Girgam
Encyclopedia
Dīwān is the Arabic
and Girgam is the older designation of the royal chronicle of Kanem-Bornu
. The latter name is also used for written historical records in some kingdoms west of Bornu, including Daura
, Fika
and Mandara
.
The Dīwān was discovered in 1851 by the German
traveller Heinrich Barth
in Kukawa
, the nineteenth century capital of Bornu. Its "local" name girgam appears to be derived from the Sumero
-Akkadian
term girginakku ("library, box for written tablets"). Hence its Arabic translation dīwān ("register, collection of written leaves"). It begins with an original list of all the Biblical patriarchs (except one) before Abraham
, and it places Sef
and Dugu
before and after Abraham. The thirteenth century identification of Sef with the pre-Islamic Yemeni hero Sayf ibn Dhī Yazan represents a conscious effort to bring the history of Kanem-Bornu in line with pre-Islamic Arab history. According to Dierk Lange's research, the form of some of the Patriarchal names can be shown to be authentic and not derived from Arabic sources, and consequently it must be supposed that there existed a local line of transmission of valid biblical information.
The Dīwān provides the names of 69 rulers of Kanem-Bornu and some supplementary information concering the length of their reigns, their ascendancy, and often some events of their reigns. The information given by several Arab authors (Ibn Sa'īd
, al-Maqrīzī
and al-Qalqashandī) confirm the validity of the data provided by the Dīwān. On the basis of these sources, a nearly accurate chronology of the rulers of Kanem-Bornu can be established between the tenth and the nineteenth centuries. After the fall of the Sefuwa dynasty in 1846, the supporters of the succeeding al-Kānemī dynasty tried to obliterate the memory of the Sefuwa as much as possible. Hence they destroyed all copies of the dīwān they could lay their hands on. The two copies of the chronicle obtained by Barth are the only ones that are known to have survived.
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
and Girgam is the older designation of the royal chronicle of Kanem-Bornu
Kanem Empire
The Kanem Empire was located in the present countries of Chad, Nigeria and Libya. At its height it encompassed an area covering not only much of Chad, but also parts of southern Libya , eastern Niger and north-eastern Nigeria...
. The latter name is also used for written historical records in some kingdoms west of Bornu, including Daura
Daura
Daura is a city, emirate, and Local Government Area in Katsina State, northern Nigeria. It is the spiritual home of the Hausa people.The University of California's African American Studies Department refers to Daura, as well as Katsina, as having been "ancient seats of Islamic culture and...
, Fika
Fika
Fika is both a Swedish verb and noun that roughly means "to drink coffee/tea/squash," usually accompanied by something sweet.-Definition:Fika is a social institution in Sweden; it means having a break, most often a coffeebreak, with one's colleagues, friends, date, or family. The word "fika" can...
and Mandara
Mandara
- Africa :* Mandara languages is on of the group of Chadic languages* Mandara kingdom of Cameroon* Mandara Mountains of Cameroon* Madarawa, also called the Mandara people, of Cameroon- Other :* Mandara or Mandala, Hindu and Buddhist religious objects....
.
The Dīwān was discovered in 1851 by the German
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
traveller Heinrich Barth
Heinrich Barth
Heinrich Barth was a German explorer of Africa and scholar.Barth is one of the greatest of the European explorers of Africa, not necessarily because of the length of his travels or the time he spent alone without European company in Africa, but because of his singular character.-Biography:Barth...
in Kukawa
Kukawa
Kukawa is a town and Local Government Area in the northeastern Nigerian state of Borno, close to Lake Chad.The town was founded in 1814 as capital of the Kanem-Bornu Empire by the Muslim scholar and warlord Muhammad al-Amin al-Kanemi after the fall of the previous capital, Ngazargamu, conquered in...
, the nineteenth century capital of Bornu. Its "local" name girgam appears to be derived from the Sumero
Sumerian language
Sumerian is the language of ancient Sumer, which was spoken in southern Mesopotamia since at least the 4th millennium BC. During the 3rd millennium BC, there developed a very intimate cultural symbiosis between the Sumerians and the Akkadians, which included widespread bilingualism...
-Akkadian
Akkadian language
Akkadian is an extinct Semitic language that was spoken in ancient Mesopotamia. The earliest attested Semitic language, it used the cuneiform writing system derived ultimately from ancient Sumerian, an unrelated language isolate...
term girginakku ("library, box for written tablets"). Hence its Arabic translation dīwān ("register, collection of written leaves"). It begins with an original list of all the Biblical patriarchs (except one) before Abraham
Abraham
Abraham , whose birth name was Abram, is the eponym of the Abrahamic religions, among which are Judaism, Christianity and Islam...
