamsa, with no indication of Aisa Kili being the mother of Idris. As for contemporary written sources, Ahmad b. Furtu wrote that Idris Alooma was related to the Bulala by marriage or parentage.[9] The only other source asserting a Bulala origin for Idris Alooma’s mother is Muhammad Nur Alkali, who cited tradition that Idris’s mother was the sister of the Bulala sultan, Abdullahi.[10] Consequently, one is left uncertain about the Aisa Kili who was  held by tradition to be the mother of Idris Alooma.

Ruins of Gambaru in Palmer's Bornu Sahara and Sudan.

Later traditions heard by Lange in the areas of Gambaru, Birni Gazargamo and other sites, add little more clarity. At the site of Mar, about 32 km southwest of Gambaru and where Aisa Kili was said to have died, Lange was told a well in the village had been constructed by the orders of Aisa Kili. In the village of Logomani, for instance, he was informed that it was founded by Aisa Kili, who was remembered in tradition as a male.[11] Intriguingly, her name has been translated as referring to her white horse, and tradition remembers her as leading military expeditions.[12] Lange also found that residents of the area of Gazargamo remembered Aisa Kili but not Idris Alooma.[13] Since Idris Alooma did indeed spend time at Gambaru and traditions remember a mother named Aisa Kili who built the site’s palace for her son, it does seem rather likely that Aisa Kili and Amsa are one and the same. 

Lange, in his earlier study and translation of the Diwan, suggested Aisa Kili was perhaps the mother of Idris Alooma’s grandfather, Idris b. Ali. This interpretation is based on the idea that Aisha may have been an important figure at the time who ensured the succession of Idris b. Ali (r. 1497-1519).[14] A defense of Lange’s interpretation can be found in the second volume of Palmer’s Sudanese Memoirs, where Ali Gaji Zeinami was said to have married Amsa, a daughter of the Bulala sultan, Umr.[15] Nonetheless, Nur Alkali makes a stronger case for placing Aisa Kili’s reign to the period of Abdullahi (r. 1557-1564). For instance, the maira Aisa Keli Ngermaram's reign was remembered to have included periods of famine or drought, which correlates with the Diwan on Abd Allah’s reign.[16] Likewise, the girgam published by Palmer places the reign of Aisa right before Idris Alooma’s. But unlike Muhammad Nur Alkali’s assertions, the girgam describes Aisa Kili as a daughter of Dunama, not a sister. To make matters even more baffling, Palmer’s Bornu Sahara and Sudan seems to imply she was a daughter of a Sayfawa monarch as well as a Bulala princess.[17]

Another question one must consider is the possibility that Aisa Kili was the magira but not necessarily the biological mother of Idris Alooma. The confusion found in the oral traditions might have arose due to the memory of Idris as Amsami in remembrance of his biological mother, but later fused her with traditions of the magira, Aisa Kili, who was indeed a major figure who held the throne for perhaps as many as 7 years. This might explain some of the inconsistencies in traditions about Idris Alooma’s mother as well as some of the contradictions in the traditions about relationships between similarly named kings of the Sayfawa from the time of Ali Gaji in the 15th century to Idris Alooma in the second half of the 16th century. Kings with similar names, might have been confused with their predecessors or successors and tradition remembered Aisa as a powerful ruler in her own right, perhaps thereby making her either a successor of Ali Gaji, mother of Idris Alooma, sister of Idris Alooma and sister of Dunama and Abdallah. A praise song even turns her into a daughter of Dunama Dibalemi.[18] This remains plausible since the same traditions sometimes turn Dunama Dibalemi into the father of Ali Gaji. In other words, the most prominent rulers of the annals of the Sayfawa were remembered and sometimes anachronisms emerged as events were traced to their illustrious reigns. 

