Wadai

Inhabitants and Trade.

The inhabitants consist of negroid and negro tribes, Arabs, Fula, Tibbu and half-castes. The Maba, the dominant race, are said to be of Nubian origin ; they live chiefly in the north-eastern district, and in the days of the sultan ate were allied with the Arab tribes, known in Wadai as Zoruk (dark) and Homr (red). The Maba had a reputation for pride, valour, cruelty, drunkenness, and barbaric splendour. The usual dress of the people is, for men, a long white jibba or shirt and very baggy trousers of homespun, coarse but strong cotton ; for women, the tobe, usually blue, thrown over head and shoulders, with another piece of cotton wrapped round the body to form a tight skirt. Heavy silver bangles round the ankles and silver and copper rings are worn.

The capital, Abeshr, is in the north-east in about 21° E., 13° 5o' N. Abeshr, which is set in an amphitheatre of hills, is a town of two-storeyed mud brick buildings with flat, battlemented roofs and a fine market square. The commandant's quarters are substantial buildings with barracks and a wireless station, the whole surrounded by a solid wall. The population of the town, reputed to be over 30,00o in 1873, had in 1922 dwindled to about 5,000. From Abeshr a caravan route crosses the Sahara via the Kufra oases to Benghazi in Cyrenaica. Another route, on the pilgrim way from West Africa to Mecca, goes east through Darfur to Khartoum. Maize, millet, cotton and indigo are cultivated, and cloth is woven. There is also an industry in leather goods. Ivory and ostrich feathers used to be taken to Tripoli by the desert route, together with small quantities of coffee and other produce. This trade has greatly decreased. There is a trade in cattle, horses and coffee with the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, with the regions to the south and with Nigeria. Development is much hindered by the lack of easy transport, but good roads have been made by the French, rest houses provided, and security for travellers is as sured. Until the French conquest, Wadai was a great centre of the slave trade. Slaves were obtained by raiding and in the form of tribute from Bagirmi, Kanem and other countries once de pendent on Wadai. The slaves were sent north to Bengazi, or eastward to Darfur. There was also a notorious traffic in eunuchs.

History.

Wadai early became a meeting ground of negro and Arab culture. Eastern influences and the Mohammedan religion ultimately obtained predominance, though the sovereignty of the country reverted to the negro race. It was sometimes trib utary to and sometimes the overlord of the neighbouring countries, such as Bagirmi and Kanem. It was made known to Europe by

the writings of the Arab geographers, but it was not until Nachti gal's visit in 1873 that accurate knowledge of the land and people was obtained. About 164o a Maba chief tan named Abd-el-Kerim conquered the country, driving out the Tunjur, a dynasty of Arabian origin. Thereafter Wadai, notorious as a great slave-raid ing state, suffered from many civil and foreign wars. Mohammed Sherif, sultan from 1838 to 1858, introduced Senussiism.

In the last decade of the 19th century the French advancing from the Congo made their influence felt in Wadai, and by the Anglo-French declaration of March 21, 1899 Wadai was recognized as within the French sphere. That state was then torn by civil wars. The Sultan Ibrahim was murdered in 1900, and Ahmed Ghazili became sultan. He ordered one of his rivals, the Emir Acyl, to be blinded, whereupon Acyl fled westward and entered into friendly relations with the French. A few months later (Dec. 1901) Ahmed was dethroned. With Doud Murra, who then became sultan, the French endeavoured to come to an understand ing, and in Nov. 1903 the Wadaians agreed to recognize the posses sion of Bagirmi, Kanem, etc., by France. However, in the spring of 1904, acting, it is believed, at the instigation of the Senussites, the Wadaians attacked French posts in the Shari region and carried off many slaves. Intermittent fighting continued for years. It resulted in strengthening the position of the French and of their ally Acyl, and in 1908 Doud Murra, again, it is stated, at the instigation of the Senussites, proclaimed the jihad. His army was split up under aguids (feudal lords), and was beaten in detail.

By 1912 Wadai had been completely pacified by the French and the once powerful sultanate was abolished, though the sultans of the petty states, such as Dar Tama, between Wadai and Darfur retained their authority under French protection. In the years 1913 and 1914 a terrible famine caused immense loss of life. Col. Jean Tilho says "the population of Wadai, put by Nachtigal at more than 2,000,000 in 1872, had fallen to 300,000 when I went that way [in 1917.]" Abeshr then "retained few traces of its ancient splendour"; the governor of the province had just pulled down the former palace of the sultans. Wadai was but little affected by Senussi activity during the World War. The occupa tion of Darfur by the Sudan government in 1916 led to better order in the borderlands, and to the demarcation of the frontier in 1923. The French had rigorously suppressed slave-trading, but other trade gradually increased, especially with the Sudan.