, and it places Sef
SEF
SEF may refer to:* Supplementary eye fields, areas in the primate brain that are involved in planning and control of saccadic eye movements* Spectral edge frequency, a measure used in signal processing...
and Dugu
Dugu
The Dugu is an ancient extended funerary ceremony practiced by the Garifuna people. The Garifuna is a small-to-medium sized Central American ethnic group that has inhabited many Central American countries such as Belize and Honduras since the 17th century. Their roots come from both the Caribbean...
before and after Abraham. The thirteenth century identification of Sef with the pre-Islamic Yemeni hero Sayf ibn Dhī Yazan represents a conscious effort to bring the history of Kanem-Bornu in line with pre-Islamic Arab history. According to Dierk Lange's research, the form of some of the Patriarchal names can be shown to be authentic and not derived from Arabic sources, and consequently it must be supposed that there existed a local line of transmission of valid biblical information.
The Dīwān provides the names of 69 rulers of Kanem-Bornu and some supplementary information concering the length of their reigns, their ascendancy, and often some events of their reigns. The information given by several Arab authors (Ibn Sa'īd
Ibn Said
Ali ibn Musa ibn Said al-Maghribi , also known as Ibn Said al-Andalusi, was a geographer, historian and the most important collector of poetry from al-Andalus in the 12th and 13th centuries. Ibn Said was born at Alcalá la Real near Granada, and grew up in Marrakesh. He subsequently studied in...
, al-Maqrīzī
Al-Maqrizi
Taqi al-Din Ahmad ibn 'Ali ibn 'Abd al-Qadir ibn Muhammad al-Maqrizi ; Arabic: , was an Egyptian historian more commonly known as al-Maqrizi or Makrizi...
and al-Qalqashandī) confirm the validity of the data provided by the Dīwān. On the basis of these sources, a nearly accurate chronology of the rulers of Kanem-Bornu can be established between the tenth and the nineteenth centuries. After the fall of the Sefuwa dynasty in 1846, the supporters of the succeeding al-Kānemī dynasty tried to obliterate the memory of the Sefuwa as much as possible. Hence they destroyed all copies of the dīwān they could lay their hands on. The two copies of the chronicle obtained by Barth are the only ones that are known to have survived.
See also
- Chronology of the Sefuwa (Kanem-Bornu)Chronology of the Sefuwa (Kanem-Bornu)The Chronology of the Sefuwa concerns the rule of the Sefuwa dynasty first over Kanem, then over Kanem-Bornu and finally, since c. 1380, over Bornu alone. African historians presently use several conflicting chronologies for the history of Kanem-Bornu...
- Sayfawa DynastySayfawa dynastySayfawa dynasty or more properly Sefuwa dynasty is the name of the kings of the Kanem-Bornu Empire, centered first in Kanem in western Chad, and then, after 1380, in Borno ....
- Kanem EmpireKanem EmpireThe Kanem Empire was located in the present countries of Chad, Nigeria and Libya. At its height it encompassed an area covering not only much of Chad, but also parts of southern Libya , eastern Niger and north-eastern Nigeria...
- Bornu EmpireBornu EmpireThe Bornu Empire was an African state of Nigeria from 1396 to 1893. It was a continuation of the great Kanem Empire founded centuries earlier by the Sayfawa Dynasty...
Literature
- Barth, Heinrich (1857): Travels and Discoveries in North and Central Africa. Vol. II, New York, pp. 15-35, 581-602.
- Lange, Dierk (1977): Le Dīwān des Sultans du Kanem-Bornu: Chronologie et histoire d'un royaume africain. Wiesbaden (Arabic text and French translation of the Dīwān).
- -- (2009): "Biblical patriarchs from a pre-canonical source mentioned in the Dīwān of Kanem-Bornu", Zeitschrift für Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft, 12, 588-598.
- -- (2010): "An introduction to the history of Kanem-Borno: The prologue of the Dīwān", Borno Museum Society Newsletter 76-84 (2010), 79-103.
- -- (2011): The Founding of Kanem by Assyrian Refugees ca. 600 BCE: Documentary, Linguistic, and Archaeological Evidence, Boston.
- Palmer, Herbert R. (1936): The Bornu Sahara and Sudan. London 1936 (English translation of the Dīwān S. 89-95
- Lavers, John (1982): "Review of 'Le dīwān des sultans du Kanem-Bornu', Journal of African History, 23, 122-3.
- Nehemia Levtzion und John Hopkins (1981): Corpus of Early Arabic Sources for West African History, Cambridge.
- Palmer, Richmond: The Bornu Sahara and Sudan, London 1936 (a rough English translation of the Dīwān, pp. 89–95).