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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | The Zabarma conquests on the Gold Coast and in Upper Volta: studies on Hausa manuscript no. 98017 |
Author: | Pilaszewicz, S. |
Year: | 1991 |
Periodical: | Africana Bulletin |
Issue: | 37 |
Pages: | 7-18 |
Language: | English |
Geographic terms: | Burkina Faso Ghana |
Subjects: | manuscripts Songhai ethnic warfare history 1880-1889 |
Abstract: | Zabarma is the Hausa word for the Jerma people, who are related to the Songhay and who presently live near Niamey and Dosso (Niger) and near Sokoto in Northern Nigeria. This paper examines two fragments of Hausa manuscript 98017 of the London School of Oriental and Africa Studies, which deals with a little known episode in African history, namely the Zabarma activities on the Gold Coast and in Upper Volta (present-day Ghana and Burkina Faso) on the eve of the colonial conquest. The Arabic manuscript was written in around 1914 by an eyewitness of several Zabarma conquests, Malam Abu, who not only registered events but also made attempts to introduce critical remarks in his work. The informative value of the work - it provides information on the size of territories conquered, relations between Zabarma leaders, causes of the successive raids, etc. - is illustrated through an examination of two fragments describing conquests undertaken by the last Zabarma chief, Babatu dan Isa, who was the leader of the Zabarma troops from the early 1880s to 1899. Depicted are the invasion of the kingdom of Wala, and the battle of Nasa. Notes, ref. |