ethics of civilization

At Herat in 1740 Nadir visited his nephew 'Ali Quli and his grandson Shahrukh, and he publicly criticized Riza Quli for putting to death Shah Tamasp and his two sons. The Qajar chief Muhammad Husain Khan had persuaded Riza Quli and carried out the murders. Huwala Arabs were revolting, and they killed Nadir's admiral Mir 'Ali Khan. Nadir built up his navy using Indian shipbuilders and timber from the north. In October 1740 Nadir defeated Abu 'l-Faiz Khan of Bukhara but reinstated him as governor as he annexed Charju and added about 25,000 Uzbeks to his army. Khiva had been using Persian slave labor, and its ruler Ilbars Khan had invaded Khurasan and helped Bukhara's resistance. After Nadir crossed Khwarazm, Khiva surrendered; but Nadir had Ilbar and twenty of his commanders executed, releasing the Iranian and Russian captives.

After briefly visiting Mashhad, Nadir marched toward Azerbaijan. In the Mandaran forests an attempted assassination wounded Nadir, who suspected his son Riza Quli and had his eyes put out. In the summer of 1741 Nadir's army of 150,000 invaded Daghistan. By 1743 the Ottoman envoys had made it clear that the Ja'fari sect would not be recognized by the Sultan. So that August with a force of 300,000 Nadir attacked Kirkuk and then besieged Mosul; but he had to give it up after a month and could never take Baghdad. After sending out forces to quell revolts, in July 1744 Nadir continued his war against the Turks by besieging Qars. Nadir put his son Imam Quli in charge of Khurasan and his nephew Ibrahim Khan over Iraq (central Iran). Finally in August 1745 the Turks were defeated, as Yegen Muhammad died. Nadir released the wounded and weak but transferred four thousand prisoners to Tehran and Tabriz. A peace treaty in 1747 ended this Persian-Ottoman war and protected Iranian travelers through Ottoman lands, because the Shi'i custom of cursing the first three caliphs had been outlawed in Iran.

The treasure taken from Delhi seems to have made Nadir Shah a miser, and he demanded heavy taxes for his war expenses, provoking revolts throughout his own empire. All jewels were seized on suspicion that they had been stolen from his Delhi treasure. Persian officers resented his favoring the Afghans and Uzbeks. Traveling from Isfahan to Khurasan, he left towers of skulls to commemorate the uprisings he crushed. After returning to Mashhad, Nadir sent tax collectors to the 140,000 Kurds, who dispersed from Khabushan. Nadir marched toward Khabushan, but in the middle of 1747 he was murdered in his tent by orders from his nephew 'Ali Quli Khan, who was proclaimed 'Adil Shah two weeks later. He had Nadir's sons murdered too but only imprisoned his 13-year-old grandson Shahrukh. After sending his brother Ibrahim Khan to Isfahan, 'Adil Shah sent the Georgian Suhrab to poison him. Ibrahim learned of the plot and had Suhrab executed. He gathered forces on his way to Mashhad, capturing Kirmanshah. 'Adil Shah fled, was captured, and blinded, having ruled less than a year. Nadir's widow had him put to death in revenge for her sons.

Young Shahrukh was enthroned at Mashhad in October 1748 by Khurasan nobles and Kurdish, Turkmen, and Bayat chiefs. Two months later Ibrahim proclaimed himself shah; but he was defeated and fled. Sayyid Muhammad refused to admit him to the shrine city of Qum. Sayyid Muhammad's mother was the daughter of Safavid shah Sulaiman, and so in 1750 he was enthroned by 'Alam Khan 'Arab Khuzaima and some Kurdish and Jalariyid chiefs as Sulaiman II. Shahrukh was blinded but was restored to the throne after only a few months, as Sulaiman II was removed and blinded. Shahrukh's infirmity was concealed, and Yusuf 'Ali Khan Jalayir helped him govern. Shahrukh was supported by Afghani ruler Ahmad Shah Durrani (r. 1747-73), who had founded his own kingdom at Qandahar after Nasir's death and helped protect Khurasan against incursions from central Iran. After Mughal emperor 'Alamgir II recaptured Lahore, Ahmad Shah Durrani pillaged Delhi in 1756. He was succeeded in Afghanistan by his son Timur Shah (r. 1773-93) and grandson Zaman Shah (r. 1793-1800); but the latter was too occupied with India and Kashmir to help prevent the demise of Shahrukh by the Qajars in 1796.

At Isfahan a Bakhtiyar leader named 'Ali Mardan Khan got Abu'l-Fath Khan to surrender and crowned a young Safavid as Shah Isma'il III in 1750. 'Ali Mardan Khan ruled as Vakil al-daula (viceroy of the state) and sent out the Kurdish leader Karim Khan Zand to subjugate the country. 'Ali Mardan extorted taxes and gifts, and he deposed and killed Abu'l-Fath Khan, replacing him with his own uncle. He lost support and went out to pillage Kazarun. In 1751 Karim Khan returned with the army and routed the Bakhtiyari. 'Ali Mardan fled to Khuzistan, and Karim Khan began his rule as viceroy. The new Zand dynasty of Karim was soon challenged by the Qajar leader Muhammad Hasan Khan from Astarabad. While Karim's army was besieging Kirmanshah, 'Ali Mardan raised an army in Luristan; he was joined by Azad Khan, a Ghilzai Afghan from Kabul. After several defeats, 'Ali Mardan began negotiating a return to the Zands, but Zand commander Muhammad Khan killed him with his own dagger.

In a three-way struggle for power, Karim Khan lost a battle to the Qajars but then attacked Azad, who found safety at Qazvin. Karim retreated past Isfahan to Shiraz, which turned him away also. Azad captured Zand generals Muhammad Khan and Shaik 'Ali with a trick; but they escaped and raised Zand morale. Eventually the Zands defeated the Afghans led by Azar, and Karim established his rule at Shiraz by 1757. He was able to win over Qajar officers with bribes and because Muhammad Hasan Khan quarreled with other Qajar leaders. Karim imprisoned the last Safavid Isma'il, who died in 1773. After promoting building and commerce in Shiraz, Karim returned to Isfahan in 1764 and ruled western Iran until he died in 1779. Preceded, surrounded, and followed by cruel warlords, Karim Khan was renowned for ruling peacefully and justly in a violent era.

Piracy caused conflicts between Oman and Iran in the Persian Gulf. Dutch baron Kniphausen had been imprisoned, fined, and deported from Basra by the Ottoman governor in 1753; but he got three ships from Batavia and occupied the island of Kharg. Mir Muhanna killed both his parents and took over Bandar Rig in 1755. Ten years later Karim demanded tribute from him and Kharg; both refused, and Mir Muhanna's fleet defeated the Dutch ships, taking over Kharg. However, Mir Muhanna had to flee a revolt in 1769, and the Zands took over the island. Karim worked with the British, who established trade at the Shiraz port of Bushahr (Bushire). In 1770 the British moved on to Basra. In 1774 Karim went to war with the Turks over the Shatt al-'Arab waterway and the Kurdish provinces of Baban and Zuhab. In 1775 he sent Sadiq Khan with 30,000 men to besiege Basra, which was plundered and depopulated by plague, losing its value as a port.

When Karim Khan died in 1779, the castrated Qajar hostage Agha Muhammad escaped. Zaki Khan sent 'Ali Murad Khan in pursuit, but at Isfahan he went over to Abu'l-Fath. Sadiq Khan had left Basra; but he fled when Zaki threatened to harm his family in Shiraz. Zaki Khan was so cruel on the march that his own men killed him, enabling Sadiq to occupy Shiraz. 'Ali Murad blockaded Shiraz, and in 1781 he captured it by treachery and murdered Sadiq and his sons except Ja'far. 'Ali Murad claimed Isfahan, but he died there defending it from Ja'far in the winter of 1785. Agha Muhammad drove Ja'far out of Isfahan. Ja'far retreated to Shiraz, but he was killed by a mutiny in 1789. Ja'far's son Lutf 'Ali Khan was the most respected of Karim's successors, and he was chosen to lead the defense of Shiraz from Qajar assaults. However, he was betrayed by Fars mayor Hajji Ibrahim, who took over Shiraz while Lutf 'Ali was attacking Isfahan in 1791. Deserted by much of his army, he fought to stop the Qajar advance led by Agha Muhammad toward Shiraz. When his men scattered to plunder after a raid on a Qajar camp, Lutf 'Ali fled east to Kirman, which he lost to the Qajars in 1794. Agha Muhammad blinded and tortured to death Lutf 'Ali. He ordered 20,000 men blinded as his men raped and plundered Kirman, taking 20,000 women and children as slaves; Agha also had 900 prisoners beheaded.

Persia Under Qajars 1794-1875
In 1794 Agha Muhammad Khan besieged Kirman while his nephew Fath 'Ali Khan subjugated the Kirman province. At Shiraz Agha Muhammad appointed Fath 'Ali beglerbegi of Fars, Kirman, and Yazd, and he made Hajji Ibrahim his grand vizier. After returning to Tehran in 1795, Agha Muhammad invaded Azerbaijan with 60,000 cavalry and besieged Shusha before negotiating so that he could attack Georgia, which had been claimed by Catherine II of Russia in 1783. After a bloody battle, Tiflis was sacked; the elderly, infirm, and priests were massacred, and 15,000 Georgians were deported to Iran as slaves. In 1796 Hajji Ibrahim and other Qajar chiefs persuaded Agha Muhammad to be crowned as shah before marching on Mashhad in Khurasan. Shahrukh was tortured until he revealed the location of gems, and then he died on the way to Mazandaran. Agha Muhammad ruled strictly according to Islamic law, punishing corruption and banditry. In 1797 Agha Muhammad was disturbed by quarrelling servants and ordered them put to death; but it was a Friday, and he delayed the execution. Foolishly allowing them to serve him, that night the two servants and a third accomplice murdered the first Qajar shah. Then they fled to Sadiq Khan with the Shah's jewels.

Hajji Ibrahim marched to Tehran to support Fath 'Ali Khan (r. 1797-1834); but Sadiq Khan Shaqaqi besieged Qazvin with 15,000 Kurds. Fath 'Ali with fewer men defeated them, as the Kurds dispersed; but Sadiq purchased his pardon with the crown jewels. Zaki's son Muhammad Khan tried to rule from Isfahan; but he was driven into the Bakhtiari mountains and captured by a Persian army led by Muhammad Vali, who had him blinded. This general joined a challenge by the Shah's brother Husain Quli Khan while Fath 'Ali was facing a revolt by Azerbaijan governor Sulaiman Khan Qajar. However, the brothers came to terms, and Sulaiman was allowed to remain governor of Azerbaijan. In 1798 Fath 'Ali Khan led the campaign to defeat the rebels in Khurasan. Fearing the growing power of Hajji Ibrahim, Fath 'Ali had him and all but one of his sons put to death.

When George XII ascended the throne in Georgia, Fath 'Ali demanded that he send his oldest son to Tehran as a hostage. George appealed to Russia, and General Lazareff defeated the Avars and occupied Georgia, which was annexed by Russia when George XII died in December 1800. General Sisianoff led the Russian campaign to take Erivan in 1804; but Fath 'Ali brought up reinforcements, and the Russians retreated. The Persian army got training in 1807 from French general Gardanne and seventy officers, and in 1810 the tall English artillery officer Lindsay Bethune was so impressive that the Persians made him their commander-in-chief for a while. After Russian general Sisianoff was treacherously murdered during a peace conference at Baku, the Russians won a major battle at Aslanduz in 1812, when Prince 'Abbas Mirza commanded a retreat. In the 1813 treaty of Gulistan, Iran ceded to Russia Derbent, Baku, Shirvan, Shakki, Qarabagh, and part of Talish, agreeing not to put navy ships in the Caspian Sea. The British gained a definitive treaty with Persia in 1814 to protect the route to India and promising Persians an annual subsidy.

In 1821 a Russian agent named Mazarovitch at Tehran persuaded 'Abbas Mirza to invade the Turks from Azerbaijan. The Baghdad pasha reacted by invading Persia, but he was defeated by the Shah's oldest son Muhammad 'Ali Mirza. After the Persian army suffered its first epidemic of cholera, they agreed to a treaty in 1823. When the Russians tried to claim disputed territory in 1825, the Persians defeated the Russians marching toward Shisha. Muslims in Ganja massacred the Russian garrison, and Persians reached the gates of Tiflis. However, the Russian army routed the Persians at Shamkar, and in the battle of Ganja the next year 'Abbas once again ordered a retreat. Even though General Paskievich could not take Erivan in 1827, Tabriz surrendered; in the 1828 treaty of Turkmanchai the Persians gave the Russians fertile Erivan and Nakhchivan, promising payment of three million pounds. This treaty also gave the Russians extra-territorial privileges, which were soon demanded by other European powers.

Fath 'Ali brought back reliable Amin al-Daula as prime minister in 1828 in order to ensure a peaceful succession. Concerned that he was too influenced by western culture at Tabriz, he appointed 'Abbas Mirza to govern Khurasan, where he campaigned against rebels in 1832; but the crown prince died the next year. Fath 'Ali died at Isfahan in 1834 and was succeeded by the son of 'Abbas, Muhammad Shah (r. 1834-48). His brother Husain 'Ali Mirza in Shiraz claimed the throne also and was supported by a younger brother; but Muhammad Shah sent an army led by Manuchihr Khan Mu'tamad al-Daula that captured them and took them to Tehran. Muhammad Shah campaigned against the Turkmen in 1836 and besieged Herat the following year; but the British persuaded him to abandon the siege in 1838. That year Qajar exiles in Baghdad instigated a rebellion led by Agha Khan Mahallati in Yazd and Kirman. In 1840 Aga Khan was driven out of Kirman and took the fort at Bam before fleeing to the British in Bombay. In 1843 Baghdad pasha Muhammad Najib slaughtered people in Karbala, because the city had been taken over by ruffians (lutis). British and Russian diplomats intervened to prevent another war between Persia and the Ottoman empire. After Muhammad Shah's first prime minister Abu'l-Qasim Qa'im Maqam was murdered, he depended on the Sufi Hajji Mirsa Aghasi, alienating the 'ulama. Iran continued to increase its use of European police training and weapons. However, in other respects Persia remained a medieval Muslim society. By the end of Muhammad Shah's reign the Persian treasury was empty, and the soldiers' pay was three to five years in arrears.

Muhammad Shah was succeeded by his 16-year-old son Nasir al-Din Shah (r. 1848-96). Nasir kept his main advisor Mirza Taqi Khan, who refused the title prime minister and was called the chief of the army (Emir Kabir). About 1840 the Persians had allowed the Russian navy to establish a base on the island of Ashurada in order to suppress Turkmen piracy in the Caspian Sea; but in 1851 Turkmen in a surprise attack killed and captured the garrison. Emir Kabir had to yield to the Russian request that the Shah's brother be dismissed from governing Mazandaran. The Shah dismissed Emir Kabir, and the efforts to reform Persian society faded with his execution in 1852. The clerics and courtiers regained their influence, as the corrupt and reactionary Mirza Agha Khan Nuri became the chief minister. Persia managed to remain neutral during the Crimean War. Emir Kabir had founded a college in 1851, and in 1855 a ministry of education was formed. Another siege of Herat led to war with the British in 1856 as they captured the island of Kharak and invaded from the Persian Gulf. In the treaty of Paris the next year Persia gave up all its claims to Herat and Afghanistan. That year Khurasan governor Sultan Murad Mirza invited eighty Turkmen leaders to a conference at Mashhad and then treacherously imprisoned them. In 1858 Nasir al-Din Shah dismissed Agha Khan Nuri and ordered the six ministers of Justice, Finance, War, Foreign Affairs, Pensions and Religious Charities, and the Interior to report directly to him. The following year the Shah appointed a council and urged the provinces to use similar advisory groups.

Mirza Husain Khan served as a Persian official in India, Tiflis, and Istanbul, where he met Malkum Khan. The latter was responsible for setting up the first telegraph line in Iran. However, his secret society was banned by the Shah in 1861, and Malkum was exiled to the Ottoman empire. Telegraph wires through Tiflis, Tabriz, and Tehran connected London to India by 1870. That year Mirza Husain Khan persuaded the Shah to visit Baghdad, where he met its reform governor Mihdat Pasha. Nasir al-Din made Mirza Husain Khan minister of Justice and of Pensions and Charities, then of War, and finally prime minister, even though it alienated clerics. He worked on reorganizing the government and eliminating corruption. During a terrible famine in 1871 he saved lives by stopping the rich from hoarding and opening the grain stores at subsidized prices. The bad harvests had been caused by shifting land from grain to opium and cotton for export. In 1872 Mirza Husain Khan persuaded the Shah to sign a sweeping concession to Julius de Reuter, a British Jew, giving him, provided he started a railroad, rights to all factories and minerals that might be developed in Iran, which so far had exploited little. Malkum and others had been bribed, and the concessions were so unpopular that the project was cancelled with Reuter losing his caution money. Nasir al-Din Shah traveled to Europe in 1871; but the extreme protection demanded by his favorite wife Anis al-Daula and other women caused problems in western society. Upon their return in 1873 prominent people demanded that Mirza Husain Khan be dismissed, though the Shah brought him back as Minister of War the next year. His attempt to establish provincial councils in 1875 was short-lived.

Under the Qajars the shah usually appointed governors who contributed the most money, and governors in turn got their positions by selling local tax-collecting. This left most of the people with little savings for investment. Many peasants worked by sharecropping for their landlords. The Persian army mostly depended on tribal forces that were motivated by the opportunity to plunder. The central government maintained control by dividing opposing tribes, giving pensions as bribes, and by taking hostages from prominent families. Islamic law (shari'a) was used for family issues, wills, contracts, and religious laws, while criminal cases and rebellion against the state were usually handled by magistrates. Commercial litigants could choose between religious or secular courts. Very little printing was done in Iran, though from 1851 the government published the weekly Iran Journal that became the official report of government orders and was required reading for officials.

