was Tin-shamán, at present a village a little to the west of the road
from Aúderas to Ágades, and about twenty miles from the latter place.
The name is evidently a Berber one[113]; and the Berber influence is
still more evident from the fact that a portion, at least, of the
population of the town were Masúfa, a well-known Berber tribe who in
former times were the chief guides on the road from Sejilmésa to
Waláta.[114] Be this as it may, several learned men, inhabitants of this
place, are mentioned by the native historians of Negroland, which shows
that there existed in it some degree of comparative civilization. In the
middle of the 14th century not only Tekádda but even Káhír was in the
hands of the Berbers, as we see from Batúta’s narrative; and this
eminent traveller mentions a curious custom with regard to the Berber
prince, whom he styles El Gérgeri, or Tegérgeri[115], which even at the
present moment is in full operation in this country, viz., that the
succession went not to his own sons, but to his sister’s sons.[116] This
remarkable fact is a certain proof that it was not a pure Berber state,
but rather a Berber dominion ingrafted upon a Negro population, exactly
as was the case in his time in Waláta. Leo, who first calls the country
by its present Berber name Aïr, states also expressly that it was then
occupied by Tawárek, “Targa populo;”[117] and we learn also from him
that the ruler of Ágades (a town first mentioned by him) was likewise a
Berber[118]: so that it might seem as if the state of the country at
that time was pretty nearly the same as it is now; but such was not the
case.
The name of the Kél-owí is not mentioned either by Leo or any other
writer before the time of Horneman, who, before he set out from Fezzán
on his journey to Bórnu, obtained some very perspicuous information[119]
about these people, as well as about their country Ásben. At that time,
before the rise of the Fúlbe under their reformer (el Jihádi) Othmán the
son of Fódiye, it was a powerful kingdom, to which Góber was tributary.
From Horneman’s expression it would seem that the Kél-owí had conquered
the country only at a comparatively recent date[120]; and this agrees
perfectly with the results of my inquiries, from which I conclude that
it took place about A.D. 1740. However, we have seen that four centuries
before that time the country was in the hands of the Berbers.
It appears that the Kél-owí are traceable from the north-west, and the
nobler part of them belong to the once very powerful and numerous tribe
of the Aurághen, whence their dialect is called Auraghíye even at the
present day. Their name signifies “the people settled in (the district
or valley of) Owí;” for “kél” is exactly identical with the Arabic word
áhel, and seems besides to be applied with especial propriety to
indicate the settled, in opposition to the nomadic tribes. For in
general the characteristic mark of the Kél-owí and their kinsmen is,
that they live in villages consisting of fixed and immovable huts, and
not in tents made of skins, like the other tribes, or in movable huts
made of mats, like the Tagáma and many of the Imghád of the Awelímmiden.
With this prefix kél, may be formed the name of the inhabitants of any
place or country:—Ferwán, Kél-ferwán; Bághzen, Kél-bághzen; Afélle (the
north), Kél-afélle, “the people of the north,” whom the Arabs in
Timbúktu call Áhel e’ Sáhel; and no doubt a Targi, at least of the tribe
of the Awelímmiden or Kél-owí, would call the inhabitants of London Kél-
london or Kél-londra, just as he says Kél-ghadámes, Kél-tawát.
But there is something indeterminate in the name Kél-owí, which has both
a narrower and a wider sense, as is frequently the case with the names
of those tribes which, having become predominant, have grouped around
them and, to a certain extent, even incorporated with themselves many
other tribes which did not originally belong to them. In this wider
sense the name Kél-owí comprises a great many tribes, or rather
sections, generally named after their respective settlements.
