between Dutchi and Geidam. ‘The country of the fools’. ‘Kagabu’ in
Kanuri meaning a fool.
[=Kaiuri=, the place of the ‘Kayo’ (Hausa, ‘tumfafia’ = _Asclepias
gigantea_).]
[=Kanembu=, the people of Kanem, ‘-bu’ being the plural form of the
adjective in Kanuri; cf. Koelle, _Kanuri Grammar_, p. 34.[547]]
[=Kano.= The Sau who marked out Kano said to the people, ‘Is it enough
for you?’ They said, ‘Yes.’ ‘Well then,’ said he, ‘pass along (“Konogo”)
and enter in.’ Cf. Benton, _Kanuri Readings_, p. 26.]
=Kanuri=, made from the old Sau, now Beri-Beri [Kanuri] words, ‘Kam’ = a
man, ‘nur’ = light-coloured, ‘-ri’ = place of or possession of. This was
the name given by the Saus to the first arrivals from the North, meaning
literally, ‘the light-coloured men.’ These men, the first Mohammedans in
Bornu, were called Beri-Beri owing to their long sojourn in Berber
before crossing the desert to the fertile Chad and its neighbouring
rivers. The language of these people was the language of Berber and
Arabia. On obtaining possession and settling down to Islamize the
country, they adopted the language of the Saus, the now more or less
Kanuri language.
[Another derivation connects Kanuri with Kanem, the country via which
the Kanuri entered Bornu. Neither derivation explains why a tribal name
has the place termination ‘-ri’ in it. I do not know what authority the
Major had for saying that ‘-ri’[547] could imply ‘possession of’.[547]]
[=Karaguaro.= This district is ‘bush’. ‘Karaga’ = bush, ‘Karaga-wa’ =
belonging to bush, ‘Karaga-wa-ro’ = to the bush (place).]
=Karda=, people living in small hamlets outside proper Kanuri villages,
so called from the Kanuri word ‘Karta’ [‘Karngin’] = to separate. They
were originally goat and sheep-herds, and therefore of necessity lived
in the ‘bush’.
=Konduga.= There is close to Konduga a village named Salalari. In this
village lived a hunter and his son. The son, knowing that the marsh
close to our present Konduga was a good place for game, told his father
that he wanted to go and live there and hunt. At this the father was
angry and told the boy, ‘If you do, you don’t come back.’ That is the
meaning of the name. ‘Kondi’ or ‘Qwondi’ in Kanuri meaning ‘to sit
apart’ or ‘sit down by yourself or on your own’.
[Konduga or Kondega is short for ‘ke̥la-ne̥m kong dega’, literally, ‘by
yourself abide.’ ‘Kong’ is an emphatic suffix or specific adverb; cf.
Koelle, _Kanuri Grammar_, p. 283; ‘dega’ is imperative from ‘degaskin’ =
to enter in, to abide.]
[=Kwalme Shuwas.= Vid. Appendix XIV.]
[=Lagarete.= Lagari are a Koiyam tribe, ‘-te’ is the demonstrative
pronoun used as a definite article; vid. Koelle, _Kanuri Grammar_, p.
185.]
[=Luskuri.= ‘Lasku’ or ‘lusku’ means in Kanuri the hole made by a ‘bush-
cat’ or fox; ‘-ri’ = the place of.]
=Magumeri.= ‘Magume’ is the old tribal Kanuri mark, that is, the two
long marks down the arm and leg supposed to be made by a sword; two is
for princes, &c., three marks any Kanuri. ‘-ri’ = place of. Therefore,
Magumeri means the place of the Kanuri princes or chiefs—or a properly
bred old stock Kanuri.
[Magumi is the name of one of the chief Kanuri clans.]
=Maiduguri.= ‘Mai’ = a king, ‘dugu’ a corruption of ‘dugo’, which means
‘presently’. Maidugu means the son of a [‘maina’] prince or the grandson
of a king (really ‘presently a king’). ‘-ri’ = the place of. Hence
Maiduguri means ‘the dwelling place of a king’s grandson’.
