Article Citation: Sheriff Garba (2020). A Study of the Salient Issues in the History of Slavery in Pre-Colonial Borno. DEGEL: The Journal of the Faculty of Arts and Islamic Studies, Vol. 18, No. 1. ISSN 0794-9316
A STUDY OF THE SALIENT ISSUES IN THE HISTORY OF SLAVERY IN PRE-COLONIAL
BORNO
By
Sheriff
Garba
Abstract
In most cultures, slaves are regarded as personal
property of their masters with no freedom of any sort, and they lack the right
to participate in the economic and political affairs of the society to which
they belong. That notwithstanding, the case is different in pre-colonial Kanuri
society especially during the reigns of Sayfawa and Shehu dynasties in Borno.
In other words, the institution of slavery and roles of slaves in Borno both
politically and economically were different from other societies in the world.
This is because slaves have some unique privileges to become administrators,
military officers and could own properties including slaves. In addition, they
were engaged in agricultural estates and served in the military as well as help
in training princes on horse riding. The study intends to discuss the origin
and sources of obtaining slaves, as well as their classification and
privileges. The paper argues that the opportunities given to the slaves in
Borno enabled them to contribute to the political and economic development of
the empire.
Introduction
The paper attempts a survey of the origins of slavery
and the sources of obtaining slaves, their classification and roles during the
Sayfawa and El-Kanemi periods in Borno. Information provided in this paper
dwells much on the period of both the Sayfawa and El-Kanemi’s dynasties.
Ownership of slaves in Borno is not a personal monopoly of the rulers or state
officials. Both those in authority and other influential individuals owned
slaves for various purposes. Slaves were given special privileges and freedom,
which gave the institution greater respect and recognition. The manner in which
the institution of slavery was established and regarded among the Kanuri of
Borno, enable them to contribute to the political and economic development of
the empire.
The study brings to limelight the history of slavery
in Borno. It also widens the understanding of the nature and sources of
obtaining slaves, in addition to their various functions, which are of great
benefits to the communities they belonged. However, the institution experienced
an exponential decay and subsequently collapsed, and today it has disappeared
in the traditional culture of the Kanuri people. But the legacy and lessons
left behind constitute a major landmark in the history of Borno.
Information utilized in the study was obtained through
interviews with some of the surviving actors, particularly those residing in
the state capital of Maiduguri. Archival materials and written sources were
consulted to supplement the missing vacuums and linkages. Finally, the study
focuses on some aspects of political and economic status of slaves in Borno,
which maintained a unique institution of slavery in world history.
Origins and
Sources of Obtaining Slaves in Borno
The institution of slavery in Borno was an ancient one.
Its origin can be traced to the time when Borno came into contact with the Arab
World through the Trans-Saharan Trade and the introduction of Islam in the
1080s. Slavery began when the Bulala (the rival tribes) troubled and forced the
ruler and the people of Kanem to migrate from the east of Lake Chad and settled
in Borno in the west, around the second half of the 15th century. In Borno,
slaves were not only owned by the rulers, but also by other members of the
royal families such as the queen mother, princes, princesses, wife of the ruler
and the royal senior sister of the ruler. Other owners include important state
officials and wealthy individuals particularly traders, religious leaders and
judges.[1]
The first and indeed major source of slaves was
through wars. However, not all captives of war were considered to be slaves,
only the non-Muslisms that were obtained outside the territory of Borno, during
the wars of expansion were considered as slaves. Ahmed Ibn Fartua gave an
indication of this policy while writing on history of the first twelve years of
the reign of Mai Idris Alooma of Bornu (1575-1583), which was translated by
H.R. Falmer. ‘When citizens of Borno were taken as captives, they were to be
freed by payment of ransom by their relatives’. For instance, G.J. Lethem
during a special report on Nguru district in 1919 reported that “Bede slaves
captured and retained in Nguru were almost ransomed by their relatives”.
