only vague and scanty accounts are forthcoming to enable us to attain an
assured knowledge of events. According to Mohammed’s information, he
first of all invaded the country of the Dinkas (at the confluence of the
Bahr-el-Ghazal and the Nile) and waged war with this tribe for three
years. It is evident that this statement is based on a confusion with
the before-mentioned conquest of the Bahr-el-Ghazal province by Zobehr.
Ferryman states in his recently published work,[512] that Rabeh and his
troops turned northwards, and after twice defeating the Sultan of Borku,
received permission from him to establish themselves in the southern
border districts of his empire. It must have been here that Rabeh, as
well as the above-mentioned Sultan, received an invitation from the
Mahdi, who had meanwhile seized possession of the whole Egyptian Sudan,
to ally themselves with the new state, a course which they both declined
with scorn. In the lengthy struggle that followed between the Mahdists
and the border tribes belonging to the Sennusiya between Darfur and
Wadai, Rabeh must have taken a vigorous part. So Ferryman says. I am
able to refute this statement, which is offered without the slightest
authority being quoted, as I consider it improbable from an impartial
point of view. Borku is a small group of oases south-east of Tibesti,
whose population Nachtigal asserts to be from 10,000 to 12,000.[513] To
reach Borku from Gerra (in Southern Darfur), where Suleiman’s camp was
situated at the time of his surrender, Rabeh would have to traverse
either Darfur, occupied throughout its extent by the Egyptian troops, or
else Northern Wadai, inhabited by wild hill-tribes, and make moreover a
not inconsiderable desert march. Under these circumstances I cannot
conceive what could have caused him to be attracted to this small and
remote group of oases, where certainly much fighting but little booty
was to be expected. Slatin Pasha states briefly that he was removed to
‘the remote districts of the south-west’.[514] This statement has very
great probability on its side. Even Ferryman admits that he lived in the
country of the Banda and Fertit before his attack on Bagirmi.[515] In
the midst of these and other pagan Nyamnyam tribes south of Darfur and
north of Upper Uele he found what he needed, viz. a suitable field for
the capture of slaves, of whom he was in constant want as a medium of
exchange for weapons and munitions. A full decade seems to have elapsed
before the burning of towns and villages, necessarily consequent on his
slave-raids, changed into a wilderness this formerly populous and
flourishing district. It then became necessary to find a new field for
this form of activity, which in Moslem eyes is by no means disgraceful,
provided it is exercised at the expense of idolaters. He was prevented
from penetrating farther south, where booty was easiest to be obtained,
by considerations regarding the supply of munitions, which he procured
from the north through the medium of his fellow-tribesmen, the Jellaba.
For this reason he turned north-west and attempted to overrun the
kingdom of Wadai. But here he must have met with energetic resistance,
as was only to be expected from the close political organization of this
coveted empire.[516] So after a short time he desisted from his attempts
on Wadai, and made an incursion with his troops into Bagirmi, which lies
to the south-west of the latter. Ferryman is aware[517] that during his
stay in Dar-Banda and Dar-Fertit, Rabeh addressed a request to the
Sultan of Bagirmi that he would promise a free passage from Kukawa, the
capital of Bornu, through Bagirmi to his traders for the purpose of
supplying him with munitions. Rabeh swore revenge against the Sultan for
not complying with this request; he was at present, however, denied the
opportunity of satisfying this feeling. The Sultan of Bagirmi sought in
vain for assistance from the Courts of Wadai and Bornu. Refusing to
acquiesce, yet not in a position to make head against his dreaded
opponent in open battle, he threw himself into his fortified capital of
Masseña, and surrendered the open country to the enemy. Rabeh quartered
himself on the country in his usual fashion, collected a rich booty in
slaves, and possessed himself of several of the larger towns, such as
Gulfei and Logone. But he had no intention of establishing himself
permanently in the country. He was inclined to this course by misleading
reports that had reached him of the natural riches of Bornu and of its
internal rottenness. He seems to have prepared long beforehand for an
attack on this empire, whose prestige among the neighbouring peoples was
still very great in spite of its rotten internal condition. He first
sent secret emissaries charged to stir up the political differences,
which, thanks to the weakness of the royal authority, consisted chiefly
in the mutual rivalries of the court dignitaries, and at the same time
to create a disposition favourable to himself. He then allied himself
with the Fulani chieftain, Mallam[518] Hayatu, of Jamare, for the
purpose of a joint invasion of Bornu. This prince, who, in contrast to
the feeble successors on the throne of Sokoto of the great Othman dan
Fodio, showed once more something of the warlike and statesmanlike
ability of his ancestor, was at once ready for the undertaking against
the hereditary enemy of the Fulani. Their united troops advanced into
Bornu and pushed their way unopposed right up to the walls of Kukawa.