[Cf. ‘madugu’ in Hausa = headman of a caravan. The place is frequently
misspelt Maidugari, because people think it has something to do with the
Hausa word ‘gari’ = a town.]
=Maifoni.= ‘Mai’ = a king, ‘foni’ [or ‘funi’] = a turban. A slave of a
Bornu king introduced this place to his master’s notice on account of
its running water and pleasant site. The king rewarded the slave by
giving him a turban, which is a sign of office; hence the name.
[There is an ancient connexion between Maifoni and the kings of Marghi.
According to one account the Marghi town of Kaba (_q.v._) was originally
also called Maifoni, a corruption of Mafundi, which means ‘a tall, stout
man, a man in his prime’, because it was founded by a powerful man, who
broke away from the authority of the Marghi king, Mai Ibrahim. A later
Marghi king, Mai Jalo, complained to Shehu Lamino, that in paying his
annual visit of homage to Kukawa, he found the journey a fatiguing one,
as it was all ‘bush’ between Kaba and the centre of Uje. Lamino
therefore gave him permission to select a site as a ‘rest-camp’, and he
chose Maifoni (now Maiduguri station) as his half-way house. The
following is a list of the Marghi kings of Maifoni.
_Connexion between Maifoni and Marghi._
The founder of Maifoni was a man called Mele Gumsumi, and his title was
Kaloma. He left Birni and sat down at Kasachiya (near Kaba) to farm. He
was succeeded by Kaloma Umar Kumaisimi, he by Mai Isa Mairemmi. Mai Isa
reigned for forty years.
He was succeeded by Mai Momodu Mairemmi.
„ „ Mai Duguribe Gumsumi (he belonged to the ruling
family of Birni).
„ „ Zuri Gumsumi.
„ „ Mai Nassar.
„ „ Mele Nassarmi.
„ „ Usuman Kumaisimi.
„ „ Usuman Gumtimi (he went and made war with the Sau
town of Almis).
„ „ Mai Mele Hawami.
„ „ Mai Momodu Panami.
„ „ Mai Jalo Bawomi.
„ „ Mai Tahir.
„ „ Mai Jalo Aisami.
„ „ Mai Momodu Maungusuma.
„ „ Mai Dalla.
„ „ Mai Momodu Kowas.
„ „ Mai Mallam Gorumba.
„ „ Mai Zogoma.
„ „ Mai Mele Balumi.
„ „ Mai Sunoma.
„ „ Mai Momodu Kabumi (son of Sunoma).
„ „ Mai Budum.
„ „ Mai Ibram (contemporary of Shehu Lamino).
„ „ Mai Jalo.
„ „ Mai Momodu Gajimi.
„ „ Mai Arri.
„ „ Mai Mele.
„ „ Mai Momodu Biyemi.
„ „ Mai Dogum.
„ „ Mai Yagudima.
„ „ Mai Mele.
„ „ Mai Arri (now Lowan of Kaba in West Marghi, Kaba
and Maifoni having been separated under the
British administration).]
[=Margawa=, the ‘marga’ trees. The pounded wood of this tree is boiled
and used to sweeten certain native dishes.]
[=Marte=, said to be a Sau word meaning a blanket or thick cloth.]
=Masagua= or =Masakwa=, the dry-season corn. The first of this grain was
found in elephants’ droppings. The King of Kasa (now in German
territory) was the first man who noticed this grain in elephant-
droppings. He picked it out and planted it. When he watered it, it grew
freely and was the beginning of the seed afterwards sown widely in
waterlogged ground, and bearing a grain similar to guinea-corn. The idea
is that the elephant ate guinea-corn at some distant place and brought
it as described to Chad shore. ‘Musu’ in Kanuri is anything rotten [from
‘me̥se̥ngin’]. ‘Musukwa’ = something that comes from a rotten thing.
