| |inhabitants greatly, and which | | |
| |can scarcely be explained but by| | |
| |supposing an unsettled state of | | |
| |the country, which did not allow| | |
| |the people to cultivate the | | |
| |ground. | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| EDRÍS |This is the king who has been | (?) | 20. |
| |omitted by mistake in the | | |
| Ben ʿAlí. |chronicle. | | A.H. |
| | | |1096-1115.|
| | | | A.D. |
| | | |1685-1704.|
| | | | |
| | | | |
| DÚNAMA |Another long famine of seven |Ghasréggomo. | 19. |
| |years is mentioned by the | | |
| Ben ʿAlí. |chronicle. | | A.H. |
| | | |1115-1134.|
| | | | A.D. |
| | | |1704-1722.|
| | | | |
| | | | |
| HÁJ HAMDÚN |A pious and indolent king, who |Ghasréggomo. | 14. |
| |appears to have made a | | |
|Ben Dúnama. |pilgrimage. | | A.H. |
| | | |1135-1148.|
| | | | A.D. |
| | | |1723-1736.|
| | | | |
| | | | |
| MOHAMMED, |Of his reign likewise we know |Ghasréggomo. | 16. |
| |nothing but of a famine which | | |
| With the |lasted two years. These princes,| | A.H. |
| surname |indeed, seem in general to have | |1149-1164.|
| Erghámma. |seldom left their favourite | | A.D. |
| Son of El |residence, where they indulged | |1737-1751.|
|Háj Hamdún. |in luxury and ostentation, while| | |
| |the kingdom was falling to | | |
| |pieces and became unable to | | |
| |resist any shock which might | | |
| |come from without. | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| DÚNAMA, |The chronicle mentions, under |Ghasréggomo. |2 y. 7 m. |
| |his short reign, a very severe | | |
| With the |famine. | | A.H. |
| surname | | |1165-1168.|
|Ghaná, “the | | | A.D. |
|little.” The| | |1752-1755.|
|young son of| | | |
| Mohammed. | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| ʿALÍ |Is greatly praised by the | | 40. |
| |chronicle as a most excellent | | |
| Ben el Háj |prince; but it is evident that | | A.H. |
| Dúnama. |he was such only from a monkish | |1168-1207.|
| |point of view. He seems, | | A.D. |
| |however, to have excelled in a | |1755-1793.|
| |peculiar kind of energy, being | | |
| |mentioned by Lucas as the father| | |
| |of three hundred male | | |
| |children.[224] I cannot say with| | |
| |absolute certainty whether it | | |
| |was he who made a most | | |
| |unfortunate expedition against | | |
| |Mándará, to the ill success of | | |
| |which most of the intelligent | | |
| |Bórnu people attribute the | | |
| |weakness of the empire under the| | |
| |following reign, when it was | | |
| |attacked by the fanatic troops | | |
| |of the Felláta, the best part of| | |
| |the army having been slain by | | |
| |the inhabitants of Mándará. ʿAlí| | |
| |seems also to have made several | | |
| |expeditions against the Bedde. | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| ÁHMED |“A learned prince, liberal |Ghasréggomo. | 17. |
| |towards the ʿulama; a prodigal | | |
| Ben ʿAlí. |dispenser of alms, a friend of | | A.H. |
| |science and religion, gracious | |1208-1225.|
| |and compassionate towards the | | A.D. |
| |poor.” So says the chronicle. | |1793-1810.|
| |However well deserved this | | |
| |praise may be, certainly Áhmed | | |
| |was not the man to save the | | |
| |kingdom from the dangers which | | |
| |surrounded it. | | |
| | | | |
| |But although the empire was | | |
| |already prepared for ruin, there| | |
| |supervened a powerful cause of | | |
| |weakness; for under Áhmed a very| | |
| |severe pestilence visited Bórnu,| | |
| |carrying off a great number of | | |
| |people. This plague is said to | | |
| |have been announced by an | | |
| |eclipse of the sun, which | | |
| |preceded it by two years. | | |
| | | | |
| |About 1808 began the inroads of | | |
| |the Fúlbe or Felláta, who had | | |
