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BORNU
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BORNU , a See also:country in the Central See also:Sudan, lying W. and S. of See also:Lake See also:Chad. It is bounded W. and S. by the See also:Hausa states and N. by the See also:Sahara. Formerly an See also:independent See also:Mahommedan sultanate it has been divided between See also:Great See also:Britain, See also:Germany and See also:France. To France has fallen a portion of See also:northern Bornu and also See also:Zinder (q.v.), a tributary See also:state to the See also:north-See also:west, while the See also:south-west See also:part is incorporated in the See also:German See also:colony of Cameroon. Three-fourths of Bornu proper, some 50,000 sq. m., forms part of the See also:British See also:protectorate of See also:Nigeria. Bornu is for the most part an alluvial See also:plain, the country sloping gradually to Lake Chad, which formerly spread over a much larger See also:area than it now occupies. The Komadugu (i.e. See also:river) Waube—generally known as the Yo—and its tributaries rise in the See also:highlands which, beyond the western border of Bornu, See also:form the See also:watershed between the See also:Niger and Chad systems, and flow north and See also:east across the plains to Lake, Chad, the Yo in its last few See also:miles marking the frontier between the See also:French and British possessions. In the south-west a part of Bornu drains to the See also:Benue. The See also:rivers are intermittent, and See also:water in See also:southern Bornu is obtained only from See also:wells, which are sunk to a great See also:depth. The vast plain of Bornu is stoneless, except for rare outcrops of ironstone, and consists of the porous fissured See also:black See also:earth called " See also:cotton See also:soil " in See also:India, alternating with, or more probably overlaid by, See also:sand. Throughout the See also:flat country water is apparently found everywhere at a depth of 54 ft., corresponding to the level of Chad. Towards Damjiri in the north-west the country becomes more broken, hilly and timbered. In the south See also:limestone is found near Gujba and also along the Gongola tributary of the Benue. A See also:forest of red and See also:green barked See also:acacia, yielding the See also:species of See also:gum most valuable in the See also:market, extends from the Gongola to Gujba. Immense baobabs (Adansonia digitata), See also:fine tamarinds and a few trees of the genus Ficus are met with in the south. North of Maifoni (See also:latitude 12° N.) the See also:baobab ceases, except at See also:Kuka, where extensive plantations have been made, and its See also:place is taken by the Kigelia and also by a very handsome species of Diospyros. North of Kuka is a dense See also:belt of Hyphaene See also:palm with fine tamarinds and See also:figs. Cotton and See also:indigo grow See also:wild, and afford the materials for the cloths, finely dyed with See also:blue stripes, which form the See also:staple fabric of the country. On the shores of Lake Chad the cotton grown is of a peculiarly fine quality. See also:Rice and See also:wheat of excellent quality are raised, but in small quantities, the staple See also:food being a species of See also:millet called gussub, which is made into a See also:kind of See also:paste and eaten with See also:butter or See also:honey. Ground-nuts, yams, sweet potatoes, several sorts of beans and grains, peppers, onions, water-melons and tomatoes are grown. Of See also:fruit trees the country possesses the See also:lime and fig. Wild animals, in great See also:numbers, find both food and See also:cover in the extensive districts of See also:wood and See also:marsh. Lions, giraffes, elephants, hyenas, crocodiles, hippopotami, antelopes, gazelles and ostriches are found. The See also:horse, the See also:camel and the ox are the See also:chief domestic animals; all are used as beasts of See also:burden. The country abounds with bees, and honey forms one of the chief Bornuese delicacies.
