Speculating on Massenya and Bricks in Bagirmi

Heinrich Barth's plan of Massenya, the Bagirmi capital.

Although the kingdom of Bagirmi also used fired brick, this part of Chad does not appear to have received as much analysis as sites in Kanem and Borno. This is unfortunate since details about the arrangement of the royal center in Massenya and the use of fired-brick for walls as well as the porio may provide clues for understanding earlier sites in Kanem. Moreover, understanding the arrangement of the space and its larger cosmological significance in Bagirmi could very well reveal something about the nature of space, royal palace layouts, and cosmology in Kanem and Borno. In our own very limited and exploratory manner, we will attempt a brief overview of Massenya's history and the use of fired brick in its elite constructions. The tentative analysis here is merely one of raising questions and exploring the deeper political and social connotations of brick constructions in this part of the "Central Sudan."

A view of Massenya based on Barth.

A quick commentary on the sources is in order. Researching the history of Bagirmi, particularly its history before the 19th century, is an arduous task. Heinrich Barth, Muhammad Bello, Escayrac de Lauture,  Nachtigal, al-Tunisi, and Denham wrote about the region in the 19th century. Before them, one finds occasional references to Bagirmi from other sources, both European and African. Unfortunately, most of the pre-1800 sources are very vague or imprecise, often only referring to Bagirmi's geography or mentioning its role in provisioning captives for the trans-Saharan trade. That Bagirmi was at least used as a name for the region by the 15th century can be seen in the map of Fra Mauro. Furthermore, references from the Diwan and the chronicle of Ahmad b. Furtu (as well as Anania's writings) refer to Bagirmi. Fortunately, the travelers, colonial "scholars" and administrators, and anthropologists and historians of the 20th century have contributed greatly to a fuller picture of Bagirmi's history. Nonetheless, the loss of a Barma equivalent of the Kanuri girgam, and the absence of written chronicles has impeded the development of a more complete history. This has forced Lebeuf, Reyna, Pâques, Gaden, Lavers, Lanier, Devallée, and others to compare lists of kings, look to oral tradition recorded at different times, explore Barma cosmology, and, in some cases, write about Fulani Muslim scholars based at Bidderi or other parts of the kingdom.

Pâques, Le roi chasseur

As for the  possible deeper antiquity of a kingdom of Bagirmi before the 15th or 16th century, as once proposed by Lange, the evidence is too ambiguous to say. The general chronology of Bagirmi's kings, with dates based on Nachtigal's interviews with Bagirmi elites, appears to be the most accurate, and that places the dynasty's origins back to the 16th century. We are inclined to favor such a date, with the period before the rise of the dynasty of Bagirmi as one of Bulala domination over a heterogeneous population (which included Fulani and other groups). In fact, the Bagirmi tradition on the foundation of Massenya's royal palace suggests the kingdom had already been in existence for at least a generation and Fulani Muslim clerics were highly esteemed. Therefore, a 16th century origin for Bagirmi as a singular kingdom is likely. Since Nachtigal relied on informants from Bagirmi and his list omitted names remembered by other informants (as reported by Escayrac de Lauture), there is a possibility that the dynasty's origins began earlier than Nachtigal's chronology suggests. For instance, Nachtigal was told that it was Lubatko who ordered a hedge of thorns placed around Massenya (Nachtigal 401). This mbang was said to have reigned from 1536-1548. Only under Abdallah (1568-1608) was the royal dwelling walled, with a plan by 4 Fulani Muslims named Dede, Shille, Aji Amede, and Majangala (Nachtigal 403). 

Besson's plan of old Massenya's palace complex.

