One
key factor of Borno’s 18th century decline during the “Late Sayfawa Period” was
the loss of Kawar, a major salt production center and part of the trans-Saharan
trade routes. During the long reign of Ali b. al-Hajj Dunama (r. 1747-1792),
Borno not only suffered defeat at the hands of the Tuareg at Bilma in c. 1759,
but some of Borno’s vassal states and regions suffered Tuareg depredations,
particularly areas like Gaskeru under the shaykhs of the Koyam. Lovejoy, who
has written extensively about the salt trade in West Africa, has relied heavily
on Palmer (and, via Palmer, Jean) for the basic narrative of the Tuareg seizure
of the Kawar salt trade to Hausaland. However, this momentous development in
the 18th century Central Sudan is poorly documented. Besides passing references
to Kawar and a conflict or war in Bilma in c. 1759-1760 in the Chronicles of
Agadez, Palmer (and Jean) presumably drew on Tuareg oral traditions to show
resistance from Borno to Kel Owey and other Tuareg acts of aggression. Intriguingly,
however, oral traditions from Borno do not seem to refer to wars with the Kel
Owey or Agadez Sultanate over Bilma. Instead, traditions collected from the
Koyam refer to a disastrous battle in which forces from Gaskeru and additional
warriors sent from Birni Gazargamo were massacred by the Imakiten Tuareg at
Kaiguem, an area north of Kelle in Koutous. We propose a return to the sources
and oral traditions to better understand relations between Borno during Ali b.
al-Hajj Dunama’s reign and the Tuareg associated with Aïr. It shall be argued
that Borno’s conflict with the Tuareg during the reign of Ali b. al-Hajj Dunama
cannot be understood as a single, decisive war for Kawar, but rather as a
series of fragmented commercial and military struggles involving multiple
Tuareg groups, local intermediaries, and uneven Borno intervention. Beginning
with the written sources from the time period in question, we will then attempt
an analysis of the various traditions on this period recorded since the 19th
century. It is hoped that the connection between the Koyam conflict with the
southeastern Tuareg was indeed tied with the Kel Owey commercial rise in Aïr
and Kawar.
Review of Precolonial Sources
Beginning
with the main written sources, a number of 18th century or early 19th century
texts refer to the Tuareg and the salt caravan to Hausaland. In addition, the Chronicles of Agades alludes to conflict with Borno or in
Kawar in the second half of the 18th century. According to the French
translation of Urvoy, the “combat” of Bilma took place in 1760.[1]
Another conflict erupted in Bilma or Kawar during the affair of Dirfass in
1777-1778. The same collection of Agadez chronicles also contain earlier
references to conflict with Borno in the 17th century, such as a possible war
in 1685 and the Kel-Owey Tuareg attacking Borno in 1679.[2] These references to conflict
in Kawar or with Borno are, unfortunately, very thin on the details. It is
possible that the sultans of Agadez were not directly involved in instigating
the conflict with Borno or the Tubu for Kawar, meaning that their royal
chronicles shed less light on the conflict than Kel Owey oral traditions. But,
according to Hamani, the Agadez sultans Muhammad Humad and Muhammad al-Udala
(r. 1768-1792) were allies of the Kel Owey.[3]
Besides the Agadez sources, written
sources from Borno do, if indirectly, refer to conflict during the second half
of the 18th century. A mahram dated by Palmer to 1752 referred to a
failed attempt by the mai to enlist the Tura for war. When the Tura
threatened to leave Borno and return to Dirku in Kawar, the Sayfawa ruler
relented and reaffirmed their privileges.[4] While this predates the c.
1759 aggression in Bilma, there must have been some threat or campaign
important enough to tempt the mai to enforce military service from a
privileged group. A later mahram dated to 1785 also affirms the town of
Laluri as belonging to the Beni Mukhtar Tura.[5] More written sources, such as
poems and texts on Islamic rulership, the meaning of the Mune, and other
texts exist, but not in translation. The sense appears to have been one of
insecurity and conflict with various neighbors or vassal states. Indeed, a 19th
century Mandara kirgam may be obliquely referring to this troubled
political climate when elucidating how the motive of Ali b. al-Hajj Dunama’s
aggression was Mandara’s resources.[6] This
is certainly plausible as the Mandara campaign of 1781 took place after Borno’s
loss of Bilma. Perhaps eager to reassert Borno’s status in the Central Sudan,
the Sayfawa mai also wanted to acquire extra resources to make up for
the losses to the Tuareg.