The Sultan,[519] Abba Ashimi, here faced them for the first time, and
thanks to superior forces succeeded in repulsing the assailants. Rabeh
now spent several months in Bornu territory in a difficult position,
during which the provisioning of his troops especially caused him great
anxiety. It was just while he was at the height of his distress that the
seed sown by his envoys reached maturity. Rabeh received an invitation
from one of the chief Bornu court dignitaries to return to Kukawa, where
he would assist him to obtain the mastery. He naturally did not wait to
be asked twice, but immediately advanced again on the capital. Another
battle was fought in front of the gates of the palace, and this time
Rabeh was victorious, chiefly owing to his artillery, to which the enemy
could oppose nothing similar. Abba Ashimi himself remained on the
field.[520] In the campaign which followed and which led to the capture
of the capital, his two nephews and successors, Abba Kiari and Abba
Sanda[521] were slain. The conqueror entered Kukawa as the new
Sultan.[522]
III
This event forms a turning-point in the history of Rabeh. Whilst he had
hitherto been more or less a mere adventurer, he had now become at one
blow the ruler of one of the most powerful Sultanates of the Sudan.
Remembering the practical bent of his mind with its grasp of
actualities, one might expect that he would at once be conscious of the
problems and duties of his new position and that he would proceed
energetically towards their accomplishment. Nor did he disappoint such
expectations. He sought to revive the caravan-trade with Tripoli, which
had been brought to a standstill owing to the unrest of recent years, by
giving the traders assurance of the most perfect security, and by other
concessions. His endeavours in this respect met with success.[523] He
also entered into trade relations with the British ‘Niger Company’.[524]
He removed his head-quarters from Kukawa, which is extremely
unhealthy,[525] particularly in the rainy season, to the charmingly
situated town of Dikoa,[526] on the Alo river south-east of Lake Chad.
For the better protection of the frontier of his newly-won territory, he
left strong garrisons in Gulfei on the Shari, and in Kusseri and Logone
on the River Logone. In order to found a dynasty, whose legitimacy
should be acknowledged even by the rulers of the neighbouring kingdoms,
he married a daughter of his ally, Mallam Hayatu, who, on his side, took
to wife a daughter of Rabeh’s.
His energetic never-resting nature caused this internal political
activity to be accompanied by efforts to enlarge his territory. He first
attempted to chastise the hill tribes of Mandara, dwelling to the south
of Bornu, who had made themselves troublesome by occasional plundering
expeditions into the southerly districts of the empire. The aged king of
Mandara himself fell into the hands of a punitive expedition. But, while
Rabeh resolved humanely enough to dismiss the old man unharmed to his
home, the latter’s son and successor allowed a son of Rabeh’s, who had
fallen into captivity, to be executed. Another expedition—to Bedde—was
certainly not designed for the occupation of this country, but for the
capture of numerous slaves, who were carried off as welcome booty to
Bornu. A raid into Miga[527] country had the same successful result. On
the other hand, an expedition against Katagum miscarried; the valiant
stand made by the king of this country forced Rabeh to retreat hurriedly
on Bornu. The King of Misau got wind beforehand of an undertaking that
had been planned against his country, and hastened to conclude an
offensive and defensive alliance with the neighbouring rulers of Shira
and Gombe in order to meet the threatened danger. When united they felt
themselves strong enough to advance and attack Rabeh. The opposing
armies came into collision on the march. A battle resulted, and after a
desperate struggle Rabeh’s superior military skill secured him the
victory. The losses of the allies were extraordinarily heavy; the King
of Gombe himself was among the fallen. But even for the victor the day
must have been very costly; for he returned to Bornu without further
results.