[=Masu.= A certain man came and sat down here and said, ‘If they want
me, let them seek me’ (‘matsa’, 3rd pers. plural, 2nd indefinite, from
‘mangin’).]
=Mbarma= or =Mbaruma=, the man in a village who collects from the
villagers any money due by them. ‘Mbaro’ meaning in Kanuri ‘to pay rent,
to pay on behalf of ——’.
[‘Barungin’ = to redeem from slavery, to pay ‘pansa’, so ‘mbaru-ma’ is
the man who is responsible for some one else. ‘Mbarma’ is a small
village or hamlet headman, as opposed to ‘bullama’ or ‘be̥la-ma’, headman
of a large village.]
[=Mongonu.= The King of Bornu, at that time settled at Kabela, sent his
brother to sit down on this site. When the people saw that the country
was fertile, they said, ‘Mai (shiga) ngurno gono’ = the king has shown
him kindness. This became corrupted into Mongonu or Maungono.]
[=Ngomati.= Nguma is the name of a Kanuri tribe, ‘-ti’ is the
demonstrative pronoun used as a definite article; vid. Koelle, _Kanuri
Grammar_, p. 185.]
=Ngunse= [Nganzei], which in Kanuri means ‘to milk’. This used to be a
rich district and a source of wealth to the fiefholders, who made the
most of it and milked it of its wealth.
[‘Ngangin’ = to milk; ‘nganzei’, 3rd pers. plural, 1st indefinite or
perfect. The district is very rich in cattle.]
[=Nguru.= Some hunters killed an hippopotamus (‘ngurutu’) and made
bracelets out of the skin. Such bracelets are called ‘nguru’.]
=Shetima=, from the word ‘sheida’ = a witness. ‘Shetima’ means ‘the
tried man, the proved man’.
=Shuwa.= The word ‘ashe’ in Kanembu and Kanuri means ‘the strong-headed
man, wilful or disobedient man’ [‘ashi’ = obstinacy], ‘-wa’ = the people
of. Hence the word ‘ashiwa’, now ‘Shuwa’.
They are originally supposed to have been so perverse that they would
not follow the Prophet, thence they became a wandering tribe. [Cf. p.
328.]
[=Uje=, said to be a corruption of the Shuwa-Arabic word ‘waje̥hu’ = a
face. Koelle, in the _Polyglotta Africana_, gives the form ‘wush’ =
face, in the Arabic dialect of Beran. The district known as Uje occupies
a central position in Bornu, and was therefore called the ‘face’ of the
country.]
[=Yajua.= A Fulani ‘ardo’ called Yaji settled at this spot. The Kanuri,
therefore, called it ‘be̥la Yaji-wa’ = Yaji’s town, ‘-wa’ being the
adjectival termination.]
=Yarima=, from ‘ya’ = mother, ‘yari’ = the mother’s place, ‘yarima’ = he
who is in the mother’s house. Hence in a king’s family the son who takes
charge of the mother’s compound is called the Yarima. This title seems
to go from father to son, not through sons of the ruling house. Thus now
in Bornu, Yarima Kassim [ex-Ajia of Mufio] has the appointment, Bukar
Yarimami [now Ajia of Gusamalla-Ngunse] refusing it on his father’s
death; both these men are descendants of old Bornu ‘Yarimas’.
[=Yedseram=, or =Yadseram.= The river forming the Anglo-German boundary.
A small girl called Yachua was bathing in it and was drowned. The people
said, ‘Komadugu Yachua tshetshina’ = the river has killed Yachua, so the
river was named ‘Yachua tshetshina-ram’ = the river which killed Yachua
(‘-ram’ is an adjectival suffix); this became corrupted into Yadseram.
Another suggested derivation connects it with the village of Yadza near
Issege.]
[Footnote 546: Said to mean in Arabic, ‘the rock without a rival, the
solitary rock.’ There is a photo in Macleod, _Chiefs and Cities_, p.
