The Negroland of the Arabs Examined and Explained (1841) : Or an Enquiry into the Early History and Geography of Central Africa

Name: The Negroland of the Arabs Examined and Explained (1841):Or an Enquiry into the Early History and Geography of Central Africa
Author: William Desborough Cooley
ISBN: 9781315033204

doi:10.4324/9781315033204

Book

The Negroland of the Arabs Examined and Explained (1841)

ABSTRACT

First Published in 1966. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

sale. In the foregoing account of the desert between T&serahl! and Aiwal&tin, it is easy to recognize “ The Desert,” properly so called, of El Bekri, the Desert of Tiser of El Idrisi, and the Azawad of Leo. The breadth of the dreaded tract, peopled by the fears of travellers with demons $ its distance from Sijilmesah, and from the southern limit of the §ahr& \ its possessors the Masufah; and the numerous serpents infesting it, are all so many marks whereby it may be discovered under its various denominations.114 Two lunar months were spent in the journey from Sijil mesah to Aiwalfitin.11 This was the frontier territory of Mali, and had for ruler a black officer named Qusein FarbA, the word farbd signifying governor in the language of MAH.

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Ibn Battit&h was but little pleased with the manners of the Blacks, among whom he had expected to see more homage paid to men of his complexion. He even thought of return ing immediately to Sijilm&sah, but his original plans prepon derated, and he resolved, at any rate, to explore Negroland. His attention was engaged by the singular character and oustoms of the Mastifah, who formed the higher class of the inhabitants of Aiwal&tin. Though Mohammedans, they had a law of succession resembling that of the pagans of Malabar. Their women, handsome and finely-formed, went unveiled, and conversed with the men on terms of freedom and equality which fully spoke the dissolute manners of the place.16 After staying fifty days in Aiwal&tin, Ibn Batftyah engaged a Mastiff guide, and, in company with three merohants, set forward for M&lf, which was a good twenty-four days* journey distant. In ten days he came to Z&gharl, a large town inha bited by black traders, and some whites of the Ib&dhlyah sect, called §aghangH. Leaving Z&gharf, he arrived at K&rsekh6, After describing the downward course of the river in terms which shall be examined further on, the traveller’s narrative thus proceeds i—“ We marched from K&rsekh6 and came to the river §an$arah, which is ten miles from M&lf, and it being the custom of the country that no one enters there without asking leave, I wrote to the company of Whites, and to its chief, Mohammed ben Alfaljcfh Algezulf, and also to Shemso-d-dfn,to engage me a lodging) and so, when I came to the river ($an-garah), I embarked in a oanoe, and without further trouble, arrived at the city of M&lf, the residence of the Sultan of Negroland) and, landing near the burial ground, I walked directly to the quarter of the Whites, and found Mohammed

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ben Alfakih, who had procured me a lodging opposite to his own house.”1,f Ibn Batutah fell sick soon after his arrival in the capital of Mali, and two months elapsed before he was able to visit Mansa Suleiman. Returning on that occasion from the palace, he was followed by those who brought the King’s pre sent. They called to him to rise and receive it, while they bore it towards him with an air of much importance. But what was the surprise of the Arab traveller, who expected to receive a handsome garment, or a sum of money, to find the royal gift to consist of only three scraps of bread, some hashed mutton, and a calabash of milk. He subsequently took occa sion to reprove Mansa Suleiman for his want of munificence, and thereupon received from him, as a conciliatory gift, a robe, lodging, an allowance while he remained, with a sum of money at his departure. But the arrangements of Mansa Suleiman’s court did not betray the sordid disposition imputed to him. They appear to have been conceived in a style of rude pomp and majesty no longer witnessed in the same country. Within the royal palace was an alcove or vaulted chamber communicating with the interior, and having towards the hall of audience three windows covered with silver gratings, and as many more with gratings of gold or silver gilt. Over these gratings hung silk curtains, the drawing of which served to show that the king was seated within. The officers and people then assembled. The Fararl or chief captains, with their archers, spearmen, and musicians, ranged themselves on both sides of the alcove, and on the signal being given, by thrusting a handkerchief of

