The Sultanate of Bornu

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.]

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APPENDIX XI

FESTIVALS IN BORNU

Date.	Kanuri Name.	Arabic Name.	Notes.
10th Moharrem	Ngumori Tsuro-mbulo-be	Ashura	Day of creation of Adam and Eve, and of the first fall of rain. Every one in Bornu kills a fowl. ‘The feast of the belly-filling.’ In Kanuri ‘tsuro’ = belly, and ‘yimbuluskin’ = I fill. The day is sacred to Shiah Moslems as the anniversary of the death of the martyr Hussein. According to Michell, An Egyptian Calendar, p. 74, a particular dish called ‘ashura’ is made on this day.[548]
Last Wednesday in Safar	Moddua Laraban-ganí-be	Arbaa Mayidur	Said to be the day of the last bath of the prophet. He died fourteen days after it. On this day prayer is offered for averting trouble during the year.
			The Kanuri name means literally ‘The telling of beads of Wednesday-not’, i.e. no more Wednesdays, the last Wednesday of the month.
12th Rabi-el-owwal	Ngumori Lebbi Lowal-be	Mulid en-Nebi	Birthday of Mohamet. This is the chief festival in Bornu.
15th Shaaban	Ngumori Nussufu Shaaban-be	Leylet en-Nusf min Shaaban (called in India ‘Shab i Barat’)	On this night Allah registers the good and evil deeds of mankind. The Kanuri name means literally ‘the festival of half Shaaban’, i.e. the Mid-Shaaban festival.
1st Showwal	Ngumori Asham-be	Id el-Fitr, Turkish ‘Ramazan Bairam’	First day after the Ramadan fast. This is the chief festival among the Hausas. In Kanuri ‘asham’ = fast.
10th Zu’l Heggeh	Ngumori Laya-be	Id el-Kebir, Turkish ‘Kurban Bairam’	Ram festival. Commemorates Abraham’s attempted sacrifice of Ishmael (not of Isaac as according to the Old Testament).

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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.

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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).

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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.