206. _Doc. sc. de la Mission Tilho_, vol. ii, p. 355, quoting Nachtigal,
speaks of a rock known as Hadjer Teous on the left bank of Chad, and a
rock of this name is shown in Nachtigal’s map (reproduced on p. 14, vol.
i of Tilho) on the south of Chad. Possibly Hadjer Hamis is sometimes
called Hadjer Teous, but according to my information Hadjer Teous means
‘the he-goat rock’, and is situated north of Chad between Kanem and
Wara. I am inclined to think, however, that they are the same. In the
first edition of Denham there is a plate facing p. 261 of ‘Hager Teous
called by the Natives the Foot Stool of Noah’. It is not shown on the
map, but from the letterpress must have been on the south or south-east
of the Lake; cf. also Chevalier, _Mission Chari-Lac Tchad_, p. 410, and
p. 45 of the present work.]
[Footnote 547: Cf. Appendix XIV A, p. 335.]
APPENDIX XI
FESTIVALS IN BORNU
---------------+---------------+---------------+----------------------
_Date._ | _Kanuri Name._| _Arabic Name._| _Notes._
---------------+---------------+---------------+----------------------
10th Moharrem | Ngumori Tsuro-| Ashura |Day of creation of
| mbulo-be | |Adam and Eve, and of
| | |the first fall of
| | |rain. Every one in
| | |Bornu kills a fowl.
| | |‘The feast of the
| | |belly-filling.’ In
| | |Kanuri ‘tsuro’ =
| | |belly, and
| | |‘yimbuluskin’ = I
| | |fill. The day is
| | |sacred to Shiah
| | |Moslems as the
| | |anniversary of the
| | |death of the martyr
| | |Hussein. According to
| | |Michell, _An Egyptian
| | |Calendar_, p. 74, a
| | |particular dish called
| | |‘ashura’ is made on
| | |this day.[548]
| | |
Last Wednesday|Moddua Laraban-| Arbaa Mayidur |Said to be the day of
in Safar | ganí-be | |the last bath of the
| | |prophet. He died
| | |fourteen days after
| | |it. On this day prayer
| | |is offered for
| | |averting trouble
| | |during the year.
| | |
| | |The Kanuri name means
| | |literally ‘The telling
| | |of beads of Wednesday-
| | |not’, i.e. no more
| | |Wednesdays, the last
| | |Wednesday of the
| | |month.
| | |
12th Rabi-el- | Ngumori Lebbi | Mulid en-Nebi |Birthday of Mohamet.
owwal | Lowal-be | |This is the chief
| | |festival in Bornu.
| | |
15th Shaaban |Ngumori Nussufu| Leylet en-Nusf|On this night Allah
| Shaaban-be | min Shaaban |registers the good and
| | (called in |evil deeds of mankind.
| | India ‘Shab i |The Kanuri name means
| | Barat’) |literally ‘the
| | |festival of half
| | |Shaaban’, i.e. the
| | |Mid-Shaaban festival.
| | |
1st Showwal | Ngumori Asham-| Id el-Fitr, |First day after the
| be | Turkish |Ramadan fast. This is
| | ‘Ramazan |the chief festival
| | Bairam’ |among the Hausas. In
| | |Kanuri ‘asham’ = fast.
| | |
10th Zu’l |Ngumori Laya-be| Id el-Kebir, |Ram festival.
Heggeh | |Turkish ‘Kurban|Commemorates Abraham’s
| | Bairam’ |attempted sacrifice of
| | |Ishmael (not of Isaac
| | |as according to the
| | |Old Testament).
---------------+---------------+---------------+----------------------
[Footnote 548: It consists of wheat boiled and sweetened with dates,
nuts, and other dried fruits. Presents of this dish, sometimes with
small gold coins sprinkled upon it, are sent to friends and relatives
from the harems of the wealthy. The common name for it is ‘hobub’. This
dish, or one similar to it, was prepared at the Persian New Year. It
probably celebrated the coming in of the harvest. All the old fruits,
&c., that had been kept during the winter were made use of for the dish,
and the season of fresh fruits was thus inaugurated.]