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Egyptian muslin through the grating of one of the windows, the musicians fell to work with drums, ivory flutes, pipes of cane and calabashes, and made an extraordinary din. Outside the alcove stood Dughd, the interpreter, and near him a man who carried his words to the king, and brought back the royal answer.88 At times the king gave audience in the open air, seated on a platform covered with silk, and called Bambi. A large silk umbrella, like a canopy, was held over his head, having on the top a golden bird as large as a falcon. He walked slowly on these occasions, surrounded by 300 armed slaves. Two horses and two rams were led forth, among other emblems of royal state. The King’s words gave rise to laudatory harangues in the assembly, in the course of which the soldiers signified their approbation by twanging their bows. Whoever spoke to the King, or was addressed by him, stripped himself to the waist, and, throwing himself prostrate, sprinkled dust or clay over his head, and beat the ground with his elbows. The frequent exhibition of this abject humility offended Ibn Ba$u$ah, who also reprobates the custom of allowing the female slaves and young girls, not excepting the King’s daughters, to go completely naked, and to appear in that state before the King himself. He censures also the grotesque exhibitions of the poets or mimes, who were called jold (the plural of j&l).” He witnessed the performance of one who

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wore a masquerade dress of feathers, with a wooden head, like that of some bird, and, thus disguised, delivered an extemporaneous harangue before the King. He says nothing of the industry or trade of M&ll i yet the length at which he describes the dresses of the courtiers, and his frequent mention of silks and of gold and silver ornaments, show that the Negro city did not impress his mind with the idea of poverty. The King wore a gown of European manufacture. Among the Mandingoes or other nations in Western Africa, no trace at present exists of the manners of Mill, or of the pompous forms of a great monarchy. But in Yariba and Bergu, on the banks of the Quorra, we find absolute sovereigns, who are approached with the same humiliating ceremonies above described. While the King sits richly clothed, and the musicians strain their efforts, the courtiers strip themselves to the waist, and bow their heads to the dust. In Bergti the King is followed by a troop of naked girls.1" The idea of

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royalty as regards both its internal principle and external form, is nowin Yariba precisely what it was five centuries ago in M&llj and this remarkable fact may perhaps justify the suspicion that the people of Mill originally issued from the country adjoining Bergfi, Yariba, and Dah6my, and wherein there now exists a Mohammedan, and probably a Mandingo state called Magho.81 Ibn Batfyah relates his departure from Mfill in these words: 11 I arrived in Mfill on the 14th of the month Jum4da-l-awwal, of the year 758 (29th June, 1852), and I left it on the 22nd of Moharrem in the following year (27th February, 1858). I departed in company with a merchant named Abu Bekr Ibn Yaktib, and we took the road to Mimah. I rode on a camel, because horses are so dear in that country that one often costs 100 mithlfdls." From these expressions, combined with those in which he describes his arrival in Mdll, it appears evident that he never crossed the Great River, and therefore that the city of Mfill must have stood on the northern side of that stream. He came to K£rsekh6, situate on the northern bank of the Great River, " which is the Nile.” He did not cross this stream, but proceeding to the river §an$arah, and em barking on it, he reached Mdll. When quitting this place, he mounted his camel at once, and took the road to Mimah. It is therefore certain that M&li was on the same bank of the Great River as KArsekh6 and Mimah.

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To this conclusion it may be objected, that Leo Africanus places Melli (Mali) on a southern branch of the Great River, or Niger, as he styles it. But that writer’s statements, if viewed comprehensively, and thoroughly understood, will be found to afford, in this instance, no firm ground whereon to build an argument. He says that the country called by the Moors Gheneoa (Genewah), and by the natives Genni (Jenni), extends 250 miles along the Niger, to the place where that river enters the ocean. And again, he says that Melli lies to the south of Gheneoa, and extends 300 miles along a branch of the Niger. Now it is obvious that the river on which Melli stood, is converted into a branch of the Niger by the same hypothesis which led the river of Genni directly westward to the ocean; and we are not bound, while rejecting the erro neous theory, to respect the modifications forced by it on collateral information; nor to admit Leo’s descriptions, clothed in the language of system, in opposition to Ibn Batutah’s clear statement of facts.1** But if we cannot admit that the capital of Mali was situate on any stream entering the Joliba from the south, so neither can it be supposed to have stood on any tributary stream join ing that river on its left or northern bank. For why should a traveller make such a circuit as to continue his route south wards to Karsekho, and then ascend a stream in order to reach a point to which he might have gone directly by land ? And besides, the left bank of the Joliba, within the limits wherein we may reasonably look for the site of Mali, has been travelled over by Mungo Park, who found there no tributary stream. The mention of the river §an$arah, therefore, pre sents difficulties which admit of only one explanation. A great river like the Joliba, periodically overflowing the adja cent country, will probably form many channels, and insulate, perhaps by permanent canals, long tracts of low land, as is exemplified on a small scale in the course of the Medway below Chatham. Now, if we suppose that Mali stood in a low tract, intersected by a canal of the Joliba, called §an?arah,

