Chapter X: Part 10

Text size

[Footnote 526: Dikoa, which in earlier days was once a place of residence of the Bornu kings, lies in the German sphere of influence. With regard to the favourable situation of the town cf. Barth, _Travels and Discoveries_, iii. 122 ff. German edition. The natives in their superstitious fashion give as a ground for the change of residence that the ghosts of the Sultans murdered there appeared to Rabeh by night in the royal palace at Kukawa. This motive is not new; thus Mohammed Sherif, Sultan of Wadai, removed his residence from Wara to Abesher, because, as popular report had it, ‘bad ghosts had made the old royal town uninhabitable’ (Nachtigal, _Sahara und Sudan_, iii. 77). Of course this is not to be taken seriously. New ruling families are frequently accustomed to select new places of residence in order to wipe out as far as possible remembrances of the old dynasty, just as Kukawa itself was first founded by the Kanem dynasty at the beginning of the nineteenth century (Nachtigal, i. 586).]

[Footnote 527: [Fika?]]

[Footnote 528: Belonging for the greater part to the German sphere of influence.]

[Footnote 529: Hayatu was the son of Saïdu, grandson of Sultan Mohammed Bello, and consequently great-grandson of Othman dan Fodio, the founder of the empire. (Wurno, formerly the residence of the Sultan of Sokoto, is a town a few miles north of Sokoto.)]

[Footnote 530: Cf. Nachtigal, _Sahara und Sudan_, i. 730.]

[Footnote 531: [This is incorrect.—P. A. B.]]

[Footnote 532: Vid. Introduction to this article.]

[Footnote 533: Cf. Nachtigal, _Sahara und Sudan_, ii. 712 ff., iii. 281.]

[Footnote 534: _Idem_, ii. 726.]

[Footnote 535: This spelling is common and refers to the etymology of Bornu = the land of Noah.]

[Footnote 536: Corruption of ‘azuhur’.]

[Footnote 537: Misprint in the original of t for i.]

[Footnote 538: [Fika?]]

[Footnote 539: This letter, written in the Tripolitan dialect, is printed with all its errors. My conception of the meaning is set out in the accompanying translation. [As I know no Arabic, I can only give a translation of the German translation.—P. A. B.]]

[Footnote 540: The sequence is confused here.]

APPENDIX VI

THE BAUCHI ACCOUNT OF SHEHU LAMINO’S KANO CAMPAIGN[541]

Extract from a _History of the Bauchi Emirs_, translated from the manuscript of Mallam Mustapha, tutor and adviser to the sons of Yakubu, first Emir of Bauchi, by A. Holdsworth Groom, Assistant Resident, Central (Bauchi) Province, Northern Nigeria.

After this he (Yakubu) made a war and went to Dass. He remained there five years, and fought with them and conquered half of them. He was fighting with the other half when the news of Kanumbu (Shehu Lamino of Bornu) reached him, and he started and went to Fake. They met Kanumbu, whose horsemen numbered 44,444. He had driven away the village chiefs of Kano, the chiefs of Kano city, and the Emir of Kano, Dabo. All had fled. Yakubu came and found him encamped. When Kanumbu saw him he said: ‘This slave of the Fulani is a liar, what does he think he will take from off me?’ Yakubu said to his mallams: ‘What is your advice? Ye behold the multitude of his horses. Ye behold also the number of my horses, 2,500. What say ye?’ They replied, ‘The king’s word is ours.’ Yakubu said, ‘I know not how to defeat him, neither do I know how he may be killed, but one thing I do know, I know that he has no power to raise the dead, that he has no power, if rain be lacking, to cause it to fall, that he has no power, if the grass does not spring up, to cause it to do so.’ The followers of Yakubu said, ‘As for these things Allah alone is able to do them.’ Yakubu replied, ‘Since ye know this, that no one is able to do anything save Allah, let us take courage and fight with him, for we shall defeat him and kill him, because no one is powerful save Allah.’ Then they joined battle and slaughtered them, and scattered them.[542] Kanumbu fled, leaving behind him his flag, his tents and drums, and went away to Bornu. Yakubu started and went to Sokoto’and brought to the Sarikin Mussulmin, Bello, son of Shefu dan Fodio, Kanumbu’s flag, his tents, and his drums. Bello rejoiced greatly and made a prayer for Ibraihim, son of Yakubu, that Allah would give him the kingdom of his father, that Allah would give the children of Ibraihim the kingdom of Ibraihim;[543] that Allah would establish the seed of Ibraihim in the house of Yakubu. Yakubu returned and came home.

[Footnote 541: Cf. _Documents scientifiques de la Mission Tilho_, vol. ii, p. 363.]

[Footnote 542: The Habe Archers that followed Yakubu, famous for their shooting and their poisoned arrows, are said to have contributed largely to the victory.]

[Footnote 543: The present Emir of Bauchi is the grandson of Ibraihim.]

APPENDIX VII

REBELLION OF ABBA MASTA

Extract from ‘Travels of Haji Mahomet, a Fulani of Kano’, translated from _Hausa Stories and Riddles_, by H. G. Harris, p. 33.[544]

We reached the King of Bornu. There was a civil war going on. One of the Bornu princes was fighting with the King of Bornu, and trying to take the kingdom from him. This prince, whose name was Abba Masta, had 100,000 men and 40,000 horses. The King of Bornu’s name was Shehu Ibrahim, he had 100,000 soldiers and 100,000 slaves called ‘Kachellas’. Abba Masta refused to obey him. The Shehu said: ‘Why do you refuse, you are my younger brother? Is it a question of politics? If you want a title, I will give it you.’ But his courtiers said: ‘No, don’t give it him, consider your own interests. Is Abba Masta your elder brother, will you obey him?’ But the Shehu would not listen to them, he was angry, he rose up, shook out his clothes, went to his house, and beat his drum, proclaiming, ‘He that is my friend, let him follow me’. . . . 40,000 horsemen left the town and the Shehu was preparing to follow them, when his official sister, the Magira, came and caught hold of his gown, saying: ‘Do not go out now, wait a while, let them go. Do you wish to injure your own interests? When they have gone, we will follow on behind.’ So the army went on, and the Shehu stayed two days at home. Then he beat his drum, and said: ‘Let all my friends rally round me’. They assembled, and followed him. He met Abba Masta, and sent four ‘mallams’ with a message to him saying, ‘Let us not quarrel over politics, which are but transitory things, let us not fall out over them.’ Abba Masta replied that he intended to fight, so the ‘mallams’ returned to the Shehu and said: ‘Abba Masta is evilly disposed; he intends fighting.’ The Shehu sent back the ‘mallams’ with another message, saying, ‘Let us not fight, let not Mussulman blood be shed.’ But Abba Masta continued to advance, and was close on their heels. The alarm was given in the Shehu’s camp, and they opened fire. Thereupon, a certain young man came to the Shehu and said: ‘I will kill him.’ The young man took his spear and pierced Abba Masta through the ribs. Abba Masta fell from his horse; he said to his followers, ‘Fly, the battle is lost.’ Thirty thousand of his followers were slain, some fled to Mandara, some were captured and brought to the Shehu, and the rest scattered. People said, ‘Abba Masta has failed to seize the kingdom.’ The Shehu said, ‘Kill the prisoners.’ They were killed. There was a pursuit. The defeated army fled screaming. The Shehu had the victory. He returned home, assembled his people, and said, ‘Give judgement between me and Abba Masta, which of us was in the wrong.’ They said, ‘He was in the wrong. He refused to obey you, you tried to make peace, but he refused. He behaved like a heathen.’ Then the Shehu beat his drum, and ordered Abba Masta’s men to be brought before him. A court of justice was held, and some were killed and some spared, in accordance with the Shehu’s orders. Five thousand were executed, and the people said, ‘They have met with their deserts.’