Yet Escayrac de Lauture, writing decades earlier on Bagirmi's history, reported that a large number of brothers of Birni Besse ruled Bagirmi before Malo, the son of Birni Besse, ascended to the throne (Escayrac de Lauture). If Malo, who was said to have become mbang 28 years after his father, was preceded by a number of uncles (only one of whom is mentioned by Nachtigal, Lubatko), then Nachtigal's list omitted several kings. It also raises questions about the nature of succession in early Bagirmi. If it was practiced collaterally until the rise of Malo, and 5 kings ruled in between Birni Besse and Malo, the kingdom may have begun a little earlier than 1522, assuming that some brothers may have been significantly younger than Birni Besse. Of course, Escayrac de Lauture had access to fewer sources than Nachtigal, so all of his information on the kings of Bagirmi must be used cautiously. This nonetheless illustrates how difficult it can be to construct a coherent chronology without additional sources to corroborate or date events more firmly.

Vestiges of a wall in Old Massenya (from Lebeuf).

What of the city of Massenya? The sources disagree on some key details, but are largely compatible. Pâques attributes the foundation of Massenya to Dala Birni (Pâques 17). This is interesting since Nachtigal named Dalo Birni as a brother of Birni Besse. Most sources (Lavers, for example) concur on this point with Nachtigal. Mbang Bolo was said to have built Massenya and the royal palace by Lanier, but this may be a reference to Malo or perhaps another name of Abdallah (Lanier 460). In terms of Massenya itself, Nachtigal believed that Malo had a hedge placed around Massenya. Then, his brother and successor, Abdallah, built a wall around the royal palace. But only in the 17th century, during the reign of Burkomanda I (1635-1665), was a brick wall built to surround the gur, or palace (Reyna 62). Nachtigal, Reyna, and Devallée all associate Burkomanda with the first brick walls around Massenya's palace. 

Plan of Old Massenya in Lebeuf.

This early date, assuming the regnal years of Nachtigal are accurate, point to the 17th century for the first fired brick walls in the town. Indeed, when Heinrich Barth visited Bagirmi in the 1850s, he saw the brick wall of the palace was in a state of decay and probably more than 100 years old (Barth 518). This would suggest the wall was built by the 1750s at the last, and an earlier date in the 17th century is not impossible.  Later on, the town walls of Massenya were rebuilt during the reign of Wanya (1722-1736). Another 18th century mbang, Loel (or Loen, 1741-1751), was said to have added an additional room in the palace complex for his 500 horses and began to employ 1000 slaves as a royal bodyguard force in the royal square (Nachtigal 407-408). Lastly, the mbang named Haji (1751-1785) was remembered in some sources for promoting the use of fired brick at Bousso (Pâques 200). Haji was also known for promoting Islam in Bagirmi, which including the use of bricks for mosques. This did not stop him from endeavoring to limit the use of brick for elite structures outside the capital (Seignobos 276).

Ruin of part of the fired brick wall for the palace (Lebeuf). 

Unfortunately, Massenya had been sacked and pillaged on a number of occasions in the 19th century. Consequently, Barth's description of the fired brick wall around the gur or his brief mention of brick buildings outside Massenya are based on a visit to the site after at least 2 periods of pillaging or invasions. The first, when Sabun of Wadai invaded Bagirmi and took Massenya, involving destroying part of the town and palace walls (El-Tounsy 158, 162). An attack from Borno, led by al-Kanemi, was likewise said to have resulted in much destruction. Lanier attributes the destruction of the palace to this Bornoan invasion as Massenya was once again pillaged (Lanier 462). Despite these attacks, the city of Massenya was still described as a very large town by a variety of sources. Aboubakar, a Bagirmi native living in Brazil during the 19th century, described the capital "une tres grande ville" (Comte de Castelnau 31). Seetzen, writing from Cairo and basing his writing on interviewing a native of Afade, reported that Bagirmi "c'est une ville considerable" (Seetzen 166). Even buildings of two or 3 storeys were said to exist in Massenya when Escayrac de Lauture collected information on the kingdom (Escayrac de Lauture 91). Whilst Escayrac de Lauture's information is perhaps an exaggeration, one senses that Massenya was a large town. Even when, by the second half of the 19th century, when Massenya was known for having a large circumference but small number of houses and people for its size, it covered a large space (Nachtigal 423). It is very likely that the royal capital was more densely populated in the past before the kingdom's capital was sacked and Bagirmi became a tributary of Wadai.

