Chapter XXII: Appendix (4)

+------------+--------------------------------+-------------+----------+
|Name of the | Principal Events during the |Place where |Length of |
| King. | Reign of each King. | he died. |the Reign |
| | | | in Lunar |
| | | | Years. |
+------------+--------------------------------+-------------+----------+
| SÉF. |Is said to have come to Kánem, |Sámina. | 20. |
| |where he founded a new dynasty, | | |
|(Said to be)|and reigned over several tribes;|A place in | |
| Son of Dhu |viz. the Berbers (Begháma?), |the territory| |
|Yazan and of|Tebu, or Tedá, Kánembú, and |of the Dájó? | |
| a woman of |others. Imám Áhmed states |[177] | |
| Mekka. |expressly that he came to | | |
| |Njímiye. | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|IBRAHÍM, or |“Father of the Sultan.”—_Imám | ? | 16. |
| BÍRAM. |Áhmed._ | | |
| | | | |
| Son of Séf | | | |
|and ʿAáisha.| | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| DÚKU, or |Seems to be generally recognized|Yéri Árfasá. | [250] ? |
| DÚGU. |as the first king of this | | |
| |dynasty; and for this reason, |A place said | Probably |
| Son of |his father Íbrahím is called |by the Bórnu | second |
|Íbrahím and |“father of the Sultan.” There is|people (I | half of |
| Ghafalúwa, |still in Bórnu a numerous family|have no doubt| the 9th |
|of the tribe|called Dúguwa, who refer their |erroneously) | century, |
|of the Kaye.|origin to Dúgu; and it would |to lie S. | A.D. |
| |seem that Dúguwa is the name |from Túburi, | |
| |which really belongs to the |in the Músgu | |
| |dynasty, as is intimated by the |country. We | |
| |chronicle itself further on. |shall find a | |
| | |place Yira in| |
| | |Kánem. | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| FUNÉ. |A powerful and successful |Malána. | 60. |
| |prince. | | |
|Son of Dúgu.| |A place in | |
| | |Kánem. | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| ARITSÓ. | | ? | 50. |
| | | | |
|Son of Funé | | | |
| and | | | |
| Fukálshi. | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| KATÚRI. | |Kaluwána. |[250](?). |
| | | | |
| Son of | | | |
| Aritsó ben | | | |
| Funé. | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| ADYÓMA, |His reign evidently falls in the|Tatnúri. | 20. |
| AYÓMA, or |last years of the 4th and the | | |
| WAYÁMA. |first of the 5th century of the |With an | |
| |Hejra; most probably in 390-410,|uncertain | |
| Son of |or A.D. 1000-1019. |Bereríya. | |
| Katúri and | |(Berberíya?) | |
| Tumáyu, of | | | |
|the tribe of| | | |
| the Bení | | | |
| Ghalgha. | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| BULÚ. | |Dheghjabadmi,| 16. |
| | |or | |
| Son of | |Meghjibadmi. | |
| Adyóma and | | | |
|Ghanjáya, of| | | |
|the tribe of| | | |
| the Kaye. | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| ÁRKI. |Had plenty of slaves, of whom he|Rílana, or | 44. |
| |settled 300 in Dirká (probably |Zílana. | |
|Son of Bulú |Dirki), 300 in Síggedim, both in| | |
| and |Kawár; and 300 in Rílana, or | | |
|Azisenna, of|Zílana, the place where he died.| | |
|the tribe of|From this it is evident that he | | |
| the |was master of the Tebu country. | | |
| Temágheri. | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| SHÚ, or |Distinguished by his fine |Ghanta Kamna.| 4. |
|HÚWA. [178] |figure. If we knew that he | | |
| |“reigned by a viceroy or | | |
|Son of Árki |khalífa,” we should conclude | | |
| and Tefsú, |that he was an effeminate man; | | |
|of the tribe|but that is only M. Blau’s | | |
| of the |misapprehension.[179] | | |
| Temágheri. | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| SELMA, or |Was the last king of the dynasty|Ghumzú, | 4. |
| ʿABD EL |of the Dúguwa, or Bení Dúgu, if | | |
| JELÍL. |we understand this name as |With the | |
| |coincident with idolatry. For |surname | |
| Son of Shú |although the chronicle |Ridha. (?) | |
| and of a |distinguishes plainly between | | |
|woman of the|the Bení Dúgu and the Bení Humé,| | |
|tribe of the|nevertheless it is evident that | | |
| Ghemarma. |Humé, the successor of ʿAbd el | | |
|(Maghárma?) |Jelíl, and the first Mohammedan | | |
| |king of Kánem, was his son. It | | |
| |is therefore clear that Bení | | |
| |Humé means nothing else than the| | |
| |Mohammedan kings, as | | |
| |contradistinguished from the | | |
| |Dúguwa, the pagans.[180] | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| HUMÉ, or |Founded a new dynasty by the |Masr (Egypt).| 12. |
| UMÉ. |profession of Islám. Makrízi’s | | |
| |(_Hamaker_, p. 206.) statement, | | A.H. |
|Son of ʿAbd |that the first Mohammedan king | | 479-490. |
|el Jelíl and|of Kánem was Mohammed Ben Jebel | | A.D. |
|Tikramma, of|(or rather Jíl) refers most | |1086-1097.|
|the tribe of|probably to the later dynasty of| | |
| the Kaye. |Kánem, namely, the Bulála, while| | |
| |he counted all the members of | | |
| |this and the older Bórnu dynasty| | |
| |together, and made up the number| | |
| |of forty kings who had preceded | | |
| |him. (See what I have said above| | |
| |on this point, p. 263.) The | | |
| |missionary who introduced Islám | | |
| |into Kánem, according to the | | |
| |same Makrízi, was Hádí el | | |
| |ʿOthmání. From the place where | | |
| |Humé died, it may be inferred | | |
| |that he intended, or even | | |
| |accomplished, a pilgrimage. | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| DÚNAMA. |A very powerful king, according |Egypt, or | 55. |
| |to the chronicle the most |rather the | |
|Son of Humé |powerful of the Bení Humé, who |Gulf of Suez.| A.H. |
| and Kintá, |had a strong and very numerous | | 491-545. |
|of the tribe|army, horse and foot, and made | | A.D. |
|of the Tebu,|thrice the pilgrimage to Mekka | |1098-1150.|
|or Tedá (not|with a numerous retinue. Having | | |
| Tíh). |excited the suspicions of the | | |
| |inhabitants of Egypt, he is said| | |
| |to have been drowned by them | | |
| |when embarking at Suez for | | |
| |Mekka, and in the very turbulent| | |
| |state in which Egypt was at that| | |
| |time, under the reign of e’ | | |
| |Dháfer be ámr-Illah, this is by | | |
| |no means so improbable as it | | |
| |might otherwise appear to be. | | |
| |The capital Njímiye, | | |
| |notwithstanding the strength of | | |
| |the empire, seems to have been | | |
| |at that time still a very small | | |
| |place.[181] | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| BÍRI. |Seems to have been at first |Ghamtilú? | 27. |
| |entirely under the influence of |Bela Ghanna. | |
| Son of |his mother, who even imprisoned |(billa | A.H. |
| Dúnama and |him. If he had not much energy, |ghaná?) | 546-572. |
| Fasáme, of |he must have been at least a | | A.D. |
|the tribe of|very learned man, for Imám Áhmed| |1151-1176.|
| the Kaye. |calls him “el fáki e’ táki,” p. | | |
| |31.; and it would seem from the | | |
| |report of the chronicle, that | | |
| |part of the ceremonial of the | | |
| |court dates from his time, even | | |
| |if through the influence of his | | |
| |mother. | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|ʿABD ALLAH, | |Fafsa. | 17. |
| or DÁLA. | | | |
| | | | A.H. |
| Son of | | | 573-589. |
| Bíkoru ben | | | A.D. |
|Bíri and of | | |1177-1193.|
| Zíneb, of | | | |
|the tribe of| | | |
|the Tebu, or| | | |
| Tubu (not | | | |
| Túba.) | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| SELMA, or |As he lived in the most |Jejéska | 28. |
| ʿABD EL |flourishing period of the Bení |Ghazrwána. | |
| JELÍL. |Háfis, the Tunisian princes, | | A.H. |
| |who, by their friendship, are | | 590-617. |
| Son of |said to have occasioned the | | A.D. |
| Bíkoru and |ascendancy of the Bórnu kings | |1194-1220.|
|Húwa, of the|over the whole desert[182], he | | |
|tribe of the|must have been one of the most | | |
| Débirí. |powerful of the latter. He is | | |
| |said to have been the first | | |
| |_black_ king of this dynasty, | | |
| |all the Bórnu kings before him | | |
| |having had a light complexion | | |
| |like the Arabs. But this latter | | |
| |assertion seems to be | | |
| |contradicted by the fact, that a| | |
| |preceding king had borne the | | |
| |name of Selma, or Tselma, which | | |
| |means “the black” (properly | | |
| |tsélima), from tsélim, or | | |
| |tsílim, “black.” | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| DÚNAMA, or |A very warlike prince, who waged|Zamtam. | 40. |
| ÁHMED. |many wars, which were generally | | |
| |conducted by his sons, who in |A little W. | A.H. |
|Son of Selma|consequence formed themselves |from | 618-657. |
| and Díbalá |into parties and factions. His |Ghambarú. | A.D. |
| (therefore |strength, like that of his | |1221-1259.|
| his full |ancestor Dúnama, seems to have | | |
| name |consisted chiefly in cavalry, of| | |
| Díbalámi |which he is said in the | | |
| Dúnama |chronicle to have possessed | | |
|Selmámi), of|41,000; but, according to the | | |
|the tribe of|more credible testimony of | | |
| the |Wanúma Mohammed Ghaná, cited by | | |
| Maghárma. |Imám Áhmed (pp. 77, 78.), he had| | |
| |30,000; and that ought not to | | |
| |appear so exaggerated, although | | |
| |the king in Leo’s time had only | | |
| |3000, for that was a very | | |
| |different period, when the | | |
| |empire was almost ruined. | | |
| |Dúnama’s most celebrated deed—of| | |
| |which we are informed—is the war| | |
| |he waged against the Tebu for | | |
| |more than seven years; according| | |
| |to tradition, 7 years, 7 months,| | |
| |and 7 days. And it is most | | |
| |probable that it was this | | |
| |enterprising and restless king | | |
| |who extended the empire of Kánem| | |
| |over the whole of Fezzán,—a | | |
| |state of things which lasted | | |
| |till about the middle of the | | |
| |14th century.[183] He likewise | | |
| |is the king who, in the time of | | |
| |Ébn Sʿaíd, A.H. 650 (A.D. | | |
| |1252-3), invaded the well- | | |
| |watered populous country of | | |
| |Mabiná[184], which it is | | |
| |difficult to identify, although | | |
| |the name bears some resemblance | | |
| |to Fúmbiná, the indigenous name | | |
| |of Ádamáwa, while the | | |
| |geographer’s account of the | | |
| |situation of that country agrees| | |
| |well with Fúmbiná; but we shall | | |
| |find another name closely | | |
| |related to it. It is also Ebn | | |
| |Sʿaíd who first calls Bórnu—that| | |
| |is, the country on the south- | | |
| |western side of the Tsád as far | | |
| |as Díkowa—part of Kánem. The | | |
| |empire of Kánem at that time | | |
| |extended, according to Imám | | |
| |Áhmed, from the Nile, near | | |
| |Dhúwi, as far as the rivulet | | |
| |Baramuwása, in the west, which | | |
| |most probably is identical with | | |
| |what Clapperton (Second Journey,| | |
| |p. 63.) calls the river Moussa | | |
| |(bahr Músa), the river which | | |
| |divides the territories of | | |
| |Yóruba and Bórgu, and we may | | |
| |add, from Mábiná in the south to| | |
| |Wadán in the north. (See what I | | |
| |have said, p. 263.; also, with | | |
| |regard to the present sent by | | |
| |the king of Bórnu to the ruler | | |
| |of Tunis in A.H. 665.) But | | |
| |Dúnama laid the foundation for | | |
| |the ensuing disasters of the | | |
| |empire, by opening, as the Bórnu| | |
| |people say, the “munni,” or | | |
| |“talisman of Bórnu.” What it was| | |
| |it is difficult to say[185]; but| | |
| |what it meant may be more easily| | |
| |conjectured, chiefly from the | | |
| |words of the imám Áhmed, who | | |
| |expresses himself thus (pp. 123,| | |
| |124.): “When the thing which was| | |
| |in it (the talisman) escaped, it| | |
| |called forth and provoked every | | |
| |powerful man to ambition and | | |
| |intrigues, in the government and| | |
| |in high charges.” Indeed, from | | |
| |this time, civil wars, murders | | |
| |of kings, and changes in the | | |
| |dynasty, succeeded each other | | |
| |without interruption. | | |
| | | | |
| |“The true faith, in his time,” | | |