Bábis and Bahá'u'lláh
On May 23, 1844 Sayyid 'Ali Muhammad declared in Shiraz that he was the Báb (Gate)-"the channel of grace from some great person still behind the veil of glory." Gathering eighteen disciples, he went on pilgrimage to Mecca, where his oratory and writings inspired his followers and alarmed the orthodox Muslim authorities. Shi'is believed that he referred to the hidden twelfth imam; but the Báb explained to the 'ulama that the mission of Muhammad had ended and that he had come to proclaim a new era. He opposed polygamy and ritual purity, though he advised against conversations between unmarried women and men. The clerics persuaded the governor of Fars to persecute the heretics, and the Báb was subjected to imprisonment, deportation, examination before tribunals, and torture. In 1846 he refused to accept an offer by the governor-general of Isfahan to march an army against Tehran. Finally at Tabriz the Báb was put before a firing squad on July 9, 1850. After the first round of shots by 750 Armenian Christians, the Báb and his companion were unhurt; the bullets had merely cut the ropes by which they were suspended. The Báb talked for a while with his friends in a nearby room, while the Armenians who made up the firing squad refused to fire again. However, a Muslim regiment of soldiers was ordered to fire, and his martyrdom was completed. Bábis tried to seize the city of Yazd, but they failed and fled to Kirman. A plot to assassinate the Emir Kabir was discovered, and the captured conspirators were executed. Persecutions continued with more than 20,000 people losing their lives.

Mirzá Husain Nuri, who became known as Bahá'u'lláh (Glory of God), was born about two years before the Báb on November 12, 1817 in Tehran. His father Mirza Buzurg of Nur was in the ruling class and served at the court of the Shah. At the age of seven Mirzá argued and won a case before the Shah, and he impressed people with his wisdom. He married Asiyih Khanum before his 18th birthday. He was concerned about the poor and did what he could to help them. When he was 22 and his father died, it was expected that he would take up his father's prestigious position in the government; but the young man had other ideas. His son, who was to become known as 'Abdu'l-Bahá (Servant of God), was born on the same day as the Báb's declaration in 1844. The Báb sent Mullá Husayn, his first disciple, with a letter for an unnamed person. When this envoy heard about Mirzá Husayn Nuri, he gave him the letter. The Báb renamed him Bahá'u'lláh.

After his conversion, Bahá'u'lláh went to spread the new message in Mazandaran. When the Báb was in prison in 1848, his persecuted followers met at Badasht in Khurasan. Of the eighteen only the poetess Qurrat al-'Ain had not met the Báb. She discarded her veil and appeared before the men with her face uncovered as a sign of the new day. Several men objected, but Bahá'u'lláh said that the Báb was the founder of a new dispensation. After returning to Tehran, Bahá'u'lláh met with Mulla Husayn and more than three hundred Bábis, who had taken sanctuary in the forests of Mazandaran at a shrine, where they built defenses. When troops besieged this fort of Tabarsi, Bahá'u'lláh went to be with them; but he was taken by the governor's men to Amul, where he was whipped to keep his companions from being punished. After the Báb's martyrdom in the public square of Tabriz in 1850, Bahá'u'lláh sent a young man to conceal the corpse of the Báb so that it could be buried later at Mount Carmel. The Báb had sent his seals, pen, and papers to Bahá'u'lláh.

While Bábis were being hunted down and killed, Bahá'u'lláh went to Iraq and lived there in relative safety in the wilderness for two years. On August 15, 1852 two irresponsible young Bábis shot at Nasir al-Din Shah with birdshot and were put to death without a trial. When the poetess Qurrat al-'Ain was told that she was to be executed, she said that they could kill her, but they could not stop the emancipation of women. Hearing that he was to be arrested, Bahá'u'lláh turned himself in and was taken to a dungeon in Tehran. In his book Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, Bahá'u'lláh explained that he had nothing to do with the assassination attempt. For four months he was held with about 150 prisoners in a dark and smelly pit with two chains around his neck and his feet in the stocks. He led them in chanting verses such as "God is sufficient unto me." Hundreds of Bábis were tortured and died that year. Bahá'u'lláh was cleared of any wrongdoing; but his property was confiscated, and he was banished from Iran. Declining an invitation from Russia, he returned to Iraq, arriving weak at Baghdad in March 1853. There his leadership of the Bábis was challenged by his half-brother Mirzá Yahyá, who was known as Subh-i-Azal, meaning "morning of eternity." So Bahá'u'lláh withdrew into solitude in the mountains of Kurdistán. He was taken for a Sufi, and his reputation for wisdom spread.

Eventually the Bábis requested that Bahá'u'lláh come back, and he returned to Baghdad in 1856. He advised them not to resist with violence any persecution, and they began to live again with faith in their hearts. In the next few years Bahá'u'lláh wrote his best known books. The Hidden Word described the eternal truths of revealed religion, and he urged people to love God more than their own pleasures. They should not speak evil of others. He wrote The Seven Valleys to answer a learned Sufi. The valleys represent the seven stages of the spiritual path-search, love, knowledge, unity, contentment, wonderment, and finally true poverty and absolute nothingness. In the valley of searching the wayfarer rides the steed of patience and in the valley of love the steed of pain. After traversing the valley of knowledge, in the valley of unity the traveler understands abstract concepts. In the valley of wonderment the pilgrim realizes that the temple of wealth is lack itself, and in the last valley one dies from the self to live in God. In The Book of Certitude Bahá'u'lláh explained scriptures as progressive revelation. He described the attributes of God such as knowledge, power, sovereignty, dominion, mercy, wisdom, glory, bounty, and grace.

Bahá'u'lláh's teachings attracted not only Muslims but also Jews, Christians, and Zoroastrians. Because of his popularity and the animosity of the Muslim clerics, in April 1863 Persian diplomats requested that the Ottoman government order him transferred to Istanbul, upsetting his followers. While camping in a garden outside Baghdad for twelve days in preparation for the journey, Bahá'u'lláh announced that he was the promised one foretold by the Báb. A majority of the Bábis who accepted his mission became known as Bahá'ís. The journey to Istanbul took three months, and four months later he was moved to Adrianople. At this time it was believed that Azal tried to poison him, and Bahá'u'lláh felt its effects in his body the rest of his life. After anonymous letters accused Bahá'u'lláh of plotting with Bulgarian and European leaders to attack the capital, in August 1868 Bahá'u'lláh was sent to barracks at Acre in Palestine; Azal was banished to Cyprus, where he died in 1912. Bahá'u'lláh was under arrest in Acre until he died in 1892. For a while about seventy prisoners were given only bread and polluted water. When three died, Bahá'u'lláh sold the rug on which he slept in order to pay the wardens to bury them.

Although a prisoner of the Turkish government, in 1867 Bahá'u'lláh was allowed to send his famous proclamations to the current world leaders including Napoleon III, Czar Alexander II, Queen Victoria, Kaiser Wilhelm, Emperor Francis Joseph, Sultan 'Abdu'l-Azíz, Nasir al-Din Shah, the rulers of America, the elected representatives of the people, Pope Pius IX, and the clergy and people of various faiths. In these exhortations he pleaded for peace and the unity of mankind.

O Rulers of the earth!
Be reconciled among yourselves,
that ye may need no more armaments
save in a measure to safeguard your territories and dominions.
Beware lest ye disregard the counsel
of the All-Knowing, the Faithful.
Be united, O Kings of the earth,
for thereby will the tempest of discord be stilled amongst you,
and your people find rest,
if ye be of them that comprehend.
Should anyone among you take up arms against another,
rise ye all against him,
for this is naught but manifest justice.1


The young messenger that took Bahá'u'lláh's letter to the Shah was tortured and killed. To the Ottoman sultan 'Abdu'l-'Aziz he urged undeviating justice so that none may suffer want or be pampered with luxuries. After Napoleon III scoffed at the man who claimed to be God, Bahá'u'lláh sent another tablet in 1869 prophesying the defeat Napoleon soon experienced. Wilhelm was warned that the German empire would suffer retribution for its bloodshed, and the lamentations of Berlin would be heard. Bahá'u'lláh commended Queen Victoria for forbidding the slave trade and allowing representative government; she wisely commented, "If this is of God, it will endure; if not, it can do no harm."2

In 1870 Bahá'u'lláh and his family were moved to a caravanserai in Acre. Although he counseled patience when spies of Azal aroused animosity against him, Bahá'ís killed three of those men. His son 'Abdu'l-Bahá was put in chains for one night. Bahá'u'lláh complained that captivity did not harm him, but this violence by his followers did. When a new governor offered to help Bahá'u'lláh, he advised him to repair the aqueduct outside of town. This improved the water supply and air of Acre.

Bahá'u'lláh continually taught that true religion recognizes and promotes the unity of mankind and the love of all humanity. Prejudices based on religion, race, or nationality are contrary to spirituality and divine love. He prophesied that civilization is moving toward world unity. The Earth is one, and the servant of God is dedicated to serving the entire human race. Even though his followers were persecuted, he advised peaceful nonresistance toward violence. Reconstructing the world does not require the use of weapons but rather a firm adherence to justice and faith in God. He noted that this people has had patience in their struggle for justice such that they allowed themselves to suffer and be killed rather than to kill. He explained that they can do this because of their trust in God.

Nevertheless to attain world unity and peace individual nations must not be allowed to make war on others. Therefore Bahá'u'lláh recommended a world assembly so that all the nations together could prevent aggression. He believed that this is divinely ordained and that in time people would come to recognize it. All the leaders of the Earth must participate and join together to maintain peace and justice with their collective power. Bahá'u'lláh described the political unity of states as the lesser peace, while the most great peace requires spiritual unity in addition to political and economic cooperation. Bahá'u'll'áh outlined a plan with a House of Justice to make lawful decisions. He suggested the use of a universal language and education for everyone.

Notes
1. Bahá'u'lláh, Tablet to Queen Victoria from Gleanings 119.
2. Quoted in Balyuzi, Bahá'u'lláh, p. 51.

Copyright © 2004 by Sanderson Beck
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Introduction
Ethics
Prehistoric Cultures
Sumer, Babylon, and Hittites
Egypt
Israel
Assyrian, Babylonian, and Persian Empires
Muhammad and Islamic Conquest
Abbasid, Buyid, and Seljuk Empires 750-1095
Islamic Culture 1095-1300
Ottoman and Persian Empires 1300-1730
Ottoman and Persian Empires 1730-1875
Africa to 1500
Africa and Slavery 1500-1800
Africa and Europeans 1800-1875
Summary and Evaluation
Bibliography
ETHICS OF CIVILIZATION Index
BECK index

BECK index
Africa to 1500
Nubia and Ethiopia to 1500
Sub-Saharan Africa to 1500
Traditional African Ethics
North Africa to 900
North Africa 900-1300
North Africa 1300-1500
Ibn Khaldun on History
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Nubia and Ethiopia to 1500
The earliest Egyptian dynasty attacked Nubia before 3000 BC and occasionally after that. In the eighth century BC the Kushite civilization was led by princes who made Napata their capital. King Piankhi reversed the trend by attacking Memphis and seizing Thebes and most of Upper Egypt. In 716 BC his brother Shabaka even brought the Nile delta within the Kushite kingdom. His successor Taharqa (r. 690-664 BC) ruled Egypt peacefully but was driven out of Memphis by the imperialist Assyrians led by Esarhaddon in 671 BC; although Kushite Tanutamen invaded Egypt in 664, ten years later the Kushites were back in Napata.

The Kushites were defeated by an invasion of Egyptians and Greek mercenaries in 593 BC. As the Sahara got drier, the grazing land around Napata deteriorated, and Meroe became the new center of the Kushites led by King Aspelta from 593 to 568 BC. Meroe was further away from possible Egyptian attacks and had developed the use of iron, which was more plentiful there. Iron weapons had given the Assyrians a military advantage, but now this was no longer the case. The Kushites, like the Egyptians, also built pyramids.

During the reign of Kushite king Nastasen from 328 to 308 BC the Meroites began to use their own hieroglyphs, which were soon followed by a Meroitic alphabet and script. The religion, which was derived from the Egyptians, changed also in the reign of Ergamenes in the last quarter of the third century BC from the worship of the Egyptian ram to a lion god depicted with three faces and four arms. Elephants were domesticated and used for royal prestige and in war. The Kushites traded extensively with the Egyptians but also through Red Sea ports with Arabia, East Africa, India, and perhaps even China. The multi-faces and arms of their lion god seem to reflect the influence of India's Shiva cults.

Although the Greeks used their term meaning "dark-skinned" to refer to the Kushites as Ethiopians, they were not what became Ethiopia. The civilization which did develop in Ethiopia was at Axum, where many Semitic people from Yemen congregated by the third century BC. They were ruled by kings claiming to be descendants of the son of Solomon and Sheba, who was supposed to have brought the Ark of the Law from Jerusalem to Axum. Although they sometimes called themselves Israelites, their religion was actually more Arabian in origin. Nubians controlled Thebes from 203 to 187 BC.

Strabo wrote that Ethiopia was so peaceful that the Romans only needed three cohorts there. However, when the Roman army in Egypt was busy with a war in Arabia, the Ethiopians (Kushites) took over Syene, Elephantine, and Philae, pulling down statues of Augustus Caesar. In retaliation for this raid near the Nile's first cataract, a Roman army led by Petronius plundered the Kushite city of Napata in 23 BC, sending a thousand prisoners to Caesar. In the next generation Kushite king Netekamani and his queen Amanitare built temples at Naga, and King Sherkarer, probably their son, commemorated a military victory with an inscription. Ethiopian civilization founded a new dynasty of kings at Axum soon after 50 CE.

About two thousand years ago the spread of iron-working gradually brought Africa south of the Sahara desert out of the stone age. Farming could be done more easily, although the tsetse fly in central Africa prevented the use of draft animals for plowing. Population began to increase, especially among those speaking Bantu languages. The coast around the horn of eastern Africa was described by a Roman official from Alexandria in the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea about 75 CE. Goods were traded for ivory and tortoise shells at Adulis, the port city for Axum; slaves, incense, and Indian cinnamon could be obtained along the coast to the south. Natives at Rhapta were described as pirates of great stature ostensibly under Arab rule. Bananas and yams were brought to Africa by Indonesian traders, who settled on the island of Madagascar about the second century CE. With the exception of Bushmen and a few others in central and southern Africa who continued to hunt and herd, by the 8th century CE the iron age had spread throughout Africa.

In the 4th century CE the Axumites conquered Kush. After Himyari king Dimnos massacred some Greek merchants in revenge for the Roman empire's ill treatment of Jews, Abyssinian king Andas invaded Yemen and killed Dimnos. Andas had vowed if he were victorious, he would become a Christian; in response the Roman emperor sent a bishop from Alexandria. Christianity was made the state religion when his successor King Ezana was converted by the captured Syrian Frumentius, who had become his tutor and later was appointed bishop of Axum by the bishop of Alexandria. Axum king Ezana devastated the once powerful empire of the Meroitic Kush. Apparently the royal family and military class of Meroites, which exploited the masses of workers, had not proved stable. Desiccation caused by over-grazing and soil erosion was another factor in the decline of Meroe, as the desert expanded. The army of Axum under Ezana made the caravan trade routes safer, destroying his enemies by sacking cities, taking prisoners, ruining crops, and confiscating livestock. Ezana was succeeded by his son Elesboas.

Another Jewish Himyari named Dhu Novas overcame the Ethiopian garrison and proclaimed himself king in 519. He persecuted Christians and tried to exterminate all Ethiopians who would not accept Judaism. In 523 a siege of Nejran resulted in the massacre of 280 Christians. Two years later Axum king Ela Atzbeha led a large army of Abyssinians to defeat and kill Dhu Novas, establishing a tributary Christian king named Esimiphaios. In 531 Roman emperor Justinian sent Julian to ask the two Red Sea kingdoms of Ela Atzbeha and Esimiphaios for help against the Persians, but they did little.

As Isis worship at the Philae temple had been ended by imperial decree, Christianity grew rapidly in Nubia after Byzantine empress Theodora sent the Monophysite Julian there in 543; she and the Egyptians made sure that the rival Melkite mission was delayed even though her husband Emperor Justinian opposed the Monophysites. Thus the Nobadae (Nubians) and their king Silko became Monophysite Christians, and with the help of a Byzantine general they made the Blemyes adopt the same faith. Julian's work in Nubia was continued by Philae bishop Theodoros; Longinus went as far as 'Alwa, where he baptized the king and his people in 580. The Ethiopian church followed the Egyptian Copts in adhering to the Monophysite doctrine. When their trade routes to Yemeni, Jewish, and Greek merchants were cut off by Muslim invaders in the 7th century CE, the Ethiopian economy stagnated.

The Mukurra kingdom was attacked by Arabs in 641, and in the peace treaty of 651 the Nubians agreed to tolerate a Muslim mosque and provide 360 slaves annually to the Muslim imam in exchange for some supplies not mentioned in the treaty, which enabled Nubians to co-exist next to Muslim Egypt peacefully for six centuries. The Nubian church was greatly strengthened when Merkurios became king in 697. When Copts were persecuted in Egypt about 745, Nubian king Kiriakos demanded that imprisoned Alexandrian patriarch Khael be released and, according to a Christian author, invaded. In 836 Nubians made a treaty with the caliph of Baghdad, and they occupied southern Egypt in 962. At the end of the 10th century the Ethiopian king, because of a conflict with the patriarch of Alexandria, asked Nubian king George II to send a bishop, while many Christians from Egypt fled to Nubia.