| |conquered successfully the | | |
| |ancient Háusa kingdoms, which | | |
| |till then had been in a sort of | | |
| |tributary dependence upon Bórnu.| | |
| |The consequence was that their | | |
| |countrymen, settled in Bórnu | | |
| |from ancient times, as we have | | |
| |seen, being harassed by | | |
| |persecution, collected together | | |
| |in Gújebá, and from that point | | |
| |began their conquests, | | |
| |vanquishing all the officers | | |
| |whom Áhmed sent against them; | | |
| |they then marched against | | |
| |Ghasréggomo, led on by Malá | | |
| |Rída, Mukhtár, and Hanníma, | | |
| |defeated the army of the sultan,| | |
| |who escaped by the eastern gate | | |
| |while they entered the town from| | |
| |the west side. Áhmed then went | | |
| |to reside in Kurnáwa. This | | |
| |happened in the year of the | | |
| |Hejra 1224, or 1809 of our era, | | |
| |on a Sunday; but I cannot say in| | |
| |what month. From that place the | | |
| |distressed king sent a message | | |
| |to the fáki Mohammed el Amín el | | |
| |Kánemí, who, on account of his | | |
| |marriage with the daughter of | | |
| |the governor of Ngála, had begun| | |
| |to oppose himself to the | | |
| |progress of the conquerors; for,| | |
| |having begged his father-in-law | | |
| |to allow him to take his wife | | |
| |and daughter with him to Fezzán,| | |
| |the latter refused, so that the | | |
| |fáki, together with his friends | | |
| |Mohammed Tiráb, and Ibrahím | | |
| |Wádáy collected in Bínder, on | | |
| |the west border of the Tsád, a | | |
| |small force, said to have | | |
| |consisted of five horsemen and | | |
| |two hundred spearmen, with whom | | |
| |he successfully attacked the | | |
| |Fúlbe, who were disposed to | | |
| |laugh at his threats. Having | | |
| |collected more adventurers and | | |
| |patriotic men round him, he then| | |
| |vanquished the whole force of | | |
| |the conquerors in a battle near | | |
| |Ngórnu, when he is said to have | | |
| |had under his command two | | |
| |hundred men on horseback, and | | |
| |two thousand on foot. Having | | |
| |thus liberated the whole eastern| | |
| |part of Bórnu, he sat down | | |
| |quietly, when Áhmed sent for | | |
| |him. Assisted by the inspiring | | |
| |fanaticism of the fáki, and by | | |
| |the courage and valour of his | | |
| |Kánembú spearmen, Áhmed was | | |
| |enabled to re-enter his capital,| | |
| |but soon after died[225], in the| | |
| |beginning, as it seems, of A.H. | | |
| |1225. | | |
| | | | |
| DÚNAMA, |Dúnama followed his father, who |Ngála. | 8. |
| |had already, in his lifetime, | | |
| Son of |chosen him for his successor, | | A.H. |
| Áhmed, and |and for a short time waged | |1225-1233.|
|MOHAMMED EL |successful war against the | | A.D. |
| AMÍN EL |enemy, till he too was driven | |1810-1817,|
| KÁNEMÍ. |out of his capital by the Fúlbe | | 1818. |
| |of Katágum, as it seems, in the | | |
| |end of 1226, or beginning of | | |
| |1227. He then went wandering | | |
| |about in his own kingdom, | | |
| |changing his residence every few| | |
| |months, first residing in Majé, | | |
| |near Fátóghaná (the ancient | | |
| |Dámasak), then in a place called| | |
| |Aségga, then near Múngonó, then | | |
| |in Bérberuwá, till he placed | | |
| |himself under the protection of | | |
| |the powerful fáki, who alone had| | |
| |proved himself capable of | | |
| |resisting the victorious impulse| | |
| |which attended the march of the | | |
| |Felláta. Indeed a covenant was | | |
| |then made, assigning half of the| | |
| |revenue of the liberated | | |
| |provinces to Mohammed el Amín. | | |
| |The fáki now resided in the | | |
| |large town of Ngórnu (“the | | |
| |blessing”), where he seems to | | |
