Travels and discoveries in North and Central Africa, Vol. 4 (of 5)

[169]Áhmed Bábá, J. L. O. S., vol. ix. p. 526.

[170]Mémoires de la Soc. de Géogr. vol. iii. p. 1.

[171]Descr. dell’ Africa, lib. vii. c. 1.

[172]For this highly important statement, see Ébn Khaldún, trans. by De Slane, vol. iii. p. 201.

[173]Journal Asiatique, i. 1842, p. 50.

[174]Leo, l. vii. c. 1. even speaks of Negroland as if it had been quite unknown before this time, “furono scoperti.”

[175]Ahmed Bábá, J. L. O. S. vol. ix. p. 528. seq. He describes the site of this important town in the most perspicuous and clear manner as being part of the year, from August to February, an island. The town was first founded in a place called Zagaru, on the south side of the southerly branch of the river, and therefore not identical with the Zaghárí of Ébn Batúta. El Bekrí appears to have had no knowledge of Jinni.

[176]El Bekrí, ed. Macguckin de Slane, p. 183. The name بزركانيين which the Arabs gave to the inhabitants seems to have some connection with the surname of one of the successors of Sunni, Bázekin or Bázerkín.

[177]El Bekrí, 179. It is a great pity that just in this place the author, whose statements in general are distinguished by their clearness, should commit a palpable mistake, by placing Ambára (Hómbori) west of Ghánata.

[178]Aloise Ca da Mosto, Navigazione, c. 14.

[179]Edrísi makes great confusion, produced by the similarity of the names, Gógó or Kókó, Kúka (on the Fittri) and Kerker; but what he relates (i. p. 23.) seems really to refer to Gógó.

[180]Edrísi, i. p. 61.; Compare Cooley, p. 66.

[181]Leo, l. vii. c. 6. As it is certain that no king of the name Slímán ruled at that period over Melle, Mr. Cooley, in order to explain Leo’s statement, supposed him to be a king of the Súsu.—Negroland of the Arabs, p. 67. seq.

[182]Ébn Khaldún, trans. by De Slane, vol. ii. p. 83. The same author, vol. ii. p. 160. seq., is the authority for the history of Melle. Comp. Cooley, “Negroland,” p. 61. seq.

[183]De Barros, Asia, ed. Lisboa, 1778, l. i. c. 8. p. 220.

[184]Áhmed Bábá, in Journ. Leipsic Oriental Society, p. 530.

[185]The translation of Mr. Ralfs in the Journal of the Leipsic Oriental Society is here not correct. He translates “er bezwang Tumbúktu,” while the words of the author are طوع تُيبُكتُ. We do not know what part in these affairs the general, Sagminhu, bore, who, according to Ebn Khaldún’s account, was stated by some of his informants to have achieved this conquest. There may have been partial resistance in Songhay.

[186]سنغرزو مع - فَرَنا سُرا. The final “mʿa,” in Mandingo, corresponds exactly with the final “ma” in the Kanúri titles.

[187]It is a very remarkable fact, that the titles mentioned by Áhmed Bábá are all formed by attaching to the name of a town the syllable “koy,” which would seem to be of Songhay origin.

[188]Áhmed Bábá says (p. 524.), “ʿAlí Killun put an end to the supremacy of Melle over Songhay. After his death his brother ruled, Silman Nár. Their dominion was limited to Songhay and the neighbouring districts.”

[189]The date seems to be certain, for if Áhmed Bábá had only known that the second dominion of the kings of Melle over Timbúktu, which they lost in the year 837, had lasted 100 years, we might doubt about the fact that the epoch began exactly with the year 737, but the author gives the precise date of that very year. I therefore prefer his arrangement to the arguments of Mr. Ralfs, p. 582.

[190]Makrízi, Notes et Extraits, vol. xii. p. 638. note.

[191]Cooley, “Negroland,” p. 79.

[192]Ca da Mosto, Prima Navigazione, c. 13. With regard to Oden, see c. 10.; for Timbúktu, c. 12.