I have already observed that the Berbers, in conquering this country
from the Negro, or I should rather say the sub-Libyan race (the
Leucæthiopes of the ancients), did not entirely destroy the latter, but
rather mingled with them by intermarriage with the females, thereby
modifying the original type of their race, and blending the severe and
austere manners and the fine figure of the Berber with the cheerful and
playful character and the darker colour of the African. The way in which
they settled in this country seems to have been very similar to that in
which the ancient Greeks settled in Lycia. For the women appear to have
the superiority over the male sex in the country of Ásben, at least to a
certain extent; so that when a ba-Ásbenchi marries a woman of another
village, she does not leave her dwelling-place to follow her husband,
but he must come to her in her own village. The same principle is shown
in the regulation that the chief of the Kél-owí must not marry a woman
of the Targi blood, but can rear children only from black women or
female slaves.
With respect to the custom that the hereditary power does not descend
from the father to the son, but to the sister’s son,—a custom well known
to be very prevalent not only in many parts of Negroland, but also in
India, at least in Malabar,—it may be supposed to have belonged
originally to the Berber race; for the Azkár, who have preserved their
original manners tolerably pure, have the same custom, but they also
might have adopted it from those tribes (now their subjects—the Imghád)
who conquered the country from the black natives. It may therefore seem
doubtful whether, in the mixed empires of Ghánata[121], Melle[122], and
Waláta[123], this custom belonged to the black natives, or was
introduced by the Berbers. Be this as it may, it is certain that the
noble tribe of the Awelímmiden deem the custom in question shameful, as
exhibiting only the man’s mistrust of his wife’s fidelity; for such is
certainly its foundation.
As for the male portion of the ancient population of Ásben, I suppose it
to have been for the most part exterminated, while the rest was degraded
into the state of domestic slavery, with the distinct understanding that
neither they nor their children should ever be sold out of the country.
The consequence of this covenant has been an entire mixture[124] between
the Berber conquerors and the female part of the former population,
changing the original Berber character entirely, as well in manners and
language as in features and complexion. Indeed, the Háusa language is as
familiar to these people as their Auraghíye, although the men, when
speaking among themselves, generally make use of the latter. The
consequence is, that the Kél-owí are regarded with a sort of contempt by
the purer Berber tribes, who call them slaves (íkelán). But there is
another class of people, not so numerous indeed in Ásben itself as in
the districts bordering upon it; these are the Búzawe, or Abogelíte, a
mixed race, with generally more marked Berber features than the Kél-owí,
but of darker colour and lower stature, while in manners they are
generally very debased, having lost almost entirely that noble carriage
which distinguishes even the most lawless vagabond of pure Targi blood.
These people, who infest all the regions southwards and south-eastwards
from Ásben, are the offspring of Tawárek females with black people, and
may belong either to the Háusa or to the Sónghay race.
What I have here said sets forth the historical view of the state of
things in this country, and is well-known to all the enlightened
natives. The vulgar account of the origin of the Kél-owí from the female
slave of a Tinýlkum who came to Ásben, where she gave birth to a boy who
was the progenitor of the Kél-owí, is obviously nothing but a popular
tale indicating, at the utmost, only some slight connection of this
tribe with the Tinýlkum.
Having thus preliminarily discussed the name of the tribe and the way in
which it settled in the country, I now proceed to give a list, as
complete as possible, of all the divisions or tiúsi (_sing._ tausit).
which compose the great community of the Kél-owí.
The most noble (that is to say, the most elevated, not by purity of
blood, but by authority and rank) of the subdivisions of this tribe at
the present time are the Irólangh, the Amanókalen or sultan family, to
which belongs Ánnur, with no other title than that of Sheikh or Elder
(the original meaning of the word)—“sófo” in Háusa, “ámaghár” or
“ámghár” in Temáshight. The superiority of this section seems to date
only from the time of the present chief’s predecessor, the Kél-ferwán
appearing to have had the ascendancy in earlier times. Though the head
of this family has no title but that of Sheikh, he has nevertheless far
greater power than the amanókal or titular sultan of the Kél-owí, who
resides in Ásodi, and who is at present really nothing more than a
prince in name. The next in authority to Ánnur is Háj ʿAbdúwa, the son
of Ánnur’s eldest sister, and who resides in Táfidet.
