THE ARMIES OF SOKOTO, BORNU AND
BAGIRMI IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY

Written by
CONRAD CAIRNS
A4 softback with colour covers
64 pages, Illustrated throughout with black and white contemporary photographs and engravings.

In the 19th century the eastern Savannah (now divided between the countries of Nigeria, Niger, Mali, and Cameroon) was one of the most neglected parts of the African continent, and yet at the same time one of the most culturally sophisticated. During this period warfare among the peoples of the eastern Savannah, and in particular the three most significant native states – the Sokoto Caliphate, the ancient kingdom of Bornu, and the somewhat less ancient state of Bagirmi – was largely dominated by cavalry, and a significant proportion of these mounted troops were armoured. This groundbreaking book covers the period that began with the Sokoto jihad in 1804 and ended with the extinction of the Savannah states by the European colonial powers at the turn of the 20th century. In addition to providing a brief outline history of the three states, it examines in detail the arms, equipment and methods of warfare used by their armoured ‘knights' and infantry, and includes in addition sections on their horses, artillery, flags, fortifications, and clothing. It is illustrated throughout with contemporary photographs and engravings. 64 pages. ISBN 1-901543-08-0

The purpose of this book is to provide a description of what was, in the 19th century, one of the most neglected parts of the African continent, but was at the same time, without doubt, one of the most culturally sophisticated — the eastern Savannah, an area now divided between the modern countries of Nigeria, Niger, Mali, and Cameroon.

The area I will be covering is that in which, by and large, warfare was dominated by cavalry during the 19th century, and in which a significant proportion of the mounted troops were armoured. It therefore excludes the region to the west of Nigeria, which is good cavalry country, and in which horsemen were usually the predominant force, but in which armour was rare or unknown. It also excludes Wadai and Darfur, and all stations east (both these states had armoured forces, and ‘knights' could be found as far away as Ethiopia), partly because I had to stop somewhere, and partly because the armies of the eastern Sudan deserve a monograph to themselves.

The peoples about whom I will be writing have a long history. It is my choice to cover only that century which began with the Sokoto jihad and ended with the conquest of the Savannah states by Europeans, because the information available on their methods of warfare is so much richer for the 19th century than for any other period. During this time this area could (and for my purposes has been) divided into — from west to east, and in order of importance — the Sokoto Caliphate, the ancient kingdom of Bornu, and the somewhat less ancient state of Bagirmi, all of which shared many common cultural themes, the most important being Islam. But anybody who tries to draw a neat Europeanstyle map of these states would soon encounter an impossible obstacle. Borders were not rigid; there was always a question of where a state's frontiers lay, and any map of the area in, say, 1866, with neat coloration or lines such as found on a map of Europe, might (although probably would not) be accurate for 1866, but would be seriously misleading for 1840 or 1880. The Sokoto Caliphate, in particular, was more a confederation of emirates of varying degrees of loyalty to the Caliph (each emirate having elastic boundaries, depending very often on the military prowess of the emir then on the throne) than an ‘Empire' as a European would have understood the word. So although I will be giving a brief outline of the political history of these three states, this should be seen more as a general guide to the nature of Savannah politics than anything approaching a comprehensive list of the rulers of these places.

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