| |according to Ebn Sʿaíd, “was | | |
| |largely disseminated in | | |
| |Kánem,”—a remarkable change | | |
| |effected since the time when El | | |
| |Bekri wrote his account. It was | | |
| |under his reign (A.H. 640) that | | |
| |the inhabitants of Kánem built | | |
| |the Médreset Ébn Rashik at | | |
| |Cairo, where their travellers | | |
| |might alight.[186] | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| KADÉ, or |Murdered by a man of the name of|Dhurríya | 29. |
| ʿABD EL |ʿAndákama Dúnama. We know |Ghimútú. | |
| KADÍM. |nothing further of his reign. | | A.H. |
| | | | 658-686. |
| Son of | | | A.D. |
| Dúnama (?) | | |1259-1285.|
|and Máthala,| | | |
|of the tribe| | | |
| of the | | | |
| Meghárma. | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| BÍRI |“A Conqueror,” but unfortunately|Njímiye. | 20. |
| (ÍBRAHÍM). |it is not known in what quarter | | |
| |he made his conquests. It is an | | A.H. |
| Son of |important fact, gleaned from the| | 687-706. |
| Dúnama and |chronicle, that two religious | | A.D. |
| Zíneb, of |chiefs of the Fúlbe or Felláta | |1288-1306.|
|the tribe of|of Mélle came to him.[187] Known| | |
| the |to Makrízí. | | |
| Lekmamma. | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| (ÍBRAHÍM) |Killed one of his sons, who most|Dískama. | 20. |
| NIKÁLE. |probably had revolted against | | |
| |him; was murdered himself and |A place on | A.H. |
| Son of |thrown into the river Wáú, the |the Bórnu | 707-726. |
| (Bíri) |so-called Yeou, by Yeráma |river, | A.D. |
|Íbrahím and |Mohammed. From the title “Háj” |one day’s |1307-1326.|
| of Kakúdi, |given to him by Makrízí, we see |march from | |
|of the tribe|that he made a pilgrimage to |the later | |
| of the |Mekka. |capital, or | |
| Kúnkuna. | |Bírni. | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|ʿABD ALLAH. |A just prince, who, having |Njímiye. | 20. |
| |punished the murderers of the | | |
|Son of Kadé |former king, and after having | | A.H. |
|and Fátima. |successfully vanquished his | | 727-746. |
| |rival the Bagharíma (see further| | A.D. |
| |down,—and not as Blau, p. 326. | |1326-1345.|
| |n. 18., translates, “Prince of | | |
| |Bagharmi,” a state not existing | | |
| |at that time), seems to have | | |
| |established his power with a | | |
| |strong hand. | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| SELMA. |Fell in a war with the Só, or |Yúsub. | 4. |
| |Soy[188], the original | | |
|Son of ʿAbd |inhabitants of the greater part | | A.H. |
|Allah and of|of the country between the Wáú | | 747-750. |
| Kamma. |(Yeou) and the Shárí. This | | A.D. |
| |powerful nation, whom the former| |1346-1349.|
| |kings seem to have greatly | | |
| |reduced, but without taking and | | |
| |destroying their strongholds, | | |
| |appears to have risen at that | | |
| |period, in a successful war, | | |
| |against their aggressors, | | |
| |vanquishing and killing four | | |
| |successive Bórnu kings, all sons| | |
| |of the unfortunate ʿAbd Allah, | | |
| |whom an afflicted mother is said| | |
| |to have cursed. | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|KURÉ GHANÁ. |Vanquished and killed by the Só.|Ghaliwá (?). | 1. |
| | | | |
|Son of ʿAbd | | |A.H. 751. |
| Allah. | | |A.D. 1350.|
| | | | |
| | | | |
| KURÉ KURÁ. |Vanquished and killed by the Só,|Ghaliwá. | 1. |
| |at the same place as his brother| | |
|Son of ʿAbd |and predecessor. | |A.H. 752. |
| Allah. | | |A.D. 1351.|
| | | | |
| | | | |
| MOHAMMED. |Vanquished and killed by the Só.|Nánigham. | 1. |
| | | | |
|Son of ʿAbd | | |A.H. 753. |
| Allah. | | |A.D. 1352.|
| | | | |
| | | | |
| EDRÍS. |Reigned in the middle of A.D. |Njímiye. | 25. |
| |1353 (A.H. 754), when Ébn | | |
| Son of |Batúta, who calls him king of |This is the | A.H. |
| Nikále |Bórnu, returned from his visit |current | 754-778. |
| (Íbrahím) |to Mélle and Songhay by way of |tradition; | A.D. |
| and Hafsa. |Tekádda. It is evident that the |but some |1353-1376.|
| |sons of ʿAbd Allah having all |maintained | |
| |died, the royal dignity reverted|that he died | |
| |to the family of Nikále |at Dámmasak. | |
| |(Ibrahím). Whether Edrís was |[189] | |
| |more successful than his | | |
| |predecessors against the Só we | | |
| |are not informed, nor do we know| | |
| |anything of his reign; and | | |
| |indeed the great uncertainty | | |
| |which prevails as to the place | | |
| |where he died, seems to intimate| | |
| |rather a quiet reign, at least | | |
| |as regards its latter period, | | |
| |though, as Dámmasak was one of | | |
| |the chief strongholds of the Só,| | |
| |it would have been of some | | |
| |importance for us to know | | |
| |positively whether he died | | |
| |there. | | |
| | | | |
| |He made a pilgrimage to Mekka, | | |
| |and is therefore called “Háj | | |
| |Edrís” by Makrízí. | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| DÁÚD. |A very important, but rather |Mélfala. | 10. |
| |unfortunate reign, bearing the | | |
| Son of |germs of the expulsion of the | | A.H. |
| Nikále |Bórnu dynasty from Kánem, their | | 779-788. |
| (Íbrahím) |original seat, and of the | | A.D. |
|and Fátima, |transference of their residence | |1377-1386.|
|a sister of |to Bórnu. The successful | | |
| Hafsa the |aggressors were the Búlala (as | | |
| mother of |the name is written in the | | |
|his brother |chronicle), or rather Bulála (as| | |
| and |Imám Áhmed constantly writes it,| | |
|predecessor |and as the name is pronounced | | |
| Edrís. |generally), who, originating | | |
| |from a branch line of the royal | | |
| |family of Kánem, by their | | |
| |forefather Jíl Shikomémi (a son | | |
| |of Dúnama Díbalámi?), had | | |
| |founded a powerful principality | | |
| |in the territory of Fittrí (“the| | |
| |lake”), over the numerous tribes| | |
| |of the Kúka (Leo’s Gaoga). As to| | |
| |the period of the rise of this | | |
| |dynasty, we have the distinct | | |
| |testimony of Imám Áhmed, that it| | |
| |was after the time of Dúnama | | |
| |Díbalámi.[190] | | |
| | | | |
| |Weakened by a civil war with one| | |
| |or more of his sons, who, having| | |
| |been beaten, seem to have taken | | |
| |refuge with the pagans of the | | |
| |tribe of Ghammúwa, where Edrís | | |
| |Alawóma found their progeny, | | |
| |Dáúd ben Nikále was driven out | | |
| |of Njímiye, the old capital, and| | |
| |finally killed by ʿAbd el Jelíl,| | |
| |the Bulála king. | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| ʿOTHMAN. |Seems to have waged the war with|Njímiye. | 4. |
| |the Bulála at first with some | | |
|Son of Dáud.|success, and even to have | | A.H. |
| |retaken Njímiye, when he | | 789-792. |
| |likewise succumbed. He, as well | | A.D. |
| |as his successor, became known | |1387-1390.|
| |to Makrízí. | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| ʿOTHMÁN. |Sustained the struggle for two | | 2. |
| |years, when he met the same fate| | |
|Son of Edrís|as his uncle and his cousin. | | A.H. |
|and Famáfa. |During this time there was a | | 793-794. |
| |prince in Háusa, or Afunú, | | A.D. |
| |called Mastúr, in a certain | |1391-1392.|
| |degree of dependency on Kánem. | | |
| |(Makrízí.) | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| ÁBÚ BAKR |Was killed by the Bulála, after |Shefiyári, in| 9 mo. |
| LIYÁTU. |a reign of a few months. |Kánem. | |
| | | |A.H. 795. |
|Son of Dáúd.| | |A.D. 1392.|
| | | | |
| | | | |
| ʿOMÁR. |This prince was at length so |Demaghíya. | 5. |
| |hardly pressed by the Bulála | | |
| Son of |that he finally, with the |(Not, as it | A.H. |
| Edrís. |consent of his ʿulama, gave up |seems, | 796-800. |
| |Kánem entirely, transferring his|Maghíya.) | A.D. |
| |residence to Kaghá, a district | |1394-1398.|
| |of some forty miles in extent, | | |
| |between Ujé and Gújeba, | | |
| |notorious in Bórnu as the refuge| | |
| |of every defeated party during | | |
| |the civil wars, where they went | | |
| |to recruit their strength. And | | |
| |though, in the course of time, | | |
| |Bórnu recovered from intestine | | |
| |troubles, and flourished once | | |
| |more under mighty princes, who | | |
| |even vanquished the Bulála, none| | |
| |of them ever returned to Kánem | | |
| |in order to fix his residence | | |
| |there. | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| SʿAÍD. |A usurper, as it would seem; for|Dekakíya. | 1. |
| |the chronicle does not give him | | |
| |the usual title of sultan, but | |A.H. 801. |
| |calls him merely “melek,” and | | A.D. |
| |does not name his father. | | 1398-9. |
| |Nevertheless he must be reckoned| | |
| |in the list of the Bórnu kings. | | |
| |The Bulála, not content with | | |
| |having wrested Kánem from the | | |
| |hands of their enemies, followed| | |
| |them into their new retreat, and| | |
| |vanquished and killed Sʿaíd near| | |
| |Dekakíya. | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|KADÉ ÁFUNÚ. |Fell likewise in the war with |Ghadhurú (?).| 1. |
| |the Bulála in the course of a | | |
| Son of |year, having, as it would seem, |(Not |A.H. 802. |
| Edrís. |resumed the offensive. Why the |Ghumuzú.) | A.D. |
| |surname “Áfnó,” or “Áfunú,” was | |1399-1400.|
| |given to him is not clear; | | |
| |perhaps from his mother being of| | |
| |Áfno (Háusa) origin. | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| BÍRI. |A long reign, after several |Kanántú. | 33. |
| |short and unfortunate ones; but | | |
| Son of |the only fact with regard to it |(In | A.H. |
| Edrís. |of which we are informed, |Bagharmi?) | 803-835. |
| |namely, a civil war between the | | A.D. |
| |king and the keghámma or | |1400-1432.|
| |seraskier, Mohammed ben Diltu, | | |
| |is not of a kind to give an idea| | |
| |of repose and happiness. The | | |
| |ensuing period of the history of| | |
| |Bórnu may be called a period of | | |
| |civil war and of the greatest | | |
| |distress. | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| ʿOTHMÁN |Succumbed, after a short reign |Áfunú, Kano. | 9 mo. |
| KALNAMA. |of a few months, to the party of|[191] | |
| |the keghámma Nikále ben Ibrahím | |A.H. 836. |
|Son of Dáúd.|and the yeríma Kadé; and | |A.D. 1432.|
| |deprived of his throne, he | | |
| |appears to have been obliged to | | |
| |seek refuge in the Áfnó (Háusa) | | |
| |province of Kanó, where he died,| | |
| |or more probably was killed. | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| DÚNAMA. |Was murdered after a short |Nánigham. | 2. |
| |reign. | | |
| Son of | | | A.H. |
| ʿOmár. | | | 836-838. |
| | | | A.D. |
| | | | 1433-4. |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|ʿABD ALLAH, |Was embroiled in a civil war |Famelfa. | 8. |
| or DÁLA. |with the keghámma ʿAbd Allah | | |
| |Dighelma, who even dethroned | | A.H. |
| Son of |him, and made Íbrahím the son of| | 838-846. |
|ʿOmar, with |ʿOthmán king, but, on the death | | A.D. |
|the surname |of the latter, restored him to | |1435-1442.|
| Dakumúni. |the throne. The eight years | | |
| |attributed to his reign by the | | |
| |negligently-written chronicle | | |
| |seem to comprise the two periods| | |
| |of his reign, before and after | | |
| |Íbrahím; or it must be | | |
| |understood that Íbrahím placed | | |
| |ʿAbd Allah again upon the | | |
| |throne, after the death of | | |
| |keghámma. | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| ÍBRAHÍM. |Seems to have excited the |Zamtam. | 8. |
| |discontent of his subjects by | | |
| Son of |neither keeping a regular court |One day N. | A.H. |
| ʿOthmán. |nor showing himself to his |from | 846-854. |
| |people. After a reign of eight |Ghámbarú. | A.D. |
| |years he was murdered by Kadé | |1442-1450.|
| |(his brother?). Though this is | | |
| |the only king of the name of | | |
| |Íbrahím in the list of Bórnu | | |
| |kings of the end of the 15th, or| | |
| |the beginning of the 16th | | |
| |century, it is evident that he | | |
| |could not have been a | | |
| |contemporary of Leo Africanus, | | |