Captives were shared between the ruler and some important office holders, and
then sent to the various slave-farm settlements.[2]
The second source was through slave raiding as noted by
Heinrich Barth. He reported that ‘the surrounding areas around Borno were areas
of slave raid by the rulers’. R. S. Davies also reported in 1919 that ‘the
Baburs on the Northern fringe of Biu were no doubt a valuable source of slaves’.
Slave raids were carried out to weaken troublesome enemies on the frontiers and
taken as captives and slaves.[3]
The third source was from what was known as baby
stealing, which was usually done by the Shuwa Arabs in the hills south of Dikwa
among the non-Muslims. The stealing of babies by the Shuwa Arabs is done from
the tribes of Banana, Badam, Koran, Wula, Matakam, Kotoko and the Muzu. The
stolen babies were brought up as slaves and were usually trained to be herders,
while others were sold and some were distributed to farm settlements. At
adulthood the Wula in particular, because of their beauty were reserved as
concubines for the Shuwas. Others were given out as gift to the rulers and some
were taken to the open market for sale.[4]
The fourth source of obtaining slaves was through
gifts particularly of very beautiful young maids as concubines to rulers. Such
gifts were usually done by all those that can afford it, but mostly common
among the female members of the royal families. They usually do this in
expectation of some favour and recognition by the ruler particularly during an
occasion of his new appointment.[5]
Finally, slaves were also obtained by inheritance in
the death event of the master. Amazingly, in Borno people used to submit
themselves to become slaves voluntarily. In other words, there were those who
came into slavery voluntarily on their own with the hope of getting some
prospects. Because in Borno slaves enjoy some form of privileges, which enabled
them to enjoy some important political positions and owned properties.
The Classification and Status of Slaves in Borno
In Borno slaves may be male or female; boy or girl,
man or woman, whereby the males were referred to as slaves, while the females
were considered to be concubines. The first category consists of the senior or
titled slaves who enjoyed many privileges, held high offices in the
administrative hierarchy of the state. In addition, they could own slaves too
and control large fiefs, thus welding considerable power and authority and
command a great deal of respect.[6]
The second category comprises of domesticated slaves
who had little or no power at all, but whose labour were being exploited by
their masters, but they enjoyed some kind of privileges not obtainable in other
societies. The domesticated slaves consist of captive slaves taken during wars
or those that were captured during raids in non-Muslim areas. These were the
lowest class of people in the social structure of the state. They have little
prospect of rising to any position in society. Notwithstanding, in Borno when a
slave stayed for a long time with his master, he may gradually prosper to high
position and enjoy considerable privileges. The least of such privileges
include freedom to marry and to live outside the master’s house.[7]
Furthermore, the domesticated slaves perform many
duties, which include gate keeping and escorting. They were usually in charge
of watching and questioning people going into the female section in the palaces
of rulers or houses of their masters. They were in charge of escorting women
when going out to visit other places for whatsoever reason with the permission
of their masters.[8]
Nonetheless, there are key keepers/holders that keep
the keys of treasure boxes that belong to their rulers and masters and give out
presents and gifts to visitors, when asked to do so. In addition, they are to
deliver messages and are regarded as messengers. In fact, they are mostly
around the rulers or masters, ready to render their services to them.[9]
There are also slaves that were responsible for taking
care of meals prepared or provided from the home of their masters. Their
primary duty is to go into the respective palaces of their rulers or houses of
their master on daily basis to take out meals prepared by the wives and
concubines. In addition, they are to distribute the meals to various
places/houses and returned back the empty bowls later.[10]
Largely substantial number of slaves obtained through
war or bought were sent to farm settlements that belong to the rulers or their
masters. At the farms, they were to provide the needed labour to produce grains
for household consumption and trade for their masters. Some also worked on
their farms, because they have the privilege or right to own their personal
farms and properties.
