Gbudwe
Encyclopedia
Gbudwe was an Azande
ruler in Sudan
in 1870 - 1905.
His real name was Mbio - which means a kind of small antelope - but this was obviously not good enough for him, because he changed it to the one by which he is better known, and which has the meaning of "to tear out a man's intestines".
Edward Evan Evans-Pritchard quotes a description of Gbudwe by an Azande who had known him:
"Gbudwe was a short man, though not excessively short... he was stout also... His breasts protruded like those of a woman... His eyes were little protruding eyes, and they sparkled like stars. When he looked at a man in anger they were terrible; then they went grey like ashes... When he approached people from afar you could not mistake Gbudwe. He was a marvellous prince."
He was unusual among Azande kings in preferring to lead from the front, and as a young man he often took part in the fighting in person. He possessed a magic whistle, which was said to guarantee victory if blown before a battle. He encouraged his men to eat the Arabs they killed - although cannibalism was probably not normal Azande practise - and is recorded as having derived great amusement from a present consisting of a bag filled with the severed genitals of his enemies.
Gbudwe hated and despised both Egyptian
Arabs and whites
, dismissing them all in a memorable phrase as "dirty little crop-headed barbarians". In the early 1870s he fought a vicious civil war with his brothers after the death of their father, and after consolidating his power he went on to win several battles against the Arabs.
In 1882, after one disastrously unsuccessful attempt, an official expedition was sent against him by the Egyptian authorities in Bahr el Ghazal
Province, whose governor at the time was the Englishman Lupton Bey. The Egyptians - with the help of rival Azande - captured Gbudwe and imprisoned him.
In the following year the Mahdists overran the Sudan, and they decided to release him. Gbudwe then went home and supervised the extermination of all the Arabs who were left in his country. One of Evans-Pritchard's informants summarises his subsequent relations with his fellow Azande:
"When he heard it said of a prince that he had many followers he made war against him, and he set one of his sons in his place to reside there and to rule over all who used to be his subjects. Thus Gbudwe prospered and became a great king, for he made war against any prince who opposed him. He only was a great king and continued as such. Gbudwe was a powerful and a daring man, for he overcame all princes, and for him alone they became meek. After he had overcome them all he rested in peace; and he distributed provinces to all his sons, and he left it to them to make war against many peoples."
The Mahdists left him alone until 1898, when - just months before their own regime was destroyed at the Battle of Omdurman
- they sent an army under Arabi Dafalla to deal with him. Gbudwe soundly defeated this force at the battle of Birikiwe. By this time, however, the main threat was not from the Arabs, but from the three European powers whose spheres of interest met in Azandeland - the British, the French, and the Belgian king Leopold's
Congo Free State
.
Other Azande princes had already been fighting the whites, with varying success, since the beginning of the 1890s. In 1904 Gbudwe was persuaded to lead an attack on some forts which the Belgians had built in his territory, even though - because of his policy of hostility towards all foreigners - he had still not managed to acquire significant numbers of firearms. The Azande assault was beaten off with heavy losses.
In the aftermath many of his vassals defected to the Belgians and British, and the combination of heavy casualties and demoralisation fatally weakened the once mighty conqueror. Gbudwe's capital was in an area which was allocated to the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan
when the border with the Congo Free State was eventually settled, and in 1905 a British column arrived there. Its intentions were unclear to the Azande, but as it approached the people fled, and Gbudwe was discovered sitting at the door of his hut, entirely alone.
Isolated, deserted by his warriors, and staring into the rifle barrels of a company of tough Sudanese soldiers, the old chief picked up a rifle and started shooting. At least one askari
fell wounded; then return fire hit Gbudwe in the arm and thigh. He dropped his rifle, and some soldiers ran up to take him prisoner, so he drew a pistol which he had been hiding behind his back and dropped three more of them. Showing remarkable restraint, the soldiers grabbed him and took him alive, but soon Gbudwe was dead - he either starved himself to death or was murdered while in custody by his own grandson. Either way, with his demise the era of Azande independence was finally over; their country was partitioned among the colonial powers, and their traditional warlike activities were forbidden.
Azande
The Azande are a tribe of north Central Africa. Their number is estimated by various sources at between 1 and 4 million....
ruler in Sudan
Sudan
Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
in 1870 - 1905.
His real name was Mbio - which means a kind of small antelope - but this was obviously not good enough for him, because he changed it to the one by which he is better known, and which has the meaning of "to tear out a man's intestines".
Edward Evan Evans-Pritchard quotes a description of Gbudwe by an Azande who had known him:
"Gbudwe was a short man, though not excessively short... he was stout also... His breasts protruded like those of a woman... His eyes were little protruding eyes, and they sparkled like stars. When he looked at a man in anger they were terrible; then they went grey like ashes... When he approached people from afar you could not mistake Gbudwe. He was a marvellous prince."
He was unusual among Azande kings in preferring to lead from the front, and as a young man he often took part in the fighting in person. He possessed a magic whistle, which was said to guarantee victory if blown before a battle. He encouraged his men to eat the Arabs they killed - although cannibalism was probably not normal Azande practise - and is recorded as having derived great amusement from a present consisting of a bag filled with the severed genitals of his enemies.