The following genealogical table explains the relationships of Abba Masta:

[Footnote 544: Translation published by kind permission of Hermann G. Harris, Esq.]

APPENDIX VIII

METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS IN BRITISH BORNU

Thermometrical and barometrical observations have been taken in Bornu for some years past by the Government Medical Officers; at Maiduguri in Southern Bornu from 1905, and at Geidam in Northern Bornu from 1907. The observations in all cases are taken at 9 a.m. in the shade of an open grass-roofed shed, with maximum and minimum thermometers.

_Average monthly temperature, ascertained by taking the monthly averages
for the years recorded._

_Month._ _Geidam._ _Maiduguri._

° °

January 70·65 74·28

February 75·6 76·9

March 84·13 84·78

April 89·41 91·77

May 90·58 90·62

June 89·81 86·42

July 84·6 82·31

August 80·29 78·76

September 83·77 81·46

October 84·48 83·51

November 77·66 79·17

December 71·16 73·88

_Average yearly temperature._

_Year._ _Maiduguri._ _Geidam._

° °

1905 80·9 —

1906 82·14 —

1907 82·68 81·01

1908 83·02 81·35

1909 82·83 81·57

1910 78·56 82·23

The record maximum temperature of 120° was obtained at Maiduguri on April 6, 1907; the record minimum temperature of 41° at Maiduguri on March 30, 1910; the record fluctuation of 61° at Maiduguri on March 10, 1910.

The record maximum temperature at Geidam was 119° F. on March 28, 1911, and the record minimum 44° F. on January 8, 1912; the record fluctuation at Geidam was 51° F. on May 1, 1911, and January 24, 1912.

RAINFALL

_Year._ _Rainfall at _Rainfall
Maiduguri._ at Geidam._

_Inches._ _Inches._

1905 26·04 —

1906 31·65 20·80

1907 23·63 18·15

1908 23·30 22·39

1909 31·99 21·22

1910 19·53 16·78

1911 30·00 10·46

The record rainfall for 24 hours was 3·87″ at Maiduguri on August 27, 1911.

[I am indebted for these figures to the kindness of Drs. Ellis, McLeay, Moiser, and Cobb of the West African Medical staff.—P. A. B.]

DIRECTION OF PREVAILING WIND

According to the observations taken at Maiduguri, which is just below 12° North latitude, the prevailing winds are as follows:

January, ENE.

February, NE.

March, E.

April, SW.

May, SW.

June, SW.

July, SW.

August, SW.

September, SW.

October, NE.

November, NE.

December, E.

APPENDIX IX

LAKE CHAD AND THE BAHR EL GHAZAL

The French Mission under Captain Tilho devoted a good deal of attention to the problem of the Bahr el Ghazal. Their conclusions are summed up on p. 61, vol. ii of the _Documents scientifiques_: ‘The Bahr el Ghazal, as far as we examined it (i.e. to Fantrassou), is neither an affluent nor an effluent but simply a prolongation of Chad. . . . This conclusion does not solve the problem of the mythical river, which, according to old maps, formerly connected Chad with the Nile.’[545] Twelve varieties of shells are common to Chad and the Nile, and indicate that there must at one time have been a connexion by water between the lake and the river (_Doc. sc._, ii. 170); cf. also note [343] of the present work.

Again, on p. 601 ff., vol. ii: ‘Topography and hypsometry on the one hand, chemistry, geology, and malacology on the other, agree in declaring that Lake Chad is not the remains of an ancient sea, that it is hardly a lake, in spite of its appearance of being an alluvial lake, and that it should be regarded as the expansion of a powerful sheet of fluvial water flowing north-eastwards, rather than a true lake. . . .

It appears legitimate, _a priori_, to suppose that this sheet of fluvial water, after having expanded to form Chad, may continue its course subterraneously, protected by a mantle of sand against the intense evaporation occasioned by the burning sun of the tropics and the parching winds of the desert. Besides, have we not in the Sahara many other examples of water-courses prolonged subterraneously very far from the place where they seem to lose themselves in the sands? . . .

Moreover, if topography and hypsometry can only show us the possibility of the waters of Chad being prolonged subterraneously, chemistry demonstrates the necessity. The amount of chloride in the waters of Chad is in fact so small, that one is bound to admit that there is an outlet somewhere. . . . Chemical analysis has shown that the water of Chad almost everywhere contains less chloride than the drinking water of Copenhagen for example. Consequently, it is absolutely impossible that it can be a self-contained lake. . . .

It is impossible to definitely trace the course of the connecting link between the Chad and the Nile, assuming that it existed, . . . until French Borku and English Darfur are really brought under control.’

[Footnote 545: Cf. the article on the connexion between Lake Chad and the Nile in the _Journal of the Royal Geographical Society_, vol. xxxviii, p. 463. [Commandant Tilho is now in charge of the Mao district to the north of Lake Chad and is making a special study of the problem of the Bahr el Ghazal. Chudeau, _Missions au Sahara_, vol. ii, p. 232, discusses the problem of the Bahr el Ghazal.]]

APPENDIX X

SOME KANURI DERIVATIONS (MOSTLY PROPER NAMES)

About half of these derivations were given me by the late Major A. McClintock, D.S.O., Acting Resident, Bornu, with a request that I would revise them. I have added a few notes in square brackets [ ] and some derivations of other proper names, also in square brackets. Some of the derivations are obviously ‘aetiological’, but others are, I think, correct. Major McClintock heads his collection—‘Lies and Otherwise’.