[193]From Áhmed Bábá we learn nothing more respecting the fate of ʿOmár; but we see in another passage that Sonni ʿAlí imprisoned Al Mukhtár, another son of Mohammed Nasr, who, from what follows, it is evident, was Túmbutu-koy.

[194]De Barros, in the highly interesting passage, i. l. 3. c. 12. p. 257.; and the curious report of the German Valentin Ferdinand, by Kunstmann, in Abhandlungen der K. Baier. Akad. cl. iii. vol. viii. first section a. 1856. It is, however, remarkable that the German author, although he speaks of Wadán, does not say anything of it ever having been a factory.

[195]See what I have said respecting the tribe of the Zoghorán, or Jawambe, p. 175.

[196]See De Barros, in the passage mentioned before, “rey dos Fullos.”

[197]The origin of this name, as stated by Áhmed Bábá, is not very probable. But although it is true that “Áskíá” was rather a royal title, which the founder of this new dynasty adopted, nevertheless, in Negroland, the popular name of this great ruler and conqueror is nothing but Áskíá, and that was the reason why Leo calls him only by this name, changing it into Ischia.

[198]Leo, l. vi. c. 2. p. 138., ed. Venezia, 1837.

[199]These words Mr. Ralfs (p. 533.) has neglected to translate.

[200]Whether this ʿOmár received his surname Kumzághu only from the circumstance of his taking the town of Zágha, we cannot decide; but there is no doubt that he must be distinguished from the other brother of the same name, else Áhmed Bábá would be guilty of an absurdity. We never find that a governor of the important province of Kúrmina was at the same time Túmbutu-koy; and the difference of the two individuals is quite evident, for ʿOmár Kumzághu died 926, and ʿOmár, son of Bú Bakr,—that is to say, his other brother,—the Túmbutu-koy, 928. See further down.

[201]De Barros, i. l. iii. c. 12, p. 257, dizendo (the later Mansa, in Manuel’s time) que havia em boa ventura ser lhe enviado este mensajeiro, porque a seu avô que tinha a seu proprio nome fora, enviado otro mensajeiro do otro Rey D. João de Portugal.

[202]Tukalna, as the name is given by Ralfs, is wrong.

[203]In the Gibla, the south-western district of the great desert, there is a tribe of the name Welád Abéri.

[204]This is probably the meaning of the words of Leo, l. vii. c. 4.

[205]This true native form of the name of that country Áhmed Bábá gives himself. At the time when I made the excerpts I did not identify the name, having misspelt it Barka; but the form Barbú is quite decisive.

[206]Appendix to Clapperton’s Second Expedition, p. 338.:—“And it is recorded that, when the equitable Prince Hadgi Mohammed Allah-kaja (Áskíá) ruled over this province, he could gain no advantage over them.”

[207]باغن فرن مع فُتَ كْيَتال The name is remarkable; “mʿa,” a Mandingo word; it may belong to the title “fereng,” as a sort of tautology.

[208]اللعين المتني تينضر It is not improbable that the name Allʿaín expresses the national term Dhelian, or Dhelianke, to whom this founder of the new dynasty in Fúta Tóro belonged.