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then Ibn Bafcutah’s movements may be easily explained. That the banks of the Joliba are almost impassable in the rainy season we know from the narrative of Park, who, being a stranger in the country, struggled through difficulties which a native perhaps would never have thought of encountering. But Ibn Batutah had an experienced guide; going to Mali, therefore, at the commencement of the rains (the end of June), he directed his course to an easily accessible point of the Joliba, and thence proceeded to the capital by the canal: leaving Mali in the middle of the dry season (the last day of February) he mounted his camel and crossed the country. Moreover, we are fortunately able to show that our hypothesis respecting the San§arah, is not only not unnatural nor impro bable, but that it truly represents the physical character of that part of the Joliba now under consideration, and that there is, in fact, a canal or arm of the river in the very place where we should expect to find the §an§arah. Mungo Park, describing his voyage down the Joliba from Samee to Sego, says, We passed down a small stream to the north of Sego-korro, and halted opposite to Sego-sikorro, near the sandhills, where I formerly waited for a passage.** In expla nation of these words, it must be observed that Sego-korro is on the northern bank of the river; Sego-sikorro, where the King of Bambara resided, on the southern bank. The small stream north of Sego-korro, therefore, down which the tra veller passed, (in the middle of August, when the floods were at their height,) must have been a canal or arm of the river insulating the ground on which Sego-korro stood.” Park

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does not state the length of the small stream, nor say whether he entered it near Samee; but these particulars are here of little consequence! since our object is not to identify the small stream of Park with the §an§arah of Ibn Ba f^yah, but only to show how perfectly our hypothesis respecting the latter harmonizes with nature and with fact. Yet it must not be concealed that there is reason for believing that the site of the capital of Mill was near Samee. Ibn Khaldtin writes the proper name of that capital in characters wanting, unfortu nately, the diacritic points; but these being supplied by pro bable conjecture, the passage in question will run thus: " And the residence of the king of the people of Mali is the city of (or Benna).184 A place called Binni, of little impor tance, stands on the north bank of the Joliba, about seven miles above Samee. The sequel of Ibn Ba^alTa journey shall be related in his own words, though with some curtailment. He thus pro ceeds :—“ We came to a wide creek or arm of the Nile, which can be crossed only in boats, on the third night after we left M&li. On arriving at its banks, I beheld, with astonishment, about sixteen immense animals, which I took to be elephants. However, when I saw them plunge into the water, I called out to Abu Bekr Ibn Yakfib, and asked him what are these? And he replied, * They are river horses (Hippopotami), which come ashore to feed.* They are much larger than common horses, yet resemble them in their heads and the fulness of their manes, but their feet are like those of elephants. On another occasion, when navigating the river from Tomboktu to Katikati, I had a view of these animals. They were swimming about with their heads above the water, and snorting. The natives attack them with javelins, to which are attached a number of cords. If the animal be struck in the neck or the leg, he is soon overcome, dragged to the bank, and killed. The natives eat the flesh, and the banks of the river are strewed over with the bones of these animals.88

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“ At this arm of the Nile we rested in a village governed by a negro named Farbd Maghd, one of those who had aooompanied Mansd Musa on his pilgrimage. He related to us, that when Mansd Musa came to this place, he gave to Abfi-l-Abbas Alduk&ll, a white man and Kadhi who attended him, 4,000 mithk&ls for the expenses of his journey. Abfi-l-Abbas, however, on arriving at Mimah, complained that his money was stolen. The King thereupon sent for the governor, and threatened him with death, if the money and the thief were not immediately discovered. The search seemed at first fruitless \ but on the slaves of Abfi-1-Abbas being menaced and strictly questioned, one of them, a young girl, pointed out the spot where her master had buried the money. Mansd Mfisa, on hearing this, banished the Kadhi to the country of the Unbelievers, who eat men. There he stayed four years, before he was permitted to return \ and the Blacks did not eat him, because they say that white man's flesh is bad meat, being flabby and immature. And here I must relate a curious anecdote. Some of these cannibals, led by a chief, came on a certain occasion to the court of Mansd Suleimdn; they were clothed in silk wrappers, and had enormous pendants in their ears, the holes in which were an inch in diameter. The King received them with much distinction, regaled them sumptuously, and, as a token of regard, gave them a slave girl. They immediately killed the girl, and ate her \ then, besmearing their hands and faces with her blood, they visited the Sultan, and thanked him for his present. In the country of these cannibals there are mines of gold.1® “ Leaving the village on the water side, we came to Korl Mansd, where the camel that I was riding died. When my

