Ali b. al-Hajj Dunama and the Tuareg (1747-1792)

Map from Studies in the History of Pre-Colonial Borno.

    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]

Salines of Bilma (Abadie).

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]

Map of Hausaland, Asben and Borno by a Hausa mallam (in Hornemann's Journal).

            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.

Vikor's map of the Tuareg Salt trade in The Oasis of Salt.

            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).

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^[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.

A Bulala Attack on Bilma

One of the interesting historical references in Maurice Abadie's Afrique centrale; la colonie du Niger is a possible Bulala raid that culminated in a massacre of people near Bilma, in Kawar. The alleged attack occurred in the 17th century, likely at a time when the Bulala sultans were already in the region of Fitri instead of Kanem. Thus, the attack probably took place when the Bulala were at a further distance from Kanem. Unfortunately, we could not locate any sources to corroborate this tradition. However, Nachtigal, in Sahara and Sudan, wrote a history of Bagirmi's kings based on informants who were descendants of the principal actors involved. One of the intriguing moments in his account of the reign of the Bagirmi king Burkomanda, whose regnal dates were probably 1635-1665, included far-ranging raids that reached Borku and Kawar. This same mbang of Bagirmi had a sister, Zara, married to the Bulala sultan. It is possible that the Bulala raid which massacred people in Bilma assembled for prayer was actually part of one of the Bagirmi king's expeditions. 

Revisiting the Tura Mahrams

A problematic part of H.R. Palmer's list of Tura mahrams in the 3rd volume of Sudanese Memoirs.

One of the more interesting components of the Kanuri population are the Tura. Gustav Nachtigal, who wrote copiously about Borno and its peoples in the late 19th century, saw them as an essentially Teda group who became indistinguishable from the Kanuri peoples of Borno. In addition to Nachtigal's observations of their origin, H.R. Palmer translated a large number of mahrams from the Beni Mukhtar branch of the Beni Habibi Tura. Some of these Tura mahrams claim to refer to the ancestors of the Beni Mukhtar Tura in 12th century Kawar. While we have discussed this aspect of their past in another post, we want to take a look at the other mahrams issued to members of this group by the Sayfawa rulers of Borno. Doing so helps to unveil their deeper origins in Kawar, their possible ties to the Fazzan, their Tubu origins, and their claims to sharif descent. 

First, who are the Tura? In the fourth volume of his Travels, Barth referred to their Tubu connections and their chief, the Dirkema. In the second volume of his Sahara and Sudan, Nachtigal referred to them multiple times. The office of Jerma was the chief of the Tura. In his charge were the royal stables, personal security of the mai, and an administrative distict on the Komadugu Yoobe near Gazargamo (Nachtigal 251). Muhammad Nur Alkali, however, argued that the officer in charge of the royal stables was the Mulima. It is possible that some holders of the position in the time of Sayfawa may have been Tura, but Nachtigal made an error. As previously mentioned, Nachtigal also noted the Tubu component in the Tura. They were also associated with Dirki in Kawar, so the chief was called Dirkema. In Borno, they shared the Kanuri speech and manner of life (173). Even the Sugurti included a Tura sub-section (173). Indeed, the Tura population were also linked to the dignitary called Fergima. Nachtigal thought this title went to the person with general supervision of Dirki in Kawar (255). 

Other observers and scholars have clarified matters, at least partially. Hamidu Bobboyi, in his fine dissertation, wrote of the Tura as a group tied to Borno's long-distance trade. They were given the settlement of Lalori and a local leader, the Ghuzuma, by the Sayfawa. Indeed, Ali b. Umar's daughter was said to have married Ali Kellu, a Tura, who received the title of Suganderema and the right to collect the "corn tax" in Gazargamo (Bobboyi 128). The Tura were similarly important in the horse trade (140). Essentially, Bobboyi uses the Tura mahrams to present a brief overview of their history.  Other studies do the same. For instance, Le Sourd's "Tarikh el Khawar" alludes to the Tura briefly as the "Terras" who lived in Kawar before the Kanuri. Another colonial-era author, J.R. Patterson, translated a praise song to Zerma Ibrahim, son of a princess and son of Margi, of the Tura tribe. This song, which he entitled "The Song of the Zakkama to the Zerma" in Kanuri Songs, is said to date from the reign of Ali b. Umar in the 17th century. Furthermore, it corroborates Nachtigal's association of the office of Jerma to the Tura. A marriage alliance with the Sayfawa dynasty is also explicit, although there is no sense of Ibrahim as a leader of the Tura in Borno.

