Chapter IX: Part 9

Three months later, fearing doubtless lest Durman should dethrone him a second time, the Shehu assembled the principal mallams and asked them: ‘Is it better to kill one man than to allow ten to be killed? If one man may cause the death of several others, may one get rid of that one? Consult your own consciences and the Book and let me know your answer.’

All guessed that the Shehu alluded to a new civil war rendered possible by a new rebellion on the part of Durman, and they replied: ‘Certainly it is better to execute one man than to allow ten to be killed, especially if it is the one man who may cause the death of the others.’

Thereupon Shehu Umar gave orders to his head-slave to go and put his brother to death,[499] but to act discreetly so that his death should remain uncertain for some time. His orders were obeyed, and henceforward Shehu Umar enjoyed a peaceful tenure of power. But if the Shehu himself was of a pacific temper, the same was not true of his son, Yerima Bukar, a brave, bold and energetic prince, fond of war and booty.

EXPEDITION AGAINST THE NGIZIMS, 1855 (?)

Yerima Bukar’s first expedition was directed against the Ngizims, a pagan tribe, said to be descended from the Sos, and living to the south of the Bedde country. Having paid tribute to the Sultan of Sokoto, they naturally refused to pay a second time to the Sultan of Bornu. Moreover, they defended themselves courageously when Bukar entered their country. The campaign, which lasted five months, was a very arduous one for the Kanuri, but, on the other hand, they gained much booty, principally in slaves.

EXPEDITION AGAINST THE MUSGU

The Shehu succeeded in restraining for five years the bellicose temper of his son; but the Musgu, against whom Durman had already had to take severe measures during his short reign, having again refused to pay tribute, Yerima Bukar had to direct four successive expeditions against them in order to obtain their submission (1861-5).

EXPEDITION AGAINST ADAMAWA

It was next the turn of Adamawa, a very hilly country to the south of the Benue, to suffer invasion. The rich town of Balbaya was captured, but all the camels and the greater part of the horses of the army perished. The troops were soon in such a state of destitution that the Shehu had to send in haste both horses and clothes to enable his son to make an honourable entry into Kukawa (1866).

AGAINST THE BEDDES

Two years of peace followed, and then Yerima Bukar had to subdue the Beddes, who had refused to pay tribute, and had driven away the Shehu’s envoys, 1869.

AGAINST FIKA AND BAUCHI

The following year he had to subdue Fika, an important group of towns, situated to the east of Gujba, whose inhabitants had driven away the Shehu’s representative, Kachella Abdullahi, son of Kachella Arri Marghi, who had been appointed to this district on the death of his father. Bukar destroyed the fortifications of the town,[500] imposed a heavy tribute on the inhabitants, and continued his march westwards on his way to attack the town of Misau, situated to the north of Bauchi and a tributary of the Fulani. But he was at once recalled by his father, who did not wish to involve himself in difficulties with the Sultan of Sokoto (1870).

AGAINST THE BEDDES

Bukar was not at all anxious to return. He therefore ceased to attack the Fulani, but remained on the western frontier of Bornu raiding and plundering far and wide, and gradually approaching the Beddes, whose submission had been far from satisfactory. But the rainy season was approaching, and his lieutenants feared its effects on their cavalry. They therefore advised Al Haji, the Bedde chief, to pay a certain amount of tribute to Bukar, and at the same time begged Shehu Umar to give his son formal orders to return to Kukawa (1872).

AGAINST KUSSERI

Bukar had never forgotten the help which the inhabitants of Kusseri had given to the Sultan of Wadai, when, summoned by Ibram, he invaded Bornu and obliged his father to take to flight. It was they who had assisted the passage of the Wadai army by showing them a ford, and a number of them had joined the invaders of Bornu. Always on the look-out for somewhere to attack, Bukar obtained leave from his father to march against this town. The battle was just about to begin when an order arrived from Shehu Umar instructing him to make peace, as the inhabitants of Kusseri had hastily sent to Kukawa a tribute of 300 slaves. The army had to return to Bornu without fighting, but not without having partly ravaged the banks of the Logone and sacked the town of Ngurkum (1879).

Two years later Bukar asked leave from his father to go on an expedition, but this time without telling him whither. The Shehu, now an old man and not daring any longer to refuse him anything, allowed him to set out, and Bukar took advantage of this to renew his designs against Kusseri.

He had arrived in front of the town, when he received a message from his mother telling him that the Shehu was at his last gasp, and that, unless he returned within five days, the courtiers would nominate some one else as Shehu.

Bukar set out at once and arrived in Kukawa on the fourth day. The Shehu was still alive, but the principal eunuchs prevented Bukar from seeing him, fearing that before he died Umar would designate Bukar as his successor. Those eunuchs wished Bukar to owe the throne to themselves in order that they might make large profits. Three days afterwards, about two o’clock in the afternoon, the Shehu breathed his last without having seen his son (1881).

The chief eunuchs, Malla Kerim, Yiroma, and Mestrema, deliberated over the choice of a successor. They dreaded the accession of Bukar, whose firm and haughty character had, in his father’s lifetime, more than once disappointed their schemes. Malla Kerim, who of the three commanded the most warriors, made up his mind the first. Taking the ring, rosary, and cap of Shehu Umar, and leaving Mestrema to watch the corpse, he repaired in company with Yiroma to Bukar. Giving him the ring, &c., he said: ‘Your father is dead, here are the emblems of power.’

Bukar refused to accept them except in the presence of numerous witnesses, and summoned his son, Kiari, and his friends, Kassim, Bunu, Abana, Lamino, and his principal slaves. Having informed them of the death of his father he ordered them to assemble his troops. A procession of horse and foot was then formed, and they proceeded to the palace, whose four gates were guarded by the troops of Malla Kerim and could not be opened except in his presence. When they reached the corpse, the chief eunuch raised the shroud and said: ‘Behold, he is dead, we resign him to you for burial.’