The See also:climate, especially from See also: The See also:law allows See also:polygamy, but the richest men have seldom more than two or three wives. The See also:marriage ceremonies last for a whole See also:week, the first three days being spent in feasting on the favourite See also:national dishes, and the others appropriated to certain symbolical See also:rites. A favourite amusement is the watching of See also:wrestling matches. A See also:game bearing some resemblance to See also:chess, played with beans and holes in the sand, is also a favourite occupation. The See also:pastoral districts of the country are occupied by the Shuwas, who are of Arab origin, and speak a well-preserved See also:dialect of Arabic. Of the date of their See also:immigration from the East there is no See also:record; but they were in the country as See also:early as the See also:middle of the 17th See also:century. They are divided into numerous distinct clans. Their villages in See also:general consist of rudely constructed huts, of an exaggerated conical form. Another tribe, called La See also:Salas, inhabits a number of See also:low fertile islands in Lake Chad, separated from the mainland by fordable channels. The Bornuese are noted horsemen, and in times of See also:war the horses, as well as the riders, used to be cased in See also:light See also:iron See also:mail. The Shuwas, however, are clad only in a light See also:shirt, and the Kanembu spearmen go almost naked, and fight with See also:shield and See also:spear. It is indispensable to a chief of See also:rank that he should possess a huge belly, and when high feeding cannot produce this, See also:padding gives the See also:appearance of it. Notwithstanding the See also:heat of the climate, the See also:body is enveloped in successive See also:robes, the number indicating the rank of the wearer. The See also:head likewise is enclosed in numerous turbans. The prevailing See also:language in Bornu is the Kanuri. It has no See also:affinity, according to Heinrich See also:Barth, with the great Berber See also:family. A See also:grammar was published in 1854 by S. W. Koelle, as well as a See also:volume of talcs and fables, with a See also:translation and vocabulary. The towns in Bornu, which have populations varying from 10,000 to 50,000 or more, are surrounded with walls 35 or 40 ft. in height and 20 ft. in thickness, having at each of the four corners a triple See also:gate, composed of strong planks of wood, with bars of iron. The abodes of the See also:principal inhabitants form an enclosed square, in which are See also:separate houses for each of the wives; the chief's See also:palace consists of turrets connected together by terraces. These are well built of a reddish See also:clay, highly polished, so as to resemble See also:stucco; the interior roof, though composed only of branches, is tastefully constructed. Maidugari, which in 1908 became the seat of the native See also:government, is a thriving commercial See also:town some 70 M. south-west of Lake Chad. The former See also:capital, Kuka (q.v.), and Ngornu (the town of " blessing "), are near the shores of Lake Chad. 
On the Yo are still to be seen extensive remains of Old Bornu or Birni and Gambarou or. Gha.mbaru, which were destroyed by the See also:Fula about 1809. Dikwa, the capital chosen by Rabah (see below), lies in the German part of Bornu. See also:History.—The history of Bornu goes back to the 9th century A.D., but its early portions are very fragmentary and dubious. The first See also:dynasty known is that of the Sefuwa or descendants of Sef, which came to the See also:throne in the See also:person of Dugu or Duku, and had its capital at Njimiye (Jima) in Kanem on the north-east shores of Lake Chad. The Sefuwa are of Berber origin, the descent from Sef, the Himyaritic ruler, being mythical. From this Berber See also:strain comes the name Berberi or Ba-Berberche, applied by the Hausa to the inhabitants of Bornu. Mahommedanism was adopted towards the end of the 1th century, and has since continued the See also:religion of the country. From 1194 to 1220 reigned See also:Selma II., under whom the See also:power of the See also:kingdom was greatly extended; and Dunama II.. his successor was also a powerful and warlike See also:prince. In the following reigns the prosperity of the country began to diminish, and about 1386 the dynasty was expelled from Njimiye, and forced to seek See also:refuge in the western part of its territory by the invasion of the Bulala. See also:Mai See also:Ali (I.) Ghajideni, who founded the See also:city of Birni, rendered his country once more redoubtable and strong. His successor, Idris II., completely vanquished the Bulala and subjugated Kanem; and under Mahommed V., the next monarch, Bornu reached its highest See also:pitch of greatness. At this See also:period Zinder became a tributary state. A See also:series of for the most part peaceful reigns succeeded till about the middle of the 18th century, when Ali (IV:) Omarmi entered upon a violent struggle with the See also:Tuareg or Imoshagh. Under his son Ahmed (about 1808) the kingdom began to be harassed by the Fula, who had already conquered the Hausa country. Expelled from his capital by the invaders, Ahmed was only restored by the assistance of the See also:fakir Mahommed al-Amin al-Kanemi, who, pretending to a See also:celestial See also:mission, hoisted the green See also:flag of the See also:Prophet, and undertook the deliverance of his country. The Fula appear to have been taken by surprise, and