| |and that the latter erred, from | | |
| |lapse of memory, in the account | | |
| |of Africa which he composed | | |
| |several years after his visit to| | |
| |those countries, in calling the | | |
| |king who reigned over Bórnu | | |
| |during the time of his visit | | |
| |Íbrahím. | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| KADÉ. |Succumbed, after a short reign, |Amará, or | 1. |
| |to a rival, Dúnama son of Bíri. |Amazá. | |
| Son of | | | A.H. |
| ʿOthmán. | | | 854-5. |
| | | | A.D. |
| | | | 1450-1. |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| DÚNAMA. | |Aghakúwah. | 4. |
| | | | |
|Son of Bíri.| | | A.H. |
| | | | 855-859. |
| | | | A.D. |
| | | |1451-1455.|
| | | | |
| | | | |
| MOHAMMED. | |Mazá. | 5 mo. |
| | | | |
| Son of | | |A.H. 859. |
| Mátala. | | |A.D. 1455.|
| | | | |
| | | | |
| MER, or | |Tármata. | 1. |
| AMER. | | | |
| | | |A.H. 860. |
| Son of | | |A.D. 1456.|
| ʿAáisha | | | |
|daughter of | | | |
| ʿOthmán. | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| MOHAMMED. |A very cruel and sanguinary |Meghjibád- | (?) |
| |prince; probably reigned but a |Nerí- Kerbúri| |
|Son of Kadé.|very short time, only a few |(?). | |
| |days. | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| GHAJÍ. |Defeated in battle, and killed |Matakla | 5. |
| |by Mohammed son of ʿAbd Allah, |Ghamer. | |
| Son of |the king of Kánem. | | A.H. |
| Amála, or | | | 861-865. |
| Imáta. | | | A.D. |
| | | |1456-1461.|
| | | | |
| | | | |
| ʿOTHMAN. |Notwithstanding his excellent |Mikidhá. | 5. |
| |qualities as a prince, he was | | |
|Son of Kadé.|dethroned in consequence of a | | A.H. |
| |civil war with ʿAlí Ghajidéni, | | 866-870. |
| |who, though he apparently had | | A.D. |
| |the upper hand, by some unknown | |1461-1466.|
| |circumstances, or from some | | |
| |unknown reasons of his own, to | | |
| |which we have no key, allowed | | |
| |another person to occupy the | | |
| |throne that had thus become | | |
| |vacant. | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| ʿOMÁR. |A despotical reign, spent in |Ghomtalú. | 1. |
| |dispute with a more powerful and|(Reká?) | |
|Son of ʿAbd |successful rival, Mohammed ben | |A.H. 871. |
| Allah. |Mohammed, who, in the course of | |A.D. 1466.|
| |a year, gained the upper hand, | | |
| |and probably killed ʿOmár. | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| MOHAMMED. |A courageous and powerful |Breda. [192] | 5. |
| |prince. | | |
| Son of | | | A.H. |
| Mohammed. | | | 872-876. |
| | | | A.D. |
| | | |1467-1471.|
| | | | |
| | | | |
| ʿALÍ. |A glorious reign, beginning a |Ghasréggomo. | 33. |
| |new epoch in the history of | | |
| Son of |Bórnu. First of all, ʿAlí | | A.H. |
| Dúnama, |Ghajidéni made an end of the | | 877-909. |
| known |civil wars, which had torn and | | A.D. |
|generally in|wasted the kingdom for so long a| |1472-1504.|
|Bórnu under |period, having vanquished and | | |
|the name of |killed his old rival ʿOthmán ben| | |
| Mai ʿAlí |Kadé, whom he had formerly | | |
| Ghajidéni. |dethroned, and who began the | | |
| |struggle once more. He then | | |
| |restored the equilibrium between| | |
| |the different officers of high | | |
| |rank, the excessive power of | | |
| |some of these officers, | | |
| |particularly that of the | | |
| |keghámma[193], having been the | | |
| |principal cause of all those | | |
| |disturbances; and in order to | | |
| |concentrate the government, he | | |
| |built a large capital, | | |
| |Ghasréggomo, generally called | | |
| |Birni, the future residence of | | |
| |the kings of Bórnu, on the river| | |
| |Wáú, three days west from the | | |
| |modern town Kúkawa. For until | | |
| |this period the Bórnu people | | |
| |lived only in temporary | | |
| |encampments in the conquered | | |
| |country, although Nánigham had | | |
| |been the ordinary residence of | | |
| |the kings. It was in this king’s| | |
| |reign, doubtless, that Leo | | |
| |visited Bórnu; and it is by this| | |
| |author that we are informed of | | |
| |one of the many wars which the | | |
| |prince carried on, who, on this | | |
| |account alone, of all the kings | | |
| |of Bórnu, seems to have obtained| | |
| |the surname “el Gházi”—“the | | |
| |warrior,” or rather “the | | |
| |conqueror.” Wángara—that is, the| | |
| |country of the Eastern | | |
| |Mandingoes, about the name and | | |
| |extent of which we shall not | | |
| |leave any doubt in our further | | |
| |inquiries—seems, indeed, to be | | |
| |rather distant from Bórnu, | | |
| |particularly if it be taken into| | |
| |consideration that the nearest | | |
| |provinces were ill subjected; | | |
| |but if the Baramuwása be | | |
| |identical, as can scarcely be | | |
| |doubted, with the frontier-river| | |
| |between Bórgu and Yóruba, | | |
| |Wángara was close to the western| | |
| |frontier of the tributary | | |
| |provinces of Bórnu, and it is | | |
| |only to be attributed to the | | |
| |miserable character of the | | |
| |chronicle, and to the general | | |
| |scantiness of our sources, that | | |
| |we hear nothing of the several | | |
| |expeditions which the Bórnu | | |
| |kings made into the provinces of| | |
| |the Kwára, and of the | | |
| |interesting relation which | | |
| |appears to have existed between | | |
| |Bórnu and some of the Bórgu | | |
| |places, particularly Brúsa. It | | |
| |is moreover to be taken into | | |
| |account, that Wángara probably | | |
| |extended, at that time, more to | | |
| |the east, and almost reached the| | |
| |Kwára. | | |
| | | | |
| |But the Bulála, the old and | | |
| |inveterate enemies of Bórnu, | | |
| |were not yet humiliated; and it | | |
| |was an inroad of the king of | | |
| |that empire into Bórnu which | | |
| |obliged ʿAlí Ghajidéni (assuming| | |
| |him to be identical, as he | | |
| |certainly is, with Leo’s | | |
| |Íbrahím) to give up the conquest| | |
| |of Wángara. That the name of | | |
| |this king of the Bulála was | | |
| |ʿOmár, as Leo says, we have | | |
| |strong reasons to doubt, and | | |
| |think it another lapse of | | |
| |memory. It was probably Selma, | | |
| |or ʿAbd el Jelíl, the father of | | |
| |the prince whom Edrís, ʿAlí’s | | |
| |son and successor, vanquished. | | |
| |The name ʿOmár seems not to | | |
| |occur at all in the dynasty of | | |
| |the Bulála. | | |
| | | | |
| |But we have another account, | | |
| |which gives us a glance into the| | |
| |warlike career of ʿAlí | | |
| |Ghajidéni, and informs us of one| | |
| |of his expeditions into the far | | |
| |west. For this account we are | | |
| |indebted to Sultan Béllo, who | | |
| |relates in his “Enfák el misúri | | |
| |fi fat-ha belád el | | |
| |Tekrúri”[194], that Kantá, whose| | |
| |age as a contemporary of ʿAlí | | |
| |ben Dúnama, is fixed by the fact| | |
| |that he lived in the time of Háj| | |
| |Mohammed Áskiá, “having | | |
| |oppressed the inhabitants of the| | |
| |provinces conquered by him,” | | |
| |Sultan “ʿAlí Alij,” as he is | | |
| |called in the translation, | | |
| |marched from Bórnu against him, | | |
| |and beat him near Suráme, his | | |
| |capital (see Vol. IV.), on the | | |
| |ʿAíd el kebír; but not being | | |
| |able to reduce this strong | | |
| |place, ʿAlí was obliged to | | |
| |retire, when Kantá, having | | |
| |collected a large army, followed| | |
| |him till he reached Onghoor | | |
| |(most probably Ngarú), “where | | |
| |they met and fought together, | | |
| |and Kantá won the battle,” | | |
| |without, however, being able to | | |
| |follow up his victory. This war | | |
| |must fall about the very end of | | |
| |the reign of ʿAlí Ghajidéni. | | |
| | | | |
| |The glory of this reign makes it| | |
| |intelligible how Bórnu, or | | |
| |Bernu, appears in Portuguese | | |
| |maps as early as the year 1489. | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| EDRÍS. |The worthy son and successor of |Waláma. | 23. |
| |ʿAlí, who accomplished what | | |
|Son of ʿAlí |remained necessary for the | | A.H. |
|and ʿAáisha,|greatness and the peace of the | | 910-932. |
| with the |Bórnu empire, viz. the | | A.D. |
| surname of |humiliation and subjection of | |1504-1526.|
|Katarkamábi.|the Bulála. A short time, | | |
| |therefore, after he had ascended| | |
| |the throne, he went with a | | |
| |strong army to Kánem, beat the | | |
| |Bulála prince Dúnama son of ʿAbd| | |
| |el Jelíl, or Selma, at Gharni | | |
| |Kiyála, and entered Njímiye, the| | |
| |old capital of the empire of | | |
| |Kánem and Bórnu, 122 years after| | |
| |King Dáúd had abandoned it (see | | |
| |above, p. 259.). Having then | | |
| |heard, on his return to Bórnu, | | |
| |that Ádim, another son of ʿAbd | | |
| |el Jelíl, had usurped the throne| | |
| |after his brother’s death, he | | |
| |returned once more, vanquished | | |
| |Ádim, and established for a long| | |
| |period the dependency of Kánem | | |
| |upon Bórnu. (Imám Áhmed.) It | | |
| |could only have been Edrís, and | | |
| |not Músa—a name which does not | | |
| |at all occur in the list of the | | |
| |kings of Bórnu—who sent an | | |
| |embassy to Tripoli in the year | | |
| |1512[195], a circumstance which | | |
| |clearly shows the elevated | | |
| |political views of that king. Of| | |
| |the other achievements of his | | |
| |brilliant career, we are | | |
| |unfortunately deprived by the | | |
| |loss or concealment of the | | |
| |contemporaneous account of his | | |
| |reign by the fákih Masfárma | | |
| |ʿOmár ben ʿOthmán, though I | | |
| |still entertain hopes that the | | |
| |work may some day or other come | | |
| |to light. | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| MOHAMMED. |A very powerful and mighty king,|Ghasréggomo. | 19. |
| |successful in all directions. He| | |
|Son of Edrís|vanquished and killed Kadé the | | A.H. |
| and Zíneb. |son of ʿAbd el Jelíl and Lifya, | | 933-951. |
| |who, only forty days after | | A.D. |
| |Mohammed had ascended the | |1526-1545.|
| |throne, came to attack him at | | |
| |Nathá; and in consequence of | | |
| |this victory kept Kánem in a | | |
| |state of strict obedience. His | | |
| |reign is very important to us, | | |
| |because he is one of the kings | | |
| |of Bórnu of whose conquests and | | |
| |activity towards the west we | | |
| |have obtained some positive | | |
| |account. For, as we learn from | | |
| |the Christian captive in | | |
| |Tripoli[196], Mohammed fought a | | |
| |great and celebrated battle with| | |
| |the king of Kébbi—probably Tómo,| | |
| |of the dynasty of the Kantá, who| | |
| |founded Birni-n-Kebbi. The | | |
| |“captive,” unfortunately, does | | |
| |not state what was the issue of | | |
| |the battle; but although we | | |
| |cannot agree with Mr. Blau, who | | |
| |interprets the words of our | | |
| |chronicle, “gareb hú ila hedúd | | |
| |el Kabará bememlekettihi,”[197] | | |
| |as if Mohammed had extended his | | |
| |empire as far as Kabara, the | | |
| |harbour of Timbúktu, we must | | |
| |conclude that he was victorious.| | |
| |Finally, to speak of the little | | |
| |we know, it must have been he | | |
| |who sent the embassy to Tripoli | | |
| |in the year 1534, if the date be| | |
| |correct. | | |
| | | | |
| |There is certainly, in the | | |
| |passage of our chronicle which | | |
| |relates to the reign of this | | |
| |king, some degree of confusion; | | |
| |and it is very unfortunate that,| | |
| |after having aspired to a little| | |
| |more completeness, it just | | |
| |becomes exceedingly brief and | | |
| |dry in the most interesting part| | |
| |of the history of the Bórnu | | |
| |kingdom. The confused passage | | |
| |has been taken into account in a| | |
| |preceding comment; and we are | | |
| |not able at present to explain | | |
| |why this energetic prince, who | | |
| |waged war on the opposite | | |
| |borders of his extensive empire,| | |
| |at immense distances from each | | |
| |other, can be said to have | | |