So long as Rabeh confined his attacks to the small tribes living between
Bornu and Sokoto—buffer-states one would call them in modern
parlance—everything went very smoothly. But it is obvious that the
moment he attacked the territory of a large neighbouring kingdom,
complications of immeasurable import were bound to ensue. Such
complications took place when he invaded Adamawa,[528] the great south-
eastern vassal state of Sokoto, whence he brought home vast booty,
especially in slaves. The governors of the neighbouring Hausa states
then recovered from the indolence, with which they had hitherto viewed
the success of Rabeh, and entered on an energetic course of action. They
had to be prepared for the fact that it might be themselves on whom he
would next lay hands. Fright effected what political insight had been
unable to accomplish; they formed themselves into a league for the
purpose of common defence in case of an attack on one of the
confederates. Especially serious for Rabeh was the fact that his father-
in-law and former ally, Hayatu, joined the league. Although he had
founded his kingdom of Jamare in political rivalry with the Court of
Wurno,[529] he was Fulani enough at heart to feel that the interests of
his fellow tribesmen were not different from his own, in so far as the
to be or not to be depended on himself. At first he attempted to
intervene diplomatically. But when Rabeh, fully conscious of his power,
haughtily repulsed these attempts, Hayatu came forward as leader at the
head of the league. It may be that Rabeh feared the military force of
the league, or the power of England that stood behind it, or something
else; at any rate it is certain that for a time he abstained from
further attempts against Sokoto—though an expedition against Kano may
have been contemplated—and turned his attention to a problem which
awaited solution within the compass of his own empire, viz. the
reconquest of the recalcitrant Governor of Zinder. Zinder was the most
north-westerly province of Bornu, but its governor had frequently shown
himself refractory even in Shehu Umar’s time,[530] and had taken
advantage of the confusion of recent years to free himself of even
nominal dependence, and had also annexed the province of Munio which lay
to the east of his own territory. After careful preparation Rabeh set
out about the beginning of 1897; he was destined never to return to his
capital alive. Mallam Hayatu, who, following in the lines of Oriental
despots, thought cunning the better part of valour, got poison
administered to him on the way to Zinder by means of his daughter, who,
as mentioned above, had been married to Rabeh. Thus perished, in the
midst of his activity, the still vigorous warrior at the age of fifty-
eight.[531]
In criticizing Rabeh we must be careful not to adopt the standpoint of
Christian humanity; the character of his people and of his religion must
be taken into consideration, which declare as permissible many things
that are held by us to be abominably cruel. Thousands of unfortunates
were enslaved by him and sold either in the Sudan itself or sent to
North Africa. I have myself seen in Tunis and Tripoli quite a number of
individuals who were recognizable as Rabeh’s slaves by the three oblique
scars on each cheek. Any one who is acquainted with the conditions knows
that for each of the slaves who reached their journey’s end, one must
add at least five other individuals who perished either in the slave
raids of the foregoing campaigns, on the journey, or through sickness
following on a change of climate. This sum total of misery and
destruction of family happiness constitutes a terrible indictment
against their originator, but we must also again recollect that these
slave raids were not for Rabeh an end in themselves, but only a means to
an end, and that he not only understood how to destroy, but also how to
build up. When we consider that, after becoming Sultan of Bornu, he
endeavoured energetically to raise the condition of the country by a
whole succession of peaceful measures, we can reconcile ourselves in
some degree to his misdeeds; in fact, we may summarize our judgement of
him by saying that he was—in the Shakespearian sense—a man. If one looks
at the matter properly he may be described as the leaven of the Sudan;
for Bornu, in particular, his mission was as much an historical
necessity as the migration of nations was for the Roman Empire. As to
whether his dynasty will have any permanence, who can tell? If it
perishes with him, the fault lies not on him but adverse circumstances.