The Role of
Slaves in Political Organization of Borno
Slaves were very significant in the political
organization of Borno, because they participated in every aspects of the
administration. They also served as the military officers as well as the rank
and file of the troops. By so doing, they held important and strategic
positions in the administrative hierarchy of the state.[11]
As the system of succession in Borno was based on
heredity, such positions and offices were passed down to their sons. Many of
the descendents of slaves were appointed district heads. For that reason some of
the district heads of present Borno and former military commanders were/are of
slave origin- e.g. Galadima Mai Dunoma of Nguru and Kachalla Dumbu of Dikwa
districts. Likewise, women including the free born members of the royal family
and slaves had titles and carried out certain administrative functions in the
state.[12]
It is also on record that in Borno the training and
disciplining of young princes was left in the hands of the household slaves. In
other words, young princes between the ages of five and fourteen years were
given to different slaves to train and educate them. To achieve efficiency of
the trainings in most cases, they lived in the compound of these slaves or very
close to them. Likewise, it was the responsibilities of the slaves to take care
of the horses and teach the princes how to ride a horse and general
horsemanship. They also taught them how to handle weapons of war and provide
them with military training, which enabled Borno to expand and control large
territories and vassal states. The only training the princes received not from
the slaves was that of religious education, which they receive from special
teachers that taught them the principles of the Islamic education. Largely, all
Borno military commanders and district heads under the Sayfawa and the Shehu
dynasties were/are of slave origin.[13]
The Economic
Roles of Slaves in Borno
The roles and privileges of slaves in the economic
activities of Borno were important aspects that drew the attention of many Borno
scholars, such as Brenner (1973) and Alkali (1978). Some of the scholars of
Borno history place emphasized on the aspect of the ‘slave economy’, and tried
to portray that the whole economy of Borno was based on slavery. They observed
that Borno depended on the slave economy alone and had no other economy or
source of revenue.[14]
It is true that slavery was a part of the economy and
by the nineteenth century Borno had become a major exporter of slaves. But it
is wrong to assume that the whole economy rested on slavery to the extent of
neglecting other aspects of the economy. In this regard the emphasis placed on
the ‘slave-economy’ is largely misdirected. Notwithstanding, this study also
holds the view that slavery or the ‘slave-economy’ formed an important aspect of
the economy.
Perhaps the role of slaves in the economy of Borno can
be rightly assessed in the areas of the slave trade, tribute and slave-farm
settlements. Firstly, trade in slaves was a common phenomenon in almost all
slave owning societies and Borno was no exception. Kanem and Borno traded and
exported slaves since the earliest times around the sixteenth and seventeenth
centuries. Certainly, in the nineteenth century Borno was a major exporter of
slaves. The rise of Borno and the Hausa states in central Sudan during the 16th
and 17th centuries was as a result of slave exports. These states
could offer very little gold to their northern trading partners.[15]
The slaves were exported across the Sahara to the
North African countries on the other end of the desert. They are taken to the southern
desert-side cities of Libya such as Ghadames and Murzuk and Kufara in
Cyrenaica. These cities almost lay directly southward in Hausa land and Borno,
and that probably in response to the supplies of Borno Kanembu Empire; slave
trade through southern Libya experienced a major growth in the early nineteenth
century.[16]
The slaves were exchanged or bartered with the North
African merchants, with items such as fire arms and muskets and probably other
European goods but the most important item of exchange seems to be horses. This
was best reported by Hunwick, who deriving his information on the account of
Leo Africans, wrote that the Borno ruler’s ‘revenue was solely obtained from
the booty of his campaigns, the most important commodity being captives whom he
could barter for horses with the north African merchants in the ration of
fifteen to one.’ But this does not mean that slavery was the dominant factor in
Borno’s economy.[17]
Secondly, both during the Sayfawa and el-Kanemi
dynasties, taxes or tributes were paid on various items including slaves. It is
thus apparent that slaves were one of the many items with which payments were
made in Borno. In 1919 R.S. Davies on Gujba district reported that ‘in the case
of collected capital tax payments were frequently made in slaves and horses and
this was at the rate of ten gowns equal to one slave and twelve gowns equal to
one horse’.[18]
Likewise, newly appointed officials usually paid the
ruler appointment fees or dues and these were mostly paid in slaves.