He then put the dead man’s ring on Bukar’s finger, his rosary round his neck, and his cap on his head. Outside the drums beat and announced to the people by their slow and measured roll the death of the old Shehu and the proclamation of the new. The Liman, the Legari, and the Talba came to wash the dead, and having assembled all the mallams, celebrated the obsequies that same night.

REIGN OF SHEHU BUKAR (1881-4)

The next morning very early the crowd of courtiers and notables assembled at the palace. Shetima, descendant of the ancient Tubba sultans of Bornu, gave the investiture to Bukar by clothing him in the royal gown and turban, and according to custom asked him: ‘What province will you give me?’

‘I grant you the Kagaburi country,’ replied the new Shehu.

The Shehu’s relatives then came to swear fidelity to him, and the ceremony of investiture ended with a great noise of drums, trumpets, and other instruments of music.

For seven days Bukar only resided in the palace during the daytime, passing the night in his own house. On the seventh day he distributed alms in memory of his father, and installed himself definitely in the palace, leaving his own house and all that was in it, except his women, to his son Kiari.

His first thought was to restore order in the country. ‘Hitherto’, said he, ‘you have been plunderers of whom I was the chief. Henceforward, I shall tolerate no more plundering, and I shall punish without fail any one who disobeys me.’

During the second year of his reign he made an expedition against the Beddes, and captured the towns of Kadera, Aburraga, and Tagari.

The following year he had to repress a revolt of the people of Mulgue in the south of Bornu; but for this expedition he could only gather a few troops, for his subjects, tired of the constant wars in which he involved them, made but a poor response to his summons; some only sent a slave, others a son, others again no one at all.

The Shehu was much annoyed, and as soon as he returned to Kukawa he summoned a great meeting, where he announced that in order to punish his subjects for their half-hearted obedience he should inflict on all a fine equal to half their property. Soon afterwards long caravans of slaves and animals loaded with produce of all sorts might be seen entering the capital every day. Never before had such wealth been accumulated in the palace of the Shehu.

But the common people and the notables murmured loudly. Everywhere in all the villages was to be heard the same malediction: ‘May God cut him off and rid us of him.’

As it chanced the Shehu did die soon afterwards, long before he had seen paid in full the formidable fine which he had inflicted on his subjects, and every one agreed that God had heard the unanimous prayer of an oppressed nation (1884).

REIGN OF IBRAHIM (1884-5)

On the death of Shehu Bukar the courtiers chose as his successor his uncle, Abba Mustapha, younger brother of Shehu Umar. But, as a result of intrigues, there was a sudden change, and the next morning the high dignitaries of the Court proclaimed Ibrahim, younger brother of Shehu Bukar.

Abba Mustapha, chagrined at thus being deceived, at first refused to take the oath of allegiance and sought refuge in flight. But he soon returned on a promise from his nephew that his life would be spared. Ibrahim, however, did not keep his promise, and Mustapha was soon afterwards assassinated.[501] He himself died after reigning one year without having been able to undertake any expedition.

REIGN OF ASHIMI (1885-93)

His younger brother, Ashimi, third son of Shehu Umar, was chosen to succeed him. After a pacific reign of eight years he was obliged to take up arms to defend his kingdom against the invasion of Rabeh, advancing from Baghirmi.

To repulse the invader he sent to meet him an army of 30,000 men, under the orders of Mohammed Tar, son of Amadu Guimi. The encounter took place a little to the south of Ngala, at Ngamagué, in April 1893.

Rabeh, who could only muster 3,000 men, took care to camp on the border of a marsh, which served to protect him against a surprise by the enemy’s cavalry, who were much superior in number. Mohammed Tar, presumptuous and imprudent, got entangled in the marsh, the horses were mired, and those of their riders who could not succeed in disengaging themselves were massacred in great numbers by the enemy’s gun-men.

On hearing the news of the disaster Ashimi organized a second army more numerous than the first, put himself at their head and marched against Rabeh. In spite of the support of several heavy cannon, sent him by the Sultan of Zinder, his troops lacked confidence. The Bornu army fled at the first charge and the flight was soon changed into a rout. Ashimi returned in hot haste to Kukawa in order to dispatch his most precious possessions north-westwards, and to fly himself as soon as possible.

It is said that he left Kukawa one Saturday evening and that the conqueror entered the town on Sunday morning. Rabeh immediately launched a column commanded by Abba Bukar in pursuit of the fugitive Shehu. Ashimi was overtaken at Lumburem, on the River Wobe, east of Duchi, and had barely time to escape, leaving in the hands of the enemy all his baggage, his animals, his slaves, and even his women.

The scattered Kanuri then nominated as Shehu his nephew Kiari. The latter declared his intention of marching without delay against the invader, but his partisans, alarmed at such audacity, immediately abandoned him and rallied once more round Ashimi, whose defeats had made him prudent. Kiari then accused his uncle of compromising with the enemy and had him assassinated.

REIGN OF KIARI (1893)

Three months later Rabeh advanced in person against those of the Kanuri who still maintained their independence on the banks of the River Wobe. Kiari assembled his forces and marched against him. The encounter took place at Gashagar. The Bornu army fought valiantly, but when their chief was wounded they gave ground.[502] Kiari, who refused to fly, was captured and taken to Rabeh, who had him executed. Thus perished the last independent Sultan of Bornu.

[Footnote 491: By kind permission of Commandant Tilho.]

[Footnote 492: There is no trace of this site to-day, but it was just north-west of Ngornu and in sight of that town.]

[Footnote 493: For another account of Lamino’s Kano campaign, vid. Appendix VI.]

[Footnote 494: Bergoma was the father of Shetima, Alkali of Zinder in 1907, who confirmed this information.]

[Footnote 495: Umar afterwards returned, Dunama fled, and Umar was recognized by the Shehu as Galadima.]

[Footnote 496: Young girls then averaged $40 a head in Bornu and $200 on the Mediterranean coast.]