All that I have been able to discover as to the course of events after
his death, is that one of his freedmen has undertaken the regency in the
name of his son, who is still a minor, and that he has known how to
guard up to the present the integrity of the empire. When M. Bonnel de
Mezières,[532] and after him the newspapers, announce that Rabeh has
banished Gaurang, King of Bagirmi, and occupied his capital, Masseña, it
can only refer to this regent, even assuming that the news in this form
proves right at all. At the same time it is not impossible that the
conqueror is the King of Wadai, who certainly stands in the position of
suzerain of Bagirmi.[533] Certainly once before, when the vassal chief,
Abu Sikkin, showed himself recalcitrant, Masseña was occupied by King
Ali of Wadai after a siege lasting several months.[534] In any case it
is an exquisite irony of fate to see how the actors of the drama
produced here are intermingled with one another, and behave themselves
as if there was no world outside their own, whilst all the time the die
has long been cast against them, and they have been divided up among the
European Powers.
HISTORY OF RABEH ACCORDING TO MOHAMMED BESHIR
usili rabeh. ubansa mutum jalaba shi da basha alzubair mutane jalaba.
uban rabeh shina yi gini kasa, talaka ne. babu shina da komi. rabeh ya
tafi wurin basha alzubair ya zama galadimansa. suna tafiya darfur suna
yi yaki dasu shekaru biyar. su ji labarin mutane masr su da ingliz suka
tafi achikin darfur. su yi masa hila wayo suka che ka tafo. ya zo basha
alzubair, su kama shi. galadimansa rabeh ya gudu ya tafi agarin janke
(dinka) ya tafi shi da dakaransa shina yi yaki achikin janke shekaransa
oku. ya tashi ya tafi agarin wadai shina yi yaki kwanansa goma sha
bokkoi achikin kauye. ya tafi agarin bagirmi shina yi yaki da sarikin
bagirmi shekaransa biyu. achikin bagirmi shina aikewa achikin
barnuh[535] da samo shina yi magani dakeau domi bakinsu shi banban suna
yi fada. ya rubutu ga malam hayatu laya ya che masa ina sonka da abuta.
mallam hayatu ya che kua, nima ina sonka amma ka zo mu yi shawara zamu
chi barnuh. rabeh ya che to mu gamu achikin hanya. ya tashi su gamu suka
che mu je achikin barnuh mu chi barnuh. sarikin barnuh ya ji labari suna
taruwa dayawa ya che ku yi shiri dakeau. rabeh ya zo barnuh achikin
kofan gari, sarikin barnuh ya fita suna yi fada, sarikin barnuh ya kore
rabeh. ya tafi akauye ya zamna, shina yi yungwa watansa tara achikin
ankalaiwa suna zamne wuri daya. da su samau chimaka su komo achikin
barnuh sun yi yaki. sarikin barnuh dakaransa su gudu suna barshi shina
yi fada su kasheshi; aba hashim dafari aba kiari da aba sanda dan uwan
aba kiari, su mutu. ya shiga barnuh ya zamna shekaransa oku da shashi.
ya tafi agarin sarikin mandara ya kai yaki achikin mandara. ya kama
sarikin mandara zofo ne ya kawoshi achikin barnuh. yaro sarikin mandara
ya kama yaron rabeh. rabeh ya che da mutaninsa kada ku kasheshi wanan
zofo ne. ya che masa yaron sarikin mandara aiko mani da ubana. ya che
masa zan kasheshi zofo ya che, kadan na mutu da. safi kai kua ka mutu da
azafari.[536] ya sakeshi ya tafi agarinsa mandara.
saura maganan rabeh. basha malla karim na chikin barnuh ya aike[537]
wurin rabeh ya che, ka zo ka shiga achikin garin barnuh. ya che ina da
yungwa babu abinchi. sun tafo su shiga achikin gari ya zama sarikinsu.