| |resided “nineteen [years] in | | |
| |Ladé.” But the fact may simply | | |
| |have been that he did not like | | |
| |to reside in the large capital | | |
| |or birni, Ghasréggomo, but | | |
| |preferred dwelling in a small | | |
| |neighbouring town; or perhaps it| | |
| |was one of the objects of his | | |
| |ambition to transfer the seat of| | |
| |government, from the place | | |
| |chosen by his predecessors, to | | |
| |some new place of his own | | |
| |choice. Even at the present day | | |
| |there is a place of the name of | | |
| |Ladé in the neighbourhood of | | |
| |Ghambarú; and another one is | | |
| |mentioned by Imám Áhmed, at four| | |
| |short days’ journey on the road | | |
| |to Kánem. | | |
| | | | |
| |Be this as it may, “the kingdom | | |
| |of Bórnu reached under Mohammed | | |
| |the highest pitch of its | | |
| |greatness.” I here, therefore, | | |
| |add a list of the twelve great | | |
| |offices, or ʿalám, which | | |
| |constituted the chief machinery | | |
| |of the empire, and which are | | |
| |already indicated by | | |
| |Makrízí[198] in the words, “and | | |
| |they have twelve princes.” Imám | | |
| |Áhmed calls these high officers | | |
| |generally “el akáber el áʿalám,”| | |
| |or “erbáb e’ dúleh,” or “el | | |
| |omrá.” They are all mentioned by| | |
| |him, except the gháladíma, the | | |
| |fugúma, and the kaghustémma:— | | |
| | | | |
| |_Kayghámma_, or _Keghámma_, | | |
| |corresponding to the seraskier | | |
| |(or commander-in-chief) of the | | |
| |Turkish empire, and possessing | | |
| |very great power. | | |
| | | | |
| |_Yeríma_, or _Híríma_ (both | | |
| |forms occur indiscriminately in | | |
| |Imám Áhmed’s history), the | | |
| |governor of Yerí, or “tsidí | | |
| |Yeríbe,” the district between | | |
| |Birni Ghasréggomo and | | |
| |Múniyó[199], the inhabitants of | | |
| |which are called by Imám Áhmed | | |
| |“áhel e’ shemál.” | | |
| | | | |
| |_Gháladíma_, the governor of the| | |
| |Gháladí, a province comprising | | |
| |the western countries, from | | |
| |Ngarú as far as the Kwára | | |
| |(called, by the Kanúri, Kwalla).| | |
| | | | |
| |_Chiróma_ (generally written by | | |
| |Imám Áhmed Thiróma, or Shiróma),| | |
| |the heir apparent, son or | | |
| |brother of the king. | | |
| | | | |
| |_Fugúma_, the governor in the | | |
| |interior of Ghasréggomo, with | | |
| |power over life and death. | | |
| | | | |
| |_Bágharíma_, sometimes mentioned| | |
| |as an officer of great | | |
| |importance, who, in the time of | | |
| |the civil wars, often raised his| | |
| |ambition even to the throne; but| | |
| |I have not been able to make out| | |
| |what the department, or | | |
| |province, called bágharí, really| | |
| |was. It has nothing whatever to | | |
| |do with Bagírmi. | | |
| | | | |
| |_Síntelma_. This title seems to | | |
| |belong originally to some | | |
| |department connected with the | | |
| |government of Kánem, but what | | |
| |were the duties of its office I | | |
| |cannot say. The title is still | | |
| |common in Bórnu, and will | | |
| |frequently occur in my | | |
| |narrative, though at present it | | |
| |is of little importance. | | |
| | | | |
| |_Kásalma_, or _Kájelma_, | | |
| |governor of the eastern | | |
| |provinces of Kánem. | | |
| | | | |
| |_Kaghustémma_, governor of | | |
| |Kaghústi, one of the western | | |
| |districts of Kánem. (See Vol. | | |
| |III. App. II.) | | |
| | | | |
| |_Arjinóma_. His province is not | | |
| |exactly known to me, except that| | |
| |it appears from Imám Áhmed, that| | |
| |he belonged to the governors of | | |
| |the northern provinces of the | | |
| |empire, “el omrá e’ shemalíyín.”| | |
| | | | |
| |_Mestréma_, or _Metréma_, chief | | |
| |eunuch of the harím. | | |
| | | | |
| |_Yíroma_ (not to be confounded | | |
| |with the Yeríma), under the | | |
| |mestréma, but nevertheless, at | | |
| |least in the time of Edrís | | |
| |Alawóma, an office of | | |
| |importance. | | |
| | | | |
| |The other governors of large | | |
| |towns, such as Wúdi, Díkowa, | | |
| |&c., had the title “mainta;” and| | |
| |there were many smaller charges,| | |
| |such as “búma,” probably | | |
| |signifying a “judge of life and | | |
| |death,” from “bú,” the blood. | | |
| |The king had forty lifeguards, | | |
| |in a narrower sense, men of | | |
| |great authority, called “góma,” | | |
| |twenty at his left hand, and | | |
| |twenty at his right. | | |
| | | | |
| |I now proceed with the list of | | |
| |the succeeding kings. | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| ʿALÍ. |A just prince, who kept Kánem in|Zamtam. | 1. |
| |strict subjection, but whose | | |
|Son of Edrís|reign was too short to be of any| |A.H. 952. |
| and Zíneb. |importance. | |A.D. 1545.|
| | | | |
| | | | |
| DÚNAMA, |Vanquished ʿAbd el Jelíl the son|Ghasréggomo. | 19. |
| surnamed |of Kadé the king of Kánem, who, | | |
| GHAMARÁMI. |once more assuming the | | A.H. |
| |offensive, had come to attack | | 953-971. |
| Son of |him in his own kingdom at | | A.D. |
| Mohammed. |Berberuwá, where Dúnama defeated| |1546-1563.|
| |him, followed him thence to | | |
| |Kánem, and beat him in another | | |
| |battle, in which fell the heir | | |
| |apparent of the throne of Kánem,| | |
| |and several other great men of | | |
| |the Bulála. After this, Kánem | | |
| |once more remained quiet and in | | |
| |a state of subjection; but the | | |
| |people of that country, | | |
| |nevertheless, continued to make | | |
| |predatory incursions into Bórnu.| | |
| |The only other fact which we | | |
| |know of his reign, is that he | | |
| |fortified Ghasréggomo, the | | |
| |capital or birni, built by ʿAlí | | |
| |ben Dúnama. The chronicle, | | |
| |moreover, states that in his | | |
| |reign there was a great famine | | |
| |in Bórnu. It must have been he | | |
| |also who concluded a treaty with| | |
| |Dragút, the famous renegade, in | | |
| |1555. | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|ʿABD ALLAH, |Under him nothing very |Kítaba. | 7. |
| or DÁLA. |remarkable seems to have | | |
| |happened. After some time, ʿAbd | | A.H. |
| Son of |el Jelíl, king of Kánem, whose | | 972-978. |
| Dúnama. |officers never ceased to make | | A.D. |
| |predatory incursions into Bórnu,| |1564-1570.|
| |died, and was succeeded by his | | |
| |son ʿAbd Allah. It is, however, | | |
| |a fact of the highest importance| | |
| |that, under the reign of this | | |
| |Bórnu king, we get the first | | |
| |intimation of the settlements of| | |
| |the Fúlbe, or, as they are | | |
| |called by the Kanúri, the | | |
| |Fellátah (“kabílet el | | |
| |Felatíye”), in Bórnu.[200] In | | |
| |ʿAbd Allah’s reign, also, there | | |
| |is said to have been a great | | |
| |famine in the land. | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| EDRÍS |This is certainly the most |Aláwo. | 33. |
| AMSÁMI, |important reign for us, as this | |(not 53.) |
| |excellent and energetic prince | | |
|Or as he is |found in his imám, Áhmed ben | | A.H. |
| more |Fúrtua (or ben Sofíya), a | |979-1011. |
| generally |trustworthy and able historian, | | A.D. |
|called, from|whose work has outlived the | |1571-1603.|
| Aláwo, his |dynasty of the Séfuwa, and | | |
| place of |fallen into my hands. But, | | |
| burial, |unfortunately, it comprises only| | |
|Alawóma, son|the first twelve years of his | | |
|of ʿAlí ben |reign, so that of the remaining | | |
| Edrís ben |twenty-one years, equally rich | | |
| ʿAlí ben |in events, we know nothing at | | |
|Ahmed Dúnama|all. The imám Áhmed wrote one | | |
|ben ʿOthmán |part of his work evidently in | | |
| ben el Háj |the year of the Hejra 990 or | | |
| Edrís. |991, at the end of Rejeb, in the| | |
| |capital Ghasréggomo; the other | | |
| |part, which contains an account | | |
| |of the expeditions to Kánem, | | |
| |which likewise belong to the | | |
| |first years of the long reign of| | |
| |Edrís, a little later. | | |
| | | | |
| |Edrís Alawóma seems to have | | |
| |ascended the throne after a | | |
| |short interregnum, during which | | |
| |the reins of government were | | |
| |held by the queen mother, or | | |
| |mágira, ʿAáisha Kel- | | |
| |eghrármarám[201], who appears to| | |
| |have been a very distinguished | | |
| |woman, probably of Berber | | |
| |origin, realizing to the Kanúri | | |
| |the ideal perfection of a | | |
| |female, and therefore called | | |
| |“mai kámobe.” Probably it was | | |
| |she who instilled into her son | | |
| |that harmonious union of warlike| | |
| |courage and vigour on the one | | |
| |hand, with mildness and justice | | |
| |on the other, which were the | | |
| |characteristic qualities of this| | |
| |excellent prince. Not long after| | |
| |his accession to the throne, he | | |
| |appears to have sent, probably | | |
| |under the influence of his | | |
| |mother, an embassy to Tripoli, | | |
| |the secure intercourse with | | |
| |which place was very important | | |
| |for any enterprising prince of | | |
| |Bórnu; and to this intercourse | | |
| |we evidently have to ascribe the| | |
| |very remarkable fact, that this | | |
| |king possessed already a good | | |
| |many musketeers, who decided the| | |
| |issue of the most serious | | |
| |battles. We find also in the | | |
| |imám’s history an interesting | | |
| |account of a numerous caravan | | |
| |arriving from the north with a | | |
| |great many Arab horses for sale.| | |
| |I have no doubt that the French | | |
| |Prisoner in Tripoli was mistaken| | |
| |in ascribing the embassy, which | | |
| |in the year 1578 arrived in that| | |
| |place to ʿAbd Allah instead of | | |
| |to the new prince, who had only | | |
| |a few years previously ascended | | |
| |the throne, and was not yet | | |
| |known on the coast. | | |
| | | | |
| |With regard to the interior | | |
| |affairs of the kingdom, the | | |
| |principal object of Edrís | | |
| |Alawóma seems to have been to | | |
| |subdue entirely, or even to | | |
| |exterminate, if possible, those | | |
| |heterogeneous elements of which | | |
| |the kingdom had been formed, and| | |
| |which had been allowed by his | | |
| |predecessors (intent on the | | |
| |superficial advantages of | | |
| |distant conquests) to undermine | | |
| |the very strength of the empire.| | |
| |He therefore seems to have | | |
| |turned his attention immediately| | |
| |to the Só, or Soy, who, though | | |
| |evidently greatly reduced from | | |
| |their former predominance and | | |
| |power, yet still possessed many | | |
| |extensive districts and numerous| | |
| |strongholds in the immediate | | |
| |neighbourhood of the principal | | |
| |settlements of the Bórnu people,| | |
| |against whom they not only | | |
| |successfully vindicated their | | |
| |independence, but even | | |
| |continually harassed them by | | |
| |inroads. He therefore first | | |
| |attacked that division of this | | |
| |great tribe which inhabited the | | |
| |fertile districts on the river | | |
| |(Komádugu Wáúbe), and was called| | |
| |Gháffate (Ngaufate?), with | | |
| |several subdivisions, among | | |
| |which we find the names of the | | |
| |Ghidáma and the Dughúti. In | | |
| |order to conquer their extensive| | |
| |and strong capital, Dámasak, he | | |
| |built at some distance from it a| | |
| |large and fortified camp, where | | |
| |he placed a great part of his | | |
| |army, and further north another | | |
| |smaller one. Having harassed the| | |
| |enemy for some time by daily | | |
| |attacks from these places, | | |
| |cutting down their corn and | | |
| |their trees, he at length | | |
| |undertook to besiege the place; | | |
| |and having succeeded in taking | | |
| |it, he killed or carried away | | |
| |its inhabitants, after which the| | |
| |smaller places around shared the| | |
| |same fate. The rest of the | | |
| |people of Dughúti fled to Kánem.| | |
| |He then attacked another large | | |