The family or clan of the Irólangh which, in the stricter sense of the
word, is called Kél-owí is settled in ten or more villages lying to the
east and the south-east of Tintéllust, the residence of Ánnur, and has
formed an alliance with two other influential and powerful families,
viz. the Kél-azanéres, or people of Azanéres, a village, as I shall have
occasion to explain further on, of great importance on account of its
situation in connection with the salt lakes near Bilma, which constitute
the wealth and the vital principle of this community. On account of this
alliance, the section of the Kél-azanéres affected by it is called
Irólangh wuén Kél-azanéres; and to this section belongs the powerful
chief Lúsu or, properly, el Úsu, who is in reality the second man in the
country on the score of influence.
On the other side, the Irólangh have formed alliance and relationship
with the powerful and numerous tribe of the Ikázkezan, or Ikéshkeshen,
who seem likewise to have sprung from the Aurághen; and on this account
the greater, or at least the more influential, part of the tribe,
including the powerful chief Mghás, is sometimes called Irólangh wuén
Ikázkezan, while, with regard to their dwelling-place Támar, they bear
the name Kél-támar. But this is only one portion of the Ikázkezan.
Another very numerous section of them is partly scattered about
Damerghú, partly settled in a place called Elákwas (or, as it is
generally pronounced, Alákkos), a place between Damerghú and Múnio,
together with a mixed race called Kél-elákwas. The Ikázkezan of this
latter section bear, in their beautiful manly figure and fine
complexion, much more evident traces of the pure Berber blood than the
Irólangh; but they lead a very lawless life, and harass the districts on
the borders of Háusa and Bórnu with predatory incursions, especially
those settled in Elákwas.
There are three tribes whose political relations give them greater
importance, namely, the Kél-táfidet, the Kél-n-Néggaru, and the Kél-
fares. The first of these three, to whom belongs the above-mentioned Háj
ʿAbdúwa, live in Táfidet, a group of three villages lying at the foot of
a considerable mountain-chain thirty miles to the south-east of
Tintéllust, and at the distance of only five good days’ march from
Bilma. The Kél-n-Néggaru form an important family originally settled in
Néggaru, a district to the north of Selúfiet; but at present they live
in Ásodi and in the village Eghellál, and some of them lead a nomadic
life in the valleys of Tin-téggana and Ásada. On account of the present
sultan (who belongs to them) being called Astáfidet, they are now also
named Aushi-n-Astáfidet (the tribe of Astáfidet). The Kél-fares, to whom
belongs the great mʿallem Azóri, who, on account of his learning, is
respected as a prince in the whole country, live in Tin-téyyat, a
village about thirty-five miles E.N.E. from Tintéllust.
I now proceed to name the other sections of the Kél-owí in geographical
order from north to south.
The Fadaye, or Éfadaye, dwell in the district Fáde-angh, containing
several villages, the principal of which is called Zurríka, inhabited by
the Kél-zurríka. The Éfadaye, although they maintain a sort of
independence, are nevertheless regarded as belonging to the community of
the Kél-owí, while another tribe, likewise called from the district
Fáde-angh, namely the Kél-fadaye, are viewed in a different light, and
will therefore be mentioned further on with respect to their political
relation with the sultan of Ágades. The Éfadaye are renowned on account
of their warlike propensities; and to the wild inhabitants of these
districts the Fadaye is a model of a man—“hális.”
The Kél-tédele, who were among the people who attacked the mission, live
in a place called Tédele, a little to the north of Oinu-mákaren.
The Kél-tédek, or Kél-tídik, dwell in Tídik, the village I noticed on
our journey as lying at the northern foot of the large mountain-chain
which forms the beginning of Ásben and Sudán.