| |have found zealous support from | | |
| |the many Tebu residing there, | | |
| |while the sultan held his court | | |
| |in some other place. But matters| | |
| |could not long remain in this | | |
| |state; the population were not | | |
| |able to serve two masters, but | | |
| |they were obliged to decide for | | |
| |the one or the other. When, | | |
| |therefore, the people all | | |
| |flocked to the man who had | | |
| |liberated them from a foreign | | |
| |yoke, the old party excited the | | |
| |sultan’s jealousy, and | | |
| |instigated him to rid himself of| | |
| |his troublesome rival. Mohammed | | |
| |el Amín’s authority, however, | | |
| |was so well established in the | | |
| |goodwill of the people, that on | | |
| |being cited before the sultan he| | |
| |was able to appear before him | | |
| |unattended, while the latter | | |
| |dared not hurt him. The | | |
| |consequence was that the fáki’s,| | |
| |or rather the sheikh’s | | |
| |(shékho—for this title he now | | |
| |began to adopt) influence | | |
| |increased every day, and Dúnama,| | |
| |with his party, made a last | | |
| |effort to release himself from | | |
| |that influence, and to preserve | | |
| |the royal dignity. Indeed he | | |
| |might hope that if he succeeded | | |
| |in establishing his court at a | | |
| |certain distance, he might rally| | |
| |around himself the old partisans| | |
| |of royalty; but before he | | |
| |reached Wúdí, the place he had | | |
| |selected for his residence, one | | |
| |of the principal settlements of | | |
| |the Temághera, and which had | | |
| |been the abode of several of the| | |
| |old Bórnu kings, Mohammed el | | |
| |Amín, who perceived that the | | |
| |time was now come when he must | | |
| |decide whether he was to be | | |
| |subject or ruler, even though he| | |
| |did not aspire to the title of | | |
| |king, had him arrested on the | | |
| |road, and brought back to | | |
| |Bérberuwá. But finding him still| | |
| |obstinate, he deposed him | | |
| |altogether, reproaching him with| | |
| |a wish to betray his country; | | |
| |and then he transferred the | | |
| |title and pomp of a sultan to | | |
| |Mohammed, a brother of Áhmed, | | |
| |and uncle of Dúnama. Mohammed | | |
| |then began to build himself a | | |
| |new residence, which is called | | |
| |by the Arabs Birni jedíd, two | | |
| |miles and a half north-west from| | |
| |Ngórnu. But when Mohammed el | | |
| |Amín saw that this man was no | | |
| |less obstinate than Dúnama, he | | |
| |reinstated the latter again. So | | |
| |that Mohammed, having reigned | | |
| |but a short time, and that only | | |
| |by the will of the usurper, is | | |
| |not mentioned at all by the | | |
| |chronicle. | | |
| | | | |
| |We may therefore reckon the | | |
| |commencement of the present | | |
| |dynasty of the Kánemíyín from | | |
| |the year 1814 of our era. It is | | |
| |a very remarkable fact, that an | | |
| |utter stranger to the country | | |
| |should become its ruler; but the| | |
| |struggle was not yet at an end, | | |
| |and could not well be ended | | |
| |without much bloodshed as soon | | |
| |as the fascinating personal | | |
| |influence of the liberator was | | |
| |gone by. The sheikh then, having| | |
| |gone so far, in order to | | |
| |separate his position as far as | | |
| |possible from the memory of the | | |
| |ancient times, founded likewise | | |
| |a new residence, which, from the| | |
| |name of the _Adansonia | | |
| |digitata_, a specimen of which | | |
| |stood on the spot where he | | |
| |wished to build his house, | | |
| |received the name of Kúka, or | | |
| |rather Kúkawa.[226] Being now | | |
| |fairly installed in the | | |
| |government of a vast but very | | |