In summation, Aisi Kili likely was a Bulala princess who, through a series of events and circumstances, briefly held paramount authority in Borno. Based on the Kanembu songs referring to a Bulala princess named Assakele, who was seized by Borno forces, it is likely she was the daughter of Dunama b. Salma (or Kadai). Kanembu sung tradition seems to identify Dunama b. Salma as Kalo. This very same Kalo was also said to have led the heroic resistance against the forces of Borno, presumably the campaign of Idris b. Ali (r. 1497-1519). Idris b. Ali’s son, Muhammad, subsequently led a Kanem campaign that defeated the Bulala sultan, Kadai b. Lafia, a brother of Dunama b. Salma. At some point, probably during the campaigns of Idris b. Ali or Muhammad b. Idris, Assakele was seized by a tsarma of Borno. She later became the wife of Ali b. Idris, who reigned briefly in c.1538-1539 in Borno. If she was indeed the mother or queen-mother of Idris Alooma, who came to the throne in c.1564, she was able to establish  herself politically and even lead military expeditions, perhaps during the troubled period of famines and drought that preceded the coming to power of Idris Alooma. If tradition can be trusted, she even sponsored fired-brick palaces and mosques at Gambaru and may have played a key role in the cordial relations between the Bulala and Sayfawa royal houses. In fact, the Bulala sultan, Abd Allah ibn Jil, who performed the hajj with Idris Alooma in 1565, would have been a cousin of the mai.[19] While much remains unanswered about her exact connection with Idris Alooma, it appears likely she was indeed at least a magira whose leadership skills helped the Sayfawa stay afloat during the turbulent years of famine in the 1550s and early 1560s.

________________

[1] Henri Carbou, La region du Tchad et du Ouadai, tome 2, 47. 

[2] H.R. Palmer, Sudanese Memoirs 3, 29..

[3] Lange, Diwan, 79.

[4] Remi Dewiere, Du lac Tchad à la Mecque, 379.

[5] Palmer, Sudanese Memoirs 2, 42-43. 

[6] Ibid, 44. 

[7] Lange, Diwan, 79. 

[8] Palmer, “The Bornu Girgam,”79. 

[9] Palmer, Sudanese Memoirs 1, 19.

[10] Muhammad Nur Alkali, Kanem-Borno Under the Sayfawa, 200. 

[11] Lange, A Sudanic Chronicle, 132. 

[12] Muhammad Nur Alkali, Kanem-Borno Under the Sayfawa, 148.

[13] Lange, A Sudanic Chronicle, 133.

[14] Lange, Diwan, 80.

[15] Palmer, Sudanese Memoirs 2, 39.

[16] Muhammad Nur Alkali, Kanem-Borno under the Sayfawa, 150. 

[17] Palmer, Bornu Sahara and Sudan, 232-233.

[18] Lange, A Sudanic Chronicle, 132.

[19] Collet Hadrien, “Royal Pilgrims from Takrur According to ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Jazīrī (12th–16th Century),” 193.

Searching for Njimi

Part of Gustav Nachtigal's map of Kanem featuring Mao, Gujer, Mondo and other settlements.

Archaeologists researching in Kanem in the last few years have become increasingly certain that Tié, in central Kanem, was the probable site of the Sayfawa royal capital. Carlos Magnavita, Tchago Bouimon, and other researchers studying sites with fired-brick ruins and debris have been able to confirm, through radiocarbon dating, the development of brick construction by the 11th century. The Tié site, which features the most imposing brick enclosure, appears to have been the center of a cluster of multiple smaller sites featuring smaller fired-brick structures. The 11th century and 12th century dates strongly correlate with the known chronology for Kanem's Sayfawa dynasty's Islamization. Nonetheless, the rather small size of Tié and other nearby sites suggest Njimi, the Islamic capital of the Sayfawa, was not a bustling birni-styled capital. Instead of something akin to Birni Gazargamo in Borno, Njimi may have been a rather small royal settlement with imposing fired-brick structures. In order to explore the nature of urbanism in Kanem under the Sayfawa, focusing on the 11th-14th centuries, we shall first examine written sources and traditions on the first towns in Kanem. Then, we shall revisit the works of Magnavita and other specialists to see where the accounts agree and possible conclusions about cities and towns in Kanem.

The earliest unambiguous sources on Kanem date to the 9th century. A precious external Arabic source, written by al-Ya'qubi in the late 9th century, includes a brief description of Kanem. In his brief account, Kanem was said to lack towns and its people resided in reed huts (Levtzion & Hopkins 21). By the late 10th century, al-Muhallabi, whose account on Kanem was later quoted by Yaqut, wrote that Kanem had 2 towns: Manan and Tarazki. Kanem's people still lived in houses of reed huts (including the king's palace) and the population relied on livestock, sorghum, camels, and the "worship" of their king (21). This brief description of Kanem suggests that by about 1 century after the writing of al-Ya'qubi, its people were increasingly sedentary but still unfamiliar with fired-brick architecture. After al-Muhallabi, the next detailed description of Kanem was written by al-Idrisi. One would like to consider al-Bakri, who wrote in the second half of the 11th century, but his description of Kanem repeated the story of Banu Ummaya fleeing to Kanem and preserving Arab customs. Consequently, one must move on to al-Idrisi. Like al-Bakri, al-Idrisi did not see Kanem. However, his is the earliest written account to name the capital of the Islamic Sayfawa, Njimi. 