In 1171 Nubians attacked Egypt and were counter-attacked two years later by Saladin's brother Turan-Shah. A century later in 1272 Nubian king Dawud captured the Arab trading post at 'Aydhab; this also resulted in attacks by Mamluk Egypt which captured prominent Nubians and helped Shakanda defeat Dawud II in a struggle over the Nubian throne. Shakanda agreed to pay annual tribute to the Egyptian sultan; Nubians not becoming Muslims had to pay a poll tax; and it was reported that 10,000 captives were sent to Egypt as slaves. Conflicts in Mukurra with Mamluk troops engaged 40,000 tribesmen seeking booty, and in 1290 Nubian king Shamamun captured the Mamluk garrison at Dunkula; Sultan Kalavun, busy with the last crusaders, agreed to a treaty.

Ethiopian expansion led to conflicts in the 10th century, and forces of a queen in Damot even defeated and killed the Christian king. Late in the 10th century the Agau revolted and slaughtered Christian clergy. The Ethiopian monarchy subdued them eventually; but local Agau religious customs were made part of church rituals. As an isolated Christian community, practices such as circumcision and polygamy justified by the Old Testament persisted, as the Ethiopians identified with the tribes of Israel surrounded by enemies.

In the 12th century the Agau gained control of the Ethiopian monarchy as the Zagwe dynasty and ruled for 133 years, building impressive churches with gigantic sculptures. King Lalibela ruled for at least twenty years in the early 13th century and used his army of more than 60,000 to invade pagans to the west and south. A chronicle reported that Lalibela had ten churches built and that he donated all his worldly possessions to the poor before he died of illness at age 70 in 1220.

Opposition to the Zagwe dynasty came from a monastic school on an island of Lake Hayq in Amhara led by Yekunno-Amlak. After winning a dynastic struggle, Zagwe king Yitbarek arrested Yekunno-Amlak; but he broke out of jail and led a revolt that defeated and killed Yitbarek. The last Zagwe king Dilanda donated land to another monastic stronghold in 1268, but two years later Yekunno-Amlak must have been in control, as he was giving them land then. Thus in 1270 Yekunno-Amlak claimed to be restoring the ancient Solomonid dynasty. When he died fifteen years later, struggle for the throne caused a civil war and led to the practice for two centuries of imprisoning his descendants on Mount Gishen until each was chosen to rule or died. To the northwest of Ethiopia was the Jewish community of Falasha. Muslim settlers in the sultanate of Shoa came into conflict with Ethiopia in 1128. The Muslim merchants often fought each other too, and in 1285 Ifat king 'Umar Walasma defeated and annexed the sultanate of Shoa, controlling the trade route from Zeila.

Monastic schools like the one at Lake Hayq founded in 1248 by Iyesus-Mo'a (d. 1292) did much to educate clerics and Christians. The monasteries spread along with the Ethiopian empire. Tekla-Haymanot (1215-1313) was trained at Hayq by Iyasus Mo'a and started the important monastic community of Debre Asbo in Shoa. The Asbo abbot Filippos criticized Amda-Siyon and Sayfa-Ar'ad for their polygamy; for this Filippos and others were flogged and exiled, stimulating many monks to move into the highlands. Monastery leaders were elected democratically and managed considerable property.

After attacking and annexing Damot, Hadya, Gojjam, and Falasha, Ethiopian emperor Amda-Siyon (r. 1314-44) invaded Ifat, defeating and killing its king Haqedin I. Dawaro and Sharka made treaties with this growing Christian empire; but ruling from a mobile camp, Amda-Siyon had to quell Christian rebellions in Tigray and along the Eritrean coast. In 1332 Ifat king Sabredin revolted by attacking Christian garrisons, burning churches, enslaving and forcing clergy to accept Islam, and arresting even Muslim merchants doing business for Amda Tseyon. Ifat formed an alliance with Dawaro, Sharka, Bali, and Adal, but they were all defeated and forced to submit to the forces of Amda-Siyon. His son and successor as emperor of Ethiopia, Sayfa Ar'ad (r. 1344-72), managed to divide the Muslims of Ifat by cooperating with some of them. In retaliation for the persecution of Copts in Egypt, in 1352 Sayfa Ar'ad imprisoned Egyptian merchants and executed those refusing to become Christians.

The Muslim ruler of Zeila, Sa'ad-ad-Din (r. 1373-1403), attacked the Christian army in Dawaro and Bali, taking many slaves and cattle as booty; but he was eventually driven back to Zeila and executed by Ethiopian emperor Dawit (r. 1382-1411). Conflicts continued as Dawit's sons and successors, Tewodros and Yeshaq (r. 1414-29), were killed fighting Adal princes. Adal ruler Ahmad Badlay (r. 1432-45) led a jihad against the Christian highlands and recaptured Bali; but in an attack on Dawaro he was killed. His Muslim army was badly defeated by the forces of Ethiopian emperor Zara Ya'qob (r. 1434-68), who centralized power at the new capital Debre-Birhan. In 1453 Zara Ya'qob persecuted Stephanists who refused to worship the Virgin. His son Ba'eda Maryam (r. 1468-78) pardoned the political prisoners and relaxed the strict controls of his father that had led to rebellions. Empress Eleni continued to exert considerable influence well into the next century.

A second monastic movement was led by Ewostatewos, who encouraged his students to produce their own food; he prohibited accepting gifts from the wealthy or those in authority. He denounced the slave trade some Christian chiefs practiced, and he urged people to follow the teachings of Christ, refusing to deal with those who would not. He insisted on observing the Sabbath and eventually went to Palestine, Cyprus, and Armenia, where he died in 1352. Followers of Ewostatewos were excommunicated by Egyptian bishops in Ethiopia and in fleeing persecution spread to the frontiers; their main monastery in the Eritrean plateau was founded in 1390. Conflicts between the two monastic groups finally led Emperor Zara Ya'qob in 1450 to call a council, which managed to resolve the differences by accepting the Sabbath. Zara Ya'qob sent a letter to Egyptian sultan Jaqmaq protesting the demolition of the Coptic church of Mitmak, and not liking the reply, he detained an Egyptian diplomat for four years. He formed a relationship with Rome, and he also instituted an inquisition against heresy that killed innocent people falsely accused, including members of the royal family.

Thriving Mogadishu had a mosque in the 13th century and supported Adal's efforts against Christian Ethiopia a century later; by then the people in Mombasa and Kilwa were staunchly Muslim. Based on Bantu with strong Arabic influences, Swahili was the main language in East Africa. The Book of the Zanj tells how Arab merchants had a Zanj patron (sahib), who with his tribe would support them in disputes with another Zanj. If an Arab stole Zanj goods, the debt was paid by taking goods of another Arab. In the region of the great lakes the Kitara empire was established by the warrior king Ndahura and his son Wamara in the 14th century. However, a famine, followed by a plague that devastated cattle, spread dissatisfaction, and Wamara's military commander Kagoro massacred the Bachwezi, ending their empire. By the 15th century the ports of Sofala and Kilwa were becoming prosperous, trading ivory and gold for Arab, Indian, and Chinese goods.

Sub-Saharan Africa to 1500
Africa was the birthplace of the human species, and the Nile River nurtured the long and ancient history of Egypt. However, most of the continent, as with most of Asia, Europe, and the Americas, did not develop urban civilization until the last two thousand years. Before it began to dry up about four thousand years ago, the Sahara was occupied by hunters who left marvelous rock paintings at Tassili and domesticated sheep and wild cattle. About 1500 BC horses were introduced in the Sahara from Egypt; about a thousand years later the camel was imported from Arabia, and soon after that the desert was too dry for horses and was increasingly abandoned by people as well.

Use of camels began about the first century CE and made crossing the Sahara practical as North Africans traded salt and other goods to the Sudan for gold and slaves. Starting in the 7th century, Islam gradually spread in Africa. Early Muslim travelers were astonished at the liberty the African women enjoyed. In Walata though devout, their beauty was far from veiled, and they could take lovers as they pleased. In the many matrilineal societies kings were succeeded by a son of a sister.

In 772 CE al-Fazari in Baghdad called Ghana the land of gold. Ghana's kings controlled the Wangara gold and competed with the Sanhaja Berbers, who held Awdaghust until Sanhaja strife enabled the Soninke of Ghana to capture that city in 990. The city of Kumbi Saleh became a commercial and intellectual center in the Sudan. Legends told of this region anciently called Wagadu, of which Kumbi was the capital, saying that Wagadu was blessed with much gold that was replenished annually thanks to a snake that guarded the kingdom. Every year they sacrificed a virgin to the snake until the year a lover of the chosen virgin killed the snake. The dying snake cursed Wagadu, causing the land to dry up and the gold to cease there and move to the upper Niger River area.

Ghana's rulers maintained their ancestral religion and resisted Islam. In 1068 al-Bakri wrote that Ghana king Tunka Menin had great power and was respected for his love of justice and kind treatment of Muslims. Kumbi fell to the Almoravids in 1076, and many were forced to convert. Almoravid military leader Abu-Bakr ibn 'Umar, whom Mauritanian oral traditions held responsible for dispossession of the blacks in the Sahara by the Berber nomads, was killed in Tagant in 1087. Plundered and with its trade disrupted, Ghana declined.

East of Ghana, the Kanuri Sefawa dynasty was established in Kanem about the 9th century and lasted a millennium. Gao king Kossoi became a Muslim in 1010 but did not change his court ceremonies. About 1085 the second Sefawa king, Dunama ibn Hummay, was converted to Islam; he made two pilgrimages to Mecca and died on a third.

Declining Ghana was finally destroyed in 1203, when Soso chief Sumaguru Kante of the Kaniaga, which had been a vassal state of Ghana, sacked Kumbi. Sumaguru also conquered the Mandinkas to the south by the upper Niger and put to death all the ruler's sons except a cripple named Sundiata, who raised a guerrilla army and eventually defeated and killed Sumaguru in 1235. In a few years the Mandinkas took over what had been Ghana and controlled the gold trade from Wangara. Though essentially an agricultural community, this kingdom of Mali also traded the Saharan salt of Taghaza and copper of Takedda, as Jenne and Timbuktu became commercial centers. Sundiata was succeeded in 1255 by his son Wali, who went on pilgrimage to Mecca; during his 15-year rule the Mali kingdom included Songhay. Wali was succeeded by two brothers; the second, Khalifa, having killed people with arrows for sport, was deposed and killed. During these troubles Songhay became an independent kingdom under 'Ali Kolon. Incompetent Mali kings were controlled by court officers, though a freed slave named Sakura usurped the throne in 1285 and expanded his power with his Mandinka army so that by the end of the 13th century Mali sovereignty stretched from Takrur in the west to Goa and Songhay in the east. Sakura died on his way back from Mecca, and the legitimate line resumed.

In the first half of the 13th century under Dunama Dibalami the Kanuri Sefawa dynasty expanded from east of Lake Chad to the north to take Kawar and the Fezzan and west to include Bornu, establishing the first Kanuri empire by military forces that included 41,000 horses. At the end of this century king Ibrahim Nikale killed one of his sons and was assassinated. A civil war in the next reign lost the Fezzan, where a Banu Nasur dynasty lasted a century before it was destroyed by Arabs from the Maghrib.

The Mali kingdom was divided into three provinces with many local chiefs. Sons of vassal kings were often held hostage at court, and local chiefs ruled under appointed governors. Farming, the army, and administration depended on serfs and slaves, though some slaves could become officials, even a provincial governor. The cavalry consisted of free men; horses were expensive and were often purchased with slaves. Property was respected so much that when a foreigner died in Mali, the property remained until the heir was sent for to recover it, according to Ibn-Battuta. This Arab traveler also complained that female servants and slaves in the court were naked.

In the forests of West Africa farmers and some pastoralists, like the Ibo and Tiv, had egalitarian societies based on family kinship and tribes that were free of tribute, tax, and rent. Elders administered justice and communal activities in small groups. The Akan people were matrilineal but had a king with attending ministers. A council could remove the king, who might be obligated to commit suicide; they could stop the king from going to war if they believed it was unjust. Wolof and Serer kings of Senegambia were elected by the nobility but were considered divine and had more power, appointing local chiefs to collect taxes. Women could hold powerful positions, and in Walo could even be chief of state. Wolof and Serer societies were very hierarchical with defined classes of royalty, nobility, warriors, peasants, servants, and many slaves, some of whom held privileged positions, even advising the king. Society was also graded by age, and secret societies enforced customs and standards of behavior, promoting virtue in women and honor among men. Kola nuts were chewed as a stimulant and were often given in friendship. The art of Ife indicated it was an important center in the 11th century. Oyo was the primary state of those later called the Yoruba people. The Oyo king had to work with the council representing seven wards or face suicide. The secret society of the Ogboni was a check on the council. Tradition held that the Benin line of kings to the east was started by an Oyo king about the 14th century.

Mali king Mansa Musa (r. 1312-37) was celebrated by Muslim historians for making a famous pilgrimage to Mecca in 1324; his spending about 30,000 pounds of gold in Cairo depreciated the precious metal there. In choosing between gold production or proselytizing the Muslim faith in Wangara, Musa abandoned the latter. The Mossi pillaged and reduced Timbuktu to ruin by about 1330 and again in 1338. Musa broke tradition by leaving the kingdom to his son instead of the oldest male in the family, Sulayman, who took the throne four years later and maintained the Mali empire for twenty years. Ibn Battuta visited Mali in 1353 and noted a failed plot to overthrow the king. After Sulayman's death a civil war over the succession was won by Mari-Djata II, who ruled so oppressively from 1360 to 1374 that he depleted the treasury and almost ruined the kingdom. In the next reign the chief minister carried out military expeditions against rebellions in Gao and beyond. In the fifteenth century Mali's royal power declined, as the Mossi raided the subject state of Macina.

The Songhay royal house at Gao on the Niger River had converted to Islam by the 11th century; in the 14th century the Sonni dynasty gained strength, and in 1420 Songhay's Sonni ruler Muhammad Da'o raided Mali territory. In 1433 the Tuareg chief Akilu-ag-Malwal occupied Timbuktu and Walata, and in 1450 Macina became independent. Two hundred miles up the Niger River, the fishing village of Jenne had grown into a center of Islamic learning and trade. When Mali lost control of Timbuktu, Jenne also became independent for a half century. Sonni 'Ali (r. 1464-92) of Songhay continued to practice his native religion but gave contributions to mosques. Yet he mistrusted Muslims and often persecuted them. He recaptured Timbuktu in 1468 and conquered Jenne about four years later. Naba Nassere invaded Baghana and Walata in 1477, but in 1483 Sonni 'Ali drove his army out of the region. The Songhay army also pushed the Mossi south of the Niger and raided their territory. Arab historians criticized Sonni 'Ali for tyrannically oppressing Muslims, but for the Songhay empire he was its founding hero. Both the Mali and Songhay empires traded slaves for horses in order to field a professional cavalry. Jews were resented for having become prominent, and in 1492 the qadi al-Maghili incited a massacre of Jews in Tuat.

In the early 14th century four Kanuri kings, all sons of 'Abd Allah ibn Kaday, were killed fighting the So, though Idris ibn Ibrahim Nikale managed to get along with the Bornu people and ruled for about 25 years. The second half of the century was filled with wars against the pastoral Bulala, again killing four Kanem kings in a row and forcing the next mai (divine king) Umar ibn Idris to move the capital to Bornu west of Lake Chad. In 1391 mai Bir ibn Idris complained to the Egyptian sultan Barquq of Arab raids on his Kanem people, but he ruled a third of a century. In the late 14th century nomadic Arabs came in to the western Sahara and raided caravans so much that trade shifted to Timbuktu in the east. In the 15th century the Kanuri revived in a second empire.

Some political history of Kano survived in "The Song of Bagauda." Population increased in this fertile land as others suffering famine migrated to Kano. Larger territory was conquered by a series of kings called sarki. Gijimasu (r. 1095-1134) had established the city of Kano, and his son Tsaraki (r. 1136-94) subdued most of the chiefdoms in the area except Santolo. Muslims helped Yaji (r. 1349-1385) conquer the Santolo and destroy its religious center of traditional sacrifices. The 15th sarki Kananeji (r. 1390-1410), using horse armor, iron helmets, and coats of chain-mail, invaded and occupied Zaria (Zazzau). The wealthy war-chief Dauda (r. 1421-38) brought a more sophisticated administration with Bornu titles. When a deposed Bornu ruler took refuge in Kano about 1425, the Bornu mai made the Hausaland towns pay tribute to Bornu during the reign of Kano sarki Abdullahi Burja (r. 1438-52). Katsina had to send a hundred slaves each year to the Bornu capital at Ngasargamu. In the 15th century the most powerful states in the Hausaland were Katsina, Kano, Zaria, and Gobir. The spread of Islam put more emphasis on the higher Hausawa god Ubangiji rather than possession by the oskoki spirits that were subordinated as jinn.

During the Kano reign (1452-63) of Ya'qub, kola nuts were introduced into Hausaland. The Kano sarki Muhammad Rumfa (1463-99) made Kurmin Jakara into a market, built mosques, and consulted a council of nine, letting trusted slaves handle finances. His conversion to Islam was marked by his cutting down the sacred tree and replacing it with a mosque. During his reign the series of wars between the Kano and Katsina began. Sarki Muhammad Korau (r. 1445-93) founded the walled city of Katsina at the site of an iron mine. His successor Ibrahim Sura (r. 1493-98) imprisoned his subjects who refused to pray.