In addition to these aforementioned sources, a number of European 18th century descriptions also establish that the Tuareg had achieved a monopoly of the trade in Kawar’s salt to the markets of Hausaland in the second half of the 1700s. For example, the journal of Hornemann referred to the Kel Owey Tuareg’s dominance of Asben. The same source referred to the Koyams (“Kojams”) living to the north of the principal town of Borno (Gazargamo) so his account was presumably written before the final abandonment of Gaskeru. More importantly, Beaufoy is cited for the salt caravan from Agadez to Domboo.[7] Thus, Hornemann’s journal, written in the 1790s, clearly establishes a Tuareg (and specifically Kel Owey) ascendancy, as well as the ties to Agadez for the trade in Kawar salt. Carsten Niebuhr, writing in German and basing his information on the Sudan from talks with Tripolitanian envoy and his African slaves from the Central Sudan, reported that Afnu (Hausaland) gets its salt from Asben. Niebuhr also referred to the Tuareg by the Kanuri term for them, indicating one of his informants was Kanuriphone or came from the Borno region.[8] While some of the salt from Asben’s own salines likely contributed to the supply of desert salts to Hausaland, Niebuhr’s information was collected in the 1770s. Consequently, it is possible that Kawar’s salt production was also being exploited by Tuareg traders in Katsina, Kano, and other Hausa cities. The use of the Kanuri term for the Tuareg also shows the degree to which the Tuareg were a known and identifiable group in 18th century Borno, possibly through their raids and pillaging of Kutus, Muniyo, Koyam centers, and other parts of Greater Borno. Last, but certainly not least, North African and Fezzani informants in the late 18th century reported that Borno still exported salt (perhaps natron is meant), but the people of Agadez controlled the salt caravans from Domboo to Cashna (Katsina). Supposedly, the Tuareg only paid brass and copper to peasants or oasis dwellers of Kawar for their salt. The overall picture suggests the Agadez merchants controlled the trade in salt from Borno (Kawar) to Katsina.[9]
This
sense of Tuareg control of the Kawar salt trade to Hausaland is confirmed in a
number of 19th century writings by European travelers to the region.
Richardson, for example, noted that the Aïr Tuareg were in possession of the
Bilma salt caravan. Moreover, a “short time ago,” Borno destroyed or stole the
supplies used by this caravan, causing the loss of hundreds of camels.[10]
Since Richardson did not give a year for this act of Borno’s sabotage, we can
only assume that well into the 19th century, Borno tried to impede the Tuareg
traders. Heinrich Barth also observed the history of Tuareg conflict with Borno
and the salt caravan. According to Barth, the Kel-Owey had an alliance with the
people of Azanéres that was linked to the Bilma salt exchange. Furthermore,
Barth believed this trade of the Asben-affiliated Tuareg trading Bilma’s salt
to Hausaland only began about 100 years ago.[11] This agrees with the Agadez
chronicle of the Tuareg of Aïr engaging in a war or battle at Bilma in c. 1759.
Elsewhere in his account of his travels, Barth also referred to Ali b. al-Hajj
Dunama’s violent struggles with the Tuareg in the middle of the 18th century:
“He made great exertions in every direction, but his efforts seem to have
resembled the convulsions of death…”[12] Although he confusingly
referred to the mai as Ali Omari, recalling Ali b. Umar of the 17th
century, it’s quite clear that Barth was referring to Ali b. al-Hajj Dunama. He
even named his successor correctly as Ahmad. That this period was a turbulent
one in Borno’s history can also be found in Barth’s allusion to Ali b. al-Hajj
Dunama’s campaigns against the Bade (Bedde).[13] Nachtigal, for his part,
wrote of the responsibilities of the yerima including oversight of the
southeastern Tuareg groups while the galadima was responsible for the
Bade and western Borno. Thus, during the conflicts with the Tuareg in the 18th
century, the yerima was presumably the first official meant to respond
to the crisis. This is perhaps contradicted by oral traditions of the Koyam,
however, who remembered a kaigama named Ali, allegedly a son of Ali b.
al-Hajj Dunama, who came to their aid when their community was attacked by the
Imakiten Tuareg at Gaskeru.[14]
Clearly, a major dimension of conflict with the Tuareg during this period
involved Koyam and other groups living outside of Kawar.