Bivar and Shinnie's plan of the Tié site in "Old Kanuri Capitals."

According to al-Idrisi, Kanem included the towns of Anjimi, Manan, and a "town" of Zaghawa. Manan was still seen as a small town whose residents bred camels and goats. Anjimi, or Njimi, was said to be 8 days' travel away from Manan, likely to the southeast. Njimi, the capital, was described by al-Idrisi as a very small town, with few inhabitants of very humble origins. It is possible al-Idrisi is unreliable here, since the archaeological evidence of fired-brick sites suggests that Njimi was a center inhabited by the Sayfawa maiwa and court-affiliated elites (not to mention their subordinates, families, and slaves). Intriguingly, the only "town" with any noticeable degree of commerce and manufacturing was Zaghawa, believed by al-Idrisi to have been a well-populated center 6 days from Anjimi and 8 stages from Manan. Since "Zaghawa" may have been a region rather than a real town or city, it is possible that an area likely east of Njimi may have attracted people from different communities for trade. Ultimately, al-Idrisi's account is problematic and may have garbled sources from different time periods. For instance, he believed that Manan was the town where the ruler and governor lived, relying on soldiers who were naked archers (114). Since Njimi was the capital of the Sayfawa by the 12th century, one wonders if al-Idrisi relied on information from outdated sources from the period when Kanem's capital was indeed located at Manan. This may also explain why al-Idrisi emphasized that Manan and Njimi were very small towns, since past sources like al-Ya'qubi thought Kanem lacked any towns and al-Muhallabi only wrote of 2. 

After al-Idrisi, the most detailed description of Kanem was penned by Ibn Sa'id. Relying heavily on the works of Ibn Fatima, who traveled to Kanem in the 13th century during the reign of Dunama Dibalemi, Ibn Sa'id provides one of the best sources for the apogee of medieval Kanem. Like past generations of geographers, he wrote of Manan and Njimi. Some details in his account demonstrate a knowledge of Lake Chad (called Lake Kuri) and a town of Jaja, a center named Badi, and even a pleasure ground of the mai on the west bank of the Bahr el-Ghazal. According to Ibn Sa'id, Manan was located at longitude 51 degrees and latitude 13 degrees, which is further south than al-Muhallabi's coordinates. Njimi, to its southeast, was at longitude 53 degrees and latitude 9 degrees. Manan was the town of the pagan ancestors of the Muslim rulers of Kanem (188). The town of Ni, on a level with Njimi, was where the Sayfawa king had a garden and pleasure-ground and boats, about 40 miles from Njimi (188). If one converts the Arabic mile to km, this suggests a distance of about 70 km between Ni on the Bahr el-Ghazal and Njimi, in Zeltner's estimation (Zeltner 60). Like al-Idrisi, Ibn Sa'id also reported a Zaghawa "town" but specifying its location at longitude 54 degrees and latitude 11 degrees 30 minutes. This Zaghawa "town" was presumably in the Zaghawa region east of Manan. Altogether, Ibn Sa'id's account tells us that Njimi was southeast of Manan, which was south of Kawar, with the Zaghawa "town" somewhere to the east of Kanem. A probably false tradition repeated from Ibn Fatima was the movement of Kanem's capital away from the "Nile" due to the harmful effects of mosquitoes on horses and humans (Levtzion & Hopkins 188). If, however, the story is true, then the rulers of Kanem may have once maintained a court closer to the Bahr el-Ghazal before moving to Njimi. Evidence against this notion can be found in earlier accounts describing Kanem's capital as Manan, which, if northwest of Njimi, would have been located much farther away from the Bahr el-Ghazal.