In 1415 the Portuguese captured Ceuta on the Moroccan side of the Gibraltar Straits. After their fleet was destroyed at Tangier, they abandoned it in 1437; but they began colonizing the Azores two years later. In 1441 Antam Gonçalves seized two Africans on the coast of Rio d'Oro and took seven captives back to Lisbon. Two years later Nuno Tristao took captives from the Senegal region, and the next year a company was set up in Lagos to exploit the African slave trade. A fort was built at Arguin in 1445, and the next year Portuguese explorers arrived in western Malinke. Ten years later a Venetian reported that the Portuguese were stealing about a thousand people a year from the west African coast, and plantations were established on the Canary Islands, the Cape Verde Islands, and on Sao Tomé, using African slaves.

The Portuguese attacked Tangier in 1471, also taking Arzila and Larache. That year the expedition led by Fernao Gomes discovered the lucrative region they called the "Mine" (El Mina) that became known as the Gold Coast. In a 1480 treaty Portugal gave up the Canary Islands to Spain, and the Spanish promised not to interfere in the Guinea trade. Portuguese led by Azambuja began building the Sao Jorge da Mina fortress in 1482, and the next year Portuguese captain Diogo Cao reached the Kongo; missionaries tried to convert the natives to Christianity while ambassadors and goods were exchanged with Lisbon. In 1485 d'Aveiro began trade and diplomatic relations with the Benin empire.


Bantu flourished in the Kongo and crossed south of the Limpopo by the 11th century. Kikuyu entered the eastern highlands during the 13th and 14th centuries. Family, clan, community, and age group were important to the Kikuyu. District councils of elders were formed, and from these were chosen a national council. Group discussion and public opinion made government responsive. In central Africa in the 16th century Tutsi and Hima rulers had vassals or clients similar to the feudal system.

In east Africa according to the Kilwa Chronicle, Sulayman al-Hasan ibn Daud (r. 1170-88) developed the gold trade into a rich empire. They built a stronger citadel, and many Arabs and Persians settled there. Ibn Battuta visited in 1331 and was impressed by the piety of the Muslims. The Pate Chronicle recorded that Omar ibn Muhammad Fumo Mari (d. 1392) conquered Lamu, Manda, and Malindi and that he went to war with Kilwa to expand the Nabhani kingdom.

The impressive buildings of the Great Zimbabwe were started about 1300. In the 14th century Zimbabwe culture south of the Zambesi was governed by the Mbire, Bantus from the Lake Tanganyika area who revitalized the Shona kingdom. Although about 1425 Karanga king Mutota attempted to conquer the plateau between the Zambesi and the Limpopo, usually the spread of the Bantu seems to have been based on their knowledge of working iron more than on military conquest. A village chief with a council of elders usually governed. Spiritual beliefs and respect for ancestors helped sustain traditions and strengthen sanctions. Mutota's son Matope became a powerful ruler, gaining the title mwanamutapa (lord of the plundered lands), which the Portuguese later took over, calling it Monomotapa. Matope moved his capital from the Great Zimbabwe to the north; deforestation and grazing had exhausted the region, though oral tradition blamed a lack of salt. Changa and Togwa rebelled against his empire. After Matopa died about 1480, Changa was able to establish an independent kingdom in the southern region that is now Zimbabwe. Inland the Zambezi kingdom of Urozwi was beyond Portuguese influence; but in the north Portuguese gold-seekers established military authority and markets in Monomotapa near Mount Darwin.

Traditional African Ethics
For many centuries African culture has been primarily oral, and thus few written sources can provide us with information about comprehensive ethical systems. Yet these oral traditions have been carried on by each generation through teaching, folklore, proverbs, and customs. Most of sub-Saharan Africa seems to have similar beliefs and ethical traditions. Traditional African philosophy perceives that spirits are what cause good and evil, that these spirits are not only in living humans but in all life and in the invisible presence of the ancestors. For Africans, the community of the tribe, clan, and family is more important than the individual, because the individual depends on the group. The actions of individuals affect not only themselves but the group. Thus African ethics is more social than personal and more pragmatic than theoretical. Most Africans believe that the guilt of one person can affect the entire household, including the animals and property. Those who do wrong will eventually be punished by God. To avoid worse effects, most traditional African tribes punished sorcery, witchcraft, murder, incest, and adultery severely (often with death), but minor crimes were punished by fines paid in cattle, sheep, or money. Believing everything is interrelated, whenever misfortunes, illnesses, and accidents occur, Africans search for the evil intentions that originally caused them.

Taboos are based on moral considerations, and so they avoid doing wrong in order to prevent harm from occurring. The community may punish people for their wrong actions with physical ordeals or fines. Africans make a distinction between witchcraft and sorcery. Witchcraft comes from the inner self and may operate without one even being consciously aware of its effect, but sorcery is a technique that is consciously used to do harm, possibly for a price. However, Africans generally believe that only those who desire evil, have bad consciences, or are emotionally unstable are susceptible to sorcery. The function of the medicine-man, medicine-woman, or witch doctor is to prevent the negativity of witchcraft or sorcery from harming people by sending the magic back to its source. The witch doctor cures those who are bewitched and attempts to check the powers of witches and sorcerers. The Azande medicine-man cures the sick and warns of danger, because in the African belief the negativity (or evil) is what causes both illness and moral harm. Ill will from jealousy or hatred may cause wishing someone harm (witchcraft) or a more overt bad action. Thus the healer seeks to discover the psychological cause of the illness. Africans believe witches are morose, anti-social, and easily offended. To become a witch doctor or diviner, the person must hear the call and undergo apprenticeship with a diviner or medicine person, who is usually an herbalist.

The Hausa people believe that being a good person (mutumin kirki) depends on character (hali), which is manifested in various ways. Being truthful (gaskiya) is perhaps the most important, and a Hausa proverb suggests that a lie can cause more pain than a spear. Trust (amana) goes along with keeping one's word, and terrible shame can result from breaking a promise. Generosity (karama) is another Hausa virtue, and the giving spirit also implies cheerfulness. Patience (hakuri) is so essential in Hausaland that a common greeting is "How is the patience?"1 Hankali is described as common sense, prudence, and correct behavior. The communitarian nature of African ethics is indicated by the concept of kunya or shame. Ladabi can be understood as courtesy or propriety. Mutunci is the aspect of goodness that respects the feelings of others. Hikima means wisdom and maturity, and adalci implies justice and honesty.

For the Yoruba the community is more important than the individual. Their economic life was communal and based on the common ownership of land. Cooperative endeavor (owe) is essential to the Yoruba way of living. Another Yoruba saying indicates how they believe ethics affects their community. If someone in the house is eating poisonous insects and is not warned, the neighbors may lose sleep. This proverb also implies that each person is responsible for helping one's neighbors stay on the right path. The Yoruba believe that God is the one who executes judgment in silence. The Yorubas are concerned whether their behavior will bring honor or shame on their family and group. Mutual helpfulness is essential to the survival of the kin-group. The Yoruba also place great emphasis on character (iwa), saying that gentle character is what keeps the rope of life unbroken, or that good character is the best protection. That they believe the soul resides in the heart is indicated by their using the same word (okan) to mean either the soul or the physical heart. The Yoruba could consult the Ifa oracle to find out if a death was caused by witchcraft. Ifa was a legendary sage with healing power who founded the sacred city of Ife-Ife. The Ifa oracle is similar to the Chinese Yi Jing, except that it has 256 permutations of two basic symbols in eight places instead of 64 in six places.

The Akan people believe that all humans are children of God and that no one is a child of the earth. The Asante instruct their future priests and require the neophytes to follow a discipline that forbids them to drink alcohol, gossip, quarrel or fight, pray to kill anyone, attend the chief's court without being summoned, or go out at night with other men. They are also required to salute their elders with respect. The women could be trained to be mediums, but the male priests usually did not allow themselves to be possessed. The Asante believe that their ancestors are watching them and will hold them to account when they depart from this life to the world of the spirits. The ancient tradition of human sacrifice continued to be perpetrated by powerful rulers who ordered servants to accompany them in their transition from this life to the next. Such sacrifices were ordered by kings in Abomey, Kumasi, and Benin. Also victims might be sent to carry a message to the land of the dead. Usually those sacrificed were convicted criminals or war captives, who might even prefer this fate to being sold into slavery. Such messengers were often well treated prior to their execution.

Secret societies such as the Oro acted as vigilantes, condemning evil-doers and then executing them in Oro's grove. Leopard societies might mark murdered bodies as though they had been mauled by leopards, and some practiced cannibalism. In addition to these judicial murders, some male secret societies exploited and bullied women. Often Christian missionaries or Muslims attempted to reform these abuses by teaching their religions. Secret societies may accept Christians and Muslims, and they may become a parallel government working at night to maintain ethical standards for the community.

Rites of passage are performed for birth, puberty, marriage, and death. The naming of children often seemed to imply an understanding of reincarnation. During initiations males were usually circumcised, and females often suffered clitoridectomy. The courage needed to undergo this pain marked a passage toward adult life. Although circumcision does not have negative effects, clitoridectomy has been criticized because it reduces the pleasure a woman experiences in sexual intercourse. Africans generally have open and healthy attitudes about sexuality, which is considered a gift of the ancestors from God. Everyone is expected to marry, and fertility is strongly valued. Because of this, adultery, incest, and homosexuality are usually considered taboo. For social Africans marriage is between families as well as individuals, and polygamy is allowed in order to produce more children. Africans are often suspicious of those who remain single or eat alone. During initiations the Bantu would teach the youngsters that friendship is always better than possessions and that a man should tell people not to quarrel and stop people from hurting each other. The Bantu language was widespread in southern and central Africa, and their term for God (Njambi) only exists in the singular, implying monotheism. The spiritual philosophy of Africans recognizes that souls continue to exist after they leave the body at death. Thus they continue to respect their ancestors and may aim to please them. Mediums are trained to be channels for departed spirits and may bring their messages from the other world.

Traditional African ethics includes such qualities as community loyalty, helpfulness, sharing, living in harmony, respecting people, and self-control. Africans believed in increasing their power but are leery of anyone having unlimited power. When things go wrong, the community works together to restore peace. They believed that much human evil comes from envy. The Dogon say that the patient person has peace and refreshes like water. The humanism of African culture is contained in Nguni concepts such as ubuntu, which implies community, reciprocity, solidarity, and social harmony. A famous humanistic Nguni saying is that a human becomes human through other humans. The Venda say that a person is born for others. Another old South African saying is "Your pain is my pain; my wealth is your wealth; your salvation is my salvation."2

North Africa to 900
Western North Africa was colonized by Phoenicians from Tyre about the 8th century BC, and Carthage was said to have been founded in 814 BC by the Tunis Lake. Carthage was infamous for practicing human sacrifices called molk (Moloch in the Bible). Gradually more families were allowed to purchase from the priests the right to substitute animals for children. Carthage was also resented for exacting excessive tribute on conquered peoples. In the 6th century BC religious reforms purified the culture somewhat and transformed the autocratic monarchy to an aristocratic oligarchy. Using African mercenaries, the Carthaginians invaded more of North Africa, Sicily, and Sardinia; but they made a treaty with Rome in 508 BC. Carthage tried to intervene in Sicily with 300,000 men in 480 BC; when Hamilcar learned of their defeat, he sacrificed many of his men and himself. Carthaginians fought the Numidians. Hannibal died in a pestilence while besieging Acragas on Sicily in 406 BC, and a second Himilco eventually abandoned Syracuse in 396 BC because of an epidemic that killed 10,000 Carthaginian soldiers. Himilco returned to Carthage, did public penance, and then starved himself to death. Syracuse defeated Carthage again in 379 BC; but the next year Syracuse had to pay Carthage a thousand talents, and western Sicily remained under Punic control. Carthage made another treaty with Rome in 338 BC. Carthage fought three Punic Wars against Rome, 264-241 BC, 218-201 BC, and 149-146 BC, ending in the destruction of Carthage and Roman hegemony. For nearly eight centuries North Africa was dominated by the Roman empire, and from the second to the sixth centuries it became a Christian culture.

More information on North Africa can be found in Volume 4 Greece and Rome to 30 BC and in Volume 5 Roman Empire 30 BC to 610.

In 610 CE African exarch Heraclius challenged the tyrannical emperor Phocas and negotiated with the Senate. His son Heraclius organized forces in Alexandria and the Pentapolis; he sailed to Constantinople and had Phocas put to death. The Byzantine empire had become so weak by then that young Heraclius considered moving the capital to Carthage; but Patriarch Sergius and the people of Constantinople changed his mind. By 619 the Persians had conquered Egypt. Heraclius organized the eastern provinces into military themes and began requiring men to serve in the army as at Carthage. In 622 Heraclius led his army in a campaign to the east and drove the Persians out of Asia Minor and Armenia. Visigoth king Suinthila conquered Spain about 624. Although Constantinople was attacked by Persians and Avars in 626, the Byzantine navy held the capital. The next year Heraclius defeated the Persian army near Nineveh, and Khusrau II was deposed in 628 by his son, who agreed to give up Syria, Palestine, and Egypt to Heraclius.

'Amr led the Muslim invasion of Egypt in 640, besieging Misrah (Memphis) for seven months. Egyptian governor Muqawqis disagreed with the Greek orthodox theology anyway and agreed to pay two gold pieces for every man, not counting old men and monks. Alexandria was besieged for fourteen months and succumbed in 642; but leaving it without an adequate garrison, the Muslims had to conquer the metropolis again in 645. The city was said to contain 4,000 palaces, 4,000 baths, 400 theaters, 12,000 vegetable gardeners, and 40,000 tributary Jews. The Muslim warriors were prevented from pillaging and wasting the wealth so that it could be used to pay for the expenses of the war. The annual taxes imposed were estimated at 12,000,000 dirhams. The grain of Egypt was sent by caravan to Arabia to alleviate the famine. John the Grammarian asked for the valuable books in the library. 'Amr sent his request to Caliph 'Umar, who reasoned that the Qur'an is sufficient, because those books agreeing with it are useless and those disagreeing are pernicious; thus they should be destroyed. The precious manuscripts supplied the fuel to heat the city's baths for the next six months. Since no contemporary account of the library being destroyed at this time exists, this story may have been fabricated by the Baghdad historian Abdul Latif several centuries later.

In 647 'Abd-Allah ibn Sa'd ibn Abi Sarh led an army of 40,000 west of Egypt across North Africa. Tripoli's prefect Gregory rejected the usual options of converting to Islam or paying tribute, choosing to fight. After a few days Gregory offered his daughter's hand in marriage and 100,000 gold coins to anyone who killed the Muslim commander. Ibn Abi Sarh withdrew from the combat but was reprimanded upon the arrival of Zubayr, who suggested they offer the same daughter to anyone who killed Gregory. Zubayr himself killed Gregory but gave up his daughter for the right to tell his story of conquest in the mosque at Medina.

During Ali's caliphate Mu'awiya sent an army to take control of Egypt and made 'Amr ibn al-'As governor again. 'Amr's nephew 'Uqba ibn Nafi' explored opening a trade route to Lake Chad and invaded the Berbers of Tunisia with an Arab army in 670, founding Qairawan. Abul-Mujahir Dinar replaced 'Uqba in 674 and came to an accommodation with the Berber king Kusayla. A year after 'Uqba was reinstated in 681, he took Abul-Mujahir and Kusayla as captives on his campaign west that reached the Atlantic Ocean. After Kusayla escaped from his camp, 'Uqba was attacked and killed near Biskra. 'Uqba's deputy Zuhayr ibn Qays abandoned Qairawan, which became Kusayla's Berber capital. Zuhayr ibn Qays returned with an Arab army, defeating and killing Kusayla; but by 689 Zuhayr had been killed by Byzantine forces reoccupying Cyrenaica.

Caliph 'Abd-al-Malik's brother 'Abd al-Aziz governed Egypt from 685 to 704. After their garrison at Qairawan was massacred by Berbers, he sent Hassan ibn al-Nu'man in 693, and in seven years his forces reconquered Qairawan and, aided by the Muslim navy, captured and destroyed Carthage, founding Tunis. Berber queen al-Kahina in Algeria fought the Arabs but was defeated and killed in 697. When Hassan went to Damascus and was made governor of Barca, 'Abd al-Aziz replaced him with Musa ibn Nusayr. Caliph 'Abd al-Malik objected; but Musa sent so much expropriated treasure to him that he changed his mind and made Musa governor of Africa. Musa founded dock-yards and by 703 had built up the Muslim fleet at Tunis. He campaigned for three years in Morocco and conquered Tangier by 709.

The conquering Arabs imposed both the poll tax (jizya) and the land tax (kharaj) on the resisting Berbers, and often "human tribute" in slaves was demanded as well. Even those converting to Islam were considered inferior to Arabs as clients (mawali). During the enlightened caliphate of 'Umar II (717-20) enslaving Berbers was outlawed; but the new emir Yazid ibn Abi Muslim in 720 reversed this and even had his name tattooed on slaves' arms, causing angry Berber warriors to kill him. Widespread Berber rebellion began in 739 during the emirate of 'Ubayd Allah ibn al-Habbab (r. 734-41) after he and his son conducted slave raids in Morocco. The rebels were joined by Sufrite Kharijites, who were challenging Umayyad rule. They occupied Tangier, and led by the Zanata Berber Khalid ibn Hamid, they defeated an Arab army in 741 in the "Battle of the Nobles." Kharijite rebels marched on Qairawan but were defeated twice by an army sent from Egypt. A Fihrid descendant of 'Uqba named 'Abdul-Rahman ibn Habib returned from Spain in 745 to Tunisia and took power away from Hanzala ibn Safwan, who fled in 747.