| |and strong pagan fortress called| | |
| |Ámsaka, or Ámasak, situated | | |
| |between Gamerghú and Mándará, | | |
| |and succeeded in taking it | | |
| |chiefly by means of his muskets.| | |
| |He then proceeded against the | | |
| |tribe of the Gamerghú, who had | | |
| |been left undisturbed by all the| | |
| |preceding kings, and took | | |
| |several of their towns. | | |
| | | | |
| |Having in this way strengthened | | |
| |the loose structure of his | | |
| |empire towards the east, he | | |
| |turned westward against | | |
| |Kanó[202], a name which by the | | |
| |historian is evidently used only| | |
| |to denote the whole province, | | |
| |and not a single town. Indeed, | | |
| |from what he says about Dalá, it| | |
| |is evident that there was no | | |
| |large _town_ named Kanó at that | | |
| |time. The king succeeded in | | |
| |destroying all the strongholds | | |
| |of the province, which our | | |
| |author expressly states the | | |
| |Kanáwa had then first built, | | |
| |viz. Kazrá, Kelmásana (this | | |
| |seems a Berber name), Majíya, | | |
| |Ukluya, Dulúwo, Auzáki, | | |
| |Ajíyajíya, Saʿayá, Ghálaki, | | |
| |Kayí, and others; but as for | | |
| |Dalá[203], the strongest of | | |
| |these “shokíya” or stockades, he| | |
| |was unable to take it. This Dalá| | |
| |was evidently the village built | | |
| |at the foot of the rocky mount | | |
| |of the same name, which at | | |
| |present forms, for the most | | |
| |part, the quarter of the Arabs | | |
| |in the town of Kanó. After Edrís| | |
| |had humiliated and weakened, in | | |
| |this way, the inhabitants of | | |
| |Kanó, the people of Bórnu | | |
| |continually made predatory | | |
| |expeditions against them. | | |
| | | | |
| |From this circumstance we are | | |
| |enabled to judge of the state of| | |
| |affairs in these loosely | | |
| |aggregated empires; for Kanó had| | |
| |certainly been long before this | | |
| |period a province of Bórnu. | | |
| | | | |
| |Edrís Alawóma then directed his | | |
| |efforts towards the north-west, | | |
| |and undertook three expeditions | | |
| |against the Tawárek (Imóshagh) | | |
| |or Berbers, whom he reduced to | | |
| |obedience. The first of these | | |
| |expeditions was called the | | |
| |kerígu or ghazzia of Síktala, or| | |
| |Bútírsa; the second was named | | |
| |after the tribe Dinkir (the | | |
| |Díggera?), settled only two | | |
| |days’ march from Kulíya, against| | |
| |whom it was directed, or after | | |
| |the place Targhígha. These two | | |
| |expeditions seem to have been of| | |
| |secondary importance; the third,| | |
| |however, was directed against | | |
| |the Berbers of Aïr, on which | | |
| |occasion, starting from Át- | | |
| |rébisa[204], and passing the | | |
| |town Ghamarama, he overtook a | | |
| |numerous host of the inhabitants| | |
| |of Ahír, or Aïr, in the open | | |
| |desert, between the town Tádsa | | |
| |and Aïr, and having, as the imám| | |
| |says, made a great slaughter of | | |
| |them, returned to Zibdúwa, | | |
| |thence to the town Susubáki, | | |
| |and, having remained there | | |
| |awhile, retired to Muniyó.[205] | | |
| |Already, at an earlier date than| | |
| |these three expeditions led by | | |
| |him in person, his vizier, | | |
| |Kúrsuwa ben Harún, had fought a | | |
| |battle with the Tawárek, who had| | |
| |come with a numerous host of | | |
| |Tildhin (?)[206], and other | | |
| |people, to attack him at | | |
| |Aghalwen. Having thus broken the| | |
| |strength of those Berber tribes,| | |
| |he ordered the Kil-yíti, or | | |
| |rather Kélwáti[207], who were | | |
| |living in his dominions, to make| | |
| |continual inroads into their | | |
| |territory, till they were | | |
| |obliged to sue for peace, when | | |
| |they were allowed to return to | | |
| |their former seats, vowing a | | |
| |qualified allegiance to the king| | |
| |of Bórnu, while they ceased to | | |
| |yield obedience to the ruler of | | |
| |Aïr.[208] It is to be lamented | | |
| |that the imám Áhmed does not | | |
| |call the inhabitants of Aïr by | | |
| |the name of their tribe, as it | | |
| |would have been a matter of the | | |
| |greatest interest for us to know| | |
| |what tribe of Berbers had | | |
| |possession of the country at the| | |
| |time. It seems that the Kilyíti,| | |
| |or Kelwáti, are identical with | | |
| |the Keléti, or Jotko, who, | | |
| |intermixed with Tebu, are living| | |
| |on the north side of the | | |
| |komádugu, between Dúchi and Yó. | | |
| | | | |
| |I will here also mention the | | |
| |interesting expedition which | | |
| |Edrís Alawóma undertook some | | |
| |time previously, as it seems, | | |
| |against the Tebu, or Tedá, of | | |
| |the province of Durku, or Dirki,| | |
| |and of Ághram[209] (or Táshi), | | |
| |when, after subjugating the | | |
| |whole country—a measure so | | |
| |important for the communications| | |
| |with the coast—he made a long | | |
| |stay in Bilma, or Bulma. Here we| | |
| |have an example of a similar | | |
| |state of things to those in | | |
| |Kanó; for all this country had | | |
| |long before been tributary to | | |
| |Bórnu. In order to secure | | |
| |facility of access to these | | |
| |distant and inhospitable | | |
| |regions, he built large boats on| | |
| |the komádugu, and collected | | |
| |great herds of camels. | | |
| | | | |
| |Having thus secured his | | |
| |influence in the far distant | | |
| |northern provinces, Edrís again | | |
| |turned southward against the | | |
| |rebellious Marghí prince | | |
| |Maghaya, and having made an | | |
| |inroad into Kufshi, or | | |
| |Kubshi[210], Mitku, and Humdi | | |
| |(these two last places being | | |
| |situated on or at the foot of a | | |
| |rock), and having made captive a| | |
| |part of the prince’s family, the| | |
| |latter came to Birni and threw | | |
| |dust upon his head. After this | | |
| |the ex-ruler of Mándará | | |
| |(Wándalá), having come to ask | | |
| |his assistance against an uncle | | |
| |who had deprived him of his | | |
| |throne, Edrís marched against | | |
| |Karáwa[211], then the capital of| | |
| |Mándará; but the inhabitants | | |
| |having retreated to the summit | | |
| |of the high mountain which is to| | |
| |the west of the town, he was | | |
| |obliged to retrace his steps | | |
| |without effecting his purpose. | | |
| |However, the next year he | | |
| |returned better prepared, and, | | |
| |sitting down at the foot of the | | |
| |rock, compelled the people of | | |
| |Mándará and their chief to quit | | |
| |their retreat and make their | | |
| |submission; and he then | | |
| |reinstated the rightful prince. | | |
| | | | |
| |After this King Edrís led his | | |
| |victorious army against the | | |
| |Eastern Nghizim, who had first | | |
| |directed their predatory forays | | |
| |against the Felláta settled in | | |
| |Bórnu[212], but had soon ceased | | |
| |to make any distinction between | | |
| |foreigners and natives, and | | |
| |attacked all who fell in their | | |
| |way. For two years he laid waste| | |
| |their fields, destroying even | | |
| |the plantations of cotton and | | |
| |sesamum, while his vizier | | |
| |Kúrsuwa ransacked the town | | |
| |Meghúluma till he reduced the | | |
| |inhabitants to obedience. He | | |
| |then without delay proceeded | | |
| |against the western Nghizim, | | |
| |called Bináwa by Imám Áhmed. | | |
| |These Bináwa infested all the | | |
| |neighbouring provinces of the | | |
| |empire, and wholly interrupted | | |
| |the communication between Bórnu | | |
| |and an important trading-place | | |
| |in the west, called by our | | |
| |historian Fágha, and probably | | |
| |identical with the Rágha, or | | |
| |Ragháy, mentioned by Ébn Batúta,| | |
| |just in the same quarter, lying | | |
| |between Góber—that is, the | | |
| |original country of that name, | | |
| |with the capital Tínshamán—and | | |
| |Bórnu. Having conquered all | | |
| |their strongholds,—viz. Máwa, | | |
| |Ágham, Báni, and | | |
| |Ghujémbiná[213],—he so terrified| | |
| |the people around, that all, | | |
| |even those of Katágum[214] | | |
| |included, made their submission.| | |
| |The Nghizim are identical with | | |
| |the tribe now generally called | | |
| |Nkizám, which is at present | | |
| |greatly reduced, living in the | | |
| |following places, all lying | | |
| |between Auyók and | | |
| |Katágum:—Táshiná, Únik, Shágató,| | |
| |Chibiay, Belángu, Badda, Rómeri,| | |
| |Zóngolom, Melebétiye, Úmarí, and| | |
| |a few more. | | |
| | | | |
| |After all these warlike | | |
| |undertakings, this active | | |
| |prince, having rested for a | | |
| |little more than a year, | | |
| |undertook a pilgrimage to Mekka,| | |
| |probably in the ninth year of | | |
| |his reign. Having returned from | | |
| |thence, “Háj Edrís,” as he is | | |
| |now to be styled, led his army | | |
| |against the Tetála, or | | |
| |Telála[215], a warlike and high-| | |
| |spirited pagan tribe settled in | | |
| |the neighbourhood and on the | | |
| |islands of the Tsád (probably | | |
| |identical with the Yediná or, as| | |
| |they are generally named, | | |
| |Búdduma), and whose hatred | | |
| |against their oppressors was so | | |
| |intense that they refused | | |
| |fellowship at meals to those | | |
| |among themselves who had not | | |
| |killed a Mohammedan. They prided| | |
| |themselves chiefly on their | | |
| |white spears. This is exactly in| | |
| |harmony with the custom of the | | |
| |Búdduma. Edrís, in order to | | |
| |subdue them, made use of the | | |
| |Katakú, or Kótokó[216], whom he | | |
| |ordered to harass the enemy by | | |
| |continual incursions with their | | |
| |boats, exactly in the same | | |
| |manner as the sheikh of Bórnu at| | |
| |the present day, when he wants | | |
| |to trouble the Búdduma, orders | | |
| |the people of Máfaté to make an | | |
| |inroad against them. The Tetála | | |
| |retreated into the swampy | | |
| |grounds of the Tsád.[217] Edrís | | |
| |then beat the governor of | | |
| |Mafaté[218], who came to attack | | |
| |him with a number of boats, | | |
| |destroyed the town of Kansa- | | |
| |Kusku, as he had also destroyed | | |
| |Saya[219] and Taghálaghá, | | |
| |belonging to the tribe of the | | |
| |Ghamá, or Ngamá, and other | | |
| |places, and built several | | |
| |fortified encampments, or | | |
| |“sansanne,” in the | | |
| |neighbourhood. The Mákari[220], | | |
| |who seem to be identical with | | |
| |the Kótokó, appear to have | | |
| |offered him friendship or | | |
| |submission, with the exception | | |
| |of the people of Kúsuri[221], | | |
| |whose governor he succeeded in | | |
| |taking prisoner, and of | | |
| |Sabálghutu. He then proceeded | | |
| |once more against Mándará, and | | |
| |vanquished that rebellious and | | |
| |stubborn nation. | | |
| | | | |
| |We shall now notice, but | | |
| |briefly, the expeditions of | | |
| |Edrís to Kánem, which likewise | | |
| |fall within the first twelve | | |
| |years of his reign, but have | | |
| |been described separately by the| | |
| |imám. I can dismiss this subject| | |
| |here in a few words, as I have | | |
| |had occasion to make use of the | | |
| |rich geographical materials | | |
| |contained in this account in the| | |
| |course of my narrative. Edrís, | | |
| |during the first twelve years of| | |
| |his reign, went five times to | | |
| |Kánem; and he may have gone | | |
| |there frequently again in the | | |
| |following years. We have seen | | |
| |above that Kánem, after having | | |
| |been for more than a century | | |
| |entirely torn off from the | | |
| |empire, had been again subdued | | |
| |by preceding Bórnu kings. Edrís | | |
| |Alawóma, on ascending the throne| | |
| |of Bórnu, concluded a treaty of | | |
| |peace with ʿAbd Allah the ruling| | |
| |prince of Kánem; and, what is | | |
| |very remarkable as a commentary | | |
| |on the state of civilization in | | |