Revisiting Colonial-Era Scholarship
Moving
into the colonial period, more precise traditions of conflict between the
Tuareg and Borno were recorded. Jean, whose Les Touareg du
sud-est. L'Aïr. Leur rôle dans la politique saharienne was published in 1909, was the
first to explore what actually happened in c. 1759. Unfortunately, his account
is garbled and may mix events associated with Borno’s failed siege of the
Tuareg forces at Bagzam with events in the 18th century. In Jean’s retelling,
the Bornoan forces abandoned their siege of the Tuareg at Bagzam and, when
fleeing to the east, were pursued by the Kel Owey to the wells of Ashegur.
There the Kel Owey defeated the forces of Borno, took hundreds of prisoners,
and established them at Bilma.[15] It
is difficult to say to what extent this tradition is accurate, but it does
correctly identify the Kel Owey as protagonists in this conflict. Later, the
sultan of Agadez and the Kel Gress went to Fachi and Tuareg suzerainty of the
region was established. But, in c.1765, Kel Owey traders were massacred in
Borno. This prompted a counterattack in which the sultan of Agadez, Mohammad
Almoubari invaded Borno and seized cattle. Supposedly, the Tuareg marched
almost to Kuka (Gazargamo) and ensured free access to the area for Tuareg
traders.[16] A
number of problems exist with this narrative, despite Palmer, Lovejoy and later
authors repeating it. If the named sultan is correct, then this was probably
Muhammad al-Mubarek, a powerful sultan of 17th century Agadez. Various sources
refer to specific wars or battles with Borno during his reign. On one of those
occasions, forces from Agadez did reach the capital of Borno. But, that attack
occurred in the 1660s, not the 1760s. Besides, the sultan of Agadez in c. 1765
was Muhammad Humad. While Rodd identified him as the son of Mubarak, Hamani’s
genealogy of the kings of Agadez names his father as Usman.[17] That some type of conflict
likely emerged may be seen in the allusion to the Kel Owey as the Tuareg group
targeted by Borno’s violent massacre. In this context, their presence in Borno
was due to people of Bilma demanding supplies from Borno. Once there near Lake
Chad, they were poorly received and most were killed. The specific reference to
the Kel Owey, the sultan of Agadez (at the time, an ally of this group) and the
bravery of the Kel Férouan in the expedition against Borno are details that
could very well refer to the 1760s.
Furthermore, that the sultan of Agadez at the time was an ally of the
Kel Owey reinforces the idea that the sultan may have sent forces to aid the
Kel Owey against Borno.
Despite
his garbled reconstruction of Tuareg oral tradition, the narrative of a 1765
invasion from Aïr that reached just before Gazargamo has been repeated by
subsequent scholars. The unavoidable Palmer, in Bornu Sahara and Sudan,
essentially repeated Jean. Thus, the War of Bilma began in 1759 and in that
conflict, Kel Owey achieved victory against Bornoan soldiers. Again, the 1765
reference to the massacre of Kel Owey in Borno and the response from the Agadez
sultan are presented uncritically.[18] As Palmer did, other
colonial-era scholars largely repeat this narrative or merely stress different
aspects of Tuareg tribute demands or the workings of the salt trade. Abadie, as
one colonial-era example, merely referred to the Tuareg domination of Kawar
probably beginning before the Tubu presence but had to admit the Kanuri
traditions remembering a Tubu presence first.[19] In his Tarikh El Khawar,
Le Sourd reported that the Kanuris of Guezebi-Guassar sent tribute to the Kel
Owey. Yet prior to that relationship, they paid tribute to the “Temaghra” Tubu.