In the west Spain fell quickly into the hands of Muslim invaders. In 709 Roderick usurped the Spanish crown. According to legend repeated by Arabic and Spanish historians, Roderick raped Florinda, the virgin daughter of Count Julian, who ruled Ceuta across the strait on the northwest tip of Africa. For revenge Julian betrayed his religion and country by assisting the Muslim general Jebel Tariq, who sent 500 Berbers the next year. In 711 Jebel Tariq landed with 7,000 men across the straits of Gibraltar named after him. The Muslims conquered Andalusia, taking Malaga, Granada, and Cordoba. Toledo was betrayed by Jews, who had been unfairly treated by the Christians, and Tariq's forces defeated Roderick's army in July. African governor Musa ibn Nusayr became jealous and crossed over with an army of 10,000 Arabs the following year and conquered Medina Sidonia, Seville, and Merida. By the end of 713 all of Spain was controlled by the Muslims, as the Gothic rulers fled across the Pyrenees to their provinces in Gaul. The Caliph accused Musa of exceeding orders, just as Musa had reprimanded Tariq. Musa was summoned to Damascus and brought with him tremendous spoils, including 18,000 of the finest men and women captured.

During Sulayman's reign (715-17) Muslims crossed the Pyrenees and settled in the Garonne valley of southern France. There a Frank army led by Charles Martel defeated the invading Muslims, killing Spain's governor Abdul Rahman in 732. The Arabs continued to attack French cities, seizing Avignon two years later and looting Lyons in 743; but the tide had turned, and the Franks gradually pushed most of the Muslims back across the Pyrenees into Spain. In 746 the Fihrid Yusuf ibn Abdul-Rahman ruled Spain independently of the caliphs until he was replaced by the fugitive Umayyad prince 'Abdul-Rahman ibn Marwan in 756.


In Tunisia the militaristic Fihrids were led by 'Abdul-Rahman ibn Habib, who raided Sicily and Sardinia in 752. He was assassinated in 755 for refusing to submit to the new 'Abbasid caliph. The Warfajuma tribe of Berbers united with Sufrite leaders and defeated the Fihrids, taking over Qairawan and killing Habib ibn 'Abdul-Rahman in 757. By then the Ibadites had gained control in Tripolitania following the instructions of Abu 'Ubayda from Basra. He sent as imam Abul-Khattab, who led the Ibadite tribes and drove the Sufrites from Qairawan in 758. However, three years later Ibn al-Ash'ath led an 'Abassid army that invaded Tunisia, overcoming the Ibadites and killing Abul-Khattab. The Arab military caste (jund) continued to resist and forced Ibn al-Ash'ath to leave in 765. His successor al-Aghlab ibn Salim was campaigning in Algeria against Sufrites led by the Banu Ifran chief Abu Qurra, who governed in Tlemcen (Tilimsan), when the jund in Qairawan revolted and killed Salim in 768. For the next quarter century the Muhallab family governed in relative peace. However, the Kharijite revolt against the 'Abbasids in Tripolitania failed when their leader al-Malzuzi was killed in 772.

After 776 the Banu Ifran supported Abdul-Rahman ibn Rustam, whom the Ibadite tribes declared their imam. He established the Rustamid capital at Tahart. Idris ibn 'Abdulla, great grandson of Imam Husan, founded in 788 the independent Idrisid dynasty in Morocco and conquered Sufrite Tlemcen in 790; but he was murdered the next year by an assassin sent by Caliph Harun al-Rashid. His posthumous son Idris II was born three months later. The Aghlabid rebellion began at Tunis in 797 and then occupied Qairawan. In 800 Harun allowed Ibrahim ibn al-Aghlab to usurp power, founding the Aghlabid dynasty that controlled the region between Morocco and Egypt. Idris II (r. 803-28) struggled against the influence of the Awraba tribes and the Aghlabids and established his capital at Fez in 809. For a century the Aghlabids recognized the 'Abassid caliphs but were autonomous. The Ibadite imam 'Abdul-Wahhab led an attack on Tripoli in 812, as Ibrahim ibn al-Aghlab died and was succeeded by his son 'Abdullah.

Malikis, following the ideas of Malik ibn Anas of Medina, condemned the new taxes imposed by Ibrahim I (r. 812-17), and the Arab military class (jund) rebelled during the reign of Ziyadat Allah I (r. 817-37), gaining Tunis and occupying Qairawan in 824; but three years later the Ibadite Berbers helped the Aghlabids defeat the rebels and regain power. The Maliki Sahnun was persecuted by the emir Abu Ibrahim Ahmad (r. 841-56) for rejecting Mu'tazili dogma. Fez flourished under the Idrisids and became a religious center during the reign (849-63) of Yahya ibn 'Umar.

During their century of rule the Aghlabids raided the coasts of France, Italy, Corsica, Sardinia, and Sicily, which they conquered in 831. Many slaves were imported from the Sudan. During this century the North Africans converted to Islam, and Catholic culture practically disappeared there. Ibrahim II (r. 875-902) governed Qairawan during the extravagant reign (864-75) of Muhammad II and succeeded him. Ibrahim II tried to help the poor by treating the rich despotically. He had the qadi Ibn Talib tortured to death in 889, and five years later he ordered the massacre of the jund leaders at the Balazma castle. His tyranny was opposed by Isma'ilis, and he abdicated in 902; but his successor 'Abdullah II was assassinated a year later. His son Ziyadat Allah III also ordered his own brother murdered to secure his power; but his forces suffered a series of defeats by the conquering Fatimids, who took over in 909.

North Africa 900-1300
The Nubians occupied southern Egypt in 962. At the end of the 10th century the Ethiopian king, because of a conflict with the patriarch of Alexandria, asked Nubian king George II to send a bishop, while many Christians from Egypt fled to Nubia. Ethiopian expansion led to conflicts in the 10th century, and forces of a queen in Damot even defeated and killed the Christian king. Late in the 10th century the Agau revolted and slaughtered Christian clergy. The Ethiopian monarchy subdued them eventually; but local Agau religious customs were made part of church rituals.


Descendants of the prophet's daughter Fatima and 'Ali gained Berber support after the Shi'i Abu 'Abdullah met the Kutamas at Mecca in 892. Ten years later Abu 'Abdullah made Tazrut the capital of his Isma'ili state in Kutama territory. The Fatimids conquered the Aghlabids, taking Qairawan in 909 with 'Ubaydalla proclaiming himself the expected mahdi and the living imam. Two years later 'Ubaydalla had Abu 'Abdullah and his brother assassinated, and by 913 they had taken over Sicily and quelled an 'Abassid rebellion. In 915 he began building a fortified capital at Mahdiya in eastern Tunisia. The Kutama Berbers became the paid militia, and slaves from Africa and Europe were recruited for the army. He tried to force the Malikis to accept Shi'ite doctrines, as the Malikis remained critical and tried to uphold the rights of the poor. Fatimid attacks against Egypt in 914 and again 919-921 failed to capture more than Cyrenaica, though they conquered Nukur in Morocco in 917. That year the Miknasa tribe led by Masala ibn Habus besieged Fez and forced the Idrisid ruler Yahya ibn Idris to accept the Fatimid mahdi, deposing him in 921.

The Fatimids imposed heavy taxes, not to live in luxury like the Aghlabids, but for their wars of conquest against Egypt and Morocco. They also corrupted government by selling offices. 'Ubaydalla was succeeded by his son al Qa'im (r. 934-46), who persecuted the Sunnis even more than his father had. Their Shi'i intolerance toward the orthodox Malikis provoked a revolution led by the Kharijite Berber Abu Yazid, who took over most of Ifriqiya from 944 until he was defeated by al Qa'im's son Isma'il al-Mansur three years later. In 951 the Fatimids persuaded the Qarmatians to return the black stone to the Ka'ba, and they subdued the tribes in Morocco by 958. In Egypt the rich merchant Ahmad ibn Nasr spread Fatimid propaganda. After Egypt's governor Kafur died in 968, the Fatimid general, the ex-slave Jawhar, led an army of 100,000 with Berber cavalry but used diplomacy to take over Egypt, which he governed for four years until the Fatimid caliph al-Mu'izz (r. 953-75) arrived. Jawhar built the new capital al-Qahira (Cairo), named after the planet Mars to propitiate its feared malevolent influence. In 973 Umayyads from Spain led by general Ghalib invaded Morocco and won over the Banu Gannum. In 974 the Qarmatians invaded Egypt; but they were defeated, and 1500 prisoners were executed at Cairo.

Al-Mu'izz was succeeded by his son Nizar called al-'Aziz, who sent his large army to defeat Alptakin and the Qarmatians in southern Palestine in 978. His vizier Ibn Killis arranged for Alptakin and his Turks to serve the Fatimids. Led by the Turk general Baltakin, the Fatimid army eventually took Damascus, allowing its citizen governor Qassam to continue his administration under their Berber governor. As the Hamdanid state of Aleppo declined, Syrians began supporting the Fatimids, and the caliph al-'Aziz appointed Bakjur governor. An inadequate Nile flood caused a famine and riots in Egypt, and the cruel Bakjur was removed in 989. Al-'Aziz was planning to invade the Byzantines when he died in 996.

Al-Hakim became the next Fatimid caliph, and in 999 a ten-year truce was negotiated by the Jerusalem patriarch with the Byzantine emperor. Al-Hakim was only 15 when he had his guardian and tutor Barjuwan murdered so that he could rule himself. This erratic caliph had many of his senior officials put to death, and Christians and Jews were persecuted. He banned alcohol along with watercress and fish without scales, playing chess and killing dogs. At first Christian crosses were banned, and then Christians were required to wear large crosses. He founded the school Dar al-'lim but later had many of the teachers he appointed murdered. His random brutality culminated in the burning of Fustat. Despite his misrule, a Sunni invasion in 1006 was not supported by the local Sunnis and was defeated. He offended Christians by destroying the church of the Holy Sepulcher at Jerusalem in 1010. The Firids governed Tunisia and eastern Algeria for the Fatimids, but Sunnis resisted and killed about 20,000 Shi'is in the riots of 1016 that started in Qairawan. Al-Hakim was ordered killed by his sister Sitt al-Mulk in 1021; but his body was never found, and the Druze sect believes he will come again at the end of the world.

While al-Zahir was caliph (r. 1021-36), Sitt al-Mulk effectively ruled Egypt she died in 1024. For eighteen years after 1027 the vizier Ahmad ibn 'Ali al-Jarjar'i governed a fairly peaceful empire even though his hands had been cut off by al-Hakim. Berbers defeated the Turks in civil strife at Cairo in 1029. The same year al-Jarjar'i sent a force led by Anushtakin to defeat a Bedouin uprising at a battle near the Sea of Galilee. Anushtakin then governed Syria; he captured Aleppo in 1038 and died in 1041. Al-Zahir's son al-Mustansir (r. 1036-94) became the next Fatimid caliph and sent missionaries to Iran and Transoxiana. The Fatimids countered the rebellion in the Zirid west by sending about 50,000 warriors of the Banu Hilal and Banu Sulaym tribes to invade the Maghrib (northwest Africa) in 1050. Historian Ibn Khaldun blamed the economic decline in Ifriqiya on these nomadic invasions. Gold from Nubia added greatly to the Fatimids' wealth, helping trade to flourish. The Fatimid empire reached its greatest expansion when the Turk general Arslan al-Basasiri defected at Mosul in 1057 and even took Baghdad for a year; but the Seljuks drove him out of Baghdad in 1059.

When the Nile flood was low, famines occurred in Egypt during the years 1023-25 and 1054-55 when the caliph appealed to the Byzantine emperor Constantine Monomachus for food, and 1065-72. Turks led by Atsiz seized Jerusalem and most of Palestine in 1071 and five years later defeated the Fatimids' Berber garrison at Damascus. Civil war in Egypt broke out between the Turks and the Sudanese soldiers, and in 1073 the caliph appealed to Acre's governor Badr al-Jamali, who took power the next year by executing Turkish generals and Egyptian officials in Cairo. Badr died in 1094 and was succeeded as army commander by his son al-Afdal, who chose the next caliph, al-Musta'li. The Isma'ilis supported the previous caliph's elder son an-Nizar and were called Assassins (literally "hashish-users") by their adversaries for murdering their political enemies.

In 1036 Guddala chief Yahya ibn Ibrahim went on pilgrimage to Mecca; learning more about Islam from jurist Abu 'Imran al-Fasi in Qairawan, he asked for a teacher to be sent. The controversial Maliki scholar 'Abdulla ibn Yasin brought Sunni doctrine to the Sanhaja in Guddala, had dogs killed so that they would not be eaten anymore, abolished illegal taxes, and distributed booty according to Islamic law. Ibn Yasin lived an ascetic life and taught repentance and purification, but his extremism led to his being expelled from Guddala. Ibn Yasin's retreat from a resisting society was compared to the hijra of Muhammad. He gathered followers inspired by his teachings and united the larger Guddala and Lamtuna tribes with other Sanhaja tribes of the Sahara through holy war (jihad) in the Almoravid movement. Ibn Yasin appointed Lamtuna chief Yahya ibn 'Umar military commander and even flogged him for an unstated sin. Ibn 'Umar led the Almoravid attack that conquered Sijilmasa in 1053 and Awdaghust the next year.

When the Zanata rebelled in Sijilmasa, Ibn Yasin drove the Maghrawa from southern Morocco. In 1056 the first Sudanese kingdom to convert to Islam, Takrur, aided the Almoravids against the Guddala, who had withdrawn from the movement. Yahya ibn 'Umar was killed, and according to al-Bakri the Almoravids made no more attempts against the Guddala. His brother Abu Bakr ibn 'Umar became Lamtuna chief and invaded the Barghawata because of their heretical beliefs. Abu Bakr married Zaynab in 1060; but when she refused to go into the desert with him, he divorced her and told her to marry his cousin Yusuf ibn Tashfin, who took over the Almoravid forces in Morocco in 1061. He fought the Zanata in northern Morocco and took Fez in 1069, massacring many. The next year the Almoravids started building their capital at Marrakesh. Ibn Tashfin established an executive council of legal consultants (fuqaha). He acquired Ceuta by 1083, and in 1086 Ibn Tashfin sent an army to help the Muslims in Spain.

Almoravid Yusuf ibn Tashfin began the conquest of the western Maghrib (Morocco and part of Algeria) in 1061, and by the time he died in 1106 they had also taken over Muslim Spain except for Zaragoza, which the Almoravids gained in 1110. He was succeeded by his son 'Ali (r. 1106-43), who led campaigns in Spain; but after 1110 the Christians began winning back territory. Like his father, 'Ali was guided by Maliki counselors who followed their scholastic theology rather than the Qur'an and traditions. After philosopher al-Ghazali criticized their narrow dogmatism, 'Ali ibn Yusuf ordered al-Ghazali's books burned, and he threatened anyone keeping this writing with death. Sufism spread even though they were persecuted by the Malikis. Ibn Tumart was said to have met al-Ghazali in Baghdad, and he became an effective religious preacher. By 1121 he was criticizing the use of musical instruments and pleasures in Marrakesh. After Ibn Tumart threw 'Ali ibn Yusuf's sister off her horse, he was banished and fled to the mountains.

Ibn Tumart was proclaimed the prophesied mahdi and infallible imam by his followers in 1122. Thus he founded the Almohad movement among mountain people based on the oneness of God and emphasizing the Qur'an, traditions, and the consensus of the prophet's companions. He consulted two councils-his ten original supporters and another of fifty. He made attending spiritual activities compulsory, and on a "day of sorting" he purged unbelievers from the tribe by executing them. In 1128 an Almoravid attack against the Almohad fortress at Tinmel failed, and then the Almohads besieged Marrakesh. About that time Ibn Tumart died; but 'Abdul-Mumin kept it secret for over two years while he purged his community and led them to victory before taking the title caliph (successor) of Ibn Tumart. He ruled for 33 years, gradually overcoming the Almoravids and uniting the Maghrib under the Almohads. Tashfin ibn 'Ali succeeded his father in 1143, but he died fighting the Almohads near Oran two years later. The next year the Almohads took Fez after nine months' siege, and in 1147 Marrakesh fell after a siege of eleven months. By 1148 the Almohads had taken over Andalusian Spain from the Almoravids too.

Meanwhile Norman king Roger II from Sicily had invaded and taken Djerba in 1134, and by 1148 the Normans had control of Tripoli and Mahdiya. After the Genoese attacked the declining Hammadid kingdom at Bougie, the Almohads took over that city in 1152 as Hammadid king Yahya ibn 'Abdul-'Aziz (r. 1122-52) fled. They defeated Tunisians the next year, and in 1154 Almohad caliph 'Abdul-Mumin appointed his sons governors with a shayk to advise each. In 1159 he led a strong army east and with a naval blockade forced Mahdiya to surrender in January 1160, making the Normans leave Africa. 'Abdul-Mumin removed rebellious tribes to the western Maghrib, where they caused more trouble. The Almohads began a geographic survey in 1159 to exclude one-third of the land as deserts, mountains, rivers, lakes, and roads so that they could tax the rest. Those who did not accept Almohad doctrine could have their property confiscated. Makhzan (governing) tribes were exempt from the land tax (kharaj) and enforced payment on the settlers and owned slaves. The Muminid family also took much more of the revenue. These inequities eventually led to the decline and fall of the Almohads.