APPENDIX XII
THE CALENDAR
The names of the Arabic months, as given in Michell’s _An Egyptian
Calendar_, and as transliterated from Kanuri mallams, differ somewhat.
_Michell._ _Kanuri._
1. Moharrem. Muharam.
2. Safar. Shafur.
3. Rabia el-owwal. Rabi-il-lawal.
4. Rabia et-tani. Rabi-il-lahir
or
Rabi-it-tsani.
5. Gumad el-owwal. Jimad-al-lawal.
6. Gumad et-tani. Jimad-al-lahir
or
Jimad-at-tsani.
7. Regeb. Rajab.
8. Shaaban. Shaaban.
9. Ramadan. Ramadan.
10. Showwal. Shawal.
11. Zu’l-kaadeh. Zulgada.
12. Zu’l-heggeh. Zulhaji.
With regard to the year, the Liman says that A.D. 1912 is A.H. 1329 with
a few days of 1330. Other mallams say that it is A.H. 1330 with a few
days of 1331, and this reckoning agrees with Michell and with the _Sudan
Almanac_ published by the Egyptian Government. This discrepancy is
explained by the following extract from Major Burdon’s notes on Sokoto
in _Historical Notes on Certain Emirates and Tribes_, p. 61:
‘An extraordinary point in the reckoning of these Nigerian Mohammedans
is that, while right in the day of the week, they are almost invariably
wrong by a year and a day in the remaining part of any date. . . . The
explanation given is that neither the year nor the day is counted until
each is completed. It is a perfectly intelligible system, but the
logical sequence to it would appear to be its application also to the
days of the week.’
The names of the English months are transliterated as follows:
Yunair.
Fabrair.
Maris.
Ibril.
Mayu.
Yunihi.
Yulihi.
Awgustus.
Sabtumbir.
Aktumbir.
Nufambir.
Duyusambir.
To convert approximately a date of the Hejira to that of the Christian
era, add to the former 622 and subtract from the sum three years for
every century of the Mohammedan date; e.g. to convert A.H. 1318 to A.D.,
1318 + 622 = 1940: − (13 × 3) = 1901 (and part of 1900). And inversely,
A.D. 1900 = 1900 − 622 = 1278: + 39 = 1317 A.H. (and part of 1318).
MEANING OF THE NAMES OF THE ARABIC MONTHS (from Michell).
1. _Moharrem_ = the Forbidden, called Moharrem el-haram (the sacred).
One of the four months of truce, in which all acts of hostility were
strictly forbidden among the Arab tribes. It is considered unlucky to
make a marriage contract in Moharrem.
In Bornu ‘Moharrem’ villages were those which were forbidden to be
taxed, i.e. excused from the general tax. They were squeezed by a Court
favourite instead.
2. _Safar_, derivation, according to Fresnel quoted by Lane, from
_Sifar_ = empty, either because their granaries being empty, the Arabs
used to travel to procure grain; or because they went on predatory
expeditions, leaving their homes empty; or because they left Mecca
empty. The fairs in Yemen used to be called Safarieh (vid. Masudi and
Lane’s _Arabic Dictionary_). This month is called Safar el-Muzaffer (the
auspicious); and also sometimes Nezlet el-Hagg (the descent or alighting
of the pilgrims), because the Mecca pilgrims begin to return to Egypt
towards the end of Safar.
(Mallam Zakaria of Maiduguri derives it from an Arabic word ‘safar’, I
travel, because it is the travelling month; cf. Swahili ‘safari’ = a
hunting expedition?)
3. _Rabia el-owwal_ = the first Rabia. ‘Rabi’ expresses verdure and
spring rains.
4. _Rabia et-tani_ or _el-akher_ = the second or last Rabia.
5. _Gumad el-owwal_ = the first Gumad. Generally derived from ‘Gamada’,
dryness or hardness, as applied to the earth after the cessation of the
rains of the preceding spring months (cf. Kanuri ‘ngamdu’ = dry, lean).