[Footnote 497: According to some authorities, Shehu Umar was the son of a slave given to Lamino by Mai Dunama and already enceinte when she entered the Sheikh’s harem.]

[Footnote 498: Vogel says ‘bowstrung’, vid. p. 272, Benton, _Notes on Some Languages_, &c.]

[Footnote 499: According to Vogel he was ‘strangled’, vid. p. 277, Benton, _Notes on Some Languages_, &c.]

[Footnote 500: If this means Fika town itself the statement is incorrect, it was never captured either by Kanuri or Fulani.]

[Footnote 501: For another account of Abba Masta’s rebellion, vid. Appendix VII.]

[Footnote 502: [According to Gaston Dujarric, _Vie du Sultan Rabah_, the Kanuri were at first victorious but scattered to plunder the enemy’s camp. Rabeh, who as usual, had kept a strong body of gun-men as a reserve, rallied his troops, gave all his generals—including his son, Fadel Allah, whose arm had been broken by a musket-ball—100 lashes apiece, and sent them forward to victory.—P. A. B.]]

APPENDIX V

ACCOUNT OF RABEH

The following translation of a German account of Rabeh, written in 1899, is not without interest, though of course it is in several instances inaccurate. Herr Lippert’s chief informant appears to have been a man from Ghat. His Hausa is not always unexceptionable, and there is nothing to show that he was ever in Bornu or was actually an eyewitness of the events he describes. His account of Rabeh’s campaigns should be compared with that given in Decorse et Demombyne’s _Rabah et les Arabes du Shari_, and in Dujarric’s _Vie de Rabah_. Rabeh did not die of poison in 1897 but was killed in battle by the French in 1900.

_Mittheilungen des Seminars für Orientalische Sprachen_ (Berlin) for
1899.

RABAH[503] by JULIUS LIPPERT

‘History is made by personalities.’ This maxim only holds good in a very limited sense for western states, but as regards the historical changes in the ‘Dark Continent’, and especially in the Sudan, it is absolutely true. The negro is entirely deficient in public spirit and other political virtues. In the same degree as the idea of the state is foreign to him,[504] he lacks also the sense of patriotism and loyalty to a dynasty. It remains a matter of indifference to him whom he serves, so long as he can do so with tolerable security for life and liberty. It is only by such considerations that the success is explicable of bold adventurers, who, relying on nothing but intelligence and energy above the average and the support of a handful of devoted adherents, were able to carve out mighty empires for themselves and overthrow ancient kingdoms, who owed their hundreds of years of existence solely to a political _vis inertiae_ similar to their own on the part of the neighbouring states. Thus we see, to quote only two examples, how at the beginning of the nineteenth century Othman dan Fodio[505] with his numerically infinitely weaker Fulani conquered the various Hausa states and welded them into the kingdom of Sokoto. The Mahdi likewise in the ’eighties subdued the Egyptian Sudan for a time in spite of European administration. Now it may indeed be urged that both these men appeared also as religious reformers; and religious fanaticism is certainly always a mighty factor in favour of success. But in the case of Samory, whose capture the newspapers announced a few weeks ago, it was solely the power of personality, which enabled him after being expelled from one territory to conquer in a very short time a new dominion about as large as Germany, and since 1885 to oppose unaided with more or less success the superior military skill of the French.[506] It was personal ability also which enabled Rabeh, the brickmaker’s son, to raise himself to the position of king of the powerful state of Bornu, and would have let him accomplish even greater things, had not the assassin’s poison put a premature end to his career of conquest. Just in the last few weeks all kinds of accounts of this man have been current in the newspapers. These accounts, derived from a letter of the French traveller, Bonnel de Mezières,[507] specially concern us Germans, inasmuch as the scene of the events therein described is situated in the hinterland of our colony of the Kameruns; but it may also be of universal interest to find briefly described here the life and death of this personality.

My sources of information are chiefly the two documents printed with a translation in the appendix to this article.

1. A biography of Rabeh in Hausa, written down for me by Mohammed
Beshir-al-Ghati, Reader in the Berlin School of Oriental Languages.

2. An Arabic letter to Mohammed Beshir from Abd-el-Kader ibn Al-Haji
Isa Muzi from Ghadames, concerning the death of Rabeh.

In so far as I have made use of other sources of information, I have noted them in the proper places.

Rabeh (i.e. the victor) belonged, like Zobehr Pasha, to the Arab family of the Ja’alin, who have their domicile on the upper Nile round about Khartum, but who are distributed all over the Eastern Sudan, and even as far as Bornu,[508] as Jellaba (i.e. importers, petty traders). His father was a poor brickmaker, who gained an honest livelihood by the work of his hands. That Rabeh has sometimes been falsely described as a slave of Zobehr’s is to be attributed to the fact that he attached himself in early youth to that extraordinary man, who, prior to his appearance as a public official, carried on the business of slave- raiding. Rabeh early became a loyal friend and useful assistant in Zobehr’s undertakings. It is certain that he took an active part both in the subjugation of the Bahr-el-Ghazal Province and in the conquest of Darfur. After Zobehr had gone on a mission of complaint to the Khedive in Cairo and had been detained in custody there, his son Suleiman, whom he had left behind as his representative, was driven by intrigues into rebellion, and Rabeh became one of the most prominent sub-commanders in the rebel army. The fortune of war was not favourable to the insurgents. After being totally defeated on repeated occasions, they were summoned by Gessi, the commander of the Government troops, to cease further resistance as useless and to surrender to him under promise of amnesty. In the rebel council of war which met to discuss these propositions, Suleiman and the majority of his lieutenants showed themselves inclined to capitulate on these terms, but Rabeh spoke energetically against the proposal. His advice was, either, at the price of abandoning the territories hitherto connected with their rule, to push westward with their forces, still by no means inconsiderable, where it would be easy to conquer a new dominion; or, if they were quite tired of fighting, to surrender not to Gessi, but direct to the Government authorities in Khartum. If neither of these two proposals should find acceptance, he would find himself compelled to separate from his former comrades and act on his own account. Neither alternative of Rabeh’s extremely judicious counsel was attended to; Suleiman and the majority of his sub- commanders gave themselves up to Gessi,[509] but Rabeh, after an affecting leave-taking from his old comrades-in-arms, marched away with his own troops, and those who had joined him from other detachments, to his camp in the uncertain future, accompanied by the notes of the far- sounding war-horn.[510]