After 'Abdul-Mumin died in 1163, his son Muhammad was replaced after 45 days by his brother Abu Ya'qub Yusuf, who was chosen as more capable. He liked to converse with the philosopher Ibn Tufayl, who urged Ibn Rushd (Averroes) to write commentaries on Aristotle. Abu Ya'qub suppressed rebellions by the Ghomara and Sanhaja by 1167 and fought the Christians on the Iberian peninsula until he was killed by the Portuguese during the siege of Santarem in 1184. That year the Almoravid 'Ali ibn Ghaniya, who had been ruling in the Balearic Islands, invaded and took over Bougie with 4,000 masked warriors. They were joined by other tribes opposing the Almohads. They captured Mahdiya and made Gabés their capital. The Almohad Abu Yusuf Ya'qub (1184-99) rejected the belief that Ibn Tumart was infallible and urged the scholars to go back to the Qur'an and the traditions of Muhammad. Sufism spread during this era. Ya'qub used 20,000 cavalry to win back Tunis in 1188 from 'Ali ibn Ghaniya, who died that year; but his brother Yahya ibn Ghaniya took his place, and by 1203 they had conquered Qairawan and Tunis.

Almohad caliph al-Nasir (r. 1199-1214) led an invasion of the Balearic Islands and then was able to defeat the Banu Ghaniya in Tunisia by 1206. The next year he appointed 'Abdul-Wahid, son of Tumart's companion Abu Muhammad Hafs 'Umar, as viceroy of Ifriqiya, starting the Hafsid dynasty. In 1209 the nomadic Almoravids suffered a devastating defeat at Djebel Nefousa, and a large Christian army defeated the Almohads at Las Navas de Tolosa in 1212. Almohad caliph al-Mustansir (r. 1214-24) was preoccupied with his own pleasures. Abu Muhammad died in 1221, but Yahya ibn Ghaniya survived and turned to raiding in his last ten years before dying in 1237.

Rivalries between shaykhs weakened the Almohad kingdom, and caliphs were assassinated in 1224 and 1227. During civil war Castilians intervened, helping caliph al-Mamun to enter Marrakesh in 1228. He appointed the Hafsid Abu Zakariya (r. 1229-49) viceroy of Ifriqiya. Yahya ibn Ghaniya captured Marrakesh, and caliph al-Mamun died on his way back there in 1232. His young son al-Rashid (r. 1232-42) had a rival assassinated to regain the capital. The Hafsids in Ifriqiya broke free of the Almohads, and Abu Zakariya signed trade agreements with Venice in 1231, Pisa in 1234, and Genoa in 1236. He established his capital at Tunis, which developed a thriving urban culture. Abu Zakariya compelled Tlemcen, Sijilmasa, and Sabta to recognize his sovereignty, and he was succeeded by his son al-Mustansir (r. 1249-77). He tolerated Christians, and in 1250 the Dominicans founded the Studium Arabicum, where missionaries could study Muslim beliefs. The Mongol sacking of Baghdad in 1258 made al-Mustansir the most respected Muslim monarch, and the next year the governor of Mecca sent a letter recognizing him as caliph. During the reigns of al-Sa'id (1242-48) and 'Umar al-Murtada (1248-66) the Hafsids and the Marinids encroached on Almohad territory, and in 1269 the Almohad kingdom was extinguished when they lost Marrakesh to the Marinids.

The Marinid tribes fought with the Almohads against Christians in Spain; but after the Muslim defeat in 1212 'Abdul-Haqq ibn Muhya led them into northeastern Morocco, where they battled an army of 10,000 Almohads in 1217; 'Abdul-Haqq was killed, but his son 'Uthman led the tribes to victory near Fez. Muhammad ibn 'Abdul-Haqq succeeded his brother 'Uthman in 1239. After the Almohads led by al-Sa'id defeated the Marinids and killed Muhammad in 1244, the Marinids went back south; but the next year Abu Yahya Abu Bakr, another son of 'Abdul-Haqq, led the Marinids and took Miknasa from the Almohads. After al-Sa'id was killed fighting the Marinids and Zayyanids in 1248, the Marinids captured Fez, Taza, and Sala. By the time Abu Yahya died in 1258 they occupied most of Morocco including Sijilmasa, and Abu Yahya's brother Abu Yusuf Ya'qub (r. 1258-86) consolidated Marinid control.

The Banu 'Abdul-Wad became prominent when al-Mamun appointed their chief Jabir ibn Yusuf governor at Tlemcen in 1230. The Banu Zayyan clan of this tribe took over the position in 1233, though Zaydan ibn Zayyan was killed three years later and was succeeded by his brother Yaghmurasan, founder of the Zayyanid dynasty. They withstood invasions by the Hafsids in 1242 and the Almohads in 1248. The Marinids and Hafsids introduced madrasas, where students could live and study Islamic law. These urban theologians countered the mystical popularity of the Sufis in the countryside.

The Marinid siege of the Almohad capital at Marrakesh led by Abu Yusuf failed in 1262, and his son was killed. Sijilmasa had been conquered by the Marinids in 1255; but it became independent and then was captured by the Zayyanids in 1263. Abu Yusuf finally evicted the last of the Almohads from Marrakesh in 1269. That year the missionary Ramon Marti (Raymond Martin) urged France's Louis XI to crusade against Tunis, arguing caliph al-Mustansir might convert to Christianity, though the main reasons probably were unpaid debts and tribute to Charles of Anjou. Al-Mustansir quickly made peace with both Louis and Charles and also a commercial treaty with Aragon in 1271. The Marinids defeated Yaghmurasan in 1272 and, led by Abu Yusuf, captured Sijilmasa two years later by a siege said to have employed the first artillery. A truce with the Zayyanids enabled Abu Yusuf Ya'qub to lead four campaigns into Spain to defend Muslims there. The Marinids built a new city at Fez.

After al-Mustansir died in 1277, the Hafsid state split between rulers in Tunis and Bijaya, as Aragon's Pedro III interfered by demanding tribute from Bijaya. Several rulers fought for power until the Hafsid Abu Zakariya captured Bijaya in 1285. Abu Hafs (r. 1284-95) captured Tunis and agreed to pay Pedro tribute as king of Sicily. However, that year Marinid Abu Yusuf campaigned in Spain for the fourth time and made a peace treaty with Don Sancho that returned thirteen mule-loads of Arabic manuscripts to the Muslims. These efforts were continued by his successor Abu Ya'qub Yusuf (r. 1286-1307), who then spent the last twelve years of his life at war with the Zayyanids, whose expansion continued under Yaghmurasan's son 'Uthman (r. 1282-1303).

North Africa 1300-1500
By 1275 the Mamluk empire in Egypt had annexed the northern part of the Nubian kingdom that was Christian. When Sanbu became king of Nubia at Dongola, Mukurra officially converted to Islam and made the cathedral a mosque in 1317. After 1320 the Manfalut province paid tribute to the Egyptian sultan, and it became a slave market. Despite Nubian efforts to regain their independence led by Kanz al-Daula (d. 1323) and Banu 'l-Kanz, Dongola was destroyed. In 1365 Kenuz and Ikrima Arabs ravaged southern Egypt and murdered the Nubian king, and the capital was moved to Du. The monarchy collapsed in 1397 when the king of Du fled to Cairo. Islam replaced Christianity in Nubia, and in the next century 'Alwa was also overrun by pastoral Egyptian Arabs.

Mamluk means slave, and this dynasty rose in Egypt during the later crusades through military discipline and by seizing the throne of Egypt in 1250. Al-Nasir Muhammad, the son of Kalavun (r. 1279-90), became sultan and was deposed twice before his third long reign (1310-41). In 1316 he implemented military feudalism with his cadastral survey that redistributed lands as fiefs and taxed agricultural products. A hundred thousand workers lengthened the Alexandria canal so that more land could be irrigated by a dozen new dams. Karimi merchants helped the sultan and his governors endow madrasas and waqfs for charitable purposes and to patronize poets and scholars, who often criticized the luxurious lives of the ruling class. During this era Egypt produced and gave hospitality to several outstanding historians. In mid-century the black plague killed about 900,000 people in Cairo. Christians were persecuted, and the Coptic patriarch Marcos was imprisoned in 1352. For forty years after al-Nasir's death his eight sons, two grandsons, and two great-grandsons struggled for power. In 1365 Cypriots, Venetians, and Genoese attacked and plundered Alexandria. Turkish slaves were being replaced by Circassians, and a Circassian named Barquq (r. 1382-99) became sultan; but the Mamluks in Syria revolted against his son Faraj, who was finally killed in 1411.

Then two Mamluks named al-Mu'ayyad (r. 1412-21) and Barsbay (r. 1422-38) tried to restore order. Barsbay gained wealth by monopolizing sugar and by taxing the spice trade from India that passed through Egypt to Europe. He also banned the use of European gold coins in his realm. Karimi and European merchants protested and explored other routes. Egypt's navy fought corsairs in the Mediterranean, and in 1425 they captured Cyprus king James of Lusignan, who became a vassal and promised tribute; but later attempts to conquer Rhodes failed. Mamluk sultans Jaqmaq (r. 1438-1453) and Inal (r. 1453-61) used diplomacy to fend off an invasion from the Ottoman Turks; but in 1481 Sultan Qait Bay (r. 1467-96) made the mistake of giving refuge to the Ottoman prince Jem, who was challenging his brother, Sultan Bayezid II. In 1485 the Ottomans invaded Cilicia, but the Mamluks fought them off for five years. Conflicts with Europeans caused the two Muslim empires to get along for a while. Qait Bay levied a tax on the sale of wheat that oppressed the people


Hafsid Ibn al-Lihyani was vizier for Tunis sultan Abu 'Asida (r. 1295-1309) and made a treaty with Aragon in 1301 that gave them half the customs of Catalonian merchants in Tunis. He also made an agreement that whichever ruler of Tunis and Bijaya lived longer would reunite the Hafsid state. However, Bijaya sultan Abul-Baqa's brother rebelled against him in 1311, and so Ibn al-Lihyani invaded Tunisia with Tripolitanian tribes. Ibn al-Lihyani won over Jaime II of Aragon by suggesting he might become a Christian; Ramon Llull taught in Tunis for two years, but he did not convert. In 1317 Abul-Baqa's brother Abu Bakr of Bijaya invaded and took over Tunis the next year, reunifying the Hafsid state, removing Aragonese influence, and ruling until his death in 1347.

Marinid ruler Abu Ya'qub Yusuf besieged Tlemcen for eight years, building a new town; but in May 1307 one of his eunuchs involved in a harem intrigue assassinated him. His army retreated, and the new town was destroyed. After that, the Marinids under Sulayman (r. 1308-1310) and Abu Sa'id 'Uthman (r. 1310-31) left the Zayyanids alone, and Tlemcen prospered. Abu Sa'id had to put down revolts by his son Abu 'Ali, who was governor of Sijilmasa. The Marinids tried to help the Nasrids of Granada fight the Christians in Spain. Zayyanid ruler Abu Hammu I (r. 1308-18) annexed Algiers and established the first madrasa at Tlemcen for renowned Malaki scholars.

Abu Sa'id's son Abul-Hasan (r. 1331-48) defeated his brother Abu 'Ali and exerted greater control over his realm. After a defeat in 1333 at Tarifa, Abul-Hasan invaded Zayyanid territory in 1335 and captured Tlemcen two years later, killing their king Abu Tashfin (r. 1318-37). Abul-Hasan married the sister of Hafsid ruler Abu Bakr, but she died during his defeat in Spain in 1340. The fall of Algeciras to the Castilian army in 1344 ended Marinid efforts in Spain. In 1346 Abul-Hasan arranged to marry Abu Bakr's daughter. After Abu Bakr died, his heir Abul-'Abbas was killed in Tunis by his brother 'Umar, who became sultan. Abu Bakr's chamberlain from an Almohad family joined Abul-Hasan, who then invaded the Hafsids in 1347 and took over Tunis, Tripoli, Qairawan, Susa, and Mahdiya, uniting the Maghrib under his Berber dynasty. Loss of the feudal privileges caused the Arabian chiefs and the Zanata tribes in Tunisia and eastern Algeria to rebel. His son Abu 'Inan also revolted at Tlemcen and declared himself sultan in 1348, defeating at Taza his nephew Mansur, governor of Fez. Abul-Hasan returned to Tlemcen, which had been taken over by the Zayyanids, who defeated his small army. Abul-Hasan fled to Marrakesh, but Abu 'Inan drove him from there into the mountains, where he died in 1351.

Abu 'Inan invaded Zayyanid territory the next year, capturing and killing their sultan Abu Sa'id 'Uthman. Then Abu 'Inan overcame the Sanhaja at Bijaya in 1353, took Constantine in 1356, and occupied Tunis the next year as the Hafsid sultan fled to Mahdiya. However, his troops compelled Abu 'Inan to leave Tunis and return to Morocco. The Marinid vizier wanted the sultan's son Abu Bakr Sa'id to succeed; when 31-year-old Abu 'Inan recovered from an illness, he had him strangled in 1358 so that he could rule for the boy. For the next century of Marinid rule the viziers dominated the sultans. In 1366 another vizier killed Sultan Abu Zayyan, but then Abu Faris 'Abdul-'Aziz (r. 1366-72) had the vizier assassinated. After he died, the Nasrid Muhammad V of Granada interfered in Morocco by supporting the rebellions of two Marinid princes. Increased trade with the Sudan made Tlemcen and Tunis more important. Zayyanid Abu Hammu II (r. 1359-89), who was advised by the historian Ibn Khaldun, had to flee Tlemcen four times from Marinid attacks; after trying to move his capital to Algiers, he eventually submitted to Marinid sovereignty in 1388. After Abu Hammu was deposed by his son Abu Tashfin II (r. 1389-94), Tlemcen declined and was dominated by Aragon.

The Hafsid state was reunified by Abul-'Abbas (r. 1370-94), who ended the hegemony of the Banu Hamza, regained Susa, and pacified the southern tribes by taking Gabis in 1380. He countered piracy from Mayorca by supporting privateers at Bijaya and Mahdiya, and he made peace treaties with Genoa and Venice in 1391. His successor Abu Faris (r. 1394-1434) ruled in Tunis and gained authority over cities such as Tuzar and Tripoli. After his brother died, Hafsid ruler Abu 'Amr 'Uthman (r. 1435-88) overcame a rebellion by his uncle, who was driven out of Bijaya in 1439. Abu 'Amr 'Uthman ruled over the Maghrib for a half century, making the Zayyanids and Wattasids accept his sovereignty. His grandson succeeded but was killed in 1489 after he put to death his relatives. After two other sultans died, Muhammad ibn al-Hasan (r. 1494-1526) managed to keep tribal leaders under control in Tunisia.


After the Portuguese invaded Morocco in 1415, the Nasrids tried to help Marinid ruler Abu Sa'id 'Uthman III (r. 1398-1420) to evict the Portuguese in 1419; but this effort failed. After this sultan was assassinated the next year, Marinid control fell into the hands of the Wattas family. Abu Zakariya Yahya al-Wattasi ruled as regent for the one-year-old sultan 'Abdul-Haqq, who came of age in 1437, the year a Portuguese invasion was defeated. Abu Zakariya Yahya died in 1448 but was succeeded as vizier by another Wattasid until 1457, when Abu Zakariya's son Yahya became vizier. Yahya became unpopular by removing the qadi (judge) of Fez, enabling 'Abdul-Haqq to take control as sultan. After the Portuguese conquered at Qasr al-Kabir in 1458, religious agitation erupted in Fez when the Jewish advisor Harun ended the tax exemptions of the marabouts (Sufis) and sharifs. In 1465 a riot broke out in Fez after a Jewish tax collector mistreated a sharifian woman. Harun and 'Abdul-Haqq were killed, and Muhammad al-Juti was proclaimed ruler. He lasted until 1472. During this era al-Sayyaf led a rebellion against the Marinids for twenty years, because he believed they had poisoned his Sufi teacher al-Jazuli. Wattasid Muhammad al-Shaykh (r. 1472-1505) conquered Fez from the Marinid sharifs; but he surrendered the Atlantic coast of Morocco to the Portuguese invasion. In a 1479 treaty the Wattasids recognized Castile's rights over the Atlantic coast of Africa and the kingdom of Fez.

Africa and Slavery 1500-1800
Ibn Khaldun on History
Ibn Khaldun was born in Tunisia on May 27, 1332 into an aristocratic and political family that had migrated from Seville in 1248. Brought up in the Hafsid court life of Bone and Tunis, he was well educated in Islamic traditions. In 1354 Ibn Khaldun went to serve Marinid sultan Abu 'Inan at Fez, where he became a prominent scholar. He was suspected of disloyalty and imprisoned for 21 months just prior to Abu 'Inan's invasion of Tunisia; he was released when Abu 'Inan died in 1358. Then he served vizier al-Hassan ibn 'Umar and Abu 'Inan's successor Abu Salim. In 1362 Ibn Khaldun went to Granada and helped Ibn al-Ahmar Muhammad V to find refuge at the court of Abu Salim with the renowned scholar Ibn al-Khatib. Two years later he headed a diplomatic mission for Castile king Pedro to negotiate a peace treaty with the Arabs in Seville. He declined a generous offer from Pedro to restore his family estate and in 1365 went to Bougie to serve as prime minister for Hafsid ruler Abu 'Abdallah, who had been his companion in prison. After Abu 'Abdallah fell, Ibn Khaldun raised a force of Arabs for the sultan of Tlemcen.

A few years later young 'Abd-al-'Aziz became the ruler of Fez, defeated the sultan, and arrested Ibn Khaldun for one night. He went into a monastery to do scholarly work but was soon enlisted to serve 'Abd-al-'Aziz for two years. After he died in 1372, Ibn Khaldun was not allowed to move his family to Spain, and they took refuge in Oran. In the next seven years he wrote his History with its lengthy Introduction (Muqaddimah). In 1373 he returned to Tunis but soon moved on to Cairo, where the ruler appointed him a professor and then a judge. In 1384 the wife and five daughters of Ibn Khaldun died in a shipwreck. He made a pilgrimage to Mecca in 1387, was appointed to an academic position in Cairo, and in 1399 resumed being a Maliki judge. He was removed from that high office and reinstated five times. Ibn Khaldun visited Damascus and reported his interviews with the famous Timur. The conqueror requested information on the Maghrib (northwest Africa) from the historian. Ibn Khaldun died in Cairo on March 17, 1406.