Further, the Koyam were said to have once lived in villages between Agram and
Fachi in the distant past.[20]
This reference to the Koyam in Kawar and their ties to its trade before the
Tuareg may be implied by the mountain east of Bilma’s main mountain, called
Diotko, after the Diotko of Borno. Abadie was told the Diotko, or Jetko, were
said to have been traders of salt and dates in the region.[21] The Jetko, like the Koyam,
were a pastoralist group related to the Koyam. Urvoy, on the other hand,
provided some key information on the Tuareg groups involved in Kawar and to the
lands south of Aïr. For instance, his Histoire de l’Empire du Bornou mentions
the Amakitan Tuareg in Koutous, demanding tribute from sedentary farmers, yet
the Ikaskazane of the Kel Owey were installed to the west of the Amakitanes,
with a center at Garazou in Alakoss.[22] It would be worthwhile to
further explore the extent to which the Kel Owey and Amakitan groups
coordinated their actions or engaged in joint raids, especially if directed
against Koyam and Jetko traders in Kawar with links to Borno’s trans-Saharan
and desert salt trade.
Unquestionably, this memory of Koyam
or Jetko traders active in Kawar was surely another aspect of the Koyam conflict
with the Tuareg during the 18th century. Unsurprisingly, this is precisely
where the Koyam traditions described by Landeroin are the most detailed on
Tuareg conflicts. In fact, conflict with the Imakiten (and likely other Tuareg)
began as early as the 17th century, when Kalumbardo was destroyed by Tuareg
raiders. The 18th century settlement at Gaskeru, under the effective leadership
of shaykhs descended from the founder of the earlier Kalumbardo, was
probably connected to traders in Kawar. Hence, it is likely not insignificant
that the only conflict with the Tuareg reported by Landeroin was with the
Imakiten Tuareg of Koutous who attacked Gaskeru with the aid of other Kel Aïr:
Sous
le commandement d’Abdoullaÿ, frère cadet de Beker, les Touaregs Imakiten du
Koutous, aidés des Touaregs de Azbin, vinrent attaquer Gaskérou. Abdoullaÿ
demanda du secours au Maï Ali, qui lui envoya son fils, le kaïgama Ali. Ensemble, ils
repoussèrent les Touaregs jusque dans leur pays. Mais, ayant voulu pénétrer
dans l’intérieur de celui-ci pour reprendre les captifs et les troupeaux
razzés, les pillards firent front avec toutes leurs forces et au combat de
Kaïguem, au Nord de Kellé, les Koyams furent massacrés en grand nombre.[23]
Perhaps even more significantly, the mai sent
his kaigama, the top military official, to aid the Koyam against the
Tuareg. When they pursued their enemy to Kaiguem, north of Kelle, the Borno
forces were massacred and the shaykh, Abdoullay, was killed. This
detailed account of utter defeat is, of course, referring to the Imakiten
Tuareg who regularly raided parts of Borno. Nevertheless, it is possible this
event took place before 1781 since a kaigama named Ali died in that
campaign.[24] If
the kaigama remembered in tradition was the same man, Abdoullay may have
died in conflict with the Tuareg before 1781. To verify this, of course, would
require a gargam or more precise genealogies or successions for the kaigamas
of 18th century Borno. Overall, this tradition of conflict with the Tuareg
supports the notion of how complex and multivalent the relationship with the
Kel Aïr Tuareg was at this time.
