"L'ancien royaume du Baguirmi" and Lanier

 

Map of Bagirmi in Lanier's "L'ancien royaume du Baguirmi" in Bulletin du Comité de l'Afrique française 35 (1925).

Whilst revisiting various sources on the history of Bagirmi before the 19th century, we recently re-read Henri Lanier's essay, "L'ancien royaume du Baguirmi." Based on notes collected from 1913-1916, Lanier's essay provides a different look at the early origins of Bagirmi. He also claimed to have consulted a list of Bagirmi rulers with the regnal lengths from a lettered family that conserved this information orally. Unfortunately, he did not name said family but noted their familial ties to Bagirmi monarchs like Hadji (Muhammad al-Amin). Thus, his list of rulers and the dates are not the same as those of Nachtigal. One wonders if this list also fabricated a new Arab progenitor of the dynasty in the figure of Abdel Mahamoud Begli.

When we look at these different 19th century and colonial-era articles or chapters on the history of Bagirmi, we cannot help but think of the Andean world and the Spanish chronicles on the Inca. Like the Incas, in Bagirmi, the colonial writings are based (almost) entirely on oral tradition for the period before European conquest. Unlike the Incas, however, Bagirmi did possess a system of writing (although the khipu system was highly sophisticated and capable of recording different types of information, too). We suspect it was used for gargams as in Borno and for Islamic scholarship. Lettered village chiefs, given the title of gol, in places like Bidri and Aboughern may also have produced documents or texts with relevant information on Bagirmi's history, too. Also, recording of the royal genealogy of the kings was partly entrusted to someone Gaden believed was officially tied to the court. This person was supposed to recite the names of the kings of Bagirmi and how long they reigned. Presumably, praise-singers tied to the court and descendants of kings or dignitaries also preserved information orally. For instance, Nachtigal experienced this when writing his history of Bagirmi, speaking to elite descendants who even knew the names of the horses used by their ancestors in the various military campaigns or battles in Bagirmi's past. Like the Andean world, we also suspect descendants of different dignitaries and kings may have preserved or passed down competing versions of past events. With the frequency of revolts or usurpations in Bagirmi's past, one also suspects there may have been versions of the royal history that deviated from earlier traditions to help legitimize another descent group. 

We cannot prove it, but we suspect the reign of Muhammad al-Amin, or Hadji Muhammad, may have represented one such moment in which his reign sought to legitimize his descent group seizing the throne after their ancestor, Abd el-Kader, was killed by his brother, Ousman. Perhaps like Pachacuti in Tawantinsuyu, Muhammad al-Amin's reign, viewed by Lanier as the apogee of Bagirmi, witnessed the consolidation of another variation in Bagirmi's origins story. Certainly, the insertion of an unfamiliar Arab into the royal genealogy by Lanier's informants may have a connection with Muhammad al-Amin's reputation of propagating Islam in the kingdom during the second half of the 18th century. Doing so highlighted the Islamic credentials of the dynasy since their origins.

As in the case of the distant Incas, Lanier's summary of pre-19th century Bagirmi history shares much of the same information with other studies. However, perhaps due to the frequency of shared names among different mbangs, Lanier attributes historical events to different rulers than Nachtigal, Carbou, or others. For instance, Lanier believed that the Bourkoumanda Tadlele, whose reign he dated 1734-1739, was the one who gave his sister in marriage to a Bulala sultan and engaged on a long series of campaigns to Borku and Kawar. The evidence for this being the work of an earlier Burkomanda in the 17th century is more likely. 

Similarly, Lanier's account of Oumar, the first king, deviates from that of others. His Oumar, who allegedly arrived in Bagirmi in a group of about 300 companions, was the one who shared elephant meat with locals and gathered local support. He then led them in resistance to the Bulala sultans who imposed tribute on the area previously. However, the tribute to the Bulala was not the same as that recorded by Edwige, who reported the tribute to the Bulala sultan was in cloth. Otherwise, the traditions are somewhat similar in that Oumar defeats the cavalry sent by the Bulala sultan, although Edwige thought Dalou-Birni accomplished this.

Subsequent Bagirmi history according to Lanier diverges substantially with the addition of the Arab figure before continuing with some familiar names. Lanier's account apparently adds a second Libatko to the list of kings and then dates Bang Dolo Berni (also named Ahmet Al Berni or Dal Beri Besse)  1513-1543. This mbang is recognizable in other lists, as well as Malo (said to have been the tshiroma) and Abdallah. The custom of blinding royal competitors supposedly began with Abdallah, the first usurper (although other sources differ on this). As for the 17th century, little is reported except for father to son succession for a few reigns and the conquest of Dekakire by Abd el Kader (r. 1660-1694). Lanier's version of events after this appears garbled or confused compared to the narrative of Nachtigal. However, without elucidating his sources, Lanier produces a date of 1741 for an attack from Borno which forced the mbang Lahoual (Alahouine) to recognize the authority of the Sayfawa. This could very well be correct, and could be the result of one of the Late Sayfawa Period maiwa attempting to reassert Bornoan influence to the south and east of Lake Chad.

Toward the end of this period, when Sabun of Waday invaded and pillaged Massenya, Lanier's explanation of the conflict is quite familiar. Wadai's attack was partly motivated by Bagirmi's assault on the Bulala sultanate, which resulted in the death of its ruler. Supposedly, Saboun invaded, in part, to avenge the Bulalas (perhaps to also reassert Wadai's sphere of influence in the Fitri region and ending Bagirmi raids on their border, too). The details are in alignment with Nachtigal here.

Ultimately, besides a slightly different chronology with years presumably drawn from a well-connected family, Lanier's history of Bagirmi is quite familiar for anyone who has read Nachtigal. His narrative also stretches further back in time to include Oumar in the 1400s, attributing the cessation of Bagirmi tribute to the Bulala sultans to his leadership. By c. 1493, however, Oumar was dead, and a few additional reigns separate him from Bang Dolo Berni. Lanier seems to have acknowledged that other writers had little to report on the very early history of the kingdom since many of their informants only knew of Dolo Berni (or, Ahmet Al Berni/Dal Beri Besse). Possible problems immediately emerge in Lanier's account, too. The duplication of Libatko and the addition of an Arab into the royal genealogy (beyond just vague claims of Middle Eastern origin) may be the result of a specific family of informants. His account of later historical developments in the 1600s and 1700s also garbles or omits the stories associated with some mbangs. In this case, it is perhaps a result of this same family with elite connections choosing to promote certain Bagirmi rulers and their lineages above those of others. Alternatively, these informants may have mixed the achievements of kings with those of similarly named rulers from different centuries. 

As for its most unique trait, the extra details on the earliest rulers may also have been partly shaped by this family seeking to predate the origins of Islam among the royal family to the 1400s and early 1500s, before Abdallah. We return again to the Andean parallel where historians and chroniclers must parse through these often conflicting narratives passed on through oral tradition and how the specific background of their informants and the regions they collected information from in the kingdom shaped their retelling of the history. In the case of Bagirmi, perhaps greater attention to written texts produced within the kingdom can be analyzed to help understand the relationship between the royal court and the ulama. Implications here can be useful for comprehending the contradictions and divergence in the oral traditions.