After a prayer, Ibn Khaldun in his Introduction (Muqaddimah) suggested that the meaning of history is to explain the causes and origins of events; thus it is rooted in philosophy. He warned against the blind trust of traditions and advised being critical of suspect accounts. He gave the example that Moses could not have had 600,000 Israelites in the desert and explained why. He also doubted the story of Harun al-Rashid and his vizier Ja'far as uncharacteristic of their family traditions. He noted that changes in institutions and customs often result from changes in the rulers, because the common people follow the rulers. He observed how Islamic society was transformed as its intellectual culture developed, because professional men and artisans seek power and authority. He asserted his faith that God guides and helps weak and fallible men.

The first book of Ibn Khaldun's History on the nature of civilization is also considered part of the Muqaddimah. He warned that partisanship for a particular opinion or sect can obscure the critical faculty and allow falsehoods to be accepted. Relying on transmitters is another reason for untruth appearing in histories. Praising powerful and high-ranking people also causes distortions; but the biggest problem is being ignorant of the various conditions in civilization. Ibn Khaldun agreed with jurists that adultery confuses pedigrees, murder destroys the human species, and injustice leads to the destruction of civilization. Humans are distinguished from other animals by their ability to think in sciences and crafts, by the restraining influence of authority, by using various means of making a living cooperatively, and by living in cities for companionship and to satisfy human needs.

Ibn Khaldun noted that a single individual is not capable of providing enough food to live but must cooperate with other human beings. Individuals also need help from their fellows for defense. Manual skill and crafts enable people to procure instruments for defense. Humans also need some authority to restrain their aggressive instincts and prevent injustice; Ibn Khaldun called this mulk (royal authority). Religious law ordained by God and revealed by a human being also helps people restrain themselves. Ibn Khaldun discussed different geographical zones and their influence on human character. Humans by spiritual perception can be inspired, and prophets usually recommend prayer, charity, and chastity. Others he called kahanah (psychics) may be faulty in their perceptions.

In the second chapter Ibn Khaldun discussed Bedouin civilization. Paradoxically, he described them as being more savage but having better habits and more courage than sedentary (hadara) civilizations that follow laws. Governmental authority can prevent injustice except what comes from the ruler himself. Ibn Khaldun observed powerful group feeling in the desert tribes that often enabled them to overcome sedentary civilizations. He described four generations that begins with the builder of the family's glory. In the second generation the son learns by study from the practical experience of his father. The third generation's imitation of that son becomes tradition, which is another inferior step. Finally the fourth generation despises those and destroys what was built. The development of luxuries and a life of ease is often a prelude to the inevitable destruction of the group feeling.

Ibn Khaldun credited group feeling or solidarity ('asabiya) with developing such good qualities as generosity, forgiveness of error, tolerance of the weak, hospitality to guests, support of dependents, maintaining the indigent, patience in adverse situations, faithfully fulfilling obligations, liberal spending to preserve honor, respecting religious law and teachers, and avoiding fraud, cunning, and deceit. Everyone is fairly assigned their proper station, resulting in justice. The ruler is followed, as children imitate their parents, and students learn from their teachers. Ibn Khaldun also noted that the Bedouins live without laws, caring only for the property they take, and that such anarchy ruins civilization.

Ibn Khaldun described the stages he observed in the history of Muslim civilization from the rise of the Bedouin tribes to the powerful 'Abbasid empire, which became luxurious and was replaced by rising tribal groups. In the long third chapter he discussed the Muslim dynasties and their government. Group feeling enables power to be won, because of their "affection and willingness to fight and die for each other."3 Once a royal family has established a dynasty, the group feeling tends to fade, though the religious propaganda usually maintains its power for a while. People are offered divine rewards for cooperating and being virtuous, as laws prohibit evil practices. At first the zealous group feeling enables expansion, but later the empire reaches the limits of what it can conquer militarily. The size of the empire depends on the number of its supporters. The royal family claims all glory for itself; but as its wealth succumbs to luxury it loses its discipline. When its income no longer covers its expenses, the decline begins. High taxes and the army must be reduced. Luxury also brings corruption and eventually the ruination of the ancestral prestige.

Ibn Khaldun defined five stages of a dynasty. First, opposition is successfully overthrown as the royal authority gains power, becomes a model for the people, collects taxes, and defends property with a strong military. In the second stage the ruler claims all authority for himself and his clients but prevents others from sharing it. Third, the fruits of royal authority are enjoyed in leisure and tranquility as property is acquired and more taxes are collected. The ruler becomes famous and is still independent. In the fourth stage the ruler is complacent and follows the traditions established. Finally in the fifth stage the ruler wastes treasures on pleasures and amusements by being too generous to his inner circle. Important matters are handled by those less qualified, and senility sets in. Sometimes the ruler loses control to his vizier. Ibn Khaldun warned that excessive harshness damages royal authority and leads to destruction. Like Aristotle, he recommended a moderate path between extremes. When royal authority becomes tyrannical and unjust, it goes against religious law and will be held accountable on the day of judgment. People are restrained either by the authority of religious laws or by the rational means of political power. Every individual should realize that injustice is forbidden by the authority of the intellect.

Ibn Khaldun observed that at first the caliphate had great religious authority; but when the group feeling declined, it was replaced by royal authority. He described the offices of the mufti (religious jurist), judges, police chief, official witnesses, and market supervisors, who handle lesser cases. The vizier began as the "helper" of the ruler but often gained the greatest power. The main purposes of their government are to protect the community with a military, communicate with distant people, and collect taxes and pay expenses. A doorkeeper was assigned to keep people from disturbing the ruler with requests. The 'Abbasid empire overthrew the Umayyad dynasty, which survived only in Spain, where the doorkeeper (hajib) became the most powerful vizier. The Umayyad ruler was eventually replaced by local governors (reyes de taifas). The 'Abbasid vizier often had more control than the caliph preoccupied with luxuries. They were eventually overcome by the Seljuk Turks, who were overthrown later by the Mongol invasion of Hulagu. The Shi'a dynasty of the 'Ubaydid-Fatimids arose in Egypt. In the Maghrib desert tribes of the Berbers had strong solidarity, and group feeling enabled the Almohad dynasty, the Hafsids, and the Marinids to govern.

Ibn Khaldun wrote that war was caused by a desire for revenge that comes from jealousy or envy. Competing families and tribes often go to war. A second kind of war is the raiding done by desert tribes to gain property. A holy war called by religious authorities is a third kind. The fourth type of war is a dynastic war against those disobeying or attempting to secede. Ibn Khaldun considered the first two kinds unjust but believed that the latter two types were holy and just. He also noted that in luxurious dynasties which are declining, custom duties are increased to meet rising expenses. Ibn Khaldun advised the government against engaging in commercial activities that force farmers and merchants to sell things at low prices to the government and then buy its products for high prices. He explained that this ruins the economy and decreases tax revenues. He noted that the Persians did not allow their rulers to interfere with private property so that capital could grow and be taxed.

When the ruler starts to spend accumulated treasure on efforts to restore his dynasty, the decline begins. As the ruler needs more money, his authority shrinks, because he cannot pay his officials and soldiers. Attacking people's property is the injustice that ruins the dynasty. People stop doing business, and civilization decays. If the ruler gives tax breaks to friends and fiefs to sluggards, they do not produce. Such civilizations are ruined, because those with authority and power are allowed to get away with injustice. Ibn Khaldun complained about the injustice of forced labor also. Religious law may allow cunning in trading, but at least it forbids depriving people of their property illegally. He concluded that political norms are a combination of religious laws and ethical rules.

Then the jurist and philosopher of history quoted a long letter that Tahir ibn al-Husain wrote in 821 to his son, who was appointed a governor in Egypt by al-Ma'mun. The caliph was so impressed by its good advice that he had copies sent to all his officials. His main duties are to be just, to see that rights are observed, and to make sure that families are protected. He advised praying regularly and not being swayed from justice by likes and dislikes. Moderation leads to right guidance and success. Do not be suspicious of those who work for you, but inquire and investigate them if necessary. Work on improving yourself, and love good and just people; yet be friendly with the weak. Control your anger with dignity and mildness. Do not be greedy but invest your treasure in the welfare of the people. Do not justify or support vices. Consult with jurists and the wise. Do not be lenient when judging the noble or wealthy or friends and do not impose excessive fines. Help the poor and indigent. Learn from the affairs of the world and the history of rulers.

Ibn Khaldun considered large cities products of royal authority. Cooperation raises the standard of living and increases prices. Addiction to the crafts that provide elegance leads to diversified luxury. Government bureaucracy and customs duties cause more inflation. People have to increase their profits and spend them, or they fall into poverty. The many desires and pleasures that result from luxury cause immoral habits, including obscenity, fraud, and deceit. Diversifying the pleasures of sex leads to adultery and homosexuality. Individuals by nature seek superiority and domination, and so they compete with each other and form groups that compete.

Ibn Khaldun defined profit as the gain achieved by making a living, whether it be from agriculture, crafts, or commerce. Merchants must buy at low prices and sell at high ones, and so they inevitably use trickery; but it is legal. He observed that rank is useful for securing property because of the respect it gives. Many are obsequious or flatter those with rank in order to succeed in business. In commerce one must dispute, be clever, and persist despite quarrelling. Those who are too proud to stoop to this must depend on their own labor and are often poor, such as poets and artists. He also noted that religious authorities and teachers are usually not wealthy either. Ibn Khaldun did observe that there were many crafts in China, India, among the Turks, and in Christian nations. The most necessary crafts are agriculture, architecture, carpentry, tailoring, and weaving; but he also considered midwifery, writing, book production, music, and medicine to be noble crafts. He believed that most diseases come from food and suggested dieting as the main medicine.

God distinguished humans by giving them the ability to think, and Ibn Khaldun discussed various sciences. He observed that thinking starts with what comes last in the causal chain, and then action begins with what comes first. He described the experimental intellect that is developed by learning from experience. He quoted the famous saying that whoever does not learn from one's parents will have to be educated by time. Prophets can gain knowledge from angels. Teaching is also a craft. Ibn Khaldun believed that theology is based on the oneness of God; but the cause of perceptions in the soul is not known. He described the mystical methods of Sufism.

The approach is based upon
constant application to divine worship,
complete devotion to God,
aversion to the false splendor of the world,
abstinence from the pleasure, property, and position
to which the great mass aspires,
and retirement from the world into solitude for divine worship.4

He lamented that very few people practice the self-scrutiny of the Sufis; even the pious only are obedient.

Ibn Khaldun outlined the intellectual sciences as logic, physics, metaphysics, and the mathematical sciences of geometry, arithmetic, music, and astronomy. He observed that learning arithmetic helped give one the discipline to be truthful. He noted that philosophers learned how to distinguish the spiritual essence from the corporeal perceptions. Ibn Khaldun suggested that scientific subjects be taught gradually. He warned that using severe punishment could harm a student, because it causes bad habits and makes students and servants feel oppressed, inducing them to be lazy, deceitful, and insincere. The same is true of nations that fall under the yoke of tyranny and experience injustice. Ibn Khaldun completed his study of civilization by discussing language and speech. In his conclusion he hoped that other scholars would take up this new science of civilization and improve on what he had started.

Notes
1. "Mutumin Kirki: The Concept of the Good Man in Hausa" by Anthony H. M. Kirk-Greene in African Philosophy: An Anthology, p. 124.
2. "Ubuntu: Reflections of a South African on Our Common Humanity" by Barbara Nussbaum in Reflections, Volume 4, Number 4, p. 26.
3. Ibn Khaldun, The Muqaddimah tr. Franz Rosenthal, Volume 1, p. 313.
4. Ibid., Volume 3, p. 76.


Copyright © 2004 by Sanderson Beck
This chapter has been published in the book Middle East & Africa to 1875.
For ordering information, please click here.

Introduction
Ethics
Prehistoric Cultures
Sumer, Babylon, and Hittites
Egypt
Israel
Assyrian, Babylonian, and Persian Empires
Muhammad and Islamic Conquest
Abbasid, Buyid, and Seljuk Empires 750-1095
Islamic Culture 1095-1300
Ottoman and Persian Empires 1300-1730
Ottoman and Persian Empires 1730-1875
Africa to 1500
Africa and Slavery 1500-1800
Africa and Europeans 1800-1875
Summary and Evaluation
Bibliography
ETHICS OF CIVILIZATION Index
Chronological Index
BECK index

BECK index
Africa and Slavery 1500-1800
Egypt Under the Ottomans
Ethiopia and Eastern Sudan
Algeria
Tunisia and Tripoli
Morocco
Western and Central Sudan
West Africa and Slavery
Gold Coast, Asante, and Slavery
Niger Coast and Slavery
East Africa, Portuguese, and Arabs
Southern Africa, Portuguese, and Dutch
This chapter has been published in the book Middle East & Africa to 1875.
For ordering information, please click here.

Egypt Under the Ottomans
North Africa 1300-1500
In 1501 the Mamluks elected Qansuh al-Ghuri, and he complained to the Pope about the Portuguese navy that had rounded Africa and entered the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea. Qansuh had a fleet built that defeated a Portuguese squadron off the coast of Malabar in 1508; but the following year the Egyptian fleet was destroyed by the Portuguese navy at Diu. The Mamluks built another navy and with help from the Ottomans were able to defend Aden from a Portuguese attack in 1513. Selim had become Ottoman sultan in 1512 and attacked the Mamluks in Asia Minor four years later before invading Syria. The Mamluk cavalry was no match for the Turks' use of firearms, and the aged Qansuh died in the battle near Aleppo. Khayrbay, the former Mamluk governor of Aleppo, defected to the Ottomans. The Mamluks elected Tumanbay sultan in 1516 at Cairo, but the governors would not let him be viceroy under the Ottoman rule. In January 1517 the Ottoman army defeated the Mamluks near Cairo; Tumanbay fled but was captured and hanged. Egypt became a part of the Ottoman empire with Khayrbay as viceroy. He abolished fiefs (iqta) and had provincial treasuries pay fixed salaries, enabling grain to be sent to Mecca and Medina. He got Janissaries and Azabs to guard Cairo and died in 1522.

Ahmad Pasha claimed the sultanate of Egypt and demanded money from Jews; but he was killed as a traitor in 1524. The next year Turkish vizier Ibrahim Pasha inspected Egypt and codified a new administrative policy (Qanun Name) mandating an Ottoman military government with a viceroy (wali) advised by a council four times a week and dividing Egypt into fourteen districts with officers to regulate irrigation and collect taxes. The Egyptian treasury had to send 16 million paras annually to Istanbul. Sulayman Pasha (r. 1525-38) became viceroy of Egypt. In 1538 he seized Aden in Yemen on his way to attacking the Portuguese at Diu in Gujarat, where the Ottomans were defeated because local Muslims did not support them. He returned by way of Kusayr and Aswan, building a fortress at Say in Upper Egypt. While the Ottomans were fighting Zaydi tribes in Yemen, Imam Ahmad Gragn led a jihad in Ethiopia; but he was defeated by the Christian Ethiopians and the Portuguese in 1543. Da'ud Pasha ruled Egypt for eleven years (1538-49) and died in office. Ozdemir Pasha was Yemen governor, and in 1555 he occupied Massawa on the Red Sea and conquered part of Ethiopia to establish the province of Habesh. Dugakin-Oglu Muhammad Pasha (r. 1554-56) was considered so wanton that he was recalled by Sultan Sulayman and executed for having violated Islamic law.

Zaydi Shi'a revolted and by 1567 had driven the Ottomans out of Yemen except in Zabid. Two years later Egypt's viceroy Sinan Pasha reconquered Yemen, and this became an unpopular outpost for soldiers from Egypt. In 1574 the Viceroy wrote to Istanbul complaining that Arab shaykhs embezzled tax money and protected bandits. This led to the reform of hiring government agents for a fixed salary to collect taxes in Egypt, except for the Buhayra province, where the Arab shaykhs were needed. In 1580 Khadim Hasan Pasha ordered Jews to wear conical red hats and Christians black hats; but these decrees were not generally obeyed, and Sharif Muhammad Pasha (r. 1596-98) changed the color of the Jews' hats from red to black. Upper Egypt became a province in 1583 when the Hawwara chiefs yielded to an official sent from Cairo.

When Viceroy Sinan Pasha investigated why tribute for Istanbul was lacking in 1586, the military revolted. Three years later the officers killed some of the Viceroy's retinue and forced Uveys Pasha (r. 1587-91) to meet their demands. Troop mutinies accelerated in 1598 as Turkish officers attacked Arabs. The Sufi Ibrahim Pasha tried to stop illegal levies (tulba) in rural areas and was murdered by cavalry officers (sipahis) in 1605. Four years later Muhammad Pasha suppressed a revolt and became known as "the breaker of soldiers" when he abolished the tulba. The Viceroy gained the support of Bedouins and executed 250 disloyal soldiers, while the chief judge (qadi) got 300 others sent to Yemen.

In 1623 when the Ottoman sultan appointed 'Ali Pasha to replace Mustafa Pasha, the troops demanded more pay and got Mustafa reinstated. Viceroy Musa Pasha tried to stop the illegal taxation that gave the soldiers himaye (protection charges), and in 1631 he had a bey assassinated. When he would not turn over the assassin, the officers got Musa temporarily replaced by Ridwan Bey al-Fiqari, who traced his ancestry back to Sultan Barsbay (r. 1422-38). In 1636 the Zaydi Shi'a finally threw the Ottoman imperialists out of Yemen for two centuries. When Ridwan was assigned to govern Habesh in 1639, he refused to go; but the next year Sultan Ibrahim (r. 1640-49) put him in charge of the pilgrimage. In 1647 an attempt to remove Ridwan and Upper Egypt governor 'Ali Bey Fiqari backfired on Qansuh Bey and Mamay Bey when they and many Qasimi were killed, causing a vendetta between the Fiqari and Qasimi families.