The Im-ásrodangh.[125]
The Kél-ghazár, comprising the inhabitants of Selúfiet and those of
Tintágh-odé, who are more generally named Aníslimen, or Merabetín. The
name is formed from _éghazar_, “the valley,” meaning the large valley of
Selúfiet and Tintágh-odé.
The Kél-élar, living in Élar, three hours’ east from Selúfiet in the
mountain-glens.
The Kél-gharús.
The Éndefar.
The Tanútmolet.
The Abírken.
The Tesébet.
The Kél-télak.
The Azaíken.
The Kél-úlli, meaning “the people of the goats,” or goatherds. Another
tribe of the same name among the Awelímmiden I shall have frequent
opportunity of mentioning in the course of my travels, as my chief
protectors during my stay in Timbúktu.
The Fedalála, dwelling, if I am not mistaken, in Fedékel.
The Kél-ásarar, living in Sárara, the village we passed an hour before
reaching Tintéllust.
The Im-ezúkzál, a considerable family living in Ágwau.
The Kél-teget.
The Kél-enúzuk.
The Kél-tákriza.
The Kél-aghellál.
The Kél-tádenak, living in Tádenak, about half a day’s journey east from
Aghellál, and about eleven hour’s west from Tintéllust.
The Kél-wádigi, living in Wádigi, a large village about fifteen miles
west from Tintéllust. This village, in consequence of erroneous native
information, has been hitherto placed near the Isa, or middle course of
the Niger.
The Kél-teghérmat, at present in the village Azauraíden, E.N.E. from
Tintéllust. Of their number is the active chief Háj Makhmúd.
The Kél-erárar, in Erárar, a village three hours from Tintéllust.
The Kél-zéggedan, in Zéggedan, one day and a half from Tintéllust.
The Kél-tághmart, in Tághmart, one day and a half north from the latter.
The Kél-áfarár, in Áfarár, two hours east a little south from Tághmart.
The Im-ékketen, living at present round Azatártar, but originally
settled in the neighbourhood of Ágades.
The Kél-sadáwat.
The Kél-tafíst.
The Kél-ágaten, living in Ágata, a village at the foot of Mount
Belásega.
The Kél-bághzen, for the greatest part herdsmen or shepherds, living
scattered over and around Mount Bághzen. These are Kél-owí; but there is
another tribe, of the Kél-gerés, known by the same name, on account of
their having in former times occupied those seats.
The Kél-chémia, in Chémia.
The Ikádmawen, a numerous tribe living generally in four villages which
lie at the southern foot of Mount Bághzen, and are called respectively
Áfasás (this being the largest of the four), Tagóra, Tamanít, and
Inferéraf. But for a great part of the year they lead rather a nomadic
life.
The Kél-ajéru, in Ajéru, a village situate in the upper part of the
valley, in the lower part of which lies Áfasás. Here resides another
important personage of the name of Háj Makhmúd.
The Ítegén.
The Kél-idákka, in Idákka, the native place of the mother of Astáfidet,
the amanókal of the Kél-owí.
The Kél-tezárenet, in Tezárenet, a district rich in date-trees.
The Kél-tawár.
The Kél-táfasás (?). I am not quite certain with regard to this name.
The Kél-táranet.
The Kél-átarár, living in the neighbourhood of Ágades, and having but an
indifferent reputation.
The Kél-aríl.
The Im-ersúten.
The Kél-azelálet.
The Kél-anuwísheren, in Timázgaren (?).
The Kél-táferaut.
The Kél-aghrímmat.
The Kél-awéllat.
All these tribes in a certain degree belong to the body of the Kél-owí,
whose nominal chief, if I may so call him, is the amanókal residing in
Ásodi: but there is now another greater association or confederation,
formed by the Kél-owí, the Kél-gerés, and the Itísan and some other
smaller tribes combined together; and the head of this confederation is
the great amanókal residing in Ágades. This league, which at present
hardly subsists (the Kél-gerés and Itísan having been driven by the Kél-
owí from their original settlements, and being opposed to them almost
constantly in open hostility), was evidently in former times very strong
and close.