P. A. B.

[=Afuno= (the Kanuri name for the Hausas). King Iderisa Aloma of Bornu went to war with Kano and found all the people there wearing nothing but arse-cloths (‘funo’). He therefore called them ‘am-funo’ = arse-cloth people. Cf. Benton, _Kanuri Readings_, p. 19. For other derivations vid. Merrick, _Hausa Proverbs_, p. 92.]

[=Allanjurori= = the place of Lowan Allanjuro.]

=Alo.= Mai Iderisa, a Bornu king, was at war in Bagirmi; during a fight he was standing under a tree; up in the tree hidden by the branches was one of the enemy, who threw his knife at the king and wounded him very badly. The Bornu army returned by easy stages with their sick king via Dikoa to the lake now known as Alo. Here the king died from his wounds and was buried. After his death there was much lamentation, until the king’s son said, ‘It is the work of Allah’ [‘Allah kido’ = God did it]. All the people then chanted the word Allah and the lake has since been called Alo.

[Another explanation suggests that the word is derived from the Tubu ‘alo’, meaning a water-melon. When Mai Iderisa died, the melons with which the place was covered burst asunder from grief and formed a lake.]

[=Ardimini.= A town in Margawa District. This word means in the Koiyam language the same as the Kanuri ‘arditsani’ (3rd pers. plur. negative indefinite from ‘ardingin’) = they do not agree. The Koiyams are a pastoral people who do not care to settle down.]

=Argum= = millet. Birds were responsible for carrying this seed and dropping it in Kanem, at Birnin N’gebe, where the Bornu kings lived prior to their coming to Gashergomo. The seed these birds brought was taken to the king, who ordered horsemen to follow their flight and find out where it grew. It was found in the Gongola valley, and they brought some back to the king, who had it prepared and ate it. He then said, ‘Hold this safe and plant it.’

The word ‘argum’ or ‘arkum’ is a corruption of the Kanuri ‘arre ke̥mne’ = come, hold it fast. [‘Arre’ is imperative from ‘iseskin’, and ‘ke̥mne’ or ‘kumne’ is imperative from ‘ke̥mgin’ = I close the fist.]

[=Arriaskuri.= Name of a village opposite the Government station at Maiduguri, said to have been founded by one Arri Yasku-ma, i.e. Arri from Yasku, a town near Lake Alo now abandoned.]

[=Bonigaral.= This was a slave village exempted from tax: its inhabitants could therefore take their ease. ‘Bone’ is 2nd pers. sing. imperative from ‘bongin’ = I lie down; ‘ngaral’ is an emphatic adverbial suffix, cf. Koelle, _Kanuri Grammar_, p. 283.]

[=Bornu.= Or, as the natives write and pronounce it, Barnu. The usual etymology given by the natives is that it is a corruption of the Arabic ‘Bahr Nuh’ = the water of Noah, because the ark was supposed to have rested on the rocks of Hadjer Hamis on the south bank of Chad.[546] Another is that it is derived from Kanuri ‘burum nui’ = the lake is dead, has disappeared, pointing to a shrinkage of Lake Chad; cf. Appendix XIV A.]

[=Borsari= = the place of Kachella Mbursa, grandfather of Kachella Mahmut, ex-Ajia of this district.]

=Bussugua= = the fig-trees [parasitic _ficus_]. There is one in Ngubala rest-camp. [This is where the Major died, June 24, 1912:

Νιγηρία γὰρ οὔποτ’ οὐδέν’ ἄνδῥ ἑκὼν

αἱρεῖ πονηρόν, ἀλλὰ τοὺς χρηστοὺς ἀεί.

P. A. B. and H. B. H.-H. with apologies to Sophocles’ _Philoctetes_, line 436.]

[=Damasak.= Short for ‘mbarena damasak’ = we are tired, worn out. ‘Mbarena’ is 1st pers. plur. present participle of ‘mbareskin’; ‘damasak’ is an intensive adverbial suffix, said to be only used with the verb ‘mbareskin’ and only with the 1st pers. plur. of that verb. The town of Damasak was founded by pilgrims returning from Mecca.]

[=Debira.= For ‘dabbi-ri’ = the place of the long-handled hoe. It is a blacksmith’s village.]

=Dikoa= (vid. =Alo=). When Mai Iderisa was returning to Birnin Gashermo via Dikwa he left some of his people there. The ruling potentate, an ally of Bornu, said, ‘Yes, you can stay here, but I mark a boundary for you.’ He then marked out the site of the present town of Dikwa, which in the Magari [or Mackeri] language means ‘a marked out place, a boundary’. [Another suggested explanation connects it with the Kanuri word ‘digo- wa’ = grandsons.]

=Galadima=, from ‘galti’, meaning to finish his job properly, i.e. if in war a man was told to capture a village and did so properly the verb ‘galti’ applies.

Hence Galadima, the man who does things properly, who can be trusted to carry out affairs.

[For another derivation vid. Benton, _Kanuri Readings_, p. 25.]

[=Gazerregomo= (Kasr Kumo). Vid. note in Appendix III, p. 248.]

[=Geidam.= A certain man came and sat down by the river. People asked him, ‘Why do you sit down here all alone?’ He replied, ‘Ngai-dam namgin,’ literally, ‘thus exactly I am going to sit down.’ ‘Dam’ appears to be a semi-enclitic specific adverb of the kind described by Koelle, _Kanuri Grammar_, p. 283. An American might translate it ‘right here’.]

=Grema.= From Kanuri [root ‘gere’] = to eat. The story is that one of the old kings of Bornu insisted when riding about the country on tasting all wild fruits and everything that could be eaten. He had one ‘boy’, who was particularly good at bringing him these things. This boy died, the king felt his loss, he therefore appointed a man who was to do this work. Hence the name ‘Grema’.

[=Gujiba.= A certain king’s son went and sat down on this site. The king summoned him but he refused to come. The king said, ‘Nguji-ba?’ = has he rebelled?

‘Guji’ or ‘nguji’ is an impersonal verb meaning he rebels, he is obstinate; ‘-ba’ is the interrogative particle.]

[=Gusamalla.= At the time of the capture of Gazerregomo by the Fulani, a ‘mairam’ (princess) came and sat down where Gusamalla now is. Fugitives (‘nguzama’ from ‘nguzaniskin’) joined her and formed a town. The ‘-la’ is for the postpositive ‘-lan’, which is here to be translated as a genitive, cf. Koelle, _Kanuri Grammar_, p. 300. The name therefore means ‘(the town) of the fugitives’.]