Thoughts
on Postcolonial Scholarship
With the postcolonial era, more
precise studies of Kawar, Borno, and the Tuareg of Aïr appeared. Lovejoy, whose
detailed study of the desert salt trade drew heavily on Jean and Palmer for
Borno’s conflict with the Tuareg, also provides some dates for a Tuareg attack
at Gaskeru (c. 1787-1792) before it was finally abandoned.[25] Maikorema, on the other
hand, reported the Jetko of Yari Jetko were attacked by the Tuareg, so they
moved to Tal Bul, north of N’Gigmi.[26] This is in concordance with
attacks on the Jetko and Koyam during the 18th and 19th century by Tuareg
bandits. Scholars such as Muhammad Nur Alkali likewise noted the importance of
the loss of Kawar for Borno’s economy. Furthermore, the growing independence of
the vassal rulers of Muniyo and the Daagirawa, based on an alliance against
Tuareg raiders, may have been another sign of Borno’s failure to provide the
necessary security for its client states in the 18th and 19th centuries.[27]
Vikor, in The Oasis of Salt,
provides the best synthesis for the Kawar or Fachi-centered aspect of the
conflict with the Tuareg. Thus, the familiar tale of the Tuareg defeating Borno
forces at the well of Ashegur north of Fachi is maintained. This victory was
achieved with the aid of the sultan of Agadez. Additionally, the Itesan held
Fachi while the Kel Owey chased the Bornoan forces to Kawar. But, and here is a
key difference, Vikor stressed the role of Teda raiders in attacking the
Tuareg. One such attack took place in 1768-9, when Isandalan Tuaregs were
attacked at Jado. Another Teda attack on the salt caravan led to a major battle
in 1777, where the Tuareg leader was named Dirfass.[28]
This notion of the Tubu playing a
disproportionate role in these conflicts with the Kel Aïr was also believed by
Djibo Hamani. For his part, Hamani viewed this period as one in which Borno’s
rulers were less involved in the affairs of their vassal states on their
western border, areas often raided by the Tuareg: Muniyo, Kutus, Damargu. In
Kawar, the Tuareg were seen by Hamani as clashing with the Tubu in 1759,
1768/9, and 1778.[29]
Though Vikor recognized the role of Borno in the conflict of 1759, Hamani seems
to prefer contextualizing it as one of Tubu raids on Tuareg traders or
pilgrims, thereby causing counterraids or battles. Such a perspective, however,
ignores the role of Borno in the earlier conflict and the tradition of a Kel
Owey group massacred in Borno in c. 1765. Even if that tradition has been
problematically reported by Jean, there seems to have been some clear Borno
involvement in the fight with the Tuareg. Such a view can find quick support in
Borno’s support for the Koyam shaykh, Abdoullay, during this period.
In the study of Aïr’s political
economy during this era, Kathleen O’Mara’s dissertation presents a compelling
case for the commercial and political ascent of the Kel Owey. In her study, the
Kel Aïr alliance won a battle at Bilma in 1759/60. The rights to tribute and
monopoly over Kawar’s salt trade went to the Kel Owey and Kel Geres. The Sarkin
Turawa of Agadez also received taxes or tribute from a bulama of
Kawar. Lastly, she argued against Grandin’s theory of the Kel Geres controlling
Bilma in the 1500s, finding no evidence for such an assertion.[30]
More importantly, her materialist analysis of the Kel Aïr in the late 1700s and
early 1800s emphasizes how the seizure of Kawar’s salt trade was an impetus for
agro-pastoral expansion. With the growth of a Kel Owey commercial class
investing in salt, agricultural production, livestock, and trade in textiles,
slaves, leather products, and items acquired through trans-Saharan trade via
the Fezzan or Ghat, the Aïr Tuareg system became a fully tributary one that
maintained the dominance of the "nobles." In fact, the maintenance of the sultanate
structure in Agadez as an intermediary of Tuareg groups in Aïr, plus their own
source of legitimacy via Islam, provided a balance with Kel Owey elites who
rose to dominance during the 18th century. Finally, the growing economic
integration with the Hausa states to the south and, eventually, the Sokoto
Caliphate, contributed to a southward migration as more Tuareg elites began to
rely on the labor or tribute from servile or free dependents laboring in
agriculture. This process must have fueled further Tuareg settlement in lands
to the south, in addition to the ecological pressure during periods of extended
droughts in the Sahel. As one can likely imagine, this process among the Kel
Aïr of the second half of the 18th century would have included the Amakitan and
Kel Owey groups.