In order to explore the origins of this group, one must engage with Palmer. Palmer, whose Sudanese Memoirs and Bornu Sahara and Sudan contain many primary sources, was very much a product of his time. His scholarship often relies on faulty etymological reasoning and a racialized theory of sub-Saharan African history. Nonetheless, he did collect and translate many traditions and manuscripts in Borno. Thanks to his Sudanese Memoirs and Bornu Sahara and Sudan, several Tura mahrams and a girgam are accessible. But using these sources requires very careful interpretation. Nonetheless, they provide tantalizing clues for the origin of the Beni Mukhtar Tura. Indeed, of all the documents on them included in the mahrams, the Beni Mukhtar appear in 6. They are always said to share an origin with the Beni Habibi Tura, too. In their mahrams, they are linked to the horse trade, Dirku in Kawar, sometimes the Tubu (who intermarried with them in Kawar), and sharif ancestry through Hassan. In addition, their genealogies suggest their forebears were Zeilama, or chiefs of the Fazzan, before Dirku.

What do the mahrams suggest historically? Consulting the third volume of Palmer's Sudanese Memoirs is quite revealing. The earliest mahram to mention a Tura is actually attributed to the Hummay, who reigned in the late 11th century. According to this source, which focuses on Muhammad b. Mani for his role in the Islamization of Kanem, refers to a Tura Tuzan (Tuzar?) as a pillar of the kingdom (4). It is unclear who this person was, but it suggests that a "Tura" who likely hailed from Kawar received a grant of immunity from Hummay. The next mahrams which refer to the Tura, said to date from the late 1100s during the reign of Abd Allah Bakuru, allude to conflict with the Tuareg of Air. This is actually plausible, and the mahrams suggest the active intervention of the mai in Kanem to resolve conflicts. The "Tura Mahram of Dirkuma Ibrahim" explicitly connects this history to the Beni Mukhtar (6). If this genealogy is accurate, then the ancestors of the Beni Mukhtar, who were linked to the Beni Habibi (in Kawar?), must have been Kawarians referred to in external Arabic sources. Their location in Kawar, a region known for its trade in alum and its importance as Kanem's main artery to the north, led to an early Islamic presence there by the 9th century. By the late 12th century, natives of Kawar, like the poet Abu Ishaq Ibrahim al-Kanemi, born in Bilma, was said to have Banu Sulaym Arab ancestry. It would seem that the "discovery" of Quraysh ancestry might date back to these early encounters with Arabs in the Fazzan and Kawar by the mid-11th century.

Unfortunately, there is a gap in the historical record for the next Tura mahrams. After first appearing in their records and traditions in the 11th and 12th centuries, the Tura next appear in a mahram issued by the court of Idris Alooma. In this "Tura Mahram Idris Bugalmarambe," the Tura presented a horse as a gift to Idris Katagarmabe. Then, the document tells us that the Tura were excused from military service in the time of Idris Alooma (r. 1564-1596). In fact, the mahram reports that Idris Alooma abolished the requirement of the Tura to travel to Dirku and Zeila, no longer requiring them to import horses from Egypt (6). This mahram does not explicitly reference the Beni Mukhtar, but it is implied to refer to the same group. That they wanted to cease their arduous trade in horses is also significant. It is in the 16th century we find written sources that allude to the horse trade between Borno and the north. Leo Africanus, for example, wrote of the trade of slaves for horses in Borno. Anania, writing later in the 16th century, similarly noted the large-scale trade of horses from North Africa to Borno via the Fazzan. This trade in horses is not mentioned in earlier, medieval sources on Kanem despite the importance of cavalry for Sayfawa military expeditions or raids. Moreover, the previous mahrams said to date from the late 1100s do not mention horses at all. Sometime between the 12th century and the 16th, the Beni Mukhtar (or a related Tura group) must have either expanded the scale of their horse trading activities or shifted to the trade in horses. The titles of Zeilama might be a reference to this period where their influence in the Fazzan facilitated the movement of horses from North Africa. Was this during the period of Kanem's suzeraintry of the Fazzan? While the Banu Nasur ruled from Traghen, were the Zeilama Tura overseeing commerce from Zawila?

The following Tura mahram is also dated to the reign of Idris Alooma. Simply a girgam for Dirkuma Muhammad, it lists his origins among the Beni Mukhtar. It attributed the origins of Laluri as a Tura town to Idris Alooma. It affirms the other mahram exempting the Tura from military service. However, it does not include any mention of voluntary Tura trading expeditions to Dirku or the food and supplies they were to receive from the Figidoma, Yawama, and Tagama (7). Given the many military conflicts that occurred during Idris Alooma's reign, it is intriguing that he ended the requirement for the Beni Mukhtar to trade horses. Was this due to changes in the nature of the horse trade at this time, making the Beni Mukhtar less necessary? Ahmad b. Furtu's chronicle of his ruler's campaigns did include a conflict against the Tubu in Kawar, perhaps hinting at new trade relationship for horses.