Nonetheless such slaves were usually bought from the market for the purpose of
the payment, but not from the new appointee’s own body of slaves. This clearly
demonstrates the importance of slaves, as items of payment of tribute, though
it did not state that payments must be made in slaves anywhere. For instance,
if Gujba had actually made payments in slaves, it was because of its proximity
to slave raiding zones. Gujba being on the border of non-Muslim territories, it
is understandable that payments were made in slaves as the authority in the
region had to undertake occasional campaigns to weaken the frontier non-Muslims
and inevitably this involved the seizure of captives in the course of the
campaigns. However, it is wrong to generalize this and apply it to the whole of
Borno territories. Slaves were never rendered in payment in the central or
metropolitan areas of the state.[19]
It is important to note that the items of payment
depended not so much on choice, but rather on regional basis and what a
particular region mainly produces. For example, in an area that mainly
specialized in the production of millet, payments were made in millet and for
those specialized in the raising of livestock paid in livestock and so on.
Thirdly, slave-farm settlements were largely
agricultural estates owned by rulers and members of their immediate circle.
These, for the most part, provide the foodstuff needs of their masters or
owners. The foodstuff of the ruler and hence of the ‘state’ were stored in the
royal store, which was under the control of a special slave appointed for this
purpose. Some of the slave-farm settlements were specialized settlements along
Kumodugu (or river) basins and work on irrigation farms, largely producing
fruits and other specialized crops like wheat. Thus, Patterson reported in the
early twentieth century that irrigation farms along the Komodugu Yobe produce
cotton, onions, tobacco and ‘Yalo’ (a
large tamoto-like fruit of bright scarlet colour). In later years royal gardens
were established along the river basins and particularly in the capitals for
the production of fruits like guava, lemon and mangoes. These gardens were
worked by slaves and very important in providing the court’s need of
agricultural products.[20]
As observed by Fisher and Fisher (1970), slaves were
owned so as to exploit their labour while they were at the same time a
‘reserved capital’ in that they can be taken to the market and sold at any time
when there is a particular need for money. It also seems to have been common
practice when going on the Hajj to take a few slaves as a monetary reserved.
This is actually an important economic activity which had been largely
neglected or under estimated.[21]
Moreover, the slaves on the slave farm settlements had
their own farms on which they cultivate what they liked at their leisure times.
They also had the privilege to sell or to do anything they like with what they
have cultivated. This privilege aspect of owning property and right to dispose
them at their will is not obtainable in many slave owned societies.[22]
In addition, the slaves at the slave-farm settlements
specialized in certain trades like selling firewood, building houses, digging
wells and latrines. Women slaves specialized in pottery and spin cotton trade
during the dry season when their services were not needed by their masters. All
these are important industrial activities and services, which the institution
of slavery contributed to the economic development of Borno.
Conclusion
Slavery was an important institution that contributes
economically and politically to the development of Borno. Slaves were mostly
owned by the rulers, the members of the royal family and important state
officials. While senior and important slaves could themselves own slaves and
had slaves under their control or command.
The institution of slavery in Borno among the Sayfawa
and the Shehu dynasties was an issue with recognized political and economic
importance in Borno. The two dynasties permitted slaves to enjoy some degrees
of privilege, like free men and women of Borno. Slaves in Borno were given the
opportunities to contribute to the development of the state both politically
and economically. Today many key political holders among the Kanuri are of
slave origin and still have the monopoly of some political titles.
References
Alkali, M.N.
(1978) “Kanem-Borno under the Sayfawa
(a study of origin, growth and collapse of a dynasty,” Thesis (PhD) ABU Zaria.
Barth H. (1965).
Travels and Discoveries in North and
Central Africa 1849-1855 (three volumes) Frank Cass and Co. London.
Brenner L.
(1973). The Shehu of Kukawa,
Clarendon press, Oxford.
Fatua I. A. (1970).
History of the First Twelve Years of the
Reign of Mai Idriss Alooma of Bornu (1571-1973) Translated from the Arabic
with an introduction and notes by H.R Palmer, Frank Cass and Co. Ltd. London.
Fisher., A.G.B.
and Fisher H.J. (1970). Slavery and
Muslim Society in Africa, C. Hurst and Co. London.