[209]The following is the highly interesting account which we have received from De Barros (Asia, I. l. 3. c. 12. p. 258.) of this great commotion:—“E não somente per estes e per Pero d’ Evora, mas ainda per hum Mem Royz escudeiro de sua casa e per Pero de Astuniga seu moço d’ esporas que elle levava por companheiro, mandou El Rey algunas vezes recados a El Rey de Tungubutu e ao mesmo Temalá (Damil) que se chiamava Rey dos Fullos. O qual Temalá nestes tiempos foi nas quellas partes hum incendio de guerra levantandose da parte do Sol ex huma Comarca chamada Futa con tanto numero de gente que seccavam hum rio quando a elle chegavam; e assiera esquivo e barbaro este açoute d’ aquella gente pagã que assolava quanto se lhe punha diante. E como con vesta ferocidade tinha feito grande damno emos amigos e servidores del Rey, principalmente a el Rey de Tungubutu, Mandi Mansa, Uli Mansa mandou lhe per algunas vezes seus recados de amizade, e outros de rogo sobre os negocios da guerra que tinha com estes.” It is highly interesting to see how the course of affairs in this quarter confirms all that we know from other sources. Thus M. le Colonel Faidherbe, at present governor of the Senegal, in opposition to common tradition, which would have carried back the foundation of the new dynasty in Fúta, which he well understood proceeded from the east, to the middle of the fourteenth century, arrives at the conclusion that it must have been established about the year 1500. Bulletin de la Soc. Géogr., iv. p. 281.

[210]Leo heard this report evidently from merchants, and in a very exaggerated manner; for Áhmed Bábá would be guilty of inaccuracy beyond measure, if he had forgotten to mention a second expedition which Háj Mohammed, according to Leo’s account, undertook three years after the first; nay, such an expedition is totally impossible, on account of the hostility of Kanta the ruler of Kebbi, who made himself independent of Songhay the second year after the expedition to Kátsena, and there was no road from Songhay to Kanó except through Kebbi.

[211]See Vol. I. p. 461. seq.

[212]Leo, l. vii. c. 9.

[213]In this instance also it is not certain whether the town of Kanó be meant, or whether that name at the time attached only to the whole province.

[214]“Tamben per via da fortaleza da Mina mandarão a Mohamed bem Manzugue e neto de Mussa Rey de Songo, que de huma Cidade das mais populosas daquella grao Provincia a que nos communemente chamamos Mandinga, a qual Cidade jaz no parallelo do Cabo das palmas, mettida dentro no sertão per distancia de cento e quarenta leguas, segundo a setuaçao das taboas da nossa Geografia.”—De Barros, Asia, l.c. p. 259. That nephew of Músa, therefore, was evidently governor of the former principal province of the kingdom of Melle. The king, says De Barros further on, was not a little surprised at the king of Portugal sending him presents. It is very probable that among these presents were the articles of Portuguese workmanship mentioned by the author of the memoir to Philip II. on the power of Múláy e’ Dhéhebi, as found by the Maroccains among the spoil of Gágho. See lower down.

[215]This phrase, وفيها ذهب الى دِرَ has not been translated by Mr. Ralfs.

[216]There seems little doubt that the name Kábi is here implied, although Áhmed Bábá himself uses the form Kebbi, and he adds that it was the name of a locality, “makán;” but the author had very little knowledge of these easterly regions, and, probably, did not know the relation of Kebbi—which he generally designates as the territory of Kanta—to Dendi, the name commonly given to this province east of the Niger.

[217]De Slane, in “La Revue Africaine,” i. p. 291.

[218]The number may not be much exaggerated. It was probably this example which taught Múláy Hamed that a small well disciplined army was by far more useful for such a purpose than an undisciplined host.

[219]Most probably the people in Morocco had a very confused idea of the relation of the two great rivers of that region, the Senegal and Niger, with the ocean; and both rivers are here meant when Múláy Hámed ordered the army وامرهم باخذ ما هناك من البلدان على شاطي البحر

[220]Revue Africaine, i. 291.

[221]The place Tegháza seems to have had a considerable population at that time, which shows the importance of this traffic. See Caillié, ii. p. 128.

[222]We see from this report the remarkable fact that the whole of Songhay at that time was provided from Tegháza, while we have seen from El Bekrí’s account that in the eleventh century Songhay Proper was supplied from the mines of Taútek. The words of Bábá Áhmed الصبر عن الملح, not translated by Mr. Ralfs, can be only understood by him who has travelled in Negroland, and who knows what a precious article salt is in many regions, and what it is “to be deprived of salt.”

[223]The translation of this passage by Mr. Ralfs (p. 543.) is rather defective.