The subsequent mahram, "Tura Mahram Hamsawa," elucidates the Tubu Dibiri origin of the Tura Beni Habibi Hamsawa. This mahram implies that the Tura Beni Habibi stayed in Dirku, where a Tubu named Adam married Hafsa. Their descendants became known as the Tura Beni Habibi (8). A similar girgam for the Tura Habibi Aisawa also hints at a Dirku base for the Beni Habibi. In this case, yet another Tubu, Abdullahi of the Balgada Tubu, married Aisi Kili of the Beni Habibi. He entered her clan. According to Palmer's translation, there were apparently 16 sub-groups of this clan (Beni Habibi or Habibi Aisawa?) (13). This further supports the notion of the Beni Habibi remaining in Dirku while the Beni Mukhtar splintered and migrated to Borno. If the Beni Habibi remained in Dirku, it is possible that their descendants became part of the Gezebida, the mixed Kanuri-Tubu of this part of Kawar.

Besides these mahrams referring to the Tubu ancestry of some Beni Habibi branches, the other mahrams focus on the Beni Mukhtar of Borno. One, said to date from the reign of Ali b. Umar (1688), although his reign was over before this year, confirms the status of Laluri as a Tura settlement. It does introduce a new element by referring to the "father" of the Beni Mukhtar, Hajj Muhammad ibn Dublu (8). Another mahram, from 1752, stresses the Beni Mukhtar's ties to Laluri and names the owner of the document as Dirkuma Muhammad Aisami. Further detail of the settlements associated with different leaders of the Beni Mukhtar reveal that, in addition to Laluri, Gawa Dali, and Magabura were held by members of the group (9). An additional mahram from 1752 alluded to conflict with mai Ali that was resolved when the Tura threatened to return to Dirku. Apparently, the Sayfawa sultan tried to enlist them for military service, which they rejected on the grounds of their descent. The Sayfawa conceded and, after cancelling the expedition, imposed a token tax on the Tura (10). This document implies that the Tura retained links to Kawar as late as c.1752 and their presence in Borno was important enough for the mai to concede rather than risk their relocation. If this transpired, one may surmise that their status descendants of the family of the Prophet and their possible economic activities within Borno were of great importance. Yet, by the time of Ahmad (r. 1792-1808), the Tura refused to travel north to trade for horses. They did accept the responsibility of supplying local horses to the Sayfawa (11). 

Finally, the most recent mahrams of 19th century origin present a number of questions. One, dated to 1806, implausibly references Shehu al-Kanemi. Chronological inconsistencies aside, the document tells us that the Tura of Marte had given a daughter to the mai. Al-Kanemi for his part insisted that only the Tura chiefs are free of taxes. In addition, the Dirkuma is entitled as chief of the Tura, implying his higher status among the Tura leadership (11). Of course, Dirku was sometimes implied as a general name for Kawar, too. Palmer proceeded to list the genealogy of the Tura on the next page of Sudanese Memoirs, but it is unclear where this information came from. It nonetheless provides a general estimate of the Tura spending 350 years in Borno and 220 years in Dirku. In Dirku (probably a general term for Kawar), the Tura chiefs were Zulama, Dirkuma, and Amarma, implying a Fazzan position to the north. This is followed by a list of various Tura groups: Arwalinwa, Wadali, Jilbana, Zuganda, Amzura, and the Beni Ishak (12). Of this last group, they were tied to Gazbi (likely al-Qasaba of medieval Kawar). This presumably legendary account at least connects the Beni Ishak to Gazbi and the past of Kawar. Lange, in A Sudanic Chronicle, tied Gasbi and al-Qasaba to Dirku (124). 

How does one make sense of these traditions and mahrams of Tura origins? Palmer, who naturally wanted to emphasize "white" or exotic origins, tried to connect them to Arabs, the Fazzan, Traghen, and other lands. The Hausa word for whites, turawa is also brought up. Yet the Kanuri appeared to use the word wasili for "whites" from North Africa. The Tura records affirm at least partial Tubu ancestry. Their possibly deep roots in Kawar are apparently recalled among the traditions of Kanuris in that region. Their ultimate origins are thus to be found in Kawar, where multiethnic trading communities with ties to Ibadi Berber Muslims appeared by the 800s. In the medieval sources, Kawar was apparently more famous for exporting alum or salt rather and its medieval inhabitants were not particularly noticed for engaging in the trade of horses from North Africa to Kanem. By the 16th century, however, the Beni Mukhtar Tura were involved in this trade. They appear to have left the salt trade in the hands of the Koyam and focused on horses. When or how their claims to be descendants of the Hassan began is unclear, but given the early penetration of this region by Muslim traders from the North, it may have begun by the time of the 12th century. Furthermore, given the Beni Mukhtar's ties to the horse trade and external sources alluding to a large-scale trade of horses at Fazzan to Borno, one wonders if the title of Zeilama among ancestors of the Tura may be an allusion to the period of Kanem's hegemony in Fazzan (1200s-1300s). Surely, Dunama Dibalemi's campaigns would have required horses for his armies and controlling the Fazzan would have ensured security on that route. But by the end of the 16th century, the Beni Mukhtar were less interested in traveling to the north for this trade. Their status or claim to descent from Hassan likely contributed to the concessions made to them by the Sayfawa. They nonetheless also continued to raise horses in Borno.