| |these countries, the conditions | | |
| |of this treaty were | | |
| |diplomatically exhibited in two | | |
| |written copies, nothing | | |
| |remaining to be settled but a | | |
| |dispute about three places, viz.| | |
| |Kálliya, ʿAkúta, and Belúji, | | |
| |which the people of Bórnu wished| | |
| |to obtain. But ʿAbd Allah died; | | |
| |and his son Mohammed, who | | |
| |succeeded him, was, after a | | |
| |short time, dethroned by his | | |
| |uncle ʿAbd el Jelíl ben ʿAbd el | | |
| |Jelíl, who broke off the | | |
| |negotiation and refused | | |
| |allegiance. In the struggle | | |
| |which ensued, Edrís was, on the | | |
| |whole, victorious, although the | | |
| |Bórnu army apparently sustained | | |
| |some heavy losses; Njímiye, and | | |
| |all the country even further | | |
| |east, was taken from Kánem; but | | |
| |as soon as Edrís turned his | | |
| |back, ʿAbd el Jelíl, with his | | |
| |light troops, was again there, | | |
| |till the Bórnu king at last | | |
| |conferred the crown of Kánem | | |
| |again upon Mohammed, attaching | | |
| |to him a strong party of native | | |
| |chiefs, chiefly Arabs. However, | | |
| |he was obliged to return once | | |
| |more to that country so | | |
| |difficult to manage, Mohammed | | |
| |having been beaten by his | | |
| |restless adversary. Subsequently| | |
| |he was more successful, and by a| | |
| |stipulation the whole of Kánem | | |
| |as far as Babáliyá was attached | | |
| |to Bórnu. Of subsequent events | | |
| |we are wholly ignorant, and hear| | |
| |no more of Kánem till a recent | | |
| |period. During these expeditions| | |
| |Edrís inflicted severe blows | | |
| |upon the Tebu population of | | |
| |Kánem; and we have already seen | | |
| |that, in consequence, a great | | |
| |number of them migrated to | | |
| |Bórnu. | | |
| | | | |
| |Of the events of the one-and- | | |
| |twenty years which followed | | |
| |these first twelve years of this| | |
| |excellent prince, we at present | | |
| |know nothing. But I do not doubt| | |
| |that zealous research may | | |
| |hereafter bring some more | | |
| |documents to light. From the | | |
| |manner of Edrís’s death it may | | |
| |be concluded that he waged war | | |
| |till his last moment; for he | | |
| |died, according to tradition, on| | |
| |the battlefield, being wounded | | |
| |in his breast by a hand-bill or | | |
| |góliyó, thrown at him by a pagan| | |
| |concealed in a tree, while | | |
| |waging war with a tribe on the | | |
| |borders of Bagírmi, perhaps the | | |
| |Ghamergú. We only know for | | |
| |certain that he was buried in | | |
| |Aláwo, a place in the district | | |
| |of Ujé, which I have touched | | |
| |upon on my journey to Ádamáwa. | | |
| | | | |
| |But notwithstanding these | | |
| |continual wars in which the | | |
| |Bórnu hero was engaged, “he | | |
| |promoted the prosperity of the | | |
| |country, and the wealth of the | | |
| |towns.” Indeed this is the only | | |
| |particular which the meagre | | |
| |chronicle relates of him besides| | |
| |mentioning the war with ʿAbd el | | |
| |Jelíl; and we know from Imám | | |
| |Áhmed that he built the mosques | | |
| |of clay in Birni Ghasréggomo, | | |
| |superseding those of reeds; and | | |
| |it is to him probably that we | | |
| |must refer the brick ruins in | | |
| |that town as well as in | | |
| |Ghambarú. | | |
| | | | |
| |Altogether Edrís Alawóma appears| | |
| |to have been an excellent | | |
| |prince, uniting in himself the | | |
| |most opposite qualities: warlike| | |
| |energy combined with mildness | | |
| |and intelligence; courage, with | | |
| |circumspection and patience; | | |
| |severity, with pious feelings. | | |
| |And I hope my readers will draw | | |
| |more favourable conclusions from| | |
| |this example as to the general | | |
| |character of the Bórnu kings | | |
| |than Denham did from the | | |
| |degenerate shadow of his time, | | |
| |when he says[222] that “a sultan| | |
| |of Bórnu carries no arms, and it| | |
| |is beneath his dignity to defend| | |
| |himself.” Certainly such a man | | |
| |as Edrís rarely stands alone; | | |
| |and we cannot refuse to join | | |
| |with his name that of his first | | |
| |minister, the warlike and | | |
| |intelligent Edrís ben Harún, who| | |
| |succeeded in that office his | | |
| |elder brother Kúrsuwa, and who | | |
| |by his excellent arrangements, | | |
| |as well as by his courage, | | |
| |guaranteed the success of many | | |
| |of his master’s undertakings. | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| MOHAMMED, |An excellent prince, but less |Dekána (?). |16 y. 7 m.|
| |warlike and enterprising, as it |[223] | |
| With the |would seem, than his father, | | A.H. |
| surname |whose vigour was no longer |(Perhaps in |1011-1027.|
|Bukalmarámi.|necessary, the empire being well|the territory| A.D. |
|Son of Edrís|established. |of the |1602-1618.|
| and Fanna. | |Duggana.) | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| ÍBRAHÍM. |Sent an embassy to Tripoli in |Ghasréggomo. |7 y. 7 m. |
| |the year 1627. | | |
|Son of Edrís| | | A.H. |
|and Ghumsu. | | |1027-1035.|
| | | | A.D. |
| | | |1618-1625.|
| | | | |
| | | | |
| HÁJ ʿOMÁR. |Made the pilgrimage to Mekka in |Ghasréggomo. |19 y. 9 m.|
| |the year 1642, having ascended | | |
|Son of Edrís|the throne, according to the | | A.H. |
|and Fisháma.|French document, in the year | |1036-1055.|
| |1634 (1624?). | | A.D. |
| | | |1625-1645.|
| | | | |
| | | | |
| ʿALÍ |A valiant and intelligent man, |Ghasréggomo. | 40. |
| |who thrice made the pilgrimage | | |
| Ben el Háj |to Mekka, viz. in the years | | A.H. |
| ʿOmár. |1648, 1656, and 1667; when | |1055-1095.|
| |returning on the last occasion | | A.D. |
| |from his distant journey, he had| |1645-1684.|
| |to extinguish a revolution. He | | |
| |waged several wars with the | | |
| |sultan of Aïr residing in | | |
| |Ágades, and was once besieged in| | |
| |his capital at the same time by | | |
| |the Tawárek and by the Köana, or| | |
| |Kwona, a division of the | | |
| |Korórofa, who had long been | | |
| |subjected to Bórnu, when he | | |
| |managed to set the latter | | |
| |against the former, and then | | |
| |destroyed them also. It seems | | |
| |that in his reign the country | | |
| |was afflicted by several long | | |
| |famines, which distressed the | | |
| |inhabitants greatly, and which | | |
| |can scarcely be explained but by| | |
| |supposing an unsettled state of | | |
| |the country, which did not allow| | |
| |the people to cultivate the | | |
| |ground. | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| EDRÍS |This is the king who has been | (?) | 20. |
| |omitted by mistake in the | | |
| Ben ʿAlí. |chronicle. | | A.H. |
| | | |1096-1115.|
| | | | A.D. |
| | | |1685-1704.|
| | | | |
| | | | |
| DÚNAMA |Another long famine of seven |Ghasréggomo. | 19. |
| |years is mentioned by the | | |
| Ben ʿAlí. |chronicle. | | A.H. |
| | | |1115-1134.|
| | | | A.D. |
| | | |1704-1722.|
| | | | |
| | | | |
| HÁJ HAMDÚN |A pious and indolent king, who |Ghasréggomo. | 14. |
| |appears to have made a | | |
|Ben Dúnama. |pilgrimage. | | A.H. |
| | | |1135-1148.|
| | | | A.D. |
| | | |1723-1736.|
| | | | |
| | | | |
| MOHAMMED, |Of his reign likewise we know |Ghasréggomo. | 16. |
| |nothing but of a famine which | | |
| With the |lasted two years. These princes,| | A.H. |
| surname |indeed, seem in general to have | |1149-1164.|
| Erghámma. |seldom left their favourite | | A.D. |
| Son of El |residence, where they indulged | |1737-1751.|
|Háj Hamdún. |in luxury and ostentation, while| | |
| |the kingdom was falling to | | |
| |pieces and became unable to | | |
| |resist any shock which might | | |
| |come from without. | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| DÚNAMA, |The chronicle mentions, under |Ghasréggomo. |2 y. 7 m. |
| |his short reign, a very severe | | |
| With the |famine. | | A.H. |
| surname | | |1165-1168.|
|Ghaná, “the | | | A.D. |
|little.” The| | |1752-1755.|
|young son of| | | |
| Mohammed. | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| ʿALÍ |Is greatly praised by the | | 40. |
| |chronicle as a most excellent | | |
| Ben el Háj |prince; but it is evident that | | A.H. |
| Dúnama. |he was such only from a monkish | |1168-1207.|
| |point of view. He seems, | | A.D. |
| |however, to have excelled in a | |1755-1793.|
| |peculiar kind of energy, being | | |
| |mentioned by Lucas as the father| | |
| |of three hundred male | | |
| |children.[224] I cannot say with| | |
| |absolute certainty whether it | | |
| |was he who made a most | | |
| |unfortunate expedition against | | |
| |Mándará, to the ill success of | | |
| |which most of the intelligent | | |
| |Bórnu people attribute the | | |
| |weakness of the empire under the| | |
| |following reign, when it was | | |
| |attacked by the fanatic troops | | |
| |of the Felláta, the best part of| | |
| |the army having been slain by | | |
| |the inhabitants of Mándará. ʿAlí| | |
| |seems also to have made several | | |
| |expeditions against the Bedde. | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| ÁHMED |“A learned prince, liberal |Ghasréggomo. | 17. |
| |towards the ʿulama; a prodigal | | |
| Ben ʿAlí. |dispenser of alms, a friend of | | A.H. |
| |science and religion, gracious | |1208-1225.|
| |and compassionate towards the | | A.D. |
| |poor.” So says the chronicle. | |1793-1810.|
| |However well deserved this | | |
| |praise may be, certainly Áhmed | | |
| |was not the man to save the | | |
| |kingdom from the dangers which | | |
| |surrounded it. | | |
| | | | |
| |But although the empire was | | |
| |already prepared for ruin, there| | |
| |supervened a powerful cause of | | |
| |weakness; for under Áhmed a very| | |
| |severe pestilence visited Bórnu,| | |
| |carrying off a great number of | | |
| |people. This plague is said to | | |
| |have been announced by an | | |
| |eclipse of the sun, which | | |
| |preceded it by two years. | | |
| | | | |
| |About 1808 began the inroads of | | |
| |the Fúlbe or Felláta, who had | | |
| |conquered successfully the | | |
| |ancient Háusa kingdoms, which | | |
| |till then had been in a sort of | | |
| |tributary dependence upon Bórnu.| | |
| |The consequence was that their | | |
| |countrymen, settled in Bórnu | | |
| |from ancient times, as we have | | |
| |seen, being harassed by | | |
| |persecution, collected together | | |
| |in Gújebá, and from that point | | |
| |began their conquests, | | |
| |vanquishing all the officers | | |
| |whom Áhmed sent against them; | | |
| |they then marched against | | |
| |Ghasréggomo, led on by Malá | | |
| |Rída, Mukhtár, and Hanníma, | | |
| |defeated the army of the sultan,| | |
| |who escaped by the eastern gate | | |
| |while they entered the town from| | |
| |the west side. Áhmed then went | | |
| |to reside in Kurnáwa. This | | |
| |happened in the year of the | | |
| |Hejra 1224, or 1809 of our era, | | |
| |on a Sunday; but I cannot say in| | |
| |what month. From that place the | | |
| |distressed king sent a message | | |
| |to the fáki Mohammed el Amín el | | |
| |Kánemí, who, on account of his | | |
| |marriage with the daughter of | | |
| |the governor of Ngála, had begun| | |
| |to oppose himself to the | | |
| |progress of the conquerors; for,| | |
| |having begged his father-in-law | | |
| |to allow him to take his wife | | |
| |and daughter with him to Fezzán,| | |
| |the latter refused, so that the | | |
| |fáki, together with his friends | | |
| |Mohammed Tiráb, and Ibrahím | | |
| |Wádáy collected in Bínder, on | | |
| |the west border of the Tsád, a | | |
| |small force, said to have | | |
| |consisted of five horsemen and | | |
| |two hundred spearmen, with whom | | |
| |he successfully attacked the | | |
| |Fúlbe, who were disposed to | | |
| |laugh at his threats. Having | | |
| |collected more adventurers and | | |
| |patriotic men round him, he then| | |