=Hausa=, from the Hausa word ‘haushi’: change the _h_ to _f_ you get ‘fushi’, which means to be angry; vid. Robinson’s _Dictionary_, p. 88, ‘He feels angry’ = ‘yana yin haushi’.

The story is that on the first invasion of this country by the Hausas they met with opposition they did not expect, and were naturally angry about it. They said, ‘These people (original inhabitants) make me angry’ = ‘Ba-Fushi’. _F_ comes roughly off the tongue, _H_ is the accepted difference. ‘Haushi,’ between the _f_ and the _u_ a vowel must come or no black man could say the word.

I now say further that the much disputed derivation of this word Hausa is now solved for any one who knows anything about the matter. [!]

[The Major was always very hot on this being the correct derivation. For other explanations of Hausa vid. Merrick, _Hausa Proverbs_, pp. 91-3, and Robinson’s _Hausa Dictionary_, second edition, p. 88 a, and Tremearne, _Niger and West Sudan_, pp. 51-64.]

[=Kaba.= A Marghi town, said to have been founded by a brother of the Marghi king, Mai Ibrahim, who broke away from him and founded a town of his own. ‘Ka-ba’ = no stick, i.e. without proper authority.]

=Kachella=, from Katsaga = a spear [and ‘-la’ or ‘-lan’ = on. ‘Kachella’ is a military title, they are those who sleep on their spears.]

=Kagaburi=, the name of the country between Mobber and Geidam, i.e. between Dutchi and Geidam. ‘The country of the fools’. ‘Kagabu’ in Kanuri meaning a fool.

[=Kaiuri=, the place of the ‘Kayo’ (Hausa, ‘tumfafia’ = _Asclepias gigantea_).]

[=Kanembu=, the people of Kanem, ‘-bu’ being the plural form of the adjective in Kanuri; cf. Koelle, _Kanuri Grammar_, p. 34.[547]]

[=Kano.= The Sau who marked out Kano said to the people, ‘Is it enough for you?’ They said, ‘Yes.’ ‘Well then,’ said he, ‘pass along (“Konogo”) and enter in.’ Cf. Benton, _Kanuri Readings_, p. 26.]

=Kanuri=, made from the old Sau, now Beri-Beri [Kanuri] words, ‘Kam’ = a man, ‘nur’ = light-coloured, ‘-ri’ = place of or possession of. This was the name given by the Saus to the first arrivals from the North, meaning literally, ‘the light-coloured men.’ These men, the first Mohammedans in Bornu, were called Beri-Beri owing to their long sojourn in Berber before crossing the desert to the fertile Chad and its neighbouring rivers. The language of these people was the language of Berber and Arabia. On obtaining possession and settling down to Islamize the country, they adopted the language of the Saus, the now more or less Kanuri language.

[Another derivation connects Kanuri with Kanem, the country via which the Kanuri entered Bornu. Neither derivation explains why a tribal name has the place termination ‘-ri’ in it. I do not know what authority the Major had for saying that ‘-ri’[547] could imply ‘possession of’.[547]]

[=Karaguaro.= This district is ‘bush’. ‘Karaga’ = bush, ‘Karaga-wa’ = belonging to bush, ‘Karaga-wa-ro’ = to the bush (place).]

=Karda=, people living in small hamlets outside proper Kanuri villages, so called from the Kanuri word ‘Karta’ [‘Karngin’] = to separate. They were originally goat and sheep-herds, and therefore of necessity lived in the ‘bush’.

=Konduga.= There is close to Konduga a village named Salalari. In this village lived a hunter and his son. The son, knowing that the marsh close to our present Konduga was a good place for game, told his father that he wanted to go and live there and hunt. At this the father was angry and told the boy, ‘If you do, you don’t come back.’ That is the meaning of the name. ‘Kondi’ or ‘Qwondi’ in Kanuri meaning ‘to sit apart’ or ‘sit down by yourself or on your own’.

[Konduga or Kondega is short for ‘ke̥la-ne̥m kong dega’, literally, ‘by yourself abide.’ ‘Kong’ is an emphatic suffix or specific adverb; cf. Koelle, _Kanuri Grammar_, p. 283; ‘dega’ is imperative from ‘degaskin’ = to enter in, to abide.]

[=Kwalme Shuwas.= Vid. Appendix XIV.]

[=Lagarete.= Lagari are a Koiyam tribe, ‘-te’ is the demonstrative pronoun used as a definite article; vid. Koelle, _Kanuri Grammar_, p. 185.]

[=Luskuri.= ‘Lasku’ or ‘lusku’ means in Kanuri the hole made by a ‘bush- cat’ or fox; ‘-ri’ = the place of.]

=Magumeri.= ‘Magume’ is the old tribal Kanuri mark, that is, the two long marks down the arm and leg supposed to be made by a sword; two is for princes, &c., three marks any Kanuri. ‘-ri’ = place of. Therefore, Magumeri means the place of the Kanuri princes or chiefs—or a properly bred old stock Kanuri.

[Magumi is the name of one of the chief Kanuri clans.]

=Maiduguri.= ‘Mai’ = a king, ‘dugu’ a corruption of ‘dugo’, which means ‘presently’. Maidugu means the son of a [‘maina’] prince or the grandson of a king (really ‘presently a king’). ‘-ri’ = the place of. Hence Maiduguri means ‘the dwelling place of a king’s grandson’.

[Cf. ‘madugu’ in Hausa = headman of a caravan. The place is frequently misspelt Maidugari, because people think it has something to do with the Hausa word ‘gari’ = a town.]

=Maifoni.= ‘Mai’ = a king, ‘foni’ [or ‘funi’] = a turban. A slave of a Bornu king introduced this place to his master’s notice on account of its running water and pleasant site. The king rewarded the slave by giving him a turban, which is a sign of office; hence the name.

[There is an ancient connexion between Maifoni and the kings of Marghi. According to one account the Marghi town of Kaba (_q.v._) was originally also called Maifoni, a corruption of Mafundi, which means ‘a tall, stout man, a man in his prime’, because it was founded by a powerful man, who broke away from the authority of the Marghi king, Mai Ibrahim. A later Marghi king, Mai Jalo, complained to Shehu Lamino, that in paying his annual visit of homage to Kukawa, he found the journey a fatiguing one, as it was all ‘bush’ between Kaba and the centre of Uje. Lamino therefore gave him permission to select a site as a ‘rest-camp’, and he chose Maifoni (now Maiduguri station) as his half-way house. The following is a list of the Marghi kings of Maifoni.