Getz, T.
(2018). Slavery and Reforms in African Societies. Uganda: Elbart Press
Hill, P. 1976).
“From Slavery to Freedom: The case of
farm slavery in Nigeria Hausa land”, Comparative Studies in Society and
History, and International Quarterly, Volume 8, No.3, Cambridge University
Press London.
Hopkins A.G.
(1973). An Economic History of West
Africa.London: Longman
Hunwick J. O. 2nd
ed. (1976) “Songhey, Bornu and Hausa land
in the Sixteenth Century” in Ajaji and Crowder (ed.) History of West Africa, Vol. 1, Longman London
Leopold M.
(2006) Legacies of Slavery in North-West Africa. The Journal of the International African Institute, Vol. 76, No 2,
2006.
[1] H. Barth (1965). Travels and Discoveries in North and Central
Africa 1849-1855 (three volumes) Frank Cass and Co. London.
[2] I. A Fatua (1970). History of the
First Twelve Years of the Reign of Mai Idriss Alooma of Bornu (1571-1973) Translated
from the Arabic with an introduction and notes by H.R Palmer, Frank Cass and
Co. Ltd. London.
[3] National Archive Kaduna, S.N.P.17 K2041/1919
consulted on 23rd October 2019
[4] National Archive Kaduna, S.N.P. 10
125p/1919, consulted on 23rd October 2019
[5] H. Barth (1965). Travels and Discoveries in North and Central
Africa 1849-1855 (three volumes) Frank Cass and Co. London.
[6] Abba Aunoma, 85 year old,
Descendant of El-Kanemi the First Shehu of Borno, residing in Budum of
Maiduguri, Interviewed on 17th February 2018.
[7] National Archive Kaduna, S.N.P.
15/1 Acc.No.89/1904, consulted on 21st October 2019
[8] Bukar Adam, 75 year old, Servant
of the D.H. of Maiduguri, residing in Old Maiduguri, Interviewed on 23rd
December, 2019.
[9] Alhaji Abba Bukar, 57 year old,
The District Head of Maisandari, residing in Circular Road of Damboa road of
Maiduguri, Interviewed on 20th January 2020.
[10] National Archive Kaduna, S.N.P.
15/1, Acc.No.48A, 1903, consulted on 21st October 2019
[11] K. Tijjani (1980) “Political and Administrative Development in
Pre-colonial Borno,” (PhD) Thesis ABU Zaria.
[12] Kachalla Umar, 70 year old,
Military commander title holder, residing in Kalari of Maiduguri, Interviewed
on 3rd June 2019.
[13] Alhaji Murima Kachalla, 75 year
old, Slave of late Shehu Umar Garbai, residing in Mafoni of Maiduguri,
Interviewed on 19th March 2019.
[14] M.N. Alkali (1978) “Kanem-Borno under the Sayfawa (a study of
origin, growth and collapse of a dynasty,” Thesis (PhD) ABU Zaria.
[15] J. O. Hunwick 2nd ed.
(1976) “Songhey, Bornu and Hausa land in
the Sixteenth Century” in Ajaji and Crowder (ed.) History of West Africa, Vol. 1, Longman London
[16] Op cit:
[17] Op cit:
[18] National Archive Kaduna, S.N.P. 10
125p/1919, consulted on 22nd October 2019
[19] Abba Masta, 83 year old, noted for
narration of Kanuri history, residing in Maduganari of Maiduguri, Interviewed
on 27th January 2020.
[20] Kyari Modu, 65 year old, a gardener
residing in Gungulon Village, Interviewed on 27th April 2018.
[21] A.G.B. Fisher., and H.J. Fisher
(1970). Slavery and Muslim Society in
Africa, C. Hurst and Co. London.
[22] P. Hill 1976). “From Slavery to Freedom: The case of farm
slavery in Nigeria Hausa land”, Comparative Studies in Society and History, and
International Quarterly, Volume 8, No.3, Cambridge University Press London.
The official website of the DEGEL Jounal is https://www.degeljournal.com
0 Comments