But before speaking of the Kél-gerés and their intimate friends the
Itísan, I shall mention those small tribes which, though not regarded as
belonging to the body of the Kél-owí and placed under the special and
direct supremacy or government of the sultan of Ágades, are nevertheless
more intimately related to them than to the other great tribes. These
are, besides the Ém-egédesen[126], or the inhabitants of Ágades or
Ágadez, of whom I shall speak in the account of my journey to that
interesting place, the three tribes of the Kél-fadaye, the Kél-ferwán,
and the Izeráren.
As for the Kél-fadaye, they are the original and real inhabitants of the
district Fáde-angh, which lies round Tághajít, while the Éfadaye, who
have been called after the same district, are rather a mixture of
vagabonds flocking here from different quarters, and principally from
that of the Azkár. But the Kél-fadaye, who, as well as their neighbours
the Éfadaye, took part in the ghazzia against the expedition on the
frontiers of Aïr, are a very turbulent set of people, being regarded in
this light by the natives themselves, as appears from the letter of the
sultan of Ágades to the chiefs Ánnur and Lúsu, of which I brought back a
copy, wherein they are called Mehárebín[127], or freebooters.
Nevertheless they are of pure and noble Berber blood, and renowned for
their valour; and I was greatly astonished to learn afterwards from my
noble and intimate friend and protector the sheikh Sídi Ahmed el Bakáy,
that he had married one of their daughters, and had long resided amongst
them. Even from the letter of the sultan of Ágades it appears that they
have some relations with the Awelímmiden. The name of their chief is
Shúrwa.
The Kél-ferwán, though they are called after the fine and fertile place
I-ferwán, in one of the valleys to the east of Tintághodé, where a good
deal of millet is sown, and where there are plenty of date-trees, do not
all reside there at present, a numerous portion of them having settled
in the neighbourhood of Ágades, whence they make continual marauding
expeditions, or “égehen,” upon the Timbúktu road, and against the
Awelímmiden. Nevertheless the Kél-ferwán, as the kinsmen of the
Aurághen, and as the Amanókalen (that is to say the clan to which,
before the different tribes came to the decision of fetching their
sultan from Sókoto, the family of the sultan belonged), are of nobler
and purer blood than any of the rest. As an evidence of their former
nobility, the custom still remains, that, when the sultan of Ágades
leaves the town for any length of time, his deputy or lieutenant in the
place is the chief of the Kél-ferwán.
The third tribe of those who are under the direct authority of the
sultan of Ágades, viz. the Izeráren, live between Ágades and Damerghú.
But I did not come into contact with them.
The Kél-gerés and Itísan seem to have been originally situated in the
fertile and partially-beautiful districts round the Bághzen, or (as
these southern tribes pronounce the name in their dialect) Mághzem,
where, on our journey towards Damerghú, we found the well-built stone
houses in which they had formerly dwelt.
On being driven out of their original seats by the Kél-owí, about
twenty-five or thirty years ago, they settled towards the west and
south-west of Ágades, in a territory which was probably given them by
the Awelímmiden, with an intention hostile to the Kél-owí. From that
time they have been alternately in bloody feud or on amicable terms with
the Kél-owí; but a sanguinary war has recently (in 1854) broken out
again between these tribes, which seems to have consumed the very
sources of their strength, and cost the lives of many of my friends, and
among them that of Hámma, the son-in-law of Ánnur. The principal
dwelling-place of the Kél-gerés is Árar, while their chief market-place
is said to be Jóbeli, on the road from Ágades to Sókoto.