_Connexion between Maifoni and Marghi._

The founder of Maifoni was a man called Mele Gumsumi, and his title was Kaloma. He left Birni and sat down at Kasachiya (near Kaba) to farm. He was succeeded by Kaloma Umar Kumaisimi, he by Mai Isa Mairemmi. Mai Isa reigned for forty years.

He was succeeded by Mai Momodu Mairemmi.

„ „ Mai Duguribe Gumsumi (he belonged to the ruling
family of Birni).

„ „ Zuri Gumsumi.

„ „ Mai Nassar.

„ „ Mele Nassarmi.

„ „ Usuman Kumaisimi.

„ „ Usuman Gumtimi (he went and made war with the Sau
town of Almis).

„ „ Mai Mele Hawami.

„ „ Mai Momodu Panami.

„ „ Mai Jalo Bawomi.

„ „ Mai Tahir.

„ „ Mai Jalo Aisami.

„ „ Mai Momodu Maungusuma.

„ „ Mai Dalla.

„ „ Mai Momodu Kowas.

„ „ Mai Mallam Gorumba.

„ „ Mai Zogoma.

„ „ Mai Mele Balumi.

„ „ Mai Sunoma.

„ „ Mai Momodu Kabumi (son of Sunoma).

„ „ Mai Budum.

„ „ Mai Ibram (contemporary of Shehu Lamino).

„ „ Mai Jalo.

„ „ Mai Momodu Gajimi.

„ „ Mai Arri.

„ „ Mai Mele.

„ „ Mai Momodu Biyemi.

„ „ Mai Dogum.

„ „ Mai Yagudima.

„ „ Mai Mele.

„ „ Mai Arri (now Lowan of Kaba in West Marghi, Kaba
and Maifoni having been separated under the
British administration).]

[=Margawa=, the ‘marga’ trees. The pounded wood of this tree is boiled and used to sweeten certain native dishes.]

[=Marte=, said to be a Sau word meaning a blanket or thick cloth.]

=Masagua= or =Masakwa=, the dry-season corn. The first of this grain was found in elephants’ droppings. The King of Kasa (now in German territory) was the first man who noticed this grain in elephant- droppings. He picked it out and planted it. When he watered it, it grew freely and was the beginning of the seed afterwards sown widely in waterlogged ground, and bearing a grain similar to guinea-corn. The idea is that the elephant ate guinea-corn at some distant place and brought it as described to Chad shore. ‘Musu’ in Kanuri is anything rotten [from ‘me̥se̥ngin’]. ‘Musukwa’ = something that comes from a rotten thing.

[=Masu.= A certain man came and sat down here and said, ‘If they want me, let them seek me’ (‘matsa’, 3rd pers. plural, 2nd indefinite, from ‘mangin’).]

=Mbarma= or =Mbaruma=, the man in a village who collects from the villagers any money due by them. ‘Mbaro’ meaning in Kanuri ‘to pay rent, to pay on behalf of ——’.

[‘Barungin’ = to redeem from slavery, to pay ‘pansa’, so ‘mbaru-ma’ is the man who is responsible for some one else. ‘Mbarma’ is a small village or hamlet headman, as opposed to ‘bullama’ or ‘be̥la-ma’, headman of a large village.]

[=Mongonu.= The King of Bornu, at that time settled at Kabela, sent his brother to sit down on this site. When the people saw that the country was fertile, they said, ‘Mai (shiga) ngurno gono’ = the king has shown him kindness. This became corrupted into Mongonu or Maungono.]

[=Ngomati.= Nguma is the name of a Kanuri tribe, ‘-ti’ is the demonstrative pronoun used as a definite article; vid. Koelle, _Kanuri Grammar_, p. 185.]

=Ngunse= [Nganzei], which in Kanuri means ‘to milk’. This used to be a rich district and a source of wealth to the fiefholders, who made the most of it and milked it of its wealth.

[‘Ngangin’ = to milk; ‘nganzei’, 3rd pers. plural, 1st indefinite or perfect. The district is very rich in cattle.]

[=Nguru.= Some hunters killed an hippopotamus (‘ngurutu’) and made bracelets out of the skin. Such bracelets are called ‘nguru’.]

=Shetima=, from the word ‘sheida’ = a witness. ‘Shetima’ means ‘the tried man, the proved man’.

=Shuwa.= The word ‘ashe’ in Kanembu and Kanuri means ‘the strong-headed man, wilful or disobedient man’ [‘ashi’ = obstinacy], ‘-wa’ = the people of. Hence the word ‘ashiwa’, now ‘Shuwa’.

They are originally supposed to have been so perverse that they would not follow the Prophet, thence they became a wandering tribe. [Cf. p. 328.]

[=Uje=, said to be a corruption of the Shuwa-Arabic word ‘waje̥hu’ = a face. Koelle, in the _Polyglotta Africana_, gives the form ‘wush’ = face, in the Arabic dialect of Beran. The district known as Uje occupies a central position in Bornu, and was therefore called the ‘face’ of the country.]

[=Yajua.= A Fulani ‘ardo’ called Yaji settled at this spot. The Kanuri, therefore, called it ‘be̥la Yaji-wa’ = Yaji’s town, ‘-wa’ being the adjectival termination.]

=Yarima=, from ‘ya’ = mother, ‘yari’ = the mother’s place, ‘yarima’ = he who is in the mother’s house. Hence in a king’s family the son who takes charge of the mother’s compound is called the Yarima. This title seems to go from father to son, not through sons of the ruling house. Thus now in Bornu, Yarima Kassim [ex-Ajia of Mufio] has the appointment, Bukar Yarimami [now Ajia of Gusamalla-Ngunse] refusing it on his father’s death; both these men are descendants of old Bornu ‘Yarimas’.

[=Yedseram=, or =Yadseram.= The river forming the Anglo-German boundary. A small girl called Yachua was bathing in it and was drowned. The people said, ‘Komadugu Yachua tshetshina’ = the river has killed Yachua, so the river was named ‘Yachua tshetshina-ram’ = the river which killed Yachua (‘-ram’ is an adjectival suffix); this became corrupted into Yadseram. Another suggested derivation connects it with the village of Yadza near Issege.]