ya zauna watansa fudu ya tashi ya tafi achikin garin bade shina yi yaki
da su, allah ya bashi nasara. ya kama mutane bade ya damresu achikin
sasari ya kawosu achikin barnuh. ya koma ya tafi agarin mika suna yi
yaki da sarikin mika. allah ya bashi nasara ya kashesu. ya tafi agarin
katagum suna yi fada dakeau. sarikin katagum ya koreshi ya gudu ya komo
achikin garinsa barnuh. ya zamna watansa biyar ya tashi ya tafi agarin
miso. sarikin miso ya fita suna yi yaki shi da rabeh. sarikin miso ya
aike wurin sarikin shira da wurin sarikin gombe su taru achikin garin
miso. su tashi su tareshi achikkin hanya. suna yi yaki dakeau ya kashe
masu mutane dayawa rabeh ya yi nasara dakeau. sarikin gombe ya mutu
achikin yaki. rabeh ya komo achikin barnuh, ya zamna watansa tara. ya
che ga mutaninsa ku yi shiri ku tafi achikin adamawa da yaki. su tafi su
yi yaki achikin adamawa su kama mutane dayawa su damresu achikin sasari
su kawosu daga barnuh. malam hayatu sarikin jamare ya ji labari ya che
masa domi ka tafi achikin kasan kakanina? rabeh ya amsa masa na tafi.
malam hayatu ya che, dakeau. ya aike masa da magani wurin matatasa
yariniya malam hayatu shika aureta. ama rabeh shekaransa tokwos da
hamsin ya mutu.
TRANSLATION
Rabeh’s origin. His father was a Jellaba man as also was Zobehr Pasha.
Rabeh’s father was a poor man and a clay digger (for making bricks); he
had no property. Rabeh went to Zobehr Pasha and became his lieutenant.
They went to Darfur and made war there for five years. They heard news
that the Egyptians and the English had come to Darfur. They (the
English) laid a cunning trap for him (Zobehr) and said, ‘Come to us.’
They caught Zobehr Pasha. His lieutenant Rabeh fled and came to the
Dinka country. He and his soldiers went and made war in the Dinka
country for three years. He got up and went to Wadai and made war in the
surrounding country for seventeen days. He went to Bagirmi and made war
with the King of Bagirmi for two years. Whilst he was in Bagirmi he sent
poison to Bornu and made powerful medicine because they were at strife.
They made war. He wrote a letter to Mallam Hayatu and said to him: ‘I
want to be your friend.’ Mallam Hayatu likewise said: ‘I like you, but
come and let us consult how we shall conquer Bornu.’ Rabeh said: ‘Very
well, let us meet on the road.’ He got up. They met and said: ‘Let us
enter Bornu and conquer it.’ The King of Bornu heard news that they were
assembling in large numbers and said (to his people): ‘Make careful
preparations.’ Rabeh came to Bornu and reached the gate of the town
[_i.e._ Kuka]. The King of Bornu came out and they fought. The King of
Bornu repulsed Rabeh, who went into the surrounding villages where he
sat down. He suffered from hunger for nine months in Ngellewa where they
remained concentrated. When they got provisions they re-entered Bornu
and made war. The King of Bornu’s soldiers fled and left him on the
battlefield and he was killed, first of all Abba Ashimi died, then Abba
Kiari and Abba Sanda, brother of Abba Kiari. He (Rabeh) entered Bornu
and sat down there for three years and a half. He went to the King of
Mandara and brought an army to Mandara. He caught the King of Mandara,
who was an old man, and brought him to Bornu. The son of the King of
Mandara caught a son of Rabeh’s. Rabeh said to his people, ‘Do not kill
him, he is an old man.’ The son of the King of Mandara said to him,
‘Send me my father.’ He said to him, ‘I am going to kill him.’ The old
man said: ‘If I die in the morning, you will die in the afternoon.’ He
let him go and he went to his country of Mandara.
The story of Rabeh continued. Pasha Malla Karim of Bornu sent to Rabeh
and said, ‘Come, enter the town of Bornu.’ He said: ‘I am hungry, I have
no food.’ They met, they entered the town, he became their king. He sat
down for four months. He got up and went to Bedde country. He made war
with them. God gave him the victory. He caught the Bedde people and
bound them in chains and brought them to Bornu. He came back, he went to
Mika[538] country. They made war with the King of Mika. God gave him the
victory. He killed them. He went to Katagum. There was a stiff fight.