The Kél-gerés and the Itísan together are equal in effective strength to
the Kél-owí, though they are not so numerous, the latter being certainly
able to collect a force of at least ten thousand armed men all mounted,
besides their slaves, while the former are scarcely able to furnish half
as many. But the Kél-gerés and Itísan have the advantage of greater
unity, while the interests of the various tribes of the Kél-owí are
continually clashing, and very rarely allow the whole body to collect
together, though exceptions occur, as in the expedition against the
Welád Slimán, when they drove away all the camels (according to report,
not less than fifty thousand), and took possession of the salt lakes
near Bilma.
Moreover the Kél-gerés and Itísan, having preserved their Berber
character in a purer state, are much more warlike. Their force consists
for the greater part of well-mounted cavalry, while the Kél-owí, with
the exception of the Ikázkezan, can muster but few horses; and of course
the advantage of the horseman over the camel-driver is very great either
in open or close fight. The Kél-gerés have repeatedly fought with
success even against the Awelímmiden, by whom they are called Aráuwen.
They have even killed their last famous chief E’ Nábegha. The Kél-gerés
came under the notice of Clapperton, on account of the unfortunate
expedition which they undertook against the territories of the Fúlbe in
the year 1823, though it seems that the expedition consisted chiefly of
Tagáma, and that they were the principal sufferers in that wholesale
destruction by Sultan Bello.
Their arms in general are the same as those of the Kél-owí, even the men
on horseback bearing (besides the spear, the sword, and the dagger) the
immense shield of antelope-hide, with which they very expertly protect
themselves and their horses; but some of them use bows and arrows even
on horseback, like many of the Fúlbe, in the same way as the ancient
Assyrians. A few only have muskets, and those few keep them rather for
show than for actual use.
The Itísan[128] (who seem to be the nobler tribe of the two, and, as far
as I was able to judge, are a very fine race of men, with expressive,
sharply-cut features, and a very light complexion) have a chief or
amanókal of their own, whose position seems to resemble closely that of
the sultan of the Kél-owí, while the real influence and authority rests
with the war-chiefs, támbelis, or támberis, the most powerful among whom
were, in 1853, Wanagóda, who resides in Tswáji near Góber, on the side
of the Kél-gerés, and Maiwa, or Mʿoáwíya, in Gulluntsúna, on the side of
the Itísan. The name of the present amanókal is Ghámbelu.
I now proceed to enumerate the subdivisions of the two tribes, as far as
I was able to learn them, and first those of the Itísan:—the Kél-tagáy,
the Télamsé, the Máfinet or Máfidet, the Tesídderak, the Kél-mághzem,
the Álaren, the Kél-innik, the Kél-dugá, the Kél-úye, and the Kél-
ághelel. Probably also the Ijdánarnén[129], or Jedánarnén, and the Kél-
manen belong to them. The following are the principal subdivisions of
the Kél-gerés:—the Kél-téghzeren or Tadmúkkeren, the Kél-úngwar, the
Kél-garet, the Kél-n-sábtafan, or Kél-n-sáttafan[130], the Kél-tadéni,
the Tadáda, the Tagáyes, the Tilkátine[131], the Iberúbat with the
támberi Al-Hássan, the Táshil, the Tagínna, the Kél-azar, the Íghalaf
(pronounced Íralaf), the Toiyámmawa[132], the Isóka, the Tegíbbu, the
Raina, the Túji. Among the Kél-gerés is a noble family called in the
Arab form Áhel e’ Sheikh, which is distinguished for its learning, their
chief and most learned man being at present Sídi Makhmúd.
I must here state that, in political respects, another tribe at present
is closely related with the Kél-gerés, viz., that section of the
Awelímmiden (the “Surka” of Mungo Park) which is called Awelímmiden wuén
Bodhál; but as these belong rather to the Tawárek or Imóshagh of the
west, I shall treat of them in the narrative of my journey to Timbúktu.
Other tribes settled near Ágades, and more particularly the very
remarkable tribe of the Íghdalén, will, in consequence of the influence
exerted on them by the Sónghay race, be spoken of in my account of that
place.