Ruins of the old houses in Massenya (Lebeuf)

We are fortunate to know something about the nature of the gur of Massenya. Its walls were 10 feet at the base, 15-20 feet high (Reyna 62). Reyna, who drew this observation from Barth, who wrote that the palace wall was 18 feet high, 10 feet thick and built of decaying baked bricks (Barth 516). The town's circumference, in Barth's reckoning, was about 7 miles but only half of the capital's space was actually inhabited. Barth similarly noticed the city had a dendal  and baked-brick ruins outside the city on the road to Abu-Gher (Barth 518). Pâques, who also visited the site, found evidence for the vestiges of 20 houses, a cemetery and a mosque in the palace complex. Unfortunately, many bricks from the site were later used for the road between N'Djamena to New Massenya, meaning we have less evidence available (Pâques 17-18). Lebeuf has also written about the fired brick mosque in the palace. Evidence for additional fired brick buildings 1 km west-northwest of the palace were also noted (Lebeuf 219). The palace's grand entry gate and porio were made of fired bricks. The latter structure was only accessible to the mbang and certain adims (Lebeuf 227). Unsurprisingly, the palace cemetery had a short brick wall around it (Lebeuf 229). As for the length of the palace wall, Lebeuf measured it as 245 m and 240 m on its north and south sides and 215 and 182 meters on its other sides (Lebeuf 217). In terms of the palace complex's buildings, the ngarman, or "minister of the royal household," was in charge of its oversight. But the galadima was also responsible for the construction and oversight of some palace buildings (Reyna 111, 115). 

Some of the fired bricks from Massenya (Seignobos).

Overall, Massenya's brick structures were either for elites or the walls of mosques. This is similar to the patterns observed in Kanem, Wadai and Borno for this construction material. The palace complex of Massenya not only employed brick for its outer wall, but used for other structures. Outside of Massenya, other elite structures or mosques used brick, too. While Seignobos believes the earlier use of fired bricks at sites along the Chari predated Bagirmi's territorial expansion, other sources contradict this. For instance, Boussou, where bricks were used for the circular homes of the local mbang, was supposedly a site where their use predated Bagirmi's conquest (Seignobos 265). Contra Seignobos, however, Pâques argued that the use of fired bricks at Bousso was associated with the Bagirmi king, Haji, who facilitated the Islamization of the region (Pâques 200). Intriguingly, the local ruler of Bousso was also one of the few dignitaries allowed to sit on a carpet, perhaps another sign of the association of bricks for elite structures (Barth 562). Similarly, Bagirmi's conquest of chiefdoms or small polities along the Chari may have begun earlier and promotion of brick for elite structures or mosques could have started in the 17th or early 18th century. While Seignobos raised a legitimate point about the differences in brick shapes in Massenya and sites along the Chari, the common use of the word yalul for brick may be another indication of a common origin (Seignobos 273). Moreover, despite the diversity of brick types at Massenya, the most archaic ones were similar to those of Bousso (Seignobos 272). This could possibly indicate the deeper shared diffusion of the technology of bricks among societies south of Lake Chad. 

Overall, the use of bricks for elite structures is consistent with symbolizing power. Seignobos also emphasizes the role of submission in the use of bricks as peripheral towns or villages had to supply the bricks or labor through a corvee (Seignobos 275). This close association of elite status and brick constructions is certainly consistent with what is known about similar sites in Kanem, Borno, and Wara in Wadai. Massenya's palace complex, with its brick outer wall and use of brick for other elite structures, clearly exemplified this trend. It was also likely used to buttress the ritual seclusion and spatial separation of the king from the rest of the city. In the case of Massenya and Birni Gazargamo, where the palace complex occupied a central position, the political message must have been clear: the world revolved around the king. In the case of Bagirmi, where the local cosmological significance of the king as a Sun-like figure loomed large, one can imagine how brick served to highlight this elevated position (as well as that of the royal family and upper-echelon of officials or dignitaries). Therefore, Massenya's gur was yet another example of brick and elite ideology (and Islamization) in the Central Sudan. It reinforced, however, more deeply rooted cosmological or spiritual ideas about kingship.

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