Gbudwe hated and despised both Egyptian
Egyptians
Egyptians are nation an ethnic group made up of Mediterranean North Africans, the indigenous people of Egypt.Egyptian identity is closely tied to geography. The population of Egypt is concentrated in the lower Nile Valley, the small strip of cultivable land stretching from the First Cataract to...
Arabs and whites
White people
White people is a term which usually refers to human beings characterized, at least in part, by the light pigmentation of their skin...
, dismissing them all in a memorable phrase as "dirty little crop-headed barbarians". In the early 1870s he fought a vicious civil war with his brothers after the death of their father, and after consolidating his power he went on to win several battles against the Arabs.
In 1882, after one disastrously unsuccessful attempt, an official expedition was sent against him by the Egyptian authorities in Bahr el Ghazal
Bahr el Ghazal
The Bahr el Ghazal is a region of western South Sudan. Its name comes from the river Bahr el Ghazal.- Geography :The region consists of the states of Northern Bahr el Ghazal, Western Bahr el Ghazal, Lakes, and Warrap. It borders Central African Republic to the west...
Province, whose governor at the time was the Englishman Lupton Bey. The Egyptians - with the help of rival Azande - captured Gbudwe and imprisoned him.
In the following year the Mahdists overran the Sudan, and they decided to release him. Gbudwe then went home and supervised the extermination of all the Arabs who were left in his country. One of Evans-Pritchard's informants summarises his subsequent relations with his fellow Azande:
"When he heard it said of a prince that he had many followers he made war against him, and he set one of his sons in his place to reside there and to rule over all who used to be his subjects. Thus Gbudwe prospered and became a great king, for he made war against any prince who opposed him. He only was a great king and continued as such. Gbudwe was a powerful and a daring man, for he overcame all princes, and for him alone they became meek. After he had overcome them all he rested in peace; and he distributed provinces to all his sons, and he left it to them to make war against many peoples."
The Mahdists left him alone until 1898, when - just months before their own regime was destroyed at the Battle of Omdurman
Battle of Omdurman
At the Battle of Omdurman , an army commanded by the British Gen. Sir Herbert Kitchener defeated the army of Abdullah al-Taashi, the successor to the self-proclaimed Mahdi Muhammad Ahmad...
- they sent an army under Arabi Dafalla to deal with him. Gbudwe soundly defeated this force at the battle of Birikiwe. By this time, however, the main threat was not from the Arabs, but from the three European powers whose spheres of interest met in Azandeland - the British, the French, and the Belgian king Leopold's
Leopold II of Belgium
Leopold II was the second king of the Belgians. Born in Brussels the second son of Leopold I and Louise-Marie of Orléans, he succeeded his father to the throne on 17 December 1865 and remained king until his death.Leopold is chiefly remembered as the founder and sole owner of the Congo Free...
Congo Free State
Congo Free State
The Congo Free State was a large area in Central Africa which was privately controlled by Leopold II, King of the Belgians. Its origins lay in Leopold's attracting scientific, and humanitarian backing for a non-governmental organization, the Association internationale africaine...
.
Other Azande princes had already been fighting the whites, with varying success, since the beginning of the 1890s. In 1904 Gbudwe was persuaded to lead an attack on some forts which the Belgians had built in his territory, even though - because of his policy of hostility towards all foreigners - he had still not managed to acquire significant numbers of firearms. The Azande assault was beaten off with heavy losses.
In the aftermath many of his vassals defected to the Belgians and British, and the combination of heavy casualties and demoralisation fatally weakened the once mighty conqueror. Gbudwe's capital was in an area which was allocated to the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan
Anglo-Egyptian Sudan
Anglo-Egyptian Sudan referred to the manner by which Sudan was administered between 1899 and 1956, when it was a condominium of Egypt and the United Kingdom.-Union with Egypt:...
when the border with the Congo Free State was eventually settled, and in 1905 a British column arrived there. Its intentions were unclear to the Azande, but as it approached the people fled, and Gbudwe was discovered sitting at the door of his hut, entirely alone.
Isolated, deserted by his warriors, and staring into the rifle barrels of a company of tough Sudanese soldiers, the old chief picked up a rifle and started shooting. At least one askari
Askari
Askari is an Arabic, Bosnian, Urdu, Turkish, Somali, Persian, Amharic and Swahili word meaning "soldier" . It was normally used to describe local troops in East Africa, Northeast Africa, and Central Africa serving in the armies of European colonial powers...
fell wounded; then return fire hit Gbudwe in the arm and thigh. He dropped his rifle, and some soldiers ran up to take him prisoner, so he drew a pistol which he had been hiding behind his back and dropped three more of them. Showing remarkable restraint, the soldiers grabbed him and took him alive, but soon Gbudwe was dead - he either starved himself to death or was murdered while in custody by his own grandson. Either way, with his demise the era of Azande independence was finally over; their country was partitioned among the colonial powers, and their traditional warlike activities were forbidden.