At this point it may be fitting to insert a few words as to the resources which, at the outset, Rabeh was able to dispose of. I do not think that his army was ever at any one time much over 3,000 strong. Moreover, it was certainly only the minority of these troops that consisted of Ja’alin and Arabs of other tribes, though they formed the cavalry of the army, while the greater part must have been supplied according to requirements from the ‘Basingers’, i.e. negro soldiers disciplined on European lines, selected from captured slaves. One may quite fittingly compare them with the Mamelukes of Egypt or the Turkish Janissaries. From what I have heard from eyewitnesses of Rabeh’s battles in Bornu, he must also have had artillery at his disposal. It is not only obvious but confirmed by the course of events, that these well- armed and well-disciplined troops, in spite of their numerical weakness, represented a formidable force when opposed to barbarous negro empires, to whom fire-arms were certainly no longer entirely unknown, but amongst whom they had not long been in exclusive use.[511]

II

With regard to the first decade (1880-90) of Rabeh’s adventurous career, only vague and scanty accounts are forthcoming to enable us to attain an assured knowledge of events. According to Mohammed’s information, he first of all invaded the country of the Dinkas (at the confluence of the Bahr-el-Ghazal and the Nile) and waged war with this tribe for three years. It is evident that this statement is based on a confusion with the before-mentioned conquest of the Bahr-el-Ghazal province by Zobehr. Ferryman states in his recently published work,[512] that Rabeh and his troops turned northwards, and after twice defeating the Sultan of Borku, received permission from him to establish themselves in the southern border districts of his empire. It must have been here that Rabeh, as well as the above-mentioned Sultan, received an invitation from the Mahdi, who had meanwhile seized possession of the whole Egyptian Sudan, to ally themselves with the new state, a course which they both declined with scorn. In the lengthy struggle that followed between the Mahdists and the border tribes belonging to the Sennusiya between Darfur and Wadai, Rabeh must have taken a vigorous part. So Ferryman says. I am able to refute this statement, which is offered without the slightest authority being quoted, as I consider it improbable from an impartial point of view. Borku is a small group of oases south-east of Tibesti, whose population Nachtigal asserts to be from 10,000 to 12,000.[513] To reach Borku from Gerra (in Southern Darfur), where Suleiman’s camp was situated at the time of his surrender, Rabeh would have to traverse either Darfur, occupied throughout its extent by the Egyptian troops, or else Northern Wadai, inhabited by wild hill-tribes, and make moreover a not inconsiderable desert march. Under these circumstances I cannot conceive what could have caused him to be attracted to this small and remote group of oases, where certainly much fighting but little booty was to be expected. Slatin Pasha states briefly that he was removed to ‘the remote districts of the south-west’.[514] This statement has very great probability on its side. Even Ferryman admits that he lived in the country of the Banda and Fertit before his attack on Bagirmi.[515] In the midst of these and other pagan Nyamnyam tribes south of Darfur and north of Upper Uele he found what he needed, viz. a suitable field for the capture of slaves, of whom he was in constant want as a medium of exchange for weapons and munitions. A full decade seems to have elapsed before the burning of towns and villages, necessarily consequent on his slave-raids, changed into a wilderness this formerly populous and flourishing district. It then became necessary to find a new field for this form of activity, which in Moslem eyes is by no means disgraceful, provided it is exercised at the expense of idolaters. He was prevented from penetrating farther south, where booty was easiest to be obtained, by considerations regarding the supply of munitions, which he procured from the north through the medium of his fellow-tribesmen, the Jellaba. For this reason he turned north-west and attempted to overrun the kingdom of Wadai. But here he must have met with energetic resistance, as was only to be expected from the close political organization of this coveted empire.[516] So after a short time he desisted from his attempts on Wadai, and made an incursion with his troops into Bagirmi, which lies to the south-west of the latter. Ferryman is aware[517] that during his stay in Dar-Banda and Dar-Fertit, Rabeh addressed a request to the Sultan of Bagirmi that he would promise a free passage from Kukawa, the capital of Bornu, through Bagirmi to his traders for the purpose of supplying him with munitions. Rabeh swore revenge against the Sultan for not complying with this request; he was at present, however, denied the opportunity of satisfying this feeling. The Sultan of Bagirmi sought in vain for assistance from the Courts of Wadai and Bornu. Refusing to acquiesce, yet not in a position to make head against his dreaded opponent in open battle, he threw himself into his fortified capital of Masseña, and surrendered the open country to the enemy. Rabeh quartered himself on the country in his usual fashion, collected a rich booty in slaves, and possessed himself of several of the larger towns, such as Gulfei and Logone. But he had no intention of establishing himself permanently in the country. He was inclined to this course by misleading reports that had reached him of the natural riches of Bornu and of its internal rottenness. He seems to have prepared long beforehand for an attack on this empire, whose prestige among the neighbouring peoples was still very great in spite of its rotten internal condition. He first sent secret emissaries charged to stir up the political differences, which, thanks to the weakness of the royal authority, consisted chiefly in the mutual rivalries of the court dignitaries, and at the same time to create a disposition favourable to himself. He then allied himself with the Fulani chieftain, Mallam[518] Hayatu, of Jamare, for the purpose of a joint invasion of Bornu. This prince, who, in contrast to the feeble successors on the throne of Sokoto of the great Othman dan Fodio, showed once more something of the warlike and statesmanlike ability of his ancestor, was at once ready for the undertaking against the hereditary enemy of the Fulani. Their united troops advanced into Bornu and pushed their way unopposed right up to the walls of Kukawa. The Sultan,[519] Abba Ashimi, here faced them for the first time, and thanks to superior forces succeeded in repulsing the assailants. Rabeh now spent several months in Bornu territory in a difficult position, during which the provisioning of his troops especially caused him great anxiety. It was just while he was at the height of his distress that the seed sown by his envoys reached maturity. Rabeh received an invitation from one of the chief Bornu court dignitaries to return to Kukawa, where he would assist him to obtain the mastery. He naturally did not wait to be asked twice, but immediately advanced again on the capital. Another battle was fought in front of the gates of the palace, and this time Rabeh was victorious, chiefly owing to his artillery, to which the enemy could oppose nothing similar. Abba Ashimi himself remained on the field.[520] In the campaign which followed and which led to the capture of the capital, his two nephews and successors, Abba Kiari and Abba Sanda[521] were slain. The conqueror entered Kukawa as the new Sultan.[522]