| |distracted country, while he | | |
| |allowed the pomp of royalty to | | |
| |be borne by the descendant of | | |
| |the Séfuwa, and perhaps | | |
| |purposely exaggerated it, in | | |
| |order to make it ridiculous, he | | |
| |was anxious at the same time to | | |
| |recover the lost provinces, and | | |
| |to defend the country against | | |
| |its south-eastern neighbour, | | |
| |who, from having been a vassal, | | |
| |had become a dangerous enemy. | | |
| |Indeed he had to sustain a long | | |
| |and sanguinary struggle with | | |
| |Bagírmi, in which he was not | | |
| |always successful. He undertook | | |
| |at first to reduce the | | |
| |overbearing and lawless | | |
| |Burgománda, the ruler of that | | |
| |province, to obedience, with the| | |
| |assistance of ʿAbd el Kerím | | |
| |Sabún, the powerful and | | |
| |intelligent prince of Wádáy; but| | |
| |the latter chose rather to | | |
| |consult his own interests, and | | |
| |after carrying away all the | | |
| |treasures, and even many of the | | |
| |inhabitants of Bagírmi, he even | | |
| |granted to Burgománda some sort | | |
| |of protection in return for an | | |
| |annual tribute to be paid to | | |
| |Wádáy, as we shall see in the | | |
| |following volume. At the same | | |
| |time the intelligent Sabún, | | |
| |whose predecessor Mohammed | | |
| |Sáleh, by the conquest of the | | |
| |province of Fittri, had stept | | |
| |into the place of the | | |
| |pretensions raised by the | | |
| |Bulála, endeavoured to gain more| | |
| |ground in Kánem. Meanwhile the | | |
| |powerful king of Wádáy died | | |
| |(A.D. 1815), but even this event| | |
| |did not relieve the situation of| | |
| |El Kánemí; for, in a sudden and | | |
| |unexpected encounter of the two | | |
| |armies in Kótokó, the eldest and| | |
| |most beloved son of the sheikh | | |
| |was slain in 1816, and in 1817 a| | |
| |bloody battle was lost by him at| | |
| |Ngála, on which occasion the | | |
| |titular sultan Dúnama was slain.| | |
| |Mohammed el Kánemí being | | |
| |frustrated in this way, then | | |
| |entered into a covenant with the| | |
| |ruler of Fezzán; and a combined | | |
| |expedition was organized in the | | |
| |year 1818, which was altogether | | |
| |very successful. The whole of | | |
| |the northern part of Bagírmi was| | |
| |overrun, the large towns of | | |
| |Babáliyá and Gáwi were | | |
| |destroyed, and the sheikh spent | | |
| |a day or two in Más-eñá, the | | |
| |capital of the country; but no | | |
| |decisive blow could be struck, | | |
| |the king with his whole army | | |
| |having retired to Mankhfa and | | |
| |taken up a very strong position | | |
| |defended by the river and a | | |
| |great number of boats. | | |
| | | | |
| IBRAHÍM. |Installing in the deceased | | |
| |sultan’s place Ibrám, or | | |
| A.H. |Ibrahím, Dúnama’s brother, the | | |
| 1233-1263. |sheikh continued the struggle | | |
| A.D. |with Bagírmi, and on the 24th of| | |
| 1818-1846. |March of the year 1824, as we | | |
| |know from the report of Denham’s| | |
| |expedition, was so fortunate as | | |
| |to gain, on the same battle- | | |
| |field of Ngála, a decided | | |
| |victory over his valiant south- | | |
| |eastern neighbour, which seems | | |
| |to have set him at once at rest.| | |
| |Having thus obtained leisure on | | |
| |this side, and having | | |
| |extinguished a revolt of the | | |
| |Manga, Mohammed el Kánemí seems | | |
| |to have turned his attention | | |
| |westward, in order to recover, | | |
| |if possible, some of the | | |
| |provinces of the old empire of | | |
| |Bórnu. At first he was very | | |
| |successful, and penetrated far | | |
| |into the interior of the | | |
| |province of Bauchi; but in the | | |