[224]Bábá Áhmed is here very distinct, stating expressly, apparently in order to contradict current reports,—“and they dug (began to dig) here in Taödénni the salt at this period” (بهذا التاريخ and they gave up [the salt mines of] Tegháza this time, or on this occasion). The latter words have not been translated by Mr. Ralfs at all.

[225]Eighteen days’ march with an army from Timbúktu, nine days for a single horseman on flight.

[226]The name Gurma seems to be employed here quite in a general sense.

[227]It is remarkable that Bábá Áhmed does not intimate at all by what road the Bashá arrived.

[228]That Jódar was a eunuch, and a native of Almeria, we learn from a Spanish source, a paper written the 16th of October, 1648, by an unknown author, in “Papeles Curiosas,” of the Egerton Collection, n. 10,262, p. 235.: “Aquel valeroso Eunuco renegado natural de Almeria;” and further on, “Esta conquista hizó el famoso Jaudar, que fué celebre en Berberia como uno de los de la fama.”

[229]Journ. Leip. Oriental Soc., ix. p. 549.

[230]This is not certain, although further on Áhmed Bábá mentions مدافع, which Mr. Ralfs translates (p. 554.) by “Geschütz;” but the common musket being called مدفع by the Arabs in and near Timbúktu, it is not quite certain whether the author means field pieces or matchlocks.

[231]In order to make out the whole numbers of the army of the Bashá, we must add the garrison of Timbúktu, which could certainly not be less than a couple of hundred men.

[232]It would be highly absurd to conclude, from what Áhmed Bábá says of the strength of this army, that its numbers made it so; for in numbers it was certainly a very small army for Negroland, where armies of from 30,000 to 50,000 men are a common occurrence, and the Imám e’ Tekrúri says that the Songhay king had an army of 140,000 men. Revue Africaine, l.c.

[233]Bábá Áhmed writes this name exactly as it is pronounced, كَبِّ, while the name Kábi is never used, but must have been formerly used, as is evident, from the form Kábáwa. See page 201.

[234]تْارَ (p. 553.), not Tara. There is no doubt that the well-known Songhay town of that name (Vol. IV. Ap. V.) is meant.

[235]بلد كلن. According to the writer, whose interesting account Macguckin de Slane has published in the “Revue Africaine,” i. n. 4. p. 296., the authority of Mansúr extended as far as Kanó: nay, even the ruler of Bórnu is said to have made his subjection; but the latter assertion is very improbable, the then ruler of Bórnu being none else than the warlike and energetic Edrís Álawóma. It is remarkable, however, that that author mentions Kanó without saying anything about Kebbi, which was the neighbouring kingdom, intervening between Songhay and Kanó, and at that time very powerful.

[236]See p. 431.

[237]I had no time to excerpt this latter part of Bábá Áhmed’s history, but it is full of information with regard to this turbulent period.

[238]Here again Jackson (Account of Morocco, p. 295.) has made a most erroneous statement, saying that Sídi ʿAlí escaped into Súdán, where the king of Bámbara received him hospitably, so that ʿAlí was enabled to collect 8000 black warriors, with whom he marched against Morocco; and that these blacks were the means by which Ismáʿaíl obtained influence in Timbúktu.

[239]There is great confusion in an article concerning this subject in a letter addressed by Jackson to Sir James Bankes, in the Proceedings of the African Association, vol. i. p. 366. Here the annual tribute which Timbúktu paid to this king is estimated at 5,000,000 dollars. The same sort of exaggeration we find in all Jackson’s statements.

[240]Even the very meritorious Gråberg de Hemsö, in his Specchio di Marocco, p. 269., repeats this statement.

[241]See M. le Colonel Faidherbe, in Bulletin de la Soc. Géogr. 1850.

[242]Shabíni, p. 12.

[243]Proceedings of the African Association, ii. p. 322.

[244]Ritter, Erdkunde von Afrika, p. 446. seq., especially from Sídi Hámed’s statement (p. 363.).