The King of Katagum repulsed him. He fled and came back to his own
country of Bornu, where he sat down for five months. He got up and went
to Misau. The King of Misau came out and he and Rabeh fought. The King
of Misau sent to the King of Shira and to the King of Gombe (telling
them) to assemble inside the town of Misau. They got up and met on the
road. There was a stiff fight, but Rabeh killed many of their men and
gained a brilliant victory. The King of Gombe died in the battle. Rabeh
returned to Bornu, where he sat down nine months. He said to his people:
‘Prepare yourselves and go with an army to Adamawa.’ They went and made
war in Adamawa. They caught many men and bound them in chains and
brought them to Bornu. Mallam Hayatu, the King of Jamare, heard the news
and said to him: ‘Why have you entered the country of my fathers?’ Rabeh
answered him: ‘I have entered it. (What about it?)’ Mallam Hayatu said:
‘Good!’ He sent him poison through his wife. Rabeh had married Mallam
Hayatu’s daughter. Now Rabeh was fifty-eight years old when he died.
II
FROM A LETTER OF ABD-EL-KADIR IBN AL-HAJI ISA MUZI OF GHADAMES TO
MOHAMMED BESHIR, dated 17 Rejeb, 1315 (_i.e._ 12 December, 1897).[539]
. . . And if you inquire as to the state of affairs in the Sudan, know
that everything is in order. Only a letter has reached Ghadames from the
Sudan, in which they have informed us that Rabeh has of a truth been
killed by poison. The Sultan of Jamare said: ‘Assemble yourselves, ye
Sultans of the Sudan.’ They said: ‘Let us prepare ourselves and fight
against Rabeh.’ And the Sultan of Mandara and the Sultan of Bagirmi and
the Sultan of Kano and the Sultan of Katsena and the Sultan of Daura and
the Sultan of Kazaure and the Sultan of Zaria and the Sultan of Bauchi
and the Sultan of Bedde and the Sultan of Damerghu and the Sultan of
Tanamari and the Sultan of Gagiduna and the Sultan of Asben they all
assembled themselves (and said): ‘Let us march against Rabeh and kill
him.’ His father-in-law, Mallam Hayatu, was he who killed him by poison.
He sent the poison to his daughter with the message: ‘Give it thy
husband.’ After that[540] he said to his son-in-law: ‘Why have you taken
the land of my fathers?’ Rabeh answered and said unto him: ‘I have taken
it.’ Then he went away, prepared the poison and said to her: ‘Give it to
thy husband.’ And now Rabeh is dead. It is six months ago since I read
it in the letter from the Sudan.
[p. 263] FROM A LETTER OF HERR HANS RESENER, Editor of the _Aegyptischer
Kurier_, to the Editor of the _Mittheilungen_.
. . . Herr Julius Lippert in his article on Rabeh, the notorious ruler
of the Kingdoms of the Central Sudan, which is shortly to appear in your
valuable periodical, states: ‘his father was a poor brickmaker, who
gained an honest livelihood by the work of his hands. That Rabeh has
sometimes been falsely described as a slave of Zobehr’s is to be
attributed to the fact that he attached himself in early youth to that
extraordinary man, who prior to his appearance as a public official
carried on the business of slave-raiding. Rabeh early became a loyal
friend and useful assistant in Zobehr’s undertakings.’
I may be permitted to observe on the contrary that Zobehr Pasha has more
than once represented to me that his relationship to Rabeh was as
follows—Rabeh’s father was a slave of Zobehr’s father. The lot of a
slave in Africa who happens to be in good hands is by no means hard, he
eats out of the same dish as his master, &c., &c. Rabeh was brought up
in familiar intercourse with Zobehr without any distinction or
preference being made; the fact that Rabeh was a slave of Zobehr’s
father did not prevent this. At the same time Rabeh was Zobehr’s foster-
brother; Zobehr always had a great affection for him and when his
(Zobehr’s) father died, he gave Rabeh his freedom.
[Footnote 503: [Translation published by kind permission of Dr. Sachau,
Director of the Seminary. The name is spelt Rabah by the French and
Germans, Rabeh by the English. The latter form gives the Bornu
pronunciation, but perhaps the former is the correct Arabic form. The
town of Calatrava in Spain, the head-quarters of a famous order of
religious knights, is properly Kalat Rabah = Rabah’s citadel, vid.
article on Calatrava in _Encyclopaedia of Islam_.]]