| |year 1826 the officers of Sultan| | |
| |Béllo beat his army, and he | | |
| |himself had a narrow escape. He | | |
| |seems to have then concluded a | | |
| |peace. He made also several | | |
| |attempts to reduce Kánem to a | | |
| |state of obedience, and here had| | |
| |to contend with Wádáy. Mohammed | | |
| |el Kánemí died in 1835[227], | | |
| |leaving forty-three sons, and | | |
| |having named for his successor | | |
| |his eldest son ʿOmár, who was to| | |
| |be succeeded, if he should die | | |
| |early, by ʿAbd e’ Rahmán, and | | |
| |then by Yusuf. | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| SHEIKH |ʿOmár’s reign is remarkable on | | |
| ʿOMÁR. |account of his having made an | | |
| |end of the Séfuwa altogether. He| | |
| Son of |seemed from the first desirous | | |
|Mohammed el |of peace in every direction, and| | |
| Kánemí. |had the great advantage, in | | |
| |endeavouring to obtain this | | |
| A.H. 1251. |object from Bagírmi, that his | | |
| A.D. 1835. |mother belonged to that country.| | |
| |Having also made peace with the | | |
| |Fúlbe after an unsuccessful | | |
| |expedition against them, he had | | |
| |some difficulty in restraining | | |
| |the governors of the western | | |
| |provinces, who are almost | | |
| |independent vassals, from making| | |
| |incursions into their territory.| | |
| |It was on this account that he | | |
| |was obliged, in the beginning of| | |
| |1846, to send a strong army, | | |
| |commanded by his brother ʿAbd e’| | |
| |Rahmán, against Ibrám, the | | |
| |restless governor of Zínder, | | |
| |whose obstinate disregard of the| | |
| |peace with the Fúlbe proceeded | | |
| |to open rebellion. | | |
| | | | |
| |This opportunity, when all the | | |
| |best troops were about to march | | |
| |to the distant west, was seized | | |
| |on by the numerous partisans of | | |
| |the old dynasty, to aim a mortal| | |
| |blow at the house of the sheikh | | |
| |by secretly inviting the King of| | |
| |Wádáy, Mohammed e’ Sheríf, to | | |
| |re-establish the Séfuwa on the | | |
| |throne of Bórnu. Mohammed | | |
| |listening to this invitation, | | |
| |collected his army, and in Mulúd| | |
| |or Rebí el awel, 1262, that is, | | |
| |in March 1846, reached Kúsuri. | | |
| |The sheikh never heard of his | | |
| |approach till he was very near. | | |
| |He at once summoned the sultan | | |
| |Ibrám from Birni, and, | | |
| |denouncing him as a traitor, | | |
| |placed him in irons; he then | | |
| |hastily collected what troops | | |
| |remained behind, having no one | | |
| |with him upon whom he could | | |
| |rely, except Tiráb his faithful | | |
| |minister (the intimate friend of| | |
| |his father), his brother the | | |
| |valorous ʿAlí, together with | | |
| |from five to six hundred Arabs | | |
| |and Tebu. With this little band,| | |
| |swelled by a crowd of faithless | | |
| |Shúwa, he encamped on the | | |
| |western bank of the river of | | |
| |Logón, not far from the town of | | |
| |Kúsuri, while Wádáy was encamped| | |
| |on the eastern bank of the | | |
| |Shárí. The inhabitants of Kúsuri| | |
| |locked the gates of their town | | |
| |against both armies, but | | |
| |secretly communicated with | | |
| |Wádáy; and when Mohammed e’ | | |
| |Sheríf was unable to force the | | |
| |passage of the river in the face| | |
| |of the enemy, who did great | | |
| |execution with two cannons, the | | |
| |Wádáy having none, they sent to | | |
| |him offering to lead part of his| | |
| |army round by a ford which was | | |
| |protected only by Shúwa. This | | |
| |was the ford of Síña Fácha, at | | |
| |the headland a little below | | |
| |Kúsuri, where the Shárí and the | | |
| |river of Logón unite to form one| | |