Magnavita's map of fired-brick sites in Kanem 

Next in the medieval Arabic sources on Njimi is al-Umari. Besides repeating that Kanem's capital was Njimi, he also wrote about Kanem's use of rice, wheat, sorghum, figs, lemons, grapes, aubergines and dates. He also wrote about the ruler of Kanem's ritual seclusion, only appearing before the public at 2 festivals. The main form of currency in Kanem was the dandi, measurements of cloth produced in Kanem and used to set the price for goods (260). This brief account tells us that local weaving in Kanem must have been of a sufficient scale to produce extra cloth for currency or a unit of exchange. It also implies that Kanem's agricultural potential may not have been as negatively impacted by increasing aridity yet. Furthermore, the idea of a notable level of cloth production in Borno in the 14th century is attested to by Ibn Battuta, who wrote of Borno's exports as slaves and a cloth dyed with saffron (302). Although he was describing Borno, this was at a time before the Sayfawa dynasty permanently relocated to Borno as the home province. One can presume that agricultural products, cloth, captives, and probably fish, salts, and livestock were items exchanged at markets in Kanem and Borno during the 1300s, with Njimi possibly being one center.

The last Arabic sources on Njimi from the medieval era are less useful, but occasionally provide glimpses of the city. For al-Qalqashandi, Borno's capital was at Kaka and another town was Kutniski, one day east of Kaka. Supposedly, Kaka was only 40 miles from Njimi, presumably somewhere to the west if it was the center of the Sayfawa rulers of Borno. Again, if 40 Arabic miles was equivalent to around 70 km, then the Sayfawa maiwa must have been relatively close to Njimi despite losing control of the area to the Bulala. Of course, it is also possible al-Qalqashandi confused Kaka with Ni, said to have been 40 miles from Njimi in the 13th century. Last but certainly not least, al-Maqrizi also wrote about Kanem. For al-Maqrizi, Kanem's capital was still Njimi, which he rendered as Aljama. Indeed, it was from Aljama that Kanem launched a raid against the Mabna in 1252/3 (354). Although by the 15th century, Kanem was under the suzerainty of the Bulala sultans, al-Maqrizi intriguingly reported information from earlier centuries when the Sayfawa were still based there. Besides al-Maqrizi and the aforementioned sources, other medieval Arabic sources contain only passing references to Kanem or Njimi. For instance, al-Tijani wrote of Kanem's intervention in the land of Waddan, crushing the revolt of a son of Qaraqush. This rebel's head was later brought to Kanem and paraded around in 1258, presumably in Njimi (215). 

Comparison of sketch plans of Tié by Bivar & Shinnie and Gonzemai in Magnavita's "Early Kanem-Borno fired brick élite locations in Kanem, Chad: archaeological and historical implications."

After the external Arabic sources from the medieval period, one must consider internal sources from Kanem-Borno and oral traditions. One of the earliest, the "Mahram of the N'Galma Duku" published in H.R. Palmer's Bornu Sahara and Sudan, included mention of a plastered mosque with a clay roof built sometime in the late 1100s or early 1200s (Palmer 19). The imam, Ahmad b. Furtu, writing about Idris Alooma's campaigns against the Bulala in the 1570s, also mentioned Njimi. In Palmer's translation, Ahmad b. Furtu described the mai praying at the tombs of the great Sayfawa sultans (Palmer SM, Vol. 1, 25). Naturally, the Diwan includes allusions to Njimi, too. However, only 5 kings were said to have died at Njimi: Bir, Abdallah b. Kaday, Idris b. Ibrahim (who may have died at Dammasak), Uthman b. Dawud, and Uthman b. Idris. Since other kings may have died elsewhere but were later buried in Njimi, we cannot limit the analysis to only these 5 rulers. Bir, who died at Njimi in c. 1296, was a son of Dunama Dibalemi (Diwan 73). Two of the rulers who died at Njimi were said to have been killed by the Bulala: Uthman b. Dawud in c.1379 and Uthman b. Idris in c. 1381 (76). This suggests that by c.1379, the Bulala were enough of a threat to attack Njimi or its environs. Intriguingly, the area of Gujer, to the northeast of Mao, was still observed to contain Kuka inhabitants who came to Kanem with the Bulala (Nachtigal 74). Were the Bulala attacking Njimi from the north?

