BAGIRMI, a country of north-central Africa, lying S.E. of Lake Chad and forming part of the Chad colony of French equatorial Africa. It extends some 24om. N. to S. and has a maximum breadth of 15om., with an area of 25,000sq.m. Pop. (1926) 1J3,706. The surface, which lies about I,000ft. above sea-level, is almost flat with a very slight inclination north to Lake Chad. It forms part of what seems to be the basin of an immense lake, of which Chad is the remnant. The soil is clay. The river Shari (q.v.) forms the western boundary. Numerous tributaries of the Shari flow through the country, but much of the water is absorbed by swamps and sand-obstructed channels, and seasons of drought are recurrent. The southern part of the country is the most fertile. Among the trees the acacia and the dum-palm are common. Various kinds of rubber vine are found. The fauna includes the elephant, hippopotamus, lion and several species of antelope. Of domestic animals there are large herds of cattle and flocks of sheep and goats. There are some ostrich farms; an "indigenous" breed of horses and a few camels. Bees are very numerous, and considerable quantities of honey are produced. Millet and sesame are the principal grains cultivated. Rice grows wild, and several kinds of Poa grass are used as food by the natives. Cotton is grown to a considerable extent, especially by Bornu immigrants. Fort Lamy, at the confluence of the Logone and Shari, originally a purely military post, was (1926) a town of 10,00o inhabitants. It is the administrative centre of the Chad colony. Trade is chiefly with British Nigeria, and with the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan via Wadai. The ancient caravan route, which ran through Kanem and across the Sahara to Tripoli, is now little used.
The population of Bagirmi is mixed. Negroid peoples predomi nate, but there are many pastoral Fula and Arabs. The Bagirmese proper are a vigorous, well-formed race of Negroid-Arab blood, who, according to their own traditions, came from the eastward several centuries ago, a tradition borne out by their language, which resembles those spoken on the White Nile. On their arrival they appear to have taken the place of the Bulala dynasty. They subdued the Fula and Arabs already settled in the district, and after being converted to Islam under Abdullah, their fourth king (about 1600), they extended their authority over a large number of pagan tribes living to the south and east, whom they raided for slaves. The most important of these tribes are the Sara, Gulla and Nduka. The Sara are a widespread peo ple, intelligent, tall and well made. Tree worship is prevalent among two small tribes, the Somrai and the Gaberi. In upper Bagirmi some traces of a matriarchal stage of society linger, one small State being called Beled-el-Mra, "Women's Land," because its ruler was always a queen.
Bagirmi was made known to Europe by the travels of Dixon Denham (1823) , Heinrich Barth (1852), who was imprisoned by the Bagirmese for some time, Gustav Nachtigal (1872), and P. Matteucci and A. M. Massari (1881). The country in 1871 had been conquered by the sultan of Wadai, and about 1890 was over-run by Rabah Zobeir (q.v.), who subsequently removed farther west to Bornu. By this time French interest in the coun try surrounding Lake Chad region had been aroused. The first ex pedition to the lake through Bagirmi met with disaster, its leader, Paul Crampel, being killed by order of Rabah. Subsequent mis sions were more fortunate, and in 1897 Emile Gentil, the French commissioner for the district, concluded a treaty with the sultan of Bagirmi, placing his country under French protection. A resi dent was left at the capital, Massenia, but on Gentil's withdrawal Rabah descended from Bornu and forced the sultan and resident to flee. It was not until after the death of Rabah in battle and the rout of his sons (19o1) that French authority was firmly established. At the same time Kanem (pop., in 1926, 116,309), a country north of Bagirmi and subject in turn to it and to Wadai, was brought under French control. In a comparatively short time Bagirmi settled down under French rule and in 1914 Gen. Largeau was able to make it a base for operations against the Germans in northern Cameroons. Wars and slave-raiding had devastated both Bagirmi and Kanem ; recovery was slow, but after 25 years of French rule the population had increased by 5o%.