| |vanquished the whole force of | | |
| |the conquerors in a battle near | | |
| |Ngórnu, when he is said to have | | |
| |had under his command two | | |
| |hundred men on horseback, and | | |
| |two thousand on foot. Having | | |
| |thus liberated the whole eastern| | |
| |part of Bórnu, he sat down | | |
| |quietly, when Áhmed sent for | | |
| |him. Assisted by the inspiring | | |
| |fanaticism of the fáki, and by | | |
| |the courage and valour of his | | |
| |Kánembú spearmen, Áhmed was | | |
| |enabled to re-enter his capital,| | |
| |but soon after died[225], in the| | |
| |beginning, as it seems, of A.H. | | |
| |1225. | | |
| | | | |
| DÚNAMA, |Dúnama followed his father, who |Ngála. | 8. |
| |had already, in his lifetime, | | |
| Son of |chosen him for his successor, | | A.H. |
| Áhmed, and |and for a short time waged | |1225-1233.|
|MOHAMMED EL |successful war against the | | A.D. |
| AMÍN EL |enemy, till he too was driven | |1810-1817,|
| KÁNEMÍ. |out of his capital by the Fúlbe | | 1818. |
| |of Katágum, as it seems, in the | | |
| |end of 1226, or beginning of | | |
| |1227. He then went wandering | | |
| |about in his own kingdom, | | |
| |changing his residence every few| | |
| |months, first residing in Majé, | | |
| |near Fátóghaná (the ancient | | |
| |Dámasak), then in a place called| | |
| |Aségga, then near Múngonó, then | | |
| |in Bérberuwá, till he placed | | |
| |himself under the protection of | | |
| |the powerful fáki, who alone had| | |
| |proved himself capable of | | |
| |resisting the victorious impulse| | |
| |which attended the march of the | | |
| |Felláta. Indeed a covenant was | | |
| |then made, assigning half of the| | |
| |revenue of the liberated | | |
| |provinces to Mohammed el Amín. | | |
| |The fáki now resided in the | | |
| |large town of Ngórnu (“the | | |
| |blessing”), where he seems to | | |
| |have found zealous support from | | |
| |the many Tebu residing there, | | |
| |while the sultan held his court | | |
| |in some other place. But matters| | |
| |could not long remain in this | | |
| |state; the population were not | | |
| |able to serve two masters, but | | |
| |they were obliged to decide for | | |
| |the one or the other. When, | | |
| |therefore, the people all | | |
| |flocked to the man who had | | |
| |liberated them from a foreign | | |
| |yoke, the old party excited the | | |
| |sultan’s jealousy, and | | |
| |instigated him to rid himself of| | |
| |his troublesome rival. Mohammed | | |
| |el Amín’s authority, however, | | |
| |was so well established in the | | |
| |goodwill of the people, that on | | |
| |being cited before the sultan he| | |
| |was able to appear before him | | |
| |unattended, while the latter | | |
| |dared not hurt him. The | | |
| |consequence was that the fáki’s,| | |
| |or rather the sheikh’s | | |
| |(shékho—for this title he now | | |
| |began to adopt) influence | | |
| |increased every day, and Dúnama,| | |
| |with his party, made a last | | |
| |effort to release himself from | | |
| |that influence, and to preserve | | |
| |the royal dignity. Indeed he | | |
| |might hope that if he succeeded | | |
| |in establishing his court at a | | |
| |certain distance, he might rally| | |
| |around himself the old partisans| | |
| |of royalty; but before he | | |
| |reached Wúdí, the place he had | | |
| |selected for his residence, one | | |
| |of the principal settlements of | | |
| |the Temághera, and which had | | |
| |been the abode of several of the| | |
| |old Bórnu kings, Mohammed el | | |
| |Amín, who perceived that the | | |
| |time was now come when he must | | |
| |decide whether he was to be | | |
| |subject or ruler, even though he| | |
| |did not aspire to the title of | | |
| |king, had him arrested on the | | |
| |road, and brought back to | | |
| |Bérberuwá. But finding him still| | |
| |obstinate, he deposed him | | |
| |altogether, reproaching him with| | |
| |a wish to betray his country; | | |
| |and then he transferred the | | |
| |title and pomp of a sultan to | | |
| |Mohammed, a brother of Áhmed, | | |
| |and uncle of Dúnama. Mohammed | | |
| |then began to build himself a | | |
| |new residence, which is called | | |
| |by the Arabs Birni jedíd, two | | |
| |miles and a half north-west from| | |
| |Ngórnu. But when Mohammed el | | |
| |Amín saw that this man was no | | |
| |less obstinate than Dúnama, he | | |
| |reinstated the latter again. So | | |
| |that Mohammed, having reigned | | |
| |but a short time, and that only | | |
| |by the will of the usurper, is | | |
| |not mentioned at all by the | | |
| |chronicle. | | |
| | | | |
| |We may therefore reckon the | | |
| |commencement of the present | | |
| |dynasty of the Kánemíyín from | | |
| |the year 1814 of our era. It is | | |
| |a very remarkable fact, that an | | |
| |utter stranger to the country | | |
| |should become its ruler; but the| | |
| |struggle was not yet at an end, | | |
| |and could not well be ended | | |
| |without much bloodshed as soon | | |
| |as the fascinating personal | | |
| |influence of the liberator was | | |
| |gone by. The sheikh then, having| | |
| |gone so far, in order to | | |
| |separate his position as far as | | |
| |possible from the memory of the | | |
| |ancient times, founded likewise | | |
| |a new residence, which, from the| | |
| |name of the _Adansonia | | |
| |digitata_, a specimen of which | | |
| |stood on the spot where he | | |
| |wished to build his house, | | |
| |received the name of Kúka, or | | |
| |rather Kúkawa.[226] Being now | | |
| |fairly installed in the | | |
| |government of a vast but very | | |
| |distracted country, while he | | |
| |allowed the pomp of royalty to | | |
| |be borne by the descendant of | | |
| |the Séfuwa, and perhaps | | |
| |purposely exaggerated it, in | | |
| |order to make it ridiculous, he | | |
| |was anxious at the same time to | | |
| |recover the lost provinces, and | | |
| |to defend the country against | | |
| |its south-eastern neighbour, | | |
| |who, from having been a vassal, | | |
| |had become a dangerous enemy. | | |
| |Indeed he had to sustain a long | | |
| |and sanguinary struggle with | | |
| |Bagírmi, in which he was not | | |
| |always successful. He undertook | | |
| |at first to reduce the | | |
| |overbearing and lawless | | |
| |Burgománda, the ruler of that | | |
| |province, to obedience, with the| | |
| |assistance of ʿAbd el Kerím | | |
| |Sabún, the powerful and | | |
| |intelligent prince of Wádáy; but| | |
| |the latter chose rather to | | |
| |consult his own interests, and | | |
| |after carrying away all the | | |
| |treasures, and even many of the | | |
| |inhabitants of Bagírmi, he even | | |
| |granted to Burgománda some sort | | |
| |of protection in return for an | | |
| |annual tribute to be paid to | | |
| |Wádáy, as we shall see in the | | |
| |following volume. At the same | | |
| |time the intelligent Sabún, | | |
| |whose predecessor Mohammed | | |
| |Sáleh, by the conquest of the | | |
| |province of Fittri, had stept | | |
| |into the place of the | | |
| |pretensions raised by the | | |
| |Bulála, endeavoured to gain more| | |
| |ground in Kánem. Meanwhile the | | |
| |powerful king of Wádáy died | | |
| |(A.D. 1815), but even this event| | |
| |did not relieve the situation of| | |
| |El Kánemí; for, in a sudden and | | |
| |unexpected encounter of the two | | |
| |armies in Kótokó, the eldest and| | |
| |most beloved son of the sheikh | | |
| |was slain in 1816, and in 1817 a| | |
| |bloody battle was lost by him at| | |
| |Ngála, on which occasion the | | |
| |titular sultan Dúnama was slain.| | |
| |Mohammed el Kánemí being | | |
| |frustrated in this way, then | | |
| |entered into a covenant with the| | |
| |ruler of Fezzán; and a combined | | |
| |expedition was organized in the | | |
| |year 1818, which was altogether | | |
| |very successful. The whole of | | |
| |the northern part of Bagírmi was| | |
| |overrun, the large towns of | | |
| |Babáliyá and Gáwi were | | |
| |destroyed, and the sheikh spent | | |
| |a day or two in Más-eñá, the | | |
| |capital of the country; but no | | |
| |decisive blow could be struck, | | |
| |the king with his whole army | | |
| |having retired to Mankhfa and | | |
| |taken up a very strong position | | |
| |defended by the river and a | | |
| |great number of boats. | | |
| | | | |
| IBRAHÍM. |Installing in the deceased | | |
| |sultan’s place Ibrám, or | | |
| A.H. |Ibrahím, Dúnama’s brother, the | | |
| 1233-1263. |sheikh continued the struggle | | |
| A.D. |with Bagírmi, and on the 24th of| | |
| 1818-1846. |March of the year 1824, as we | | |
| |know from the report of Denham’s| | |
| |expedition, was so fortunate as | | |
| |to gain, on the same battle- | | |
| |field of Ngála, a decided | | |
| |victory over his valiant south- | | |
| |eastern neighbour, which seems | | |
| |to have set him at once at rest.| | |
| |Having thus obtained leisure on | | |
| |this side, and having | | |
| |extinguished a revolt of the | | |
| |Manga, Mohammed el Kánemí seems | | |
| |to have turned his attention | | |
| |westward, in order to recover, | | |
| |if possible, some of the | | |
| |provinces of the old empire of | | |
| |Bórnu. At first he was very | | |
| |successful, and penetrated far | | |
| |into the interior of the | | |
| |province of Bauchi; but in the | | |
| |year 1826 the officers of Sultan| | |
| |Béllo beat his army, and he | | |
| |himself had a narrow escape. He | | |
| |seems to have then concluded a | | |
| |peace. He made also several | | |
| |attempts to reduce Kánem to a | | |
| |state of obedience, and here had| | |
| |to contend with Wádáy. Mohammed | | |
| |el Kánemí died in 1835[227], | | |
| |leaving forty-three sons, and | | |
| |having named for his successor | | |
| |his eldest son ʿOmár, who was to| | |
| |be succeeded, if he should die | | |
| |early, by ʿAbd e’ Rahmán, and | | |
| |then by Yusuf. | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| SHEIKH |ʿOmár’s reign is remarkable on | | |
| ʿOMÁR. |account of his having made an | | |
| |end of the Séfuwa altogether. He| | |
| Son of |seemed from the first desirous | | |
|Mohammed el |of peace in every direction, and| | |
| Kánemí. |had the great advantage, in | | |
| |endeavouring to obtain this | | |
| A.H. 1251. |object from Bagírmi, that his | | |
| A.D. 1835. |mother belonged to that country.| | |
| |Having also made peace with the | | |
| |Fúlbe after an unsuccessful | | |
| |expedition against them, he had | | |
| |some difficulty in restraining | | |
| |the governors of the western | | |
| |provinces, who are almost | | |
| |independent vassals, from making| | |
| |incursions into their territory.| | |
| |It was on this account that he | | |
| |was obliged, in the beginning of| | |
| |1846, to send a strong army, | | |
| |commanded by his brother ʿAbd e’| | |
| |Rahmán, against Ibrám, the | | |
| |restless governor of Zínder, | | |
| |whose obstinate disregard of the| | |
| |peace with the Fúlbe proceeded | | |
| |to open rebellion. | | |
| | | | |
| |This opportunity, when all the | | |
| |best troops were about to march | | |
| |to the distant west, was seized | | |
| |on by the numerous partisans of | | |
| |the old dynasty, to aim a mortal| | |
| |blow at the house of the sheikh | | |
| |by secretly inviting the King of| | |
| |Wádáy, Mohammed e’ Sheríf, to | | |
| |re-establish the Séfuwa on the | | |
| |throne of Bórnu. Mohammed | | |
| |listening to this invitation, | | |
| |collected his army, and in Mulúd| | |
| |or Rebí el awel, 1262, that is, | | |
| |in March 1846, reached Kúsuri. | | |
| |The sheikh never heard of his | | |
| |approach till he was very near. | | |
| |He at once summoned the sultan | | |
| |Ibrám from Birni, and, | | |
| |denouncing him as a traitor, | | |
| |placed him in irons; he then | | |
| |hastily collected what troops | | |
| |remained behind, having no one | | |