III

This event forms a turning-point in the history of Rabeh. Whilst he had hitherto been more or less a mere adventurer, he had now become at one blow the ruler of one of the most powerful Sultanates of the Sudan. Remembering the practical bent of his mind with its grasp of actualities, one might expect that he would at once be conscious of the problems and duties of his new position and that he would proceed energetically towards their accomplishment. Nor did he disappoint such expectations. He sought to revive the caravan-trade with Tripoli, which had been brought to a standstill owing to the unrest of recent years, by giving the traders assurance of the most perfect security, and by other concessions. His endeavours in this respect met with success.[523] He also entered into trade relations with the British ‘Niger Company’.[524] He removed his head-quarters from Kukawa, which is extremely unhealthy,[525] particularly in the rainy season, to the charmingly situated town of Dikoa,[526] on the Alo river south-east of Lake Chad. For the better protection of the frontier of his newly-won territory, he left strong garrisons in Gulfei on the Shari, and in Kusseri and Logone on the River Logone. In order to found a dynasty, whose legitimacy should be acknowledged even by the rulers of the neighbouring kingdoms, he married a daughter of his ally, Mallam Hayatu, who, on his side, took to wife a daughter of Rabeh’s.

His energetic never-resting nature caused this internal political activity to be accompanied by efforts to enlarge his territory. He first attempted to chastise the hill tribes of Mandara, dwelling to the south of Bornu, who had made themselves troublesome by occasional plundering expeditions into the southerly districts of the empire. The aged king of Mandara himself fell into the hands of a punitive expedition. But, while Rabeh resolved humanely enough to dismiss the old man unharmed to his home, the latter’s son and successor allowed a son of Rabeh’s, who had fallen into captivity, to be executed. Another expedition—to Bedde—was certainly not designed for the occupation of this country, but for the capture of numerous slaves, who were carried off as welcome booty to Bornu. A raid into Miga[527] country had the same successful result. On the other hand, an expedition against Katagum miscarried; the valiant stand made by the king of this country forced Rabeh to retreat hurriedly on Bornu. The King of Misau got wind beforehand of an undertaking that had been planned against his country, and hastened to conclude an offensive and defensive alliance with the neighbouring rulers of Shira and Gombe in order to meet the threatened danger. When united they felt themselves strong enough to advance and attack Rabeh. The opposing armies came into collision on the march. A battle resulted, and after a desperate struggle Rabeh’s superior military skill secured him the victory. The losses of the allies were extraordinarily heavy; the King of Gombe himself was among the fallen. But even for the victor the day must have been very costly; for he returned to Bornu without further results.

So long as Rabeh confined his attacks to the small tribes living between Bornu and Sokoto—buffer-states one would call them in modern parlance—everything went very smoothly. But it is obvious that the moment he attacked the territory of a large neighbouring kingdom, complications of immeasurable import were bound to ensue. Such complications took place when he invaded Adamawa,[528] the great south- eastern vassal state of Sokoto, whence he brought home vast booty, especially in slaves. The governors of the neighbouring Hausa states then recovered from the indolence, with which they had hitherto viewed the success of Rabeh, and entered on an energetic course of action. They had to be prepared for the fact that it might be themselves on whom he would next lay hands. Fright effected what political insight had been unable to accomplish; they formed themselves into a league for the purpose of common defence in case of an attack on one of the confederates. Especially serious for Rabeh was the fact that his father- in-law and former ally, Hayatu, joined the league. Although he had founded his kingdom of Jamare in political rivalry with the Court of Wurno,[529] he was Fulani enough at heart to feel that the interests of his fellow tribesmen were not different from his own, in so far as the to be or not to be depended on himself. At first he attempted to intervene diplomatically. But when Rabeh, fully conscious of his power, haughtily repulsed these attempts, Hayatu came forward as leader at the head of the league. It may be that Rabeh feared the military force of the league, or the power of England that stood behind it, or something else; at any rate it is certain that for a time he abstained from further attempts against Sokoto—though an expedition against Kano may have been contemplated—and turned his attention to a problem which awaited solution within the compass of his own empire, viz. the reconquest of the recalcitrant Governor of Zinder. Zinder was the most north-westerly province of Bornu, but its governor had frequently shown himself refractory even in Shehu Umar’s time,[530] and had taken advantage of the confusion of recent years to free himself of even nominal dependence, and had also annexed the province of Munio which lay to the east of his own territory. After careful preparation Rabeh set out about the beginning of 1897; he was destined never to return to his capital alive. Mallam Hayatu, who, following in the lines of Oriental despots, thought cunning the better part of valour, got poison administered to him on the way to Zinder by means of his daughter, who, as mentioned above, had been married to Rabeh. Thus perished, in the midst of his activity, the still vigorous warrior at the age of fifty- eight.[531]