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servant told me of this accident, I went out to witness it with my own eyes, and there I beheld the Blacks already devouring the carcass, their custom being to eat every kind of dead animal. I then sent two of my followers to a town called Zaghari, about two days* journey from Kori Mansa, to buy me another camel. In six days they returned, and we then took the road to Mimah. We did not enter that town, however, but encamped outside near the wells. Thence we arrived at Tomboktu, a city four miles distant from the Nile. Most of its inhabitants are people of Mimah, or of the tribes called Almo-laththemun. One day I went to visit the governor, Farba Musa, and met at his house a Masufi, who had just arrived in Tomboktu, to take the command of the people of his tribe established there. The governor gave him a robe, a turban, and pair of trowsers, all of figured cotton; and made him sit on a shield, while the chief people of his tribe lifted him above their heads.187 single trunk of a tree, and went down the river. We landed every night, and went to some inhabited place to procure what we wanted,—such as oil, and other necessaries—giving in exchange for them salt, drugs, and trinkets. We came to a place, the name of which I have forgotten, but where Farba Suleiman, a Haji of sterling worth, was governor. He was a man of great size and strength, and had a bow which none of the Blacks but himself could bend. I went into his house to ask for a little durrah, and my request being interpreted for him by a fakih who was present, he took me by the hand, and led me into his principal chamber, which was filled with arms of various kinds, shields, bows, and javelins. There was then brought to me a drink called Aldakno, prepared from bruised

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durrah, with milk and honey. We then ate of a water melon; and in conclusion, a young slave coming into the room, Farba Suleiman presented him to me, and I have him at the present day.88 handsomest, and strongest cities in all Negroland. It stands on the banks of the Nile, and abounds in rice, milk, poultry, fish, and fruit of matchless excellence. The people there, as well as in Mali,use shells for money. I stayed in Kaukau about two months, and then went by land in the direction of Tekaddd, with a large Kafilah of people of Ghodemis.89 We came into the country of the Berdfimah, a Berber tribe, whose protection and friendship are indispensable for the safety of travellers in this region. The Berdamah are wanderers, and never remain long in one place. Their tents are of a peculiar construction; they fix poles in the ground, and place on them a matting of reeds; over this they form a trellis-work of boughs of trees, and cover the frame thus constructed with skins and cotton cloths. Their women are the prettiest and best shaped that I have ever seen; they are as white as snow, and the fattest in the world. Whoever wishes to have a woman of this tribe, needs only to go to the wells near their encampments in the evening, and she will be sure to follow him; but he must not take her further than Kaukau or Aiwalatin.40 “ We continued our march to Tekadda, where the houses are built of red stone; the water is coloured by running over copper ores, which impart to it a disagreeable flavour. The people of Tekaddd sow no grain; they are wholly devoted to trade, and live in affluence; their luxury consisting, as in Mai! and Aiwal&tin, in slaves of both sexes, of whom some classes

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fetch exorbitant prices. The king of Tekaddd is a Berber. The copper taken from the mines near the town is made into small bars about an inch and a half thick, which are exchanged for grain, meat, fuel, and other necessaries. These bars are carried to Ktiber, in the country of the Infidels, to Rdglid, and to Bomii, which is forty days* journey from Tekadda. The king of that country (who is named Idris) never speaks to his subjects, unless from behind a screen or curtain.141 #< From Tekaddfi we set forward on our march to Twfit, which is seventy days distant, and came to K&hir, which belongs to the Sultan of Karkar, and yields sufficient pasturage. Then going three days over a waterless desert, and fifteen through a tract uninhabited but not waterless, we came to the place where the road to Egypt separates from that to Twat. The water of the wells in that place being impregnated with iron, stains linen. In ten days more we came to Dekhar, and in another month reached Buda, one of the largest towns of Tw&t.” To the foregoing narrative a few remarks may be here advantageously subjoined. If it be granted that Ibn Ba^ali, in sending to Zagharl for a camel to replace that which died at Kori Mans&, had recourse to the nearest town, then it follows that Mlmah, one stage at least from Tomboktti, must have been more than two stages from Kori Mansa. But this place, in a mean position, will be nearly as far as Zagharl, or fourteen days, from the capital of Mdll. This capital must therefore have been, at the lowest calculation, eighteen days from Tomboktu.41 It is worthy of attention, that, in the fourteenth century, Tomboktti was peopled chiefly by natives of Mlmah, and by the Molaththemtin, the very parties with whom Ghfinah, three

The Negroland of the Arabs Examined and Explained (1841)

The Negroland of the Arabs Examined and Explained (1841)

ABSTRACT

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