6. _Gumad et-tani_ or _el-akher_ = the second or last Gumad.
7. _Regeb_, one of the four months of truce. The Prophet commended
prayer and fasting in this month.
8. _Shaaban_, probably so called because the Arabs were wont, after the
peace of Rejeb, to separate (‘Shaab’) on marauding expeditions, and also
to seek water, this month originally falling in the great heat of June
and July (vid. Lane’s _Dictionary_).
9. _Ramadan_ = intense heat. The fasting month. The eve of Ramadan is
called ‘Leylet er-Ruyeh’, the night of observation, because men are
appointed to watch for the new moon, and then give evidence at the Court
of the Kadi.
10. _Showwal_, so called, not as Lane tells us (_Arab. Dict._), because
it is the breeding season of camels (from ‘showwal’, to raise the tail),
but the season when the she-camels, being seven or eight months gone
with young, raise their tails (camels generally couple in the winter).
Or, possibly, the word refers to a deficiency of the camel’s milk in the
season of great heat.
11. _Zu’l-kaadeh_ = the possessor or holder of truce or abstention. One
of the four months of truce. Lane explains it as the month in which the
Arabs broke in their young camels (‘el-kaadat’) for riding.
12. _Zu’l-heggeh._ The month of pilgrimage. One of the four months of
truce.
APPENDIX XIII
LIST OF BORNU TRIBES
(1) Babur, (2) Bedde, (3) Burra, (4) Chibuk, practically Marghi, (5)
Fika, including Bolawa (M.) and Gamawa (P.), (6) Filani, (7) Gamergu
(P.), (8) Kanembu, (9) Kanuri, (10) Kerikeri, (11) Kwoyam, (12) Manga,
(13) Marghi, (14) Mobber, (15) Ngizim, (16) Ngussur, semi-pagan (Gujba),
(17) Shuwa, (18) Tera, (19) Kanawa, spread over all three divisions
(practically none—but Filani), (20) Shira, sub. to Fika (semi-pagan).
Clans or tribes comprised in Kanuri: Kanembu, Mobber, Manga, Koyam,
Karda, Kagama, Ngussur, Magumi (the original Kanuri), and several minor
clans, the Lere, &c.
Filani clans: Kitije (P.), Jafun (Kanawa?). Abore: Sankara, Girije,
Daiyi, Daneji, Warumonde, Bikerke, Bagaji, Mamaji, Bijingel, Uda.
In Tera: Hinna, Maga, some Tangali, and Nimaltu (south of Wuyo and
Bima).
APPENDIX XIV
ETHNOLOGICAL NOTES ON BORNU PROPER
There are eight chief races in Bornu Proper:
(_a_) Kanuri, (_b_) Kanembu, (_c_) Shuwa, (_d_) Fulani, (_e_) Koyam,
(_f_) Manga, (_g_) Gamerghu, (_h_) Mobber.
(_a_) The Kanuri or Beriberi are supposed to be a mixed race of Arab
tribes and Hamitic Kanembu and Tubu, which, gradually losing more and
more the physical and mental peculiarities of the dwellers in the
desert, became merged in the negro population of the conquered country,
the half-mythical ‘So’, a giant race, whose descendants are supposed to
be represented at the present day by the Beddes, Buddumas, Kotokos, &c.
One of the chief Kanuri clans is the Magumi, to whom belongs Maina
Gumsumi, now Ajia of Kaiuri district, the representative of the old
‘Mais’ of Bornu.
(_b_) The Kanembu, i.e. the inhabitants of Kanem, are an Hamitic race,
whose relationship to the Kanuri may be roughly described as similar to
that between the Lowland Scots and the English. Their chief clans are
the Sugurti and the Kubri (the Shehu’s clan).