In criticizing Rabeh we must be careful not to adopt the standpoint of Christian humanity; the character of his people and of his religion must be taken into consideration, which declare as permissible many things that are held by us to be abominably cruel. Thousands of unfortunates were enslaved by him and sold either in the Sudan itself or sent to North Africa. I have myself seen in Tunis and Tripoli quite a number of individuals who were recognizable as Rabeh’s slaves by the three oblique scars on each cheek. Any one who is acquainted with the conditions knows that for each of the slaves who reached their journey’s end, one must add at least five other individuals who perished either in the slave raids of the foregoing campaigns, on the journey, or through sickness following on a change of climate. This sum total of misery and destruction of family happiness constitutes a terrible indictment against their originator, but we must also again recollect that these slave raids were not for Rabeh an end in themselves, but only a means to an end, and that he not only understood how to destroy, but also how to build up. When we consider that, after becoming Sultan of Bornu, he endeavoured energetically to raise the condition of the country by a whole succession of peaceful measures, we can reconcile ourselves in some degree to his misdeeds; in fact, we may summarize our judgement of him by saying that he was—in the Shakespearian sense—a man. If one looks at the matter properly he may be described as the leaven of the Sudan; for Bornu, in particular, his mission was as much an historical necessity as the migration of nations was for the Roman Empire. As to whether his dynasty will have any permanence, who can tell? If it perishes with him, the fault lies not on him but adverse circumstances.

All that I have been able to discover as to the course of events after his death, is that one of his freedmen has undertaken the regency in the name of his son, who is still a minor, and that he has known how to guard up to the present the integrity of the empire. When M. Bonnel de Mezières,[532] and after him the newspapers, announce that Rabeh has banished Gaurang, King of Bagirmi, and occupied his capital, Masseña, it can only refer to this regent, even assuming that the news in this form proves right at all. At the same time it is not impossible that the conqueror is the King of Wadai, who certainly stands in the position of suzerain of Bagirmi.[533] Certainly once before, when the vassal chief, Abu Sikkin, showed himself recalcitrant, Masseña was occupied by King Ali of Wadai after a siege lasting several months.[534] In any case it is an exquisite irony of fate to see how the actors of the drama produced here are intermingled with one another, and behave themselves as if there was no world outside their own, whilst all the time the die has long been cast against them, and they have been divided up among the European Powers.

HISTORY OF RABEH ACCORDING TO MOHAMMED BESHIR

usili rabeh. ubansa mutum jalaba shi da basha alzubair mutane jalaba. uban rabeh shina yi gini kasa, talaka ne. babu shina da komi. rabeh ya tafi wurin basha alzubair ya zama galadimansa. suna tafiya darfur suna yi yaki dasu shekaru biyar. su ji labarin mutane masr su da ingliz suka tafi achikin darfur. su yi masa hila wayo suka che ka tafo. ya zo basha alzubair, su kama shi. galadimansa rabeh ya gudu ya tafi agarin janke (dinka) ya tafi shi da dakaransa shina yi yaki achikin janke shekaransa oku. ya tashi ya tafi agarin wadai shina yi yaki kwanansa goma sha bokkoi achikin kauye. ya tafi agarin bagirmi shina yi yaki da sarikin bagirmi shekaransa biyu. achikin bagirmi shina aikewa achikin barnuh[535] da samo shina yi magani dakeau domi bakinsu shi banban suna yi fada. ya rubutu ga malam hayatu laya ya che masa ina sonka da abuta. mallam hayatu ya che kua, nima ina sonka amma ka zo mu yi shawara zamu chi barnuh. rabeh ya che to mu gamu achikin hanya. ya tashi su gamu suka che mu je achikin barnuh mu chi barnuh. sarikin barnuh ya ji labari suna taruwa dayawa ya che ku yi shiri dakeau. rabeh ya zo barnuh achikin kofan gari, sarikin barnuh ya fita suna yi fada, sarikin barnuh ya kore rabeh. ya tafi akauye ya zamna, shina yi yungwa watansa tara achikin ankalaiwa suna zamne wuri daya. da su samau chimaka su komo achikin barnuh sun yi yaki. sarikin barnuh dakaransa su gudu suna barshi shina yi fada su kasheshi; aba hashim dafari aba kiari da aba sanda dan uwan aba kiari, su mutu. ya shiga barnuh ya zamna shekaransa oku da shashi. ya tafi agarin sarikin mandara ya kai yaki achikin mandara. ya kama sarikin mandara zofo ne ya kawoshi achikin barnuh. yaro sarikin mandara ya kama yaron rabeh. rabeh ya che da mutaninsa kada ku kasheshi wanan zofo ne. ya che masa yaron sarikin mandara aiko mani da ubana. ya che masa zan kasheshi zofo ya che, kadan na mutu da. safi kai kua ka mutu da azafari.[536] ya sakeshi ya tafi agarinsa mandara.

saura maganan rabeh. basha malla karim na chikin barnuh ya aike[537] wurin rabeh ya che, ka zo ka shiga achikin garin barnuh. ya che ina da yungwa babu abinchi. sun tafo su shiga achikin gari ya zama sarikinsu. ya zauna watansa fudu ya tashi ya tafi achikin garin bade shina yi yaki da su, allah ya bashi nasara. ya kama mutane bade ya damresu achikin sasari ya kawosu achikin barnuh. ya koma ya tafi agarin mika suna yi yaki da sarikin mika. allah ya bashi nasara ya kashesu. ya tafi agarin katagum suna yi fada dakeau. sarikin katagum ya koreshi ya gudu ya komo achikin garinsa barnuh. ya zamna watansa biyar ya tashi ya tafi agarin miso. sarikin miso ya fita suna yi yaki shi da rabeh. sarikin miso ya aike wurin sarikin shira da wurin sarikin gombe su taru achikin garin miso. su tashi su tareshi achikkin hanya. suna yi yaki dakeau ya kashe masu mutane dayawa rabeh ya yi nasara dakeau. sarikin gombe ya mutu achikin yaki. rabeh ya komo achikin barnuh, ya zamna watansa tara. ya che ga mutaninsa ku yi shiri ku tafi achikin adamawa da yaki. su tafi su yi yaki achikin adamawa su kama mutane dayawa su damresu achikin sasari su kawosu daga barnuh. malam hayatu sarikin jamare ya ji labari ya che masa domi ka tafi achikin kasan kakanina? rabeh ya amsa masa na tafi. malam hayatu ya che, dakeau. ya aike masa da magani wurin matatasa yariniya malam hayatu shika aureta. ama rabeh shekaransa tokwos da hamsin ya mutu.