[Footnote 546: Said to mean in Arabic, ‘the rock without a rival, the solitary rock.’ There is a photo in Macleod, _Chiefs and Cities_, p. 206. _Doc. sc. de la Mission Tilho_, vol. ii, p. 355, quoting Nachtigal, speaks of a rock known as Hadjer Teous on the left bank of Chad, and a rock of this name is shown in Nachtigal’s map (reproduced on p. 14, vol. i of Tilho) on the south of Chad. Possibly Hadjer Hamis is sometimes called Hadjer Teous, but according to my information Hadjer Teous means ‘the he-goat rock’, and is situated north of Chad between Kanem and Wara. I am inclined to think, however, that they are the same. In the first edition of Denham there is a plate facing p. 261 of ‘Hager Teous called by the Natives the Foot Stool of Noah’. It is not shown on the map, but from the letterpress must have been on the south or south-east of the Lake; cf. also Chevalier, _Mission Chari-Lac Tchad_, p. 410, and p. 45 of the present work.]

[Footnote 547: Cf. Appendix XIV A, p. 335.]

APPENDIX XI

FESTIVALS IN BORNU

[Footnote 548: It consists of wheat boiled and sweetened with dates, nuts, and other dried fruits. Presents of this dish, sometimes with small gold coins sprinkled upon it, are sent to friends and relatives from the harems of the wealthy. The common name for it is ‘hobub’. This dish, or one similar to it, was prepared at the Persian New Year. It probably celebrated the coming in of the harvest. All the old fruits, &c., that had been kept during the winter were made use of for the dish, and the season of fresh fruits was thus inaugurated.]

APPENDIX XII

THE CALENDAR

The names of the Arabic months, as given in Michell’s _An Egyptian Calendar_, and as transliterated from Kanuri mallams, differ somewhat.

_Michell._ _Kanuri._

1. Moharrem. Muharam.

2. Safar. Shafur.

3. Rabia el-owwal. Rabi-il-lawal.

4. Rabia et-tani. Rabi-il-lahir
or
Rabi-it-tsani.

5. Gumad el-owwal. Jimad-al-lawal.

6. Gumad et-tani. Jimad-al-lahir
or
Jimad-at-tsani.

7. Regeb. Rajab.

8. Shaaban. Shaaban.

9. Ramadan. Ramadan.

10. Showwal. Shawal.

11. Zu’l-kaadeh. Zulgada.

12. Zu’l-heggeh. Zulhaji.

With regard to the year, the Liman says that A.D. 1912 is A.H. 1329 with a few days of 1330. Other mallams say that it is A.H. 1330 with a few days of 1331, and this reckoning agrees with Michell and with the _Sudan Almanac_ published by the Egyptian Government. This discrepancy is explained by the following extract from Major Burdon’s notes on Sokoto in _Historical Notes on Certain Emirates and Tribes_, p. 61:

‘An extraordinary point in the reckoning of these Nigerian Mohammedans is that, while right in the day of the week, they are almost invariably wrong by a year and a day in the remaining part of any date. . . . The explanation given is that neither the year nor the day is counted until each is completed. It is a perfectly intelligible system, but the logical sequence to it would appear to be its application also to the days of the week.’

The names of the English months are transliterated as follows:

Yunair.

Fabrair.

Maris.

Ibril.

Mayu.

Yunihi.

Yulihi.

Awgustus.

Sabtumbir.

Aktumbir.

Nufambir.

Duyusambir.

To convert approximately a date of the Hejira to that of the Christian era, add to the former 622 and subtract from the sum three years for every century of the Mohammedan date; e.g. to convert A.H. 1318 to A.D., 1318 + 622 = 1940: − (13 × 3) = 1901 (and part of 1900). And inversely, A.D. 1900 = 1900 − 622 = 1278: + 39 = 1317 A.H. (and part of 1318).

MEANING OF THE NAMES OF THE ARABIC MONTHS (from Michell).

1. _Moharrem_ = the Forbidden, called Moharrem el-haram (the sacred). One of the four months of truce, in which all acts of hostility were strictly forbidden among the Arab tribes. It is considered unlucky to make a marriage contract in Moharrem.

In Bornu ‘Moharrem’ villages were those which were forbidden to be taxed, i.e. excused from the general tax. They were squeezed by a Court favourite instead.

2. _Safar_, derivation, according to Fresnel quoted by Lane, from _Sifar_ = empty, either because their granaries being empty, the Arabs used to travel to procure grain; or because they went on predatory expeditions, leaving their homes empty; or because they left Mecca empty. The fairs in Yemen used to be called Safarieh (vid. Masudi and Lane’s _Arabic Dictionary_). This month is called Safar el-Muzaffer (the auspicious); and also sometimes Nezlet el-Hagg (the descent or alighting of the pilgrims), because the Mecca pilgrims begin to return to Egypt towards the end of Safar.

(Mallam Zakaria of Maiduguri derives it from an Arabic word ‘safar’, I travel, because it is the travelling month; cf. Swahili ‘safari’ = a hunting expedition?)

3. _Rabia el-owwal_ = the first Rabia. ‘Rabi’ expresses verdure and spring rains.

4. _Rabia et-tani_ or _el-akher_ = the second or last Rabia.

5. _Gumad el-owwal_ = the first Gumad. Generally derived from ‘Gamada’, dryness or hardness, as applied to the earth after the cessation of the rains of the preceding spring months (cf. Kanuri ‘ngamdu’ = dry, lean).

6. _Gumad et-tani_ or _el-akher_ = the second or last Gumad.

7. _Regeb_, one of the four months of truce. The Prophet commended prayer and fasting in this month.

8. _Shaaban_, probably so called because the Arabs were wont, after the peace of Rejeb, to separate (‘Shaab’) on marauding expeditions, and also to seek water, this month originally falling in the great heat of June and July (vid. Lane’s _Dictionary_).

9. _Ramadan_ = intense heat. The fasting month. The eve of Ramadan is called ‘Leylet er-Ruyeh’, the night of observation, because men are appointed to watch for the new moon, and then give evidence at the Court of the Kadi.

10. _Showwal_, so called, not as Lane tells us (_Arab. Dict._), because it is the breeding season of camels (from ‘showwal’, to raise the tail), but the season when the she-camels, being seven or eight months gone with young, raise their tails (camels generally couple in the winter). Or, possibly, the word refers to a deficiency of the camel’s milk in the season of great heat.

11. _Zu’l-kaadeh_ = the possessor or holder of truce or abstention. One of the four months of truce. Lane explains it as the month in which the Arabs broke in their young camels (‘el-kaadat’) for riding.

12. _Zu’l-heggeh._ The month of pilgrimage. One of the four months of truce.