were in ten months driven completely out of Bornu. The conqueror invested the nearest See also:heir of the See also:ancient See also:kings with all the appearance of sovereignty—reserving for himself, however, under the See also:title of sheik, all its reality. The See also:court of the See also:sultan (shehu) was established at New Bornu, or Birni, which was made the capital, the old city having been destroyed during the Fula invasion; while the sheik, in military state, took up his See also:residence at the new city of Kuka. Fairly established, he ruled the country with a See also:rod of iron, and at the same See also:time inspired his subjects with a superstitious notion of his sanctity. His zeal was peculiarly directed against moral or religious offences. The most frivolous faults of See also:women, as talking too loud, and walking in the See also:street unveiled, rendered the offender liable to public See also:indictment, while graver errors were visited with the most ignominious punishments, and often with See also:death itself. Kanemi died in 1835, and was succeeded by his son, Sheik See also:Omar, who altogether abolished the nominal kingship of-the Sefuwa. During Omar's reign, which lasted about fifty years, Bornu was visited by many Europeans, who reached it via See also:Tripoli and the Sahara. The first to enter the country were See also:Walter Oudney, See also:Hugh See also:Clapperton and See also:Dixon See also:Denham (1823). They were followed in 1851–1855 by Heinrich Barth. Later travellers included See also:Gerhard See also:Rohlfs (1866) and Gustav See also:Nachtigal. All these travellers were well received by the Kanuri, whose power from the middle of the 19th century began to decay. This was foreseen by Barth; and Nachtigal, who in 1870 conveyed presents sent by See also: The chief of Zinder had ceased to pay See also:tribute, and the sultan was not strong enough to exact it by force. At the same time a danger was threatening from the south-east, where the negro adventurer Rabah, once a slave of Zobeir See also:Pasha, was menacing the kingdom of See also:Bagirmi. After making himself See also:master of the fortified town of Manifa, Rabah proceeded against Bornu, defeating the See also:army of the sultan Ahsem in two pitched battles. In December 1893 Ahsem fled from Kuka, which was entered by Rabah and soon afterwards destroyed, the capital being transferred to Dikwa in the south-east of the kingdom. These events ruined for many years the trade between Tripoli and Kuka by the See also:long-established route via See also:Bilma. Rabah had raised a large, well-drilled army, and proved a formidable opponent to the French in their advance on Lake Chad from the south. However in 'goo he was killed at Kussuri near the lower See also:Shari, by the combined forces of three French expeditions which had been converging from the See also:Congo, the Sahara and the Niger. By an Anglo-French agreement of '898 the tributary state of Zinder in the north had been included in the French See also:sphere, and after the defeat of Rabah French military expeditions occupied both the German and British portions of Bornu, but in 1902 on the appearance of British and German expeditions the French withdrew to their own country east of the Shari. The British placed on the throne of Bornu Shehu Garbai, a descendant of the ancient sultans, and Kuka was again chosen as the capital of the state. From that date British Bornu has been under administrative See also:control. It has been divided into East and West Bornu, the See also:line of See also:division being fixed approximately at See also:longitude 12°, and placed under the See also:administration of a See also:resident. Maifoni and Kuka were selected for British stations in the east, and Damjiri and Gujba in the west. Garrisons are quartered at these points. The See also:province has been mapped, and a network of tracks available for wheeled transport has been made through it. Water communication with the Benue and Niger has been opened through the Gongola river. The shehu, who took the See also:oath of See also:allegiance to the British See also:crown on the occasion of his formal See also:installation in See also:November 1904, is maintained in all See also:local dignity as a native chief, and co-operates loyally with the British administration. See also:Peace has prevailed in Bornu since the British occupation, and it is estimated that the population has increased by immigration to about 50% more than it was in 1902. The people are industrious. Extensive areas are being brought under cultivation, and taxes are collected without difficulty. Owing to its increasing commercial importance, the native capital was in 1908 transferred to Maidugari (see also NIGERIA: History; and RABAH).
AuTaoRITIES.—I-Ieinrich Barth's Travels in North and Central See also:Africa (1857, new ed., See also:London, 189o) contains an exact picture of the state in the period (c. 1850) preceding its decay. The earlier Travels of Denham and Clapperton (London, 1828) may also be consulted, as well as Rohlfs, Land and See also:Volk in Afrika (See also:Bremen, 1870) Nachtigal, Sahara and Sudan, vol. i. (See also:Berlin, 1879) ; and Monteil, de St.-See also: For later See also:information consult See also:Lady See also:Lugard's A Tropical Dependency (London,1905), and the See also:Annual Reports, from 1900 onward, on Northern Nigeria, issued by the Colonial See also:Office, London. (F. L. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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