TRANSLATION

Rabeh’s origin. His father was a Jellaba man as also was Zobehr Pasha. Rabeh’s father was a poor man and a clay digger (for making bricks); he had no property. Rabeh went to Zobehr Pasha and became his lieutenant. They went to Darfur and made war there for five years. They heard news that the Egyptians and the English had come to Darfur. They (the English) laid a cunning trap for him (Zobehr) and said, ‘Come to us.’ They caught Zobehr Pasha. His lieutenant Rabeh fled and came to the Dinka country. He and his soldiers went and made war in the Dinka country for three years. He got up and went to Wadai and made war in the surrounding country for seventeen days. He went to Bagirmi and made war with the King of Bagirmi for two years. Whilst he was in Bagirmi he sent poison to Bornu and made powerful medicine because they were at strife. They made war. He wrote a letter to Mallam Hayatu and said to him: ‘I want to be your friend.’ Mallam Hayatu likewise said: ‘I like you, but come and let us consult how we shall conquer Bornu.’ Rabeh said: ‘Very well, let us meet on the road.’ He got up. They met and said: ‘Let us enter Bornu and conquer it.’ The King of Bornu heard news that they were assembling in large numbers and said (to his people): ‘Make careful preparations.’ Rabeh came to Bornu and reached the gate of the town [_i.e._ Kuka]. The King of Bornu came out and they fought. The King of Bornu repulsed Rabeh, who went into the surrounding villages where he sat down. He suffered from hunger for nine months in Ngellewa where they remained concentrated. When they got provisions they re-entered Bornu and made war. The King of Bornu’s soldiers fled and left him on the battlefield and he was killed, first of all Abba Ashimi died, then Abba Kiari and Abba Sanda, brother of Abba Kiari. He (Rabeh) entered Bornu and sat down there for three years and a half. He went to the King of Mandara and brought an army to Mandara. He caught the King of Mandara, who was an old man, and brought him to Bornu. The son of the King of Mandara caught a son of Rabeh’s. Rabeh said to his people, ‘Do not kill him, he is an old man.’ The son of the King of Mandara said to him, ‘Send me my father.’ He said to him, ‘I am going to kill him.’ The old man said: ‘If I die in the morning, you will die in the afternoon.’ He let him go and he went to his country of Mandara.

The story of Rabeh continued. Pasha Malla Karim of Bornu sent to Rabeh and said, ‘Come, enter the town of Bornu.’ He said: ‘I am hungry, I have no food.’ They met, they entered the town, he became their king. He sat down for four months. He got up and went to Bedde country. He made war with them. God gave him the victory. He caught the Bedde people and bound them in chains and brought them to Bornu. He came back, he went to Mika[538] country. They made war with the King of Mika. God gave him the victory. He killed them. He went to Katagum. There was a stiff fight. The King of Katagum repulsed him. He fled and came back to his own country of Bornu, where he sat down for five months. He got up and went to Misau. The King of Misau came out and he and Rabeh fought. The King of Misau sent to the King of Shira and to the King of Gombe (telling them) to assemble inside the town of Misau. They got up and met on the road. There was a stiff fight, but Rabeh killed many of their men and gained a brilliant victory. The King of Gombe died in the battle. Rabeh returned to Bornu, where he sat down nine months. He said to his people: ‘Prepare yourselves and go with an army to Adamawa.’ They went and made war in Adamawa. They caught many men and bound them in chains and brought them to Bornu. Mallam Hayatu, the King of Jamare, heard the news and said to him: ‘Why have you entered the country of my fathers?’ Rabeh answered him: ‘I have entered it. (What about it?)’ Mallam Hayatu said: ‘Good!’ He sent him poison through his wife. Rabeh had married Mallam Hayatu’s daughter. Now Rabeh was fifty-eight years old when he died.

II

FROM A LETTER OF ABD-EL-KADIR IBN AL-HAJI ISA MUZI OF GHADAMES TO MOHAMMED BESHIR, dated 17 Rejeb, 1315 (_i.e._ 12 December, 1897).[539]

. . . And if you inquire as to the state of affairs in the Sudan, know that everything is in order. Only a letter has reached Ghadames from the Sudan, in which they have informed us that Rabeh has of a truth been killed by poison. The Sultan of Jamare said: ‘Assemble yourselves, ye Sultans of the Sudan.’ They said: ‘Let us prepare ourselves and fight against Rabeh.’ And the Sultan of Mandara and the Sultan of Bagirmi and the Sultan of Kano and the Sultan of Katsena and the Sultan of Daura and the Sultan of Kazaure and the Sultan of Zaria and the Sultan of Bauchi and the Sultan of Bedde and the Sultan of Damerghu and the Sultan of Tanamari and the Sultan of Gagiduna and the Sultan of Asben they all assembled themselves (and said): ‘Let us march against Rabeh and kill him.’ His father-in-law, Mallam Hayatu, was he who killed him by poison. He sent the poison to his daughter with the message: ‘Give it thy husband.’ After that[540] he said to his son-in-law: ‘Why have you taken the land of my fathers?’ Rabeh answered and said unto him: ‘I have taken it.’ Then he went away, prepared the poison and said to her: ‘Give it to thy husband.’ And now Rabeh is dead. It is six months ago since I read it in the letter from the Sudan.

[p. 263] FROM A LETTER OF HERR HANS RESENER, Editor of the _Aegyptischer Kurier_, to the Editor of the _Mittheilungen_.