Conclusions
and Evidence
As the evidence suggests, Borno’s
conflict with the Tuareg during the lengthy reign of Ali b. al-Hajj Dunama was
complex. The battle for Kawar was merely one (and an important one) aspect of
this era, the Late Sayfawa Period. The fissures in the imperial system of the
Sayfawa state were widening as vassal states rebelled, Borno failed to provide
security for others, and internal contradictions and conflicts fueled
dissension. Borno’s response to the disastrous 1759/60 war over Bilma revealed
how significant it was to the state’s trans-Saharan and Sudanic economy. By also
responding to attacks on the Koyam at Gaskeru, the Sayfawa were likewise acting
to defend their frontier inhabited by groups who were also tied to Kawar and
the trade in desert salts. This means that Borno’s response was based on the
goals of protecting its own economic, political, and military interests. That
the Bilma salt trade was of such importance can be seen in the dynamic rise of
the Kel Owey Tuareg during this time, whose burgeoning power also encouraged
further Tuareg depredations and settlements in lands south of Asben. That
conflict extended to Borno’s peripheral tributaries such as Muniyo and Koutous
is linked to the growth of Tuareg settlement to the south, itself facilitated
by the Kawar salt trade and the Hausa markets of centers like Kano and Katsina.
To properly analyze this period, one must interrogate closely all sources,
particularly the problematic oral traditions (or the debased or elaborated
forms reported in colonial sources).
[1] Yves Urvoy, “Chroniques d’Agades,” 161.
[2] Ibid., 160, 162, 170
[3] Djibo Hamani, Le sultanat touareg de l'Ayar: au
carrefour du Soudan et de la Berbérie, 261.
[4] H.R. Palmer, Bornu Sahara and Sudan, 46.
[5] Ibid., 47.
[6] Eldridge Mohammadou, Le royaume de Wandala ou Mandara au
XIXè siècle, 44.
[7] Friedrich Hornemann, The Journal of Frederick
Hornemann's Travels, from Cairo to Mourzouk: The Capital of the Kingdom of
Fezzan, in Africa, 113, 180-182.
[8] Carsten Niebuhr, “Das Innere von Afrika", 981, 986.
[9] Association for Promoting the Discovery of the Interior
Parts of Africa, Proceedings of the Association for Promoting
the Discovery of the Interior Parts of Africa, Volume 1, 154, 157, 167.
[10] James Richardson, Travels in the Great Desert of Sahara in the Years of
1845 & 1846 Containing a Narrative of Personal Adventures During a Tour of
Nine Months Through the Desert Amongst the Touaricks and Other Tribes of
Saharan People; Including a Description of the Cases and Cities of Ghat,
Ghadames and Mourzuk, Volume 2, 143.
[11] Heinrich Barth, Travels and discoveries in North and Central
Africa Including accounts of Tripoli, the Sahara, the remarkable kingdom of
Bornu, and the countries around Lake Chad, (1890), 154, 158.
[12] Ibid.,
Travels and Discoveries in North and Central Africa Including accounts of
Tripoli, the Sahara, the remarkable kingdom of Bornu and the countries around
Lake Chad, Volume 2 (1857), 281.
[13] Ibid., 599.
[14] Landeroin, “Notice historique” in Documents scientifiques de la Mission Tilho, 399.
[15] C. Jean, Les Touareg du Sud-Est: l'Air ; leur rôle dans
la politique saharienne, 119-120.
[16] Ibid., 121.
[17] Rodd, People of the Veil, 415, Hamani, 452.
[18] Palmer, Bornu Sahara and Sudan, 86.
[19] Maurice Abadie, Afrique centrale: La colonie du Niger, 177.
[20] Michel Le Sourd, Tarikh El Kawar, Bulletin de l'I.F.A.N
VIII, (1946) 6, 28.
[21] Abadie, 5.
[22] Yves Urvoy, Histoire de l’Empire du Bornou, 91.
[23] Landeroin, 399.
[24] Mohammadou, 55.
[25] Paul E. Lovejoy, Salt of the Desert Sun, 229.
[26] Maikorema Zakari, Contribution à l'histoire des
populations du sud - est Nigérien . Le cas du Mangari (XVIe - XIXe s.), 83.
[27] Muhammad Nur Alkali, Kanem-Borno Under the Sayfawa,
268, 314.
[28] Knut S. Vikør, The Oasis of Salt, 212, 216.
[29] Hamani, 267.
[30] Kathleen O’Mara, A Political Economy of Ahir (Niger): Historical Transformations in a Pastoral Economy, 1760-1860, 114, 124, 343.
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