| |stream, which joins the Tsád. | | |
| |When the corps sent by the | | |
| |people of Wádáy tried to cross | | |
| |the river here, the Shúwa, who | | |
| |had been ordered to defend the | | |
| |ford, gave way, and, thinking | | |
| |this a favourable opportunity to| | |
| |pilfer, joined the enemy, | | |
| |killing many of the sheikh’s | | |
| |people in the flank, till | | |
| |Kashélla Belál brought their | | |
| |chief to the ground. In the | | |
| |slaughter which ensued, Tiráb | | |
| |fell, and a great many of the | | |
| |Bórnu people. The valorous ʿAlí | | |
| |penetrated into the town of | | |
| |Kúsuri, but was delivered by the| | |
| |townspeople into the hands of | | |
| |the king of Wádáy; the rest took| | |
| |to flight, except the Tebu and | | |
| |Arabs, who maintained their | | |
| |position, so that Sheikh ʿOmár | | |
| |was able to say his prayers of | | |
| |the dhohor and the ʿaser before | | |
| |he left the battle-field. But | | |
| |the encampment fell into the | | |
| |hands of the enemy, as well as | | |
| |the two cannons. However, in | | |
| |crossing the river, the Wádáy | | |
| |army sustained severe losses. | | |
| |All this happened on Tuesday the| | |
| |11th of Rebí el awel, or March | | |
| |8. 1846. On Thursday, Sheikh | | |
| |ʿOmár put to death Ibrahím the | | |
| |titular sultan of Bórnu, whom he| | |
| |had laid in chains before going | | |
| |to battle. He then hastily left | | |
| |Kúkawa, and retreated into the | | |
| |western provinces; the host of | | |
| |Wádáy followed him as far as | | |
| |Ngórnu, where they encamped and | | |
| |remained about forty days, while| | |
| |their skirmishers plundered all | | |
| |the neighbouring places, and | | |
| |particularly Kúkawa, from whence| | |
| |they carried away a considerable| | |
| |booty, and then set fire to the | | |
| |town. Indeed the capital for | | |
| |about two months remained a | | |
| |desert. | | |
| | | | |
| |But this was not all. The King | | |
| |of Wádáy took ʿAlí, the son of | | |
| |the late Sultan Ibrám, and | | |
| |enthroned him in Birni as sultan| | |
| |of Bórnu, summoning all the | | |
| |partisans of the old dynasty to | | |
| |defend their new king. However, | | |
| |he soon found that he was not | | |
| |strong enough to carry his | | |
| |point, and hearing that ʿAbd e’ | | |
| |Rahmán, the sheikh’s brother, | | |
| |was approaching from the west | | |
| |with a numerous host, and being | | |
| |afraid lest, if he stayed | | |
| |longer, his retreat might be cut| | |
| |off by the river, he sent | | |
| |Ibrahím Wádáy as a messenger of | | |
| |peace to the sheikh, declaring | | |
| |that he had not undertaken this | | |
| |expedition from any desire of | | |
| |conquest, but at the instigation| | |
| |of a great many of the noblest | | |
| |kokanáwa or grandees of Bórnu, | | |
| |whose letters he forwarded to | | |
| |the sheikh. He then, in the last| | |
| |days of April, or the first days| | |
| |of May, 1846, left Ngórnu, | | |
| |commencing his retreat to his | | |
| |far-distant residence, and | | |
| |leaving the recently-elevated | | |
| |sultan to his fate. | | |
| | | | |
| |But it appears that ʿAlí the son| | |
| |of Ibrám was a courageous young | | |
| |prince; for he thought himself | | |
| |strong enough to march against | | |
| |the sheikh, whom he encountered | | |
| |at Minárem, but was quickly | | |
| |vanquished and slain. Thus the | | |
| |last of the Séfuwa died an | | |
| |honourable death on the | | |
| |battlefield. It was now evident | | |
| |that the family of Mohammed el | | |
| |Kánemí, who had liberated the | | |
| |country from a warlike and | | |
| |successful enemy, was well | | |
| |established in the place of the | | |
