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BORGU, or BARBA

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Originally appearing in Volume V04, Page 251 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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BORGU, or BARBA , an inland See also:country of See also:West See also:Africa. The western See also:part is included in the See also:French See also:colony of See also:Dahomey (q.v.); the eastern See also:division forms the Borgu See also:province of the See also:British See also:protectorate of See also:Nigeria. Borgu is bounded N.E. and E. by the See also:Niger, S. by the Yoruba country, N.W. by Gurma. The country consists of an elevated See also:plain traversed by See also:rivers draining See also:north or See also:east to the Niger. The See also:water-parting between the Niger See also:basin and the See also:coast streams of Dahomey and See also:Lagos runs north-east and See also:south-west near the western frontier. In about 10° N., below the 'See also:town of See also:Bussa, rapids See also:block the course of the Niger, navigable up to that point from the See also:sea. The See also:soil is mostly fertile, and is fairly cultivated, producing in abundance See also:millet, yams, plantains and limes. The See also:acacia See also:tree is See also:common, and from it See also:gum-arabic of See also:good quality is obtained. From the See also:nut of the See also:horse-See also:radish tree See also:ben oil is expressed. See also:Cattle are numerous and of excellent breed, and See also:game is abundant. Borgu is inhabited by a number of See also:pagan See also:negro tribes, several of whom were dependent on the See also:chief of Nikki, a town in the centre of the country, the chief being spoken of as See also:sultan of Borgu. The See also:king of Bussa was another more or less powerful potentate.

In the See also:

early years of the 19th See also:century Borgu was invaded by the See also:Fula (q.v.), but the Bariba (as the See also:people are called collectively) maintained their See also:independence. In 1894 Borgu became the See also:object of rivalry between See also:France and See also:England. The Royal Niger See also:Company, which had already concluded a treaty of See also:protection with the king of Bussa, sent out See also:Captain (afterwards See also:Sir) F. D. See also:Lugard to negotiate See also:treaties with the king of Nikki and other chiefs, and Lugard succeeded in doing so a few days before the arrival of French expeditions from the west. Disregarding the British treaties, French See also:officers concluded others with various chiefs, invaded Bussa and established themselves at various points on the Niger. To defend British interests, the West See also:African Frontier Force was raised locally under Lugard's command, and a See also:period of See also:great tension ensued, British and French troops facing one another at several places. A conflict was, how-ever, averted, and by the See also:convention of See also:June 1898 the western part of Borgu was declared French and the eastern British, the French withdrawing from all places on the See also:lower Niger. The British portion of Borgu has an See also:area of about 12,000 sq. m. Up to the period of inclusion within the protectorate of Nigeria little or nothing was known of the country, though there were interesting legends of the antiquity of its See also:history. The See also:population was entirely See also:independent, and resisted with success not only the Fula from the north but also the armies of Dahomey and Mossi from the south and west. Travellers who attempted to penetrate this country had never returned.

Since 1898 the country has been opened, and from being the most lawless and truculent of people the Bariba have become singularly amenable and See also:

law-abiding. Provincial courts are established, but there is little See also:crime in the province. The British garrisons have been replaced by See also:civil See also:police. The See also:assessment of taxes under British See also:administration was successfully carried out in 1904, and taxes are collected without trouble. In south Borgu the people are agricultural but not industrious or inclined for See also:trade. In the north there are some See also:pastoral settlements of Fula. The Bariba themselves remain agricultural. See also:Cart-roads have been constructed between the town of Kiama and the Niger. The agricultural resources of Borgu are great, and as the population increases with the cessation of See also:war and by See also:immigration the country should show marked development. Shea trees are abundant. Elephants are still to be found in the fifty-mile See also:strip of See also:forest See also:land which stretches between the Niger and the interior of the province. The forest contains valuable sylvan products, and there are great possibilities for the cultivation of See also:rubber.

There are also extensive areas of See also:

fine land suitable for See also:cotton, with the water-way of the Niger See also:close at See also:hand. Labour might be brought from Yorubaland close by, and a Yoruba colony has been experiment-ally started.

End of Article: BORGU, or BARBA

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