APPENDIX XIII

LIST OF BORNU TRIBES

(1) Babur, (2) Bedde, (3) Burra, (4) Chibuk, practically Marghi, (5) Fika, including Bolawa (M.) and Gamawa (P.), (6) Filani, (7) Gamergu (P.), (8) Kanembu, (9) Kanuri, (10) Kerikeri, (11) Kwoyam, (12) Manga, (13) Marghi, (14) Mobber, (15) Ngizim, (16) Ngussur, semi-pagan (Gujba), (17) Shuwa, (18) Tera, (19) Kanawa, spread over all three divisions (practically none—but Filani), (20) Shira, sub. to Fika (semi-pagan).

Clans or tribes comprised in Kanuri: Kanembu, Mobber, Manga, Koyam, Karda, Kagama, Ngussur, Magumi (the original Kanuri), and several minor clans, the Lere, &c.

Filani clans: Kitije (P.), Jafun (Kanawa?). Abore: Sankara, Girije, Daiyi, Daneji, Warumonde, Bikerke, Bagaji, Mamaji, Bijingel, Uda.

In Tera: Hinna, Maga, some Tangali, and Nimaltu (south of Wuyo and Bima).

APPENDIX XIV

ETHNOLOGICAL NOTES ON BORNU PROPER

There are eight chief races in Bornu Proper:

(_a_) Kanuri, (_b_) Kanembu, (_c_) Shuwa, (_d_) Fulani, (_e_) Koyam, (_f_) Manga, (_g_) Gamerghu, (_h_) Mobber.

(_a_) The Kanuri or Beriberi are supposed to be a mixed race of Arab tribes and Hamitic Kanembu and Tubu, which, gradually losing more and more the physical and mental peculiarities of the dwellers in the desert, became merged in the negro population of the conquered country, the half-mythical ‘So’, a giant race, whose descendants are supposed to be represented at the present day by the Beddes, Buddumas, Kotokos, &c. One of the chief Kanuri clans is the Magumi, to whom belongs Maina Gumsumi, now Ajia of Kaiuri district, the representative of the old ‘Mais’ of Bornu.

(_b_) The Kanembu, i.e. the inhabitants of Kanem, are an Hamitic race, whose relationship to the Kanuri may be roughly described as similar to that between the Lowland Scots and the English. Their chief clans are the Sugurti and the Kubri (the Shehu’s clan).

(_c_) According to Schultze, quoting Barth, ii. 355, the Shuwa Arabs immigrated into Bornu at various times, firstly, with the conquerors of the country from the north, and secondly, at a much later epoch, about 300 years ago, from Nubia or Kordofan.[549] They are broken up into a great number of tribes, of which the Beni Hassan has remained the purest, but they have lost many of the bodily and mental peculiarities of the Semitic race, doubtless as a result of their long wanderings, and also of the intermixture which has taken place with other peoples. Their language, however, they have retained in wonderful purity.

There is a vocabulary of Shuwa Arabic in Koelle’s _Polyglotta Africana_, and some notes on the language appeared in Decorse and Demombyne’s _Rabah et les Arabes du Chari_. A book on Arabic spoken in Wadai and to the east of Chad by H. Carbou has recently been published, vid. List of Authorities.

From the best information available in British Bornu the Shuwas may be divided into two classes, (A) those who entered Bornu before Lamino’s time, (B) those who entered with or shortly after Lamino.

To (A) belong (1) the Joama, originally settled north of Mongonu, but migrated to Karaguaro and Magumeri after the Fulani invasion; (2) the Maiyin or Meyin, originally settled at Marguba; (3) the Saraje, originally settled in Uje district. All these three tribes entered Bornu about 300 years ago, ten or twenty years before Birni Gazerregomo was built. They came from Darfur. There were no Shuwas in Bornu prior to this. This statement differs slightly from Schultze. None of these tribes are now numerically important.

To (B) belong (1) the large and wealthy tribe of the Kwalme Shuwas, (2) the Kurata, (3) the Beni Hassan, mostly in Mandara and Musgu, of very pure descent.

The Kwalme are divided into many clans, of which the following may be enumerated:[550]

(1) Wulad Sarar.

(2) Wulad Salim.

(3) Wulad Himet.

(4) Wulad Kanem.

(5) Beni Badder.

(6) Dagana.

(7) Beni Muharab.

(8) Asali (to whom belonged Lowan Adam, murdered in 1906).

(9) Salamat (murderers of Lowan Adam).

(10) Wulad Amir.

(11) Beni Wail.

(12) Ajeni.

(13) Wulad Hodir.

(14) Wulad Abu Isa.

N.B.—‘Wulad’ in Shuwa means sons, ‘beni’, daughters. The derivation of ‘Kwalme’ is variously given, but its real origin is probably unknown. Some connect it with ‘kworram’ = amber (Kanuri) and ‘mi’ = son of, from the fondness of the Shuwa women for amber ornaments. Others derive it from a Shuwa word ‘galib’ = it is too difficult, they are too difficult for me (Kanuri ‘tegeri’, Hausa ‘gargare’); ‘galib’ became corrupted into ‘galim’, and by transposition to ‘galmi’. This term is said to have been applied to the Shuwas on account of their obstinate character by the Arabic-speaking peoples east of Chad. Some support is lent to this derivation by that given for the word ‘Shuwa’. The word ‘ashe’ in Kanembu and Kanuri means ‘the strong-headed man, wilful or disobedient man’ [‘ashi’ = obstinacy, ‘-wa’ = the people of]. Hence the word ‘Ashiwa’ now ‘Shuwa’. They are originally supposed to have been so perverse that they would not follow the Prophet, thence they became a wandering tribe [cf. p. 318].

(_d_) The Fulani or Fellata of Bornu belong chiefly to three clans, the Abore Fellata (Hausa, ‘Borroro’), the Mare Fellata (the term ‘Mare’ is said to be a Fulani word for a tree resembling the ‘dorowa’ or locust- tree, whose pods are used in making the floors of native huts), and the Kitiji Fulani (only found in Gujba and among the pagan Babur and Burra tribes; they are themselves pagan). The origin of the Fulani has been, and still is, hotly disputed.[551] They have not coalesced to any extent with the bulk of the Bornu population and remain aliens and, to a certain extent, pariahs. The Kanuri have many proverbs and sayings embodying their contempt of them as ‘bushmen’.