| |with him upon whom he could | | |
| |rely, except Tiráb his faithful | | |
| |minister (the intimate friend of| | |
| |his father), his brother the | | |
| |valorous ʿAlí, together with | | |
| |from five to six hundred Arabs | | |
| |and Tebu. With this little band,| | |
| |swelled by a crowd of faithless | | |
| |Shúwa, he encamped on the | | |
| |western bank of the river of | | |
| |Logón, not far from the town of | | |
| |Kúsuri, while Wádáy was encamped| | |
| |on the eastern bank of the | | |
| |Shárí. The inhabitants of Kúsuri| | |
| |locked the gates of their town | | |
| |against both armies, but | | |
| |secretly communicated with | | |
| |Wádáy; and when Mohammed e’ | | |
| |Sheríf was unable to force the | | |
| |passage of the river in the face| | |
| |of the enemy, who did great | | |
| |execution with two cannons, the | | |
| |Wádáy having none, they sent to | | |
| |him offering to lead part of his| | |
| |army round by a ford which was | | |
| |protected only by Shúwa. This | | |
| |was the ford of Síña Fácha, at | | |
| |the headland a little below | | |
| |Kúsuri, where the Shárí and the | | |
| |river of Logón unite to form one| | |
| |stream, which joins the Tsád. | | |
| |When the corps sent by the | | |
| |people of Wádáy tried to cross | | |
| |the river here, the Shúwa, who | | |
| |had been ordered to defend the | | |
| |ford, gave way, and, thinking | | |
| |this a favourable opportunity to| | |
| |pilfer, joined the enemy, | | |
| |killing many of the sheikh’s | | |
| |people in the flank, till | | |
| |Kashélla Belál brought their | | |
| |chief to the ground. In the | | |
| |slaughter which ensued, Tiráb | | |
| |fell, and a great many of the | | |
| |Bórnu people. The valorous ʿAlí | | |
| |penetrated into the town of | | |
| |Kúsuri, but was delivered by the| | |
| |townspeople into the hands of | | |
| |the king of Wádáy; the rest took| | |
| |to flight, except the Tebu and | | |
| |Arabs, who maintained their | | |
| |position, so that Sheikh ʿOmár | | |
| |was able to say his prayers of | | |
| |the dhohor and the ʿaser before | | |
| |he left the battle-field. But | | |
| |the encampment fell into the | | |
| |hands of the enemy, as well as | | |
| |the two cannons. However, in | | |
| |crossing the river, the Wádáy | | |
| |army sustained severe losses. | | |
| |All this happened on Tuesday the| | |
| |11th of Rebí el awel, or March | | |
| |8. 1846. On Thursday, Sheikh | | |
| |ʿOmár put to death Ibrahím the | | |
| |titular sultan of Bórnu, whom he| | |
| |had laid in chains before going | | |
| |to battle. He then hastily left | | |
| |Kúkawa, and retreated into the | | |
| |western provinces; the host of | | |
| |Wádáy followed him as far as | | |
| |Ngórnu, where they encamped and | | |
| |remained about forty days, while| | |
| |their skirmishers plundered all | | |
| |the neighbouring places, and | | |
| |particularly Kúkawa, from whence| | |
| |they carried away a considerable| | |
| |booty, and then set fire to the | | |
| |town. Indeed the capital for | | |
| |about two months remained a | | |
| |desert. | | |
| | | | |
| |But this was not all. The King | | |
| |of Wádáy took ʿAlí, the son of | | |
| |the late Sultan Ibrám, and | | |
| |enthroned him in Birni as sultan| | |
| |of Bórnu, summoning all the | | |
| |partisans of the old dynasty to | | |
| |defend their new king. However, | | |
| |he soon found that he was not | | |
| |strong enough to carry his | | |
| |point, and hearing that ʿAbd e’ | | |
| |Rahmán, the sheikh’s brother, | | |
| |was approaching from the west | | |
| |with a numerous host, and being | | |
| |afraid lest, if he stayed | | |
| |longer, his retreat might be cut| | |
| |off by the river, he sent | | |
| |Ibrahím Wádáy as a messenger of | | |
| |peace to the sheikh, declaring | | |
| |that he had not undertaken this | | |
| |expedition from any desire of | | |
| |conquest, but at the instigation| | |
| |of a great many of the noblest | | |
| |kokanáwa or grandees of Bórnu, | | |
| |whose letters he forwarded to | | |
| |the sheikh. He then, in the last| | |
| |days of April, or the first days| | |
| |of May, 1846, left Ngórnu, | | |
| |commencing his retreat to his | | |
| |far-distant residence, and | | |
| |leaving the recently-elevated | | |
| |sultan to his fate. | | |
| | | | |
| |But it appears that ʿAlí the son| | |
| |of Ibrám was a courageous young | | |
| |prince; for he thought himself | | |
| |strong enough to march against | | |
| |the sheikh, whom he encountered | | |
| |at Minárem, but was quickly | | |
| |vanquished and slain. Thus the | | |
| |last of the Séfuwa died an | | |
| |honourable death on the | | |
| |battlefield. It was now evident | | |
| |that the family of Mohammed el | | |
| |Kánemí, who had liberated the | | |
| |country from a warlike and | | |
| |successful enemy, was well | | |
| |established in the place of the | | |
| |ancient rulers, who had | | |
| |degenerated into mere puppets, | | |
| |and were totally unable to | | |
| |defend themselves and their | | |
| |subjects. A great slaughter of | | |
| |all the partisans of the old | | |
| |dynasty followed, and | | |
| |principally of the Sugúrti, who | | |
| |had risen as their especial | | |
| |upholders; and a little later, | | |
| |in order to efface as far as | | |
| |possible all recollection of | | |
| |those times, the destruction of | | |
| |New Birni was decided on, and | | |
| |fell to the lot of Háj Beshír, | | |
| |the son of Tiráb, who had | | |
| |succeeded his father as the | | |
| |first minister and most | | |
| |confidential servant of the | | |
| |sheikh. From this time, people | | |
| |say, dated the great wealth of | | |
| |the vizier. Meanwhile Sheikh | | |
| |ʿOmár went in person to | | |
| |castigate Serkí Ibrám, the | | |
| |governor of Zínder, who had | | |
| |risen in open revolt, and took | | |
| |and plundered the town, though | | |
| |he pardoned and reinstated the | | |
| |governor, while ʿAbd e’ Rahmán | | |
| |quelled the rebellion of the | | |
| |Manga, who, ever restless and | | |
| |inclined to insurrection, had | | |
| |thought this an excellent | | |
| |opportunity of asserting their | | |
| |independence. ʿOmár himself | | |
| |brought the then large town of | | |
| |Surríkulo to obedience[228]; and| | |
| |the country soon became quieter | | |
| |than before. Scarcely any | | |
| |vestige of the old dynasty was | | |
| |left; even the records of it | | |
| |were purposely destroyed—a most | | |
| |unfortunate circumstance, which | | |
| |made it very difficult for me to| | |
| |obtain what little information I| | |
| |have been able to collect. | | |
| | | | |
| |The Kúka, built by Mohammed el | | |
| |Kánemí, having been destroyed by| | |
| |the people of Wádáy, ʿOmár and | | |
| |his vizier built two towns in | | |
| |its place, one the eastern town,| | |
| |“bílla gedíbe,” as the especial | | |
| |residence of the court, the | | |
| |other, the western town, “bílla | | |
| |futébe.” Thus Kúka has become | | |
| |Kúkawa.[229] | | |
| | | | |
| |Sheikh ʿOmár was now in a much | | |
| |more favourable position than | | |
| |his father, being sole and | | |
| |indisputable master of the | | |
| |country and really the king, | | |
| |though he disdained the title. | | |
| |He might have given it a new | | |
| |organization, ruling it with a | | |
| |strong and impartial hand; but | | |
| |while he is an upright and | | |
| |straightforward man, who | | |
| |certainly would like to see the | | |
| |country well administered, he | | |
| |lacks that far-sighted vigour | | |
| |which is necessary for ruling an| | |
| |extensive kingdom based on a | | |
| |loose state of things, with | | |
| |arbitrary power above and | | |
| |turbulent habits beneath. Indeed| | |
| |it is most deplorable that he | | |
| |has allowed the Tawárek, or | | |
| |rather Imóshagh, those | | |
| |inveterate enemies of well- | | |
| |governed communities, to persist| | |
| |in their desolating and | | |
| |predatory habits. In the time of| | |
| |his father there were Tebu | | |
| |settlements near all the wells | | |
| |on the Fezzán road as far as | | |
| |Beduwáram; all these have been | | |
| |deserted successively since the | | |
| |beginning of the reign of ʿOmár,| | |
| |the towns of Lárí and Wúdí have | | |
| |been ransacked by the Tawárek, | | |
| |and not a living soul left, and | | |
| |the whole of Kánem has become | | |
| |the desolate abode of a few | | |
| |unfortunate communities, and the| | |
| |wild hunting-ground of continual| | |
| |adventurous ghazzias from every | | |
| |quarter; indeed, not only the | | |
| |considerable town of Bárruwa, | | |
| |one day’s march north of the | | |
| |komádugu, on the road to Kánem, | | |
| |but even other places in the | | |
| |middle of Bórnu, as will be seen| | |
| |in the course of my narrative, | | |
| |have to buy their peace by a | | |
| |sort of tribute to be paid to | | |
| |the Tawárek freebooters. | | |
| | | | |
| |But besides his own personal | | |
| |weakness, and inclination to | | |
| |ascetic piety, there was a | | |
| |dangerous cancer undermining the| | |
| |health of the new dynasty: this | | |
| |was the rivalry which soon arose| | |
| |between him and his brother ʿAbd| | |
| |e’ Rahmán, on account of the | | |
| |vizier el Háj Beshír, who | | |
| |enjoyed the whole confidence of | | |
| |the sheikh, and employed his | | |
| |authority too exclusively. The | | |
| |results of this unfortunate | | |
| |quarrel I will here report to | | |
| |their end, although they fall | | |
| |after the time of my arrival in | | |
| |Bórnu. I have already observed | | |
| |above, that on leaving Múrzuk we| | |
| |were informed that a quarrel was| | |
| |about to break out between ʿOmár| | |
| |and ʿAbd e’ Rahmán; but happily | | |
| |matters were then adjusted, and | | |
| |the rivalry did not proceed to a| | |
| |civil war before the winter of | | |
| |1853, when ʿAbd e’ Rahmán, with | | |
| |his partisans, left Kúkawa and | | |
| |went to Gújebá. The sheikh and | | |
| |his vizier followed him, but | | |
| |being betrayed by many of the | | |
| |courtiers, who were badly | | |
| |disposed against the vizier, | | |
| |they were defeated in an | | |
| |irregular skirmish; and Háj | | |
| |Beshír, certainly with very | | |
| |little show of courage, was the | | |
| |first who turned his back, and | | |
| |collecting his most valuable | | |
| |treasures, started for Wádáy. | | |
| |Being detained by the Shúwa, who| | |
| |would not allow him to cross the| | |
| |Shárí, he was induced to return | | |
| |to Kúkawa, on safe-conduct being| | |
| |promised to him by ʿAbd e’ | | |
| |Rahmán, but having been found | | |
| |guilty of treason was strangled.| | |
| |ʿOmár meanwhile was allowed to | | |
| |reside as a private man in the | | |
| |house of his former vizier till,| | |
| |in the summer of 1854, ʿAbd e’ | | |
| |Rahmán ordered him to go to | | |
| |reside in Díkowa. He then | | |
| |collected the malcontents, and | | |
| |on the ʿAíd el kebír vanquished | | |
| |his brother in the open place | | |
| |between the two towns, and made | | |
| |him prisoner, and in the first | | |
| |days of December killed him. | | |
| |Thus he is once more sole ruler | | |
| |of the country; but having lost | | |
| |his vizier, upon whose advice he| | |
| |was formerly wont to rely | | |
| |entirely, he has nobody to | | |
| |supply his want of energy. Time | | |
| |will show whether Bórnu is again| | |
| |to flourish under this dynasty, | | |
| |or whether it has to undergo | | |
| |another revolution. From the | | |
| |sequel of my narrative it will | | |
| |sufficiently appear that it is | | |
| |not in such a state as it ought | | |
| |to be; but it has the advantage | | |
| |that all over Negroland there is| | |
| |no warlike and energetic king at| | |
| |the present time. | | |
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