| |ancient rulers, who had | | |
| |degenerated into mere puppets, | | |
| |and were totally unable to | | |
| |defend themselves and their | | |
| |subjects. A great slaughter of | | |
| |all the partisans of the old | | |
| |dynasty followed, and | | |
| |principally of the Sugúrti, who | | |
| |had risen as their especial | | |
| |upholders; and a little later, | | |
| |in order to efface as far as | | |
| |possible all recollection of | | |
| |those times, the destruction of | | |
| |New Birni was decided on, and | | |
| |fell to the lot of Háj Beshír, | | |
| |the son of Tiráb, who had | | |
| |succeeded his father as the | | |
| |first minister and most | | |
| |confidential servant of the | | |
| |sheikh. From this time, people | | |
| |say, dated the great wealth of | | |
| |the vizier. Meanwhile Sheikh | | |
| |ʿOmár went in person to | | |
| |castigate Serkí Ibrám, the | | |
| |governor of Zínder, who had | | |
| |risen in open revolt, and took | | |
| |and plundered the town, though | | |
| |he pardoned and reinstated the | | |
| |governor, while ʿAbd e’ Rahmán | | |
| |quelled the rebellion of the | | |
| |Manga, who, ever restless and | | |
| |inclined to insurrection, had | | |
| |thought this an excellent | | |
| |opportunity of asserting their | | |
| |independence. ʿOmár himself | | |
| |brought the then large town of | | |
| |Surríkulo to obedience[228]; and| | |
| |the country soon became quieter | | |
| |than before. Scarcely any | | |
| |vestige of the old dynasty was | | |
| |left; even the records of it | | |
| |were purposely destroyed—a most | | |
| |unfortunate circumstance, which | | |
| |made it very difficult for me to| | |
| |obtain what little information I| | |
| |have been able to collect. | | |
| | | | |
| |The Kúka, built by Mohammed el | | |
| |Kánemí, having been destroyed by| | |
| |the people of Wádáy, ʿOmár and | | |
| |his vizier built two towns in | | |
| |its place, one the eastern town,| | |
| |“bílla gedíbe,” as the especial | | |
| |residence of the court, the | | |
| |other, the western town, “bílla | | |
| |futébe.” Thus Kúka has become | | |
| |Kúkawa.[229] | | |
| | | | |
| |Sheikh ʿOmár was now in a much | | |
| |more favourable position than | | |
| |his father, being sole and | | |
| |indisputable master of the | | |
| |country and really the king, | | |
| |though he disdained the title. | | |
| |He might have given it a new | | |
| |organization, ruling it with a | | |
| |strong and impartial hand; but | | |
| |while he is an upright and | | |
| |straightforward man, who | | |
| |certainly would like to see the | | |
| |country well administered, he | | |
| |lacks that far-sighted vigour | | |
| |which is necessary for ruling an| | |
| |extensive kingdom based on a | | |
| |loose state of things, with | | |
| |arbitrary power above and | | |
| |turbulent habits beneath. Indeed| | |
| |it is most deplorable that he | | |
| |has allowed the Tawárek, or | | |
| |rather Imóshagh, those | | |
| |inveterate enemies of well- | | |
| |governed communities, to persist| | |
| |in their desolating and | | |
| |predatory habits. In the time of| | |
| |his father there were Tebu | | |
| |settlements near all the wells | | |
| |on the Fezzán road as far as | | |
| |Beduwáram; all these have been | | |
| |deserted successively since the | | |
| |beginning of the reign of ʿOmár,| | |
| |the towns of Lárí and Wúdí have | | |
| |been ransacked by the Tawárek, | | |
| |and not a living soul left, and | | |
| |the whole of Kánem has become | | |
| |the desolate abode of a few | | |
| |unfortunate communities, and the| | |
| |wild hunting-ground of continual| | |
| |adventurous ghazzias from every | | |
| |quarter; indeed, not only the | | |