(_e_)[552] The Koyams seem to have had the same origin as the Tubba or Sef dynasty of Bornu. They are said to have reached Kanem from Yemen, travelling slowly and living on the alms offered them as wandering students. With the consent of Mai Arri ben Haj Umar (1645-84), Sheikh Abdullahi and thirty-nine companions established themselves at Belbelec, sometimes called ‘the town of the Kullumfardos’, where they founded a mosque and a school. The origin of the term ‘Kullumfardo’ is said to be as follows. When Abdullahi and his companions, all Koyams but not of the same family, presented themselves to Mai Arri, the latter asked them who they were. They replied, ‘Koyam’, adding ‘Kullum fardun’, Arabic words meaning ‘all, separately’, wishing to explain that they were all of the Koyam tribe, but of different families. At the present day it is only the descendants of Sheikh Abdullahi, their first ‘Mokaddem’ or religious chief, that call themselves ‘Kullumfardo’; the descendants of the thirty-nine others are called Koyams. Sheikh Abdullahi was succeeded by his son, Sheikh Umar. Owing to Tuareg raids and to famine Belbelec was abandoned and the Koyams scattered. Some went south and, abandoning their rôle of students, became herdsmen and acquired wealth. They took the name of Kel Etti, a term whose meaning and origin are unknown, and became subdivided into seven fractions, each with its chief.

A small number of disciples followed Sheikh Umar to Nupe, where he remained some time, but he afterwards returned to Bornu and re- established himself at Gaskeru, situated, like Belbelec, north of the River Yo.

Umar was succeeded by his brother, Mustapha, who was the first to join political functions to the religious ones, to which his family had hitherto confined themselves. He appointed his nephew, Mahmut, as chief of the warriors and said to him: ‘You shall be the Sheikh’s auxiliary or lieutenant’ (El Auan, Lowan). Lowan was thus originally a military title, and later became applied to the head of a district or a town.

At the end of the eighteenth century Gaskeru was destroyed by the Tuaregs and the Koyam ‘Mokaddem’ established himself at the pool called Sandaram, inside the walls of the Bornu capital of Gazerregomo (Kasr Kumo).

When the Fulani captured Gazerregomo the Koyam ‘Mokaddem’ followed the varying fortunes of the exiled king. When Shehu Lamino became head of the state, the Koyams applied to him to be dispensed from payment of tax as they had always been hitherto. Lamino, who had studied among the Koyams in his youth, consented and established the Koyam ‘Mokaddem’ at Zigaba on the north bank of the Yo.

In the last year of Lamino’s reign, however, a great famine occurred and the Koyams again dispersed. The incursions of Rabeh scattered them still further, and the present representatives of the Koyam ‘mokaddems’ now live at the village of Kullumfardo in Munio.

The Koyams in British Bornu are semi-nomadic cattle-owning people living chiefly in the districts of Bussugua, Ngunse, and Gusumalla.

(_f_)[553] The Mangas are mostly bilingual, speaking both their own dialect (said to be related to Bedde) and Kanuri. M. Landeroin inclines to the opinion that they are an indigenous tribe conquered by the Kanuri. Manga is said not to be their original tribal name, but to have been given them by the Kanuri.

It is said to be a corruption of ‘Madinga’ which signifies according to some ‘gens difficiles’, according to others ‘the cunning people’.

The Mangas inhabit the country both north and south of the River Yo.

(_g_) The Gamerghu are a branch of the Masa family, but are now almost extinct. Their villages are scattered along the course of the River Yedseram. Their chief industry is horse and cattle stealing. Barth gives a detailed study of Masa in his _Central African Vocabularies_, and there is a vocabulary of the Gamerghu dialect, collected by Barth, in _Notes on Some Languages, &c._ (Benton). They are semi-pagan.

(_h_)[554] The Mobbers, like all the other tribes, assert that they originated from Yemen. Serfs of the Magumis, who were themselves the subjects of the Tubbas or Sef dynasty, they were installed by the latter along the course of the River Yo, from which they never strayed far, as they had no knowledge of well-digging.

Their chief towns at the present day are Bosso, on the northern bank of the Yo where it debouches into Chad, and Yo on the opposite south bank. Nachtigal says of the Mobbers: ‘This tribe is according to some a remnant of the Beddes, according to others a mixed race of Kanembus and Beddes or of Sos and Kanembus.’ Like the Mangas, they are bilingual, speaking their own dialect as well as Kanuri.

Little reliable information is yet available regarding the pagan and semi-pagan tribes in the British Province of Bornu. A certain amount about the Bolewa of Fika, including a short sketch of the language, is printed in Benton, _Notes on Some Languages of the Western Sudan_.[555] There is a short account of the Beddes in Koelle, _African Native Literature in Kanuri_, p. 210, and a vocabulary in Koelle, _Polyglotta Africana_. Overweg visited Babur in 1852, cf. Benton, _Notes on Some Languages_, p. 222; for Barth’s notes and vocabulary of Marghi cf. _idem_, pp. 78, 134, and 144. For list of Marghi kings cf. Appendix X under Maifoni. There is a vocabulary of Kerrikerri in Koelle, _Polyglotta Africana_.

[Footnote 549: Cf. Appendix XIV A.]

[Footnote 550: Cf. Appendix XIV A, p. 334.]

[Footnote 551: The latest account of the Fulani is contained in Mr. H. R. Palmer’s articles now in course of publication in the _African Mail_. The first article appeared in the issue of December 29, 1911. Cf. also ‘Notes on the Origin of the Filani’, by Capt. A. J. N. Tremearne, in the _Journal of the Royal Society of Arts_ for June 17, 1910. Cf. also article by T. von Stephani in _Der Islam_, iii, 1912, 352-7.]

[Footnote 552: Account mostly taken from _Documents scientifiques de la Mission Tilho_, ii. 396 ff.]

[Footnote 553: Account mostly taken from _Documents scientifiques de la Mission Tilho_, ii. 421.]

[Footnote 554: Account mostly taken from _Documents scientifiques de la Mission Tilho_, ii. 391.]

[Footnote 555: In addition to authorities there quoted, there are also articles by the late Major George Merrick in the _Journal of the African Society_ for July 1905 and October 1905. I was not hitherto aware of these.]

APPENDIX XIV A

DERIVATION OF SHUWA AND KANURI

ACCORDING TO M. CARBOU

Some writers, especially d’Escayrac de Lauture and Vivien de Saint- Martin, assumed that the Shuwas were descended from the Koreishites, pagan Arabs driven from Arabia by Mahomet. M. René Basset, however, declares that the Koreishites were not driven out but became converted, and pertinently asks, if they were driven out as pagans, at what period were they converted? There is no record or tradition of the Shuwa Arabs ever having been anything but Mussulmans. Cf. Carbou, _La Région du Tchad et du Ouadaï_, vol. ii, p. 11.

Previous Next

Comments

The Sultanate of BornuChapter X: Part 10

0%36 min left in chapter