(_c_) According to Schultze, quoting Barth, ii. 355, the Shuwa Arabs
immigrated into Bornu at various times, firstly, with the conquerors of
the country from the north, and secondly, at a much later epoch, about
300 years ago, from Nubia or Kordofan.[549] They are broken up into a
great number of tribes, of which the Beni Hassan has remained the
purest, but they have lost many of the bodily and mental peculiarities
of the Semitic race, doubtless as a result of their long wanderings, and
also of the intermixture which has taken place with other peoples. Their
language, however, they have retained in wonderful purity.
There is a vocabulary of Shuwa Arabic in Koelle’s _Polyglotta Africana_,
and some notes on the language appeared in Decorse and Demombyne’s
_Rabah et les Arabes du Chari_. A book on Arabic spoken in Wadai and to
the east of Chad by H. Carbou has recently been published, vid. List of
Authorities.
From the best information available in British Bornu the Shuwas may be
divided into two classes, (A) those who entered Bornu before Lamino’s
time, (B) those who entered with or shortly after Lamino.
To (A) belong (1) the Joama, originally settled north of Mongonu, but
migrated to Karaguaro and Magumeri after the Fulani invasion; (2) the
Maiyin or Meyin, originally settled at Marguba; (3) the Saraje,
originally settled in Uje district. All these three tribes entered Bornu
about 300 years ago, ten or twenty years before Birni Gazerregomo was
built. They came from Darfur. There were no Shuwas in Bornu prior to
this. This statement differs slightly from Schultze. None of these
tribes are now numerically important.
To (B) belong (1) the large and wealthy tribe of the Kwalme Shuwas, (2)
the Kurata, (3) the Beni Hassan, mostly in Mandara and Musgu, of very
pure descent.
The Kwalme are divided into many clans, of which the following may be
enumerated:[550]
(1) Wulad Sarar.
(2) Wulad Salim.
(3) Wulad Himet.
(4) Wulad Kanem.
(5) Beni Badder.
(6) Dagana.
(7) Beni Muharab.
(8) Asali (to whom belonged Lowan Adam, murdered in 1906).
(9) Salamat (murderers of Lowan Adam).
(10) Wulad Amir.
(11) Beni Wail.
(12) Ajeni.
(13) Wulad Hodir.
(14) Wulad Abu Isa.
N.B.—‘Wulad’ in Shuwa means sons, ‘beni’, daughters. The derivation of
‘Kwalme’ is variously given, but its real origin is probably unknown.
Some connect it with ‘kworram’ = amber (Kanuri) and ‘mi’ = son of, from
the fondness of the Shuwa women for amber ornaments. Others derive it
from a Shuwa word ‘galib’ = it is too difficult, they are too difficult
for me (Kanuri ‘tegeri’, Hausa ‘gargare’); ‘galib’ became corrupted into
‘galim’, and by transposition to ‘galmi’. This term is said to have been
applied to the Shuwas on account of their obstinate character by the
Arabic-speaking peoples east of Chad. Some support is lent to this
derivation by that given for the word ‘Shuwa’. The word ‘ashe’ in
Kanembu and Kanuri means ‘the strong-headed man, wilful or disobedient
man’ [‘ashi’ = obstinacy, ‘-wa’ = the people of]. Hence the word
‘Ashiwa’ now ‘Shuwa’. They are originally supposed to have been so
perverse that they would not follow the Prophet, thence they became a
wandering tribe [cf. p. 318].
(_d_) The Fulani or Fellata of Bornu belong chiefly to three clans, the
Abore Fellata (Hausa, ‘Borroro’), the Mare Fellata (the term ‘Mare’ is
said to be a Fulani word for a tree resembling the ‘dorowa’ or locust-
tree, whose pods are used in making the floors of native huts), and the
Kitiji Fulani (only found in Gujba and among the pagan Babur and Burra
tribes; they are themselves pagan). The origin of the Fulani has been,
and still is, hotly disputed.[551] They have not coalesced to any extent
with the bulk of the Bornu population and remain aliens and, to a
certain extent, pariahs. The Kanuri have many proverbs and sayings
embodying their contempt of them as ‘bushmen’.