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"Do not let us
smoothly despise these black warriors. This headstrong braggart cavalry
and its rabble of infantry, these raidings and reivings or rare and
brilliant battles that grew willy nilly from duel and skirmish—they were
our own feudal army, they were Crecy and Agincourt."1
(Lost Cities 80)
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The Sao/Kanem/Borno
state--located around Nigeria
and the Lake Chad region between the Niger
and the Nile rivers--was the longest
lived of all the Sudanese states. The Alaoma royal dynasty of Borno was
even one of the longest dynasties in the history of the world.2
(Lost Cities, 104) The kingdom was established in the eighth century and
prospered until the 13th and remained overlord of the region until the 17th.
Kanem began as a confederation of the black nomadic klans. In the 12th
century one of the tribal leaders, Mai Dunama Kebbalemi (1221-1259)
embraced Islam and began a series of military expansions, using Islam as
a rationale for his campaigns. The nation later developed into a world
power, and an intellectual center of learning. By the 17th
century M. Ka'ti (1591-1655) described Borno as the fourth Sultanate of
the world.3
(512, V)
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Government
The king, who spoke only through intermediates, had absolute power. Under
the king were a series of counselors and territorial governors that he
had appointed. Law was that of the black inhabitants, but under King Iris
Alaoma (1564-96), inspired by his pilgrimage to Mecca in 1571, major reforms took
place. B. M. Barkindo, professor of history at the University of Bayero in
Kano, wrote that King Iris Alaoma's was considered, "a military and
administrative innovator and an Islamizer, and in foreign affairs as a
skilled diplomat who was comparable to the major Muslim leaders of his
day,"4
(496, V) King Iris Alaoma set up an appeals system of, "learned men
and (the) Imams held disputations before the Amir Ali concerning doubtful
points of law and dogma."5
(498, V) The highest council of the state was the Majlis. The king had
the power to overturn any decision of the Majlis, but it would have
likely been too unpopular.
An interesting aspect about
the government, and Sao/Kanem/Borno in general, was the prominent and
relatively equal role of woman. Women achieved high positions in
government and often owned estates. Slaves also played important roles in
the government—although that is not unusual in ancient and medieval
societies. Many of the state's treasurers were slaves.
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World Power and Military
Contemporaries recognized Borno as a world power. They had vast trading
networks, a powerful military and a rich intellectual culture. Around
1512 Borno sent diplomats to the N. African-occupied Spain, they had an embassy in the Ottomans
Empire, where the two countries had a treaty of, "friendship and
commerce," and Borno also had close relations with Egypt.6
(496, v)
The people of Borno were
expert metal workers. They grew wealthy off the copper, bronze, iron, and
jewelry that they had worked. "Such of their works as we know,"
Lantier writes, "already witness to a mastery which presumes a long
industrial past."7
(lc 106)
By that time,
"Borno," B.M. Barkindo tells us, "was also becoming a
great centre of learning visited by scholars from the Bilad al Sudan
(black Africa) and other parts of the
Muslim world."8
(495, V) Muslim scholars spread Islam to the rural areas. Southeast of Lake Chad the Kotoko clan even wrote their language
in Arabic.9
(Lost cities 332)
Their military also
possessed great power. They had a disciplined cavalry, large boats,
accurate archers; after King Idirs Alaoma saw the Egyptian soldiers armed
with muskets, he purchased many guns and hired corps of Turkish gunman to
train his men and fight for his army. Idirs Alaoma told his council,
"If we are to add more lands to Borno we should have the newest
weapons."10
(Gr. Rul, 102) Basil Davidson writes that, "Arrayed in armor like
medieval European knights, the cavalrymen of Bornu terrorized the
central Sudan for more than 200 years, attacking in close formation
to the shrill sound of long war trumpets. As early as the 16th Century,
Europeans had heard about Bornu's
yearly marches."11
(Afr King, 30) Respectful and fearful European voices give credence to
the military power of Borno. In 1823, when the British first met the Bornu,
one soldier writes that the black horsemen: "Were
habited in coats of mail composed of iron chain, which covered them from
the throat to the knees." Their horses moved, "with great
precision and expertness." When they greeted the British they
yelled: "Welcome!" "the compliment…very much the
appearance of a declaration of contempt for (our) weakness."12
(30, Afr King) A British soldier warned his countrymen, "Do no let
us smoothly despise these black warriors. This headstrong braggart
cavalry and its rabble of infantry, these raidings and reivings or rare
and brilliant battles that grew willy nilly from duel and skirmish--they were our
own feudal army, they were Crecy and Agincourt."13
(Lost Cities 80) The army expanded their territory during the 16th-18th
centuries. King Idris Alaoma, the nation's greatest expansionist, was
also known for his generosity in victory. Many foreigners were so
impressed by King Idris Alaoma many immigrated to Borno to live under his
rule.14
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Fall of Borno
During the reign of Ali ibn
Dunama (1742-92) Borno experienced major crisis. Famines, revolts from
within, and the growing military might of their enemies severely weakened
the kingdom.
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1Davidson,
African Kingdoms, 104
2Davidson,
Lost Cities, 140
3Connah,
136
4Davidson,
African Kingdoms, 104
5Ibid
6Connah,
134
7Connah,
136
8Iliffe,
John. African: The History of a Continent. Great
Britain: University
of Cambridge, 1995,
78
9Davidson,
African Kingdoms, 104
10Iliffe,
John, 78
11The
Heritage of World Civilizations: Volume One: To 1650, 4th ed. Editor,
Owen, Cralyce. Upper Saddle
River, New Jersey:
Prentice-Hall Simon & Shuster, 1997, 505
12Davidson,
Lost Cities, 134
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