. . . Herr Julius Lippert in his article on Rabeh, the notorious ruler of the Kingdoms of the Central Sudan, which is shortly to appear in your valuable periodical, states: ‘his father was a poor brickmaker, who gained an honest livelihood by the work of his hands. That Rabeh has sometimes been falsely described as a slave of Zobehr’s is to be attributed to the fact that he attached himself in early youth to that extraordinary man, who prior to his appearance as a public official carried on the business of slave-raiding. Rabeh early became a loyal friend and useful assistant in Zobehr’s undertakings.’

I may be permitted to observe on the contrary that Zobehr Pasha has more than once represented to me that his relationship to Rabeh was as follows—Rabeh’s father was a slave of Zobehr’s father. The lot of a slave in Africa who happens to be in good hands is by no means hard, he eats out of the same dish as his master, &c., &c. Rabeh was brought up in familiar intercourse with Zobehr without any distinction or preference being made; the fact that Rabeh was a slave of Zobehr’s father did not prevent this. At the same time Rabeh was Zobehr’s foster- brother; Zobehr always had a great affection for him and when his (Zobehr’s) father died, he gave Rabeh his freedom.

[Footnote 503: [Translation published by kind permission of Dr. Sachau, Director of the Seminary. The name is spelt Rabah by the French and Germans, Rabeh by the English. The latter form gives the Bornu pronunciation, but perhaps the former is the correct Arabic form. The town of Calatrava in Spain, the head-quarters of a famous order of religious knights, is properly Kalat Rabah = Rabah’s citadel, vid. article on Calatrava in _Encyclopaedia of Islam_.]]

[Footnote 504: This certainly holds good in general for Mohammedan nations, in so much as with them the conception of the state is identified with that of the ruler. Any one who requires proof of this, let him read any twenty pages whatever of Aug. Müller’s _Islam_, vol. ii; he will then be convinced.]

[Footnote 505: ‘dan’ in Hausa is the Arabic ‘ibn’ (son).]

[Footnote 506: Cf. G. A. Krause’s ‘Samori’, in No. 483 of the _Vossische Zeitung_ for October 15, 1898.]

[Footnote 507: Vid. _Le Mouvement géographique_, 1898, No. 47 (Nov. 20).]

[Footnote 508: Cf. Nachtigal, _Sahara und Sudan_, ii. 234.]

[Footnote 509: They had to repent of not having followed Rabeh’s advice; for in spite of the assurances made to them they were massacred in an altogether assassin-like fashion on July 15, 1879, owing to calumny and intrigue (cf. Slatin Pasha, _Fire and Sword in the Sudan_, p. 28, German edition). [‘I caused Suleiman and nine of the principal rebel chiefs to be shot, for Suleiman, after a futile attempt to make my troop revolt, had tried to escape,’ vid. Romolo Gessi, _Seven Years in the Sudan_, p. 329.]]

[Footnote 510: Cf. Slatin Pasha, _idem_, pp. 7-28.]

[Footnote 511: [The Bornu troops had included gun-men since the sixteenth century (vid. p. 17). The Kanuri word for gun is ‘be̥nde̥ge̥’, which has usually been derived from Venediga = Venice, the original source of supply. Huart, however, in the _Encyclopaedia of Islam_ under ‘bundukiya’ derives it from Latin ‘(nux) pontica’ = a hazel-nut, hence a bullet. He gives ‘bunduki’ = a Venetian sequin, as coming from ‘Bundukiya, the Arabic name of Venice’.]]

[Footnote 512: Ferryman, _Imperial Africa_, London, 1898, p. 354.]

[Footnote 513: _Sahara und Sudan_, ii. 141.]

[Footnote 514: _Fire and Sword in the Sudan_, p. 25.]

[Footnote 515: _Imperial Africa_, p. 355.]

[Footnote 516: Cf. Nachtigal, _Sahara und Sudan_, iii. 51 ff.]

[Footnote 517: _Imperial Africa_, p. 356.]

[Footnote 518: The Hausa word Mallam (or Mallami) is, of course, the Arabic ‘mumalim’ = teacher. It is employed like the Arabic ‘Imam’ (in Moroccan Arabic ‘Faki’) for the ‘scribes’.]

[Footnote 519: Sultan is here used in the broader sense; the rulers of the latest (or Kanem) dynasty in Bornu made use of the official title of Sheikh. Their names in succession are: Mohammed Amin Al-Kanemi, Umar, Abba Bubakr, Abba Ibrahim, Abba Ashimi, Abba Kiari, and Abba Sanda. Their relationships are shown in the following table:

Mohammed Amin Al-Kanemi
|
|
Umar
|
+-------------------+---+----------------------+
| | |
Abba Bubakr Abba Ibrahim Abba Ashimi
|
+----+--------+
| |
Abba Kiari Abba Sanda

‘Abba’ corresponds in this connexion to the Arabic ‘Saïd’. Cf. Nachtigal, _Sahara und Sudan_, i. 582. [Abba is a Bornu title meaning ‘Prince’.]]

[Footnote 520: According to Ferryman, _Imperial Africa_, p. 356, Abba Ashimi was not killed, but after the loss of the battle fled to Zinder. [As a matter of fact he was murdered by his nephew, Abba Kiari.—P. A. B.]]

[Footnote 521: ‘Sanda’ is the Arabic ‘Umar’.]

[Footnote 522: According to my calculation the conquest of Bornu took place in the year 1894.]

[Footnote 523: Cf. Grothe, _Tripoli and the Caravan-trade with the Sudan_, Leipzig, 1898, p. 22.]

[Footnote 524: Ferryman, _Imperial Africa_, p. 356. [A Niger Company mission under McIntosh (‘Sarikin Charlie’) visited Shehu Ashimi in 1890, starting from Yola, but were unable to conclude the commercial arrangements which formed their object.—P. A. B.]]

[Footnote 525: Cf. Nachtigal, _Sahara und Sudan_, i. 732 ff.]