Unfortunately, oral traditions shed little additional light on Njimi. As reported through the Diwan, Njimi was said to have been established by the Sayfawa when they left Yemen, beginning with Saif. Thus, in Palmer's translation of the Diwan, Saif died at Njimi, or Sima (Bornu Sahara and Sudan 90). Other traditions included in Palmer's collections of traditions point to different figures for the origins of Njimi. For example, Birni Njimi was said to have been built by Dunama Dibalemi in one tradition (Palmer SM, Vol. 2, 79). In another tradition, the founder of Njimi was Mai Brema Melemi (100). This figure, perhaps meant to be the father of Dugu, Ibrahim, suggests that the oral traditions in Gazargamo became garbled on the subject of early Kanem capitals. Indeed, traditions collected by Landeroin for the Tilho Mission are similarly vague. "Birni Njime" was the Sayfawa capital, and supposedly about 40 km east of Mao (Landeroin 354). But, the very use of the word birni may be anachronistic if the word is not of Kanuri or Kanembu origin. As for Nachtigal, who traveled in Borno and Kanem during the late 1800s, Njimi was located somewhere between Mao and Gujer, but closer to the latter. Nachtigal's reasoning here is not clear, and may reflect observations on demographic shifts in Kanem in the centuries after the 14th century. For instance, Nachtigal believed that Mao and Gala were the centers of the most thickly populated parts of Kanem when it was the main province of the Sayfawa (Nachtigal 74). However, this might have be a reflection of the period when Mao was the capital of the alifas of Kanem, tributaries to the Sayfawa in Borno. Nonetheless, Dierk Lange seemingly concurred with Nachtigal, preferring to locate Njimi to the northwest of Tié (A Sudanic Chronicle 159).

Satellite and aerial images of Tié site in Magnavita.

Traditions recorded more recently raise further questions. Bivar and Shinnie, researching old Kanuri capitals, noted an axis of brick ruins at sites from Siguei in the northeast to Mussoro in the southeast. They also knew of Tié, about 30 miles away from Mao (Shinnie & Bivar 7). They found at Tié scattered brick debris at the crest of a large dune and about 2 miles from sources of water. The site was only 243 meters by 218 meters (8). They failed to identify any traces of a wall, either. But, according to Mao tradition, Tié ruins were said to have been the work of the Bulala (9). Since the Bulala may have occupied the site of Njimi after defeating the Sayfawa, it is not too surprising that Mao oral traditions remember the site as a Bulala one. Zeltner, on the other hand, wrote about Njimi, or Cimi, as occupying the area to the northwest of Ciye Isiri. There brick debris and vestiges of a royal palace were observable (Zeltner 147). Bivar and Shinnie, unlike Zeltner, thought the larger brick structure was a mosque, not a palace. By the time Gonzemai examined the site for an MA thesis in the early 2000s, more vestiges of the fired-brick ruins were visible and he identified the structure as a palace. Moreover, local informants indicated that the area of Tié was locally called Cimi-Ye or Njimi-ye in the past (Magnavita, Dangbet & Bouimon). This local name and the discovery of a site with fired-brick ruins support the identification of the area as Njimi, right?

Archaeologists, as of 2022, have now uncovered 90 fired-brick sites, most in the area east of Mao in the provinces of Kanem and Bahr el-Ghazal (Magnavita, Lindauer, Adjibane 40). 13 of these sites cluster around Tié and were built before the Sayfawa abandoned the region (12). According to their dating, the earliest fired-brick buildings in Kanem appeared by the 1000s (21). At the Tié site, a fired-brick enclosure and 2 secondary enclosures cover 3.2 hectares. Walls and passageways demonstrate that Tié included secluded spaces and courtyards (Magnavita & Bouimon). Furthermore, analysis of glass beads from Tié point to long-distance exchange. Most beads were of a high alumina soda glass perhaps made in the greater Indian Ocean area (Magnavita et al 113). Chemical analysis strongly suggests that the sources for glass beads at medieval Kanem's capital was supplied by an unknown trans-Sudanic route that led to the Middle Nile, ultimately coming to Africa from the Red Sea or Indian Ocean coasts (114). These studies suggest Njimi was indeed participating in long-distance exchange networks, and not solely through trans-Saharan trade with North Africa. Perhaps the "town" of Zaghawa and Tajuwa were the areas through which beads from the Indian Ocean reached Kanem. Njimi itself, due to its small size, if the Tié site was indeed Njimi, may have been supplied by a market center further away from Njimi, perhaps located at a site to the east or north. One wonders if Njimi may have functioned as a secluded royal center akin to Gambaru in Borno, but a major market and some type of city existed further away in a site that remains unknown.

A view of the preserved outer wall, plinth and foundation of the building under Mound 1 at Tié, photo by Magnavita.

