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BAGIRMI

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Originally appearing in Volume V03, Page 201 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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BAGIRMI , a See also:

country of See also:north-central See also:Africa, lying S.E. of See also:Lake See also:Chad and forming See also:part of the Chad circumscription of See also:French See also:Congo. It extends some 240 M. north to See also:south and has a breadth of about 15o m., with an See also:area of 20,000 sq. m. The See also:population in 1903 was estimated at See also:loo,000, having been greatly reduced as the result of See also:wars and slave-raiding. By including districts S. and S.E. occupied by former See also:vassal states, the area and population of Bagirmi would be more than doubled. The See also:surface of the country, which lies about r000 ft. above See also:sea-level, is almost See also:flat with a very slight inclination N. to Lake Chad. It forms part of what seems to be the See also:basin of an immense lake, of which Chad is the remnant. The See also:soil is See also:clay. The See also:river See also:Shari(q.v.) forms the western boundary. Numerous tributaries of the Shari flow through the country, but much of the See also:water is absorbed by swamps and See also:sand-obstructed channels, and seasons of drought are recurrent. The See also:southern part of the country is the most fertile. Among the trees the See also:acacia and the dum-See also:palm are See also:common. Various kinds of See also:rubber See also:vine are found.

The See also:

fauna includes the See also:elephant, See also:hippopotamus, See also:lion and several See also:species of See also:antelope. Ants are very numerous. See also:Millet and See also:sesame are the See also:principal grains cultivated. See also:Rice grows See also:wild, and several kinds of Poa grass are used as See also:food by the natives. See also:Cotton and See also:indigo are grown to a considerable extent, especially by See also:Bornu immigrants. The See also:capital is Chekna, on a tributary of the Shari, the former capital, Massenia, having been destroyed in 1898. Fort Lamy at the confluence of the Logone and Shari, and Fort de Cointet on the See also:middle Shari, are French posts See also:round which towns have grown. See also:Trade is chiefly with See also:Yola, a See also:town on the See also:Benue in See also:British See also:Nigeria, and with See also:Khartum via See also:Wadai. There is also an See also:ancient See also:caravan route which runs through Kanem and across the See also:Sahara to See also:Tripoli. The population of Bagirmi is mixed. See also:Negroid peoples pre-dominate, but there are many See also:pastoral See also:Fula and See also:Arabs. The Bagirmese proper are a vigorous, well-formed See also:race of Negroid-Arab See also:blood, who, according to their own traditions, came from the eastward several centuries ago, a tradition See also:borne out by their See also:language, which resembles those spoken on the See also:White See also:Nile.

On their arrival they appear to have taken the See also:

place of the Bulala See also:dynasty. They subdued the Fula and Arabs already settled in the See also:district, and after being converted to See also:Islam under Abdullah, their See also:fourth See also:king (about 1600), they extended their authority over a large number of tribes living to the south and See also:east. The most important of these tribes are the Saras, Gaberi, Somrai, Gulla, Nduka, Nuba and Sokoro. These See also:pagan tribes were repeatedly raided by the Bagirmese for slaves. Most of them are of a See also:primitive type and appear to be dying out. The Saras are remarkable for their herculean stature, and are one of the most promising of See also:African races. See also:Tree See also:worship is prevalent among the Somrai and the Gaberi. All the tribes believe in a supreme being whose See also:voice is the See also:thunder. See also:Polygamy is See also:general in upper Bagirmi, where some traces of a matriarchal See also:stage of society linger, one small See also:state being called Beled-el-Mra, " See also:Women's See also:Land," because its ruler is always a See also:queen. Bagirmi was made known to See also:Europe by the travels of See also:Dixon See also:Denham (1823), Heinrich See also:Barth (1852), who was imprisoned by the Bagirmcse for some See also:time, Gustav See also:Nachtigal (1872), and P. See also:Matteucci and A. 1VI.

Massari (1881). The country in 1871 had been conquered by the See also:

sultan of Wadai, and about 1890 was over-run by Rabah Zobeir (q.v.) who subsequently removed farther See also:west to Bornu. About this time French See also:interest in the countries surrounding Lake Chad was aroused. The first expedition led thither through Bagirmi met with disaster, its See also:leader, See also:Paul Crampel, being killed by See also:order of Rabah. Subsequent See also:missions were more fortunate, and in 1897 Emile Gentil, the French See also:commissioner for the district, concluded a treaty with the sultan of Bagirmi, placing his country under French See also:protection. A See also:resident was See also:left at the capital, Massenia, but on Gentil's withdrawal Rabah descended from Bornu and forced sultan and resident to flee. It was not until after the See also:death of Rabah in See also:battle and the rout of his sons (1901) that French authority was firmly established. Kanem, a country north of Bagirmi and subject in turn to it and to Wadai, was at the same time brought under French See also:control. So far as its See also:European rivals are concerned, the French right to these regions is based on the Franco-See also:German See also:convention of the 15th of See also:March 1894 and the Anglo-French See also:declaration of the 21st of March 1899. See H. Barth, Travels and Discoveries in North and Central Africa (See also:London, 1857–1858) ; G. Nachtigal, Sahara and See also:Sudan (See also:Berlin, 1879–1889) ; E.

Gentil, La Chute de l'See also:

Empire de Rabah (See also:Paris, 19oz). Also FRENCH CONGO.

End of Article: BAGIRMI

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