In what may be a doomed long-term project, we have rekindled our interest in Bagirmi history. Sadly, the history of this kingdom, particularly before the 19th century, has not attracted as much attention. Naturally, much of this is due to the paucity of written sources. Nonetheless, Bagirmi oral traditions, royal genealogies, and occasional references to the kingdom from Borno, Wadai, or other sources can be used to reconstruct something of its pre-19th century past. Indeed, one suspects an unpublished dissertation by a Chadian author may have endeavored to do justice to this challenging topic of a comprehensive history of Bagirmi. However, its inaccessibility has led us to re-read various public domain sources on Bagirmi. Included in this category is Devallée's "Le Baghirmi" in Bulletin de la Société des Recherches Congolaises.
Usually, writers just recycle Nachtigal's chronology or narrative whilst occasionally attempting to correlate it with the colonial-era reports or postcolonial texts on Bagirmi. Some focus on the 19th century, where more written sources and first-hand accounts can be found. Barth, Nachtigal and the colonial-era sources are often useful or detailed in their description of the kingdom and some of the political history. They also have severe limitations, too. For instance, some seem to emphasize the despotic, arbitrary, and cruel nature of many, perhaps most, Bagirmi rulers. Excessive taxation, frequent slave raiding, the buying and selling of offices, or the frequent blinding of rivals upon accession to the throne were frequently used as examples of this. Devallée and Lanier did this to a great extent. But the former was more indebted to Nachtigal in terms of his chronology and basic historical overview of the kingdom. In fact, he appears to have largely recycled Nachtigal's information with a few updates to bring it to the colonial era.
Yet one must be at least occasionally skeptical of the largely negative portrayal of Bagirmi's precolonial rulers since events in the 19th century clearly placed a lot of pressure on the state. It's former glory was diminished after their defeat by Wadai's Sabun. The conditions of the 19th century may have led to more extreme forms of taxation abuses or unjust, arbitrary, and despotic rule. While these were undoubtedly present to varying degrees before the 1800s, the volatile last century must have placed more pressure on the mbangs. This may have led to an increase in the sale of state offices and certain honors and titles, including some regarding privileges for those who purchased the rights with regard to meetings with the king. In other words, the cash-strapped kingdom which found itself stuck between a powerful Wadai and a still influential Borno, may have become more oppressive and corrupt.
In spite of our aforementioned issues with Devallée and Lanier, the former's "Le Baghirmi" is a good overview of the kingdom as a European understood it in the 1920s. Breaking down the demographics, political divisions into cantons, revenue system (and how it changed under colonial rule), practices of slavery, administrative structure, historical overview, and physical features of the land, Bagirmi as a unit of analysis becomes easier to contextualize within the larger Central Sudan. It's history as a kingdom once far more powerful or influential before Wadai's ascendancy in the 19th century is an intriguing case study for the Lake Chad Basin. As far as the colonial reports and publications on Bagirmi go, this is more comprehensive than Lanier's effort and, due to its reliance on Nachtigal, a bit easier to reconcile with other sources.