Otherwise, one must agree with Magnavita and MacEachern that Kanem lacked urbanism. Despite more than 50 fired-brick settlements in a radius of 25 km from Tié's largest central enclosure, none were more larger than 3 hectares (Magnavita & MacEachern 228-229). If correct, this means Njimi really was a tiny settlement surrounded by several other small settlements that also contained fired-brick constructions. These must have been settlements with members of the Sayfawa family or high-status individuals living in these areas who were allowed to also use fired-brick walls or enclosures. Undoubtedly, the more arid environment of Kanem inhibited the growth of large population centers like Birni Gazargamo in Borno, but one cannot help but contrast descriptions from medieval Arabic sources describing Njimi and Manan as cities. If Tié was more akin to Gambaru, a royal Sayfawa center not too far away from the capital, one cannot help but wonder if there was not at least one major trading center for market exchange elsewhere in Kanem. Otherwise, the more complex economy using cotton cloth as a unit of currency and the probable exchange of captives, textiles, salt, trona, leather, livestock, dried fish, and agricultural products would have remained on a smaller scale. In fact, references to Kanem and Kawar  in the trans-Saharan trade often emphasize the slave trade. Yet even slave raiding and slave trading would have required some degree of an organized military with access to weapons, horses, and canoes. Feeding captives before their transit across the Sahara must have also required adequate food production, just as the production of cloth and fabrics probably required full-time artisans and some degree of specialization. Similarly, the trona sites at Foli necessarily required labor to work them, and the rulers of Kanem may have also sponsored the creation of new settlements from captives forcibly relocated to different parts of Kanem. Such a notion is supported by a praise song to Hummay, a late 11th century ruler who allegedly separated slaves taken in battle and settled them in different parts of Kanem. Last but certainly not least, the creation and consolidation of a court-affiliated nobility and land grants to religious specialists (Islamic clerics) required adequate populations of slaves, farmers, and free the elites from full-time farming. 

Since a southward orientation is suggested by the possible relocation of Manan between the late 10th century and the 13th century, the rulers of Kanem may have sought to center their settlements near sources of water and land to the south, especially the fertile land of Borno. If Jaja, which was east of Badi and southwest of Njimi was located in Borno, this fertile area already had towns and must have attracted people from Kanem. This southward migration likely varied in pace and severity with the fluctuations in the levels of Lake Chad, perhaps making parts of Kanem and the Bahr el-Ghazal capable of supporting larger populations than today. Indeed, Kanem by the days of Nachtigal's travels was estimated to only have about 70,000 inhabitants (Nachtigal 91). By that period, much of Kanem's territory was only occupied by nomadic pastoralists, so it is possible that in wetter periods during the medieval era, Kanem's population was significantly higher. If so, larger urban centers characterized by the reed, mud, and thatch structures may have developed, particularly along major routes for trade and exchange. Archaeologists undertaking research in Kanem should also search the area of Gala, Mao, and Gujer for possible sites of larger settlements that attracted trade. Perhaps closer to Manan to Njimi's northwest, and a site further east for trade connecting to eastward routes of exchange with what is now Waday and Darfur should be considered. Whilst this process happened, migration to the southwest for the more fertile lands of Borno may have begun to drain part of Kanem's population by the 1200s.

In conclusion, reviewing the various sources on the Sayfawa dynasty's medieval capital has raised a number of questions. If Tié truly was the site of Njimi, does this mean Kanem lacked an urban tradition until the Sayfawa relocated to Borno? And how does that match the medieval Arabic sources describing cities or towns in Kanem? If Tié as a royal center was more akin to the later Gambaru of Borno, does that mean there could be sites in Kanem that feature urban traits? And did they feature a dendal and similar domestic architecture to later Kanuri architecture? When did large, walled political capitals emerge in Kanem? We have argued that Kanem likely had centers like that for the exchange of goods, provisioning traders, travelers, slaves, and pilgrims, and for a small segment of the population engaged in non-subsistence activities during the dry-season or on a more permanent basis due to their official titles, artisanal labor, or trading activities. Since a large number of sites with fired-brick ruins have been located around Tié and in the area east of Mao, one can agree with Magnavita et al on Tié being a royal center, but was it the economic capital and demographic center with urban features identified in contemporaneous Arabic sources?

Bibliography

Bivar, A. D. H., and P. L. Shinnie. “Old Kanuri Capitals.” The Journal of African History 3, no. 1 (1962): 1–10. http://www.jstor.org/stable/179796.

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

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

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

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