When Ridwan died in 1656, Viceroy Abu'l-Nur Muhammad Pasha appointed a Qasimi from Bosnia named Ahmad Bey Boshnagi as governor of the pilgrimage. The Fiqari faction forced the Viceroy to step down and sent Ahmad Bey into exile, replacing him with Hasan Bey Fiqari. Ahmad Bey went to Istanbul and returned as treasurer of Egypt. When Muhammad Bey refused to leave his governorship of Upper Egypt for Habesh so that Ahmad Bey could have his job, Viceroy Shahsuwaroghlu Ghazi Muhammad Pasha marched against Muhammad Bey and put him to death in 1659. The quarrels continued, and many Fiqari beys were killed before the Viceroy ordered Ahmad Bey assassinated in 1662. Viceroy Kara Ibrahim Pasha implemented fiscal reform in the early 1670s and doubled the treasury, but he had to give the Janissaries and Azabs benefices.

The Fiqari revived, and in 1692 Ibrahim Bey persuaded Kuchuk Mehmed and the Janissaries to abolish some of the protection charges and illegal taxes. In 1694 Kuchuk was shot while riding through Cairo, and Mustafa Katkhuda al-Qazdagli was held responsible. The increase in food prices caused a famine in 1695, followed by an epidemic. The soldiers profited from devalued coins and blocked the reform demanded by the Ottoman rulers. In the 18th century the viceroy tried to keep a balance between the Qasimi and Fiqari factions by appointing one as treasurer and the other as head of the pilgrimage. In the Great Sedition of 1711 Janissary commander Ifranj Ahmad called in 6,000 Hawwara Bedouin from Upper Egypt in his conflict with the 'Azab corps, the Qasimi and their allies, who killed him and several Fiqari. Four years later Isma'il Bey had the rival Qasimi leader Qaytas Bey executed. In 1724 Isma'il Bey was killed as the Circassian Mehmed Bey proscribed his household by forming an alliance with the Fiqari. Mehmed Bey was exiled and drowned in 1730, and Dhu'l Fiqar Bey was assassinated. As Qasimi power faded, the viceroy Bakir Pasha tried to divert the illegal funds of the soldiers to the treasury and had three Fiqari leaders assassinated for resisting, causing his own deposition in 1737. Sulayman Pasha arrived in August 1739 and was also deposed for instigating another assassination in January 1740.

'Ali Pasha ibn al-Hakim promised he would not interfere with the governors, and under Qazdagli officers Egypt prospered for the next thirty years, as exports to Europe greatly increased. Ibrahim Katkhuda worked with Ridwan Katkhuda of the Azabs and became rich, dying in 1754. When Ridwan Katkhuda proposed another tax on coffee, he was killed by the Janissaries.

'Ali Bey was called the "Cloud-catcher" and was brought up in the Mamluk household of Ibrahim Katkhuda. He joined a plot led by 'Abd al-Rahman Katkhuda al-Qazdagli in 1760, and four years later he led the pilgrimage to Mecca. Having promised to pay the deficit for the past ten years, 'Ali Bey got 'Abd al-Rahman Katkhuda exiled to the Hijaz in 1765; but the next year 'Ali Bey himself had to flee to Upper Egypt for a year. There he made an alliance with the wealthy Hawwara shaykh Humam (r. 1740-69) and rival Salih Bey to march on Cairo. They were victorious, and 'Ali Bey had many of his opponents proscribed and killed. When the Viceroy tried to organize resistance in 1768, 'Ali Bey deposed him and took his place. 'Ali Bey remained loyal to the Ottoman sultan and in 1770 intervened to end a dispute in Mecca. After the Russian fleet destroyed the Ottoman navy at Cheshme that year, 'Ali Bey sent a force under his mamluk Muhammad Bey Abu'l-Dhahab to take Damascus in 1771. Abu'l-Dhahab returned by way of Upper Egypt, forcing 'Ali Bey to gather his wealth and cavalry to flee to Acre. 'Ali Bey joined with Shaykh Zahir and the Russians against the Ottomans in Syria. When 'Ali Bey returned to Egypt, he was imprisoned by Abu'l-Dhahab and died a week later. Abu'l Dhahab invaded Syria and died in 1775 while besieging Acre. His mamluk Murad Bey took over and returned to Cairo, and his comrade Ibrahim Bey was chosen shaykh al-balad.

Fighting and much robbery aggravated a severe economic crisis that began in 1780. In the next two years the para currency lost 54 percent of its value. In the famine of 1784 the fallahin (peasants) left their villages to avoid paying taxes to the beys. That year the pilgrimage caravan could not pay the fees at Medina. The next year a plague killed about one-sixth of the population. In 1786 the Ottomans sent troops to Egypt under Ghazi Hasan Pasha to collect their annual tribute; Ottoman control over Upper Egypt was restored also. In 1787 Yusuf al-Shirbini wrote Shaking the Peasants' Heads, satirizing rude farmers and the pride of narrow-minded 'ulama'. After several loyal beys died during the epidemic of 1791, Murad and Ibrahim returned to Cairo from Upper Egypt and took over the government, making an agreement with Istanbul the next year during another famine. Scholars from al-Azhar helped lead the uprising of 1795 against high taxes. Extorting money from European commercial houses eventually provoked the French into sending Napoleon to invade Egypt in 1798.

Egypt of Muhammad 'Ali
Ethiopia and Eastern Sudan
Nubia and Ethiopia to 1500
Ethiopian empress Eleni requested a mission from Portugal, and the Portuguese arrived at the Red Sea port of Massawa in 1520. That year Adal's Muslim general Ahmad ibn Ghazi, called Gragn for "left-handed," killed Sultan Abu Bakr at Harar, and he led a jihad in 1529 that defeated Ethiopian emperor Lebna Dengel (r. 1508-40). The Ethiopian Royal Chronicles reported that the latter had 16,000 cavalry and 200,000 infantry against Gragn's 560 cavalry and 12,000 soldiers; but Adal had firearms. The battle was bloody as Adal lost 5,000 men and Ethiopia even more. The Muslims plundered southern Ethiopia for many years, burning churches and monasteries and forcing Christians to convert. After Lebna was succeeded by his son Galawdewos (r. 1540-59), the Portuguese sent 400 musketeers led by Christavao da Gama and helped defeat Adal near Lake Tana in 1543, killing Gragn. His widow Bati Del Wambara married Gragn's nephew Nur ibn Mujahid, because he agreed to seek revenge.

In 1557 Turks led by Ozdemir Pasha took over the port of Massawa. Jesuit priest Andre de Oviedo from Portugal tried to convert them but was resisted by people in Tigray. In the next two years Ethiopians led by Bahr Negash Yishaq drove the Turks back to the coast. In 1559 after the Ethiopian army attacked Harar and killed Adal sultan Barakat, Gragn's nephew Nur defeated the Ethiopians and killed Galawdewos in battle. Oromo tribes (called Galla by Ethiopians) moved into the area. Minas, the brother of Galawdewos, attacked the Falasha of Semien; but he was challenged by Tigray ruler Bahr Negash Yishaq, who allied with the Ottomans. Before Minas died of a fever, he banished the Jesuits to Maigoga, which they renamed Fremona. His son Sarsa Dengel (r. 1563-97) became emperor of Ethiopia as a child. He won over the Amhara aristocrats and Yishaq by 1567, and he defeated Adal in 1576. He also fought the Turks in Tigray successfully in 1578 and 1589. He sold about ten thousand slaves a year to the Turks.

When Sarsa Dengel's infant son Ya'qob succeeded in 1597, the military took power. After Ya'qob grew up, he was deposed and replaced by Za Dengel. Jesuit Pedro Paez learned the languages Ge'ez and Amharic and was able to convert emperors Za Dengel (r. 1603-04) and Susenyos (r. 1607-32). Za Dengel was killed by nobles for trying to implement radical tax reforms. Ya'qob became king again, but he was defeated by Lebna Dengel's grandson Susenyos. The prudent advice of Paez kept Susenyos from submitting his country to the Pope in Rome in 1612. Susenyos invaded Sennar in 1617 and had to put down a rebellion at home. He announced his conversion to the Roman Catholic faith in 1622. Religious conflict and his large army burdened Ethiopia, and during a civil war he abdicated in favor of his son Fasiladas (r. 1632-67), who immediately expelled the Jesuits from Dankaz to Fremona. Seven Jesuits remained in Ethiopia; but two were assassinated, and the other five were hanged. Fasiladas moved the Ethiopian capital to Gondar and had a castle built there in 1636. The Oromos continued to spread, and in 1642 they destroyed the royal army of Tigray. An attempt by a Muslim judge to convert Fasiladas in 1650 caused a riot in Gondar. Christians divided over a theological controversy regarding the nature of Christ. When Fasiladas sided with the unctionists in 1654, he had to suppress a rebellion by the unionists. During the reign (1667-82) of Yohannes, monks at a council in 1668 tried to excommunicate him for marrying a distant relative. That council expelled Portuguese descendants from Ethiopia and segregated Muslims from Christians.

Iyasu succeeded his father Yohannes and tried to impose the unionist religious dogma on Ethiopia by punishing the Tekla-Haymanot for their new theories. Iyasu spent years fighting the Oromos and establishing his authority in Baher-Meder and Tigray. Iyasu led the expedition to the Sidama plateau in 1704. French missionaries abandoned Ethiopia after their emissary was murdered at Sennar in 1705. When Iyasu withdrew to an island in Lake Tana, his wife made their son Tekla-Haymanot king. In 1706 her kinsmen assassinated Iyasu; but Tekla-Haymanot was murdered two years later. Iyasu's brother Tewoflos died in 1711, probably of poison, and the nobility's attempt to end the Solomonid dynasty by making Yostos king ended in 1716 when he was deposed. Dawit III (r. 1716-21) was poisoned by a servant, and another son of Iyasu called Bekaffa gained the throne. His army with Oromo forces subjugated Wag and Lasta and made the nobility of Tigray and Baher-Meder submit. When Bekaffa became very ill in 1728, Queen Mentuab ruled as regent until his death and afterward for her infant son Iyasu II, whom she married to the Oromo princess Wobit. Mentuab's brother Walde-Li'ul expanded the territory of Ethiopia. Because he was called "little," Iyasu invaded Sennar in 1744, and nearly 20,000 Ethiopians were killed or captured; an icon of the Christ and a piece of the cross were captured, costing the Ethiopian treasury 8,000 ounces of gold to buy them back. When Iyasu II died in 1755, Mentuab and Walde-Li'ul made Iyasu's young son Iyo'as king so that they could continue to rule.

Tigray governor Ras Mikael Sehul gained authority over Ethiopia's eastern provinces. After Walde-Li'ul died in 1766, Iyo'as asked for Mikael's help against Mentuab's kinsmen. Mikael commanded a large army and defeated the rebelling coalition of Amhara, Agaw, and Yejju chiefs in 1768. King Iyo'as told Mikael to return to Tigray; but instead he turned on Ethiopia's troops led by Fasil Warena, who fled to Damot. Mikael ordered Iyo'as killed. Thus began in 1769 the era of the war-lords in Ethiopia that would last until 1855. Mikael executed anyone he suspected, and in 1771 Fasil and allies defeated the Tigray army and exiled Mikael to Shoa. A coalition of Amhara nobles defeated and killed Fasil in 1775. A Mecha chief ruled at Gondar until 1781. Meanwhile Muslim Wallo chiefs burned churches, killed priests, and sold Christians into slavery. In 1784 guard commander 'Ali Gwangul deposed the king. Although he converted to Christianity, his despotism was resented by Christians. 'Ali died in 1788, but his brother Aligaz Gwangul, though challenged by his own relatives and Wallo chiefs, ruled Amhara until 1803. Ras Wolde-Selassie (r. 1795-1816) managed to rule over the provinces east of the Tekeze.


'Alwa in the eastern Sudan was destroyed in 1504 when Amara Dunkas (d. 1534) became the first Funj king of Sennar, replacing the Christian kings. After the Turks defeated the Funj at Hannak in 1520, the Nubians appealed to Ethiopia for Christian priests. The 'Abdallabi dynasty ruled the northern part of Funj until 1820. Sultan 'Abd al-Qadir (r. 1550-57) expanded Funj power to the west. Funj king Dakin ibn Nail (r. 1569-86) granted Shaykh Ajib the right to appoint his own judges, and in 1606 Ajib deposed Funj king 'Abd al-Qadir II for being religiously unorthodox; but the Funj army killed Ajib in 1611 and put 'Abd al-Qadir's brother 'Adlan on the throne, who was quickly overthrown by 'Abd al-Qadir's son Badi I Sid al-Qum. He declared independence from Ethiopia's Susenyos and died in 1616. His successor Rubat had to fight an alliance of Ethiopia and the 'Abdallabi. Sultan Badi II Abu Dikn (r. 1644-92) fought the Shilluk and gained Alays on the White Nile. Funj aristocrats rebelled, because Badi III (r. 1692-1711) used slaves in the army; but the practice continued. They deposed his son Unsa III in 1720. Under Badi IV (r. 1721-62) the Funj fought two wars against Ethiopia, winning the second in 1744. Abu Likaylik commanded the Funj army and defeated the Musabba'at in 1747; he ruled Kordofan as viceroy for fourteen years. In 1762 he deposed Badi IV and ruled as regent for his son Nasir. After Abu Likaylik died in 1776, the Funj sultanate suffered a half century of intrigues, revolts, and civil wars.

Ethiopia
Algeria
North Africa 1300-1500
After conquering the last Muslims on the Iberian peninsula at Granada in 1492, the Spaniards led by Pedro Navarro invaded the Maghrib, taking Oran by 1509, killing 4,000 and capturing 8,000, and the next year conquering Bijaya, Bougie, and Tripoli. In 1510 the crown of Spain authorized the selling of Africans in America, and the first shipload of slaves from the Guinea Coast directly to America was made in 1518. Algerians gained the military aid of the Muslim corsairs, brothers 'Aruj and Khayr al-Din Barbarossa. 'Aruj got permission from the Hafsid sultan to use the island of Jerba as a base, and he captured Jijelli in 1514 and took over Algiers in 1516 when he defeated the Spaniards. 'Aruj suppressed a local rebellion by having Shaykh Salim strangled, and his soldiers proclaimed 'Aruj sultan. When Zayyanid Abu Hammu III succeeded at Tlemcen in 1517, prince Abu Zayyan rebelled against him and gained the help of 'Aruj to overthrow Spanish domination. 'Aruj defeated Abu Hammu and took over Tlemcen but was driven out by the Spaniards and killed in 1518.

'Aruj's brother Khayr al-Din founded the Algiers Regency and was appointed beylerbey by Ottoman sultan Selim. In 1520 Kuku tribal leader Ahmad ibn al-Qadi and the Hafsids attacked Algiers and defeated Khayr al-Din, who moved to Jijelli and increased his privateering. He took over Constantine and reconquered Algiers in 1525, massacring Arabs and Kabyles who resisted him. In 1527 Algeria accepted the overlordship of the Ottoman empire with its Turkish governors. Khayr al-Din fought the Hafsids and extended his domain, occupying Tunis in 1534 and sponsoring piracy; but the next year a Spanish navy of 300 ships and 30,000 men led by Charles V liberated thousands of Christian slaves from Tunis as Khayr al-Din and the Turkish garrison fled to Algiers. Khayr al-Din made a treaty with France, and the next year went to Istanbul to command the Ottoman navy. Spanish count Alcaudete was put in charge of Oran in 1534, and the next year he joined with tribal chief Ibn Radwan to help Zayyanid prince 'Abdulla overthrow his older brother Mulay Muhammad at Tlemcen; but the Banu Rashid tribe defeated them and nearly wiped out all of Alcaudete's 600-man force. Yet probably because the Spaniards had taken Tunis, Sultan Muhammad agreed to pay tribute to Oran in exchange for Spanish protection.

After negotiations with Khayr al-Din failed, in 1541 Spain's Charles V led an attack on Algiers with 516 ships; but a storm destroyed 140 vessels, and Charles retreated. The next year Hasan Agha (r. 1536-43) attacked the port by Oran. Alcaudete used new recruits to replace Mulay Muhammad with 'Abdulla at Tlemcen; but Banu Rashid chief Ibn Ghani, fearing the Turks, invaded Tlemcen with Spanish aid, putting on the throne Mulay Muhammad's brother Ahmad in 1545. However, Mulay Muhammad was restored by Khayr al-Din's son Hasan Pasha (r. 1544-52) of Algiers, making Tlemcen a military fortress for the Turks. Alcaudete attacked Mustaghanim in 1541 and 1547, but the Turks drove him back to Spain. When the Wattasids of Fez turned to the Turks, Arab Sa'diyans in 1545 defeated and captured Wattasid sultan Ahmad. Four years later the Sa'diyans drove out of Fez the Wattasid prince 'Ali Abu Hassan, who took refuge in Algiers. In 1551 Sa'diyan Muhammad al-Shaykh (al-Mahdi) sent his son Muhammad al-Harran with 30,000 men, and they took over Tlemcen; but al-Harran died of illness as the Turks led by agha Hasan Quru dispersed the cavalry coming from Fez, ending three centuries of Zayyanid rule in Tlemcen.

The next Algiers beylerbey, Salah Ra'is, took over Fez in 1554 and let 'Ali Abu Hassan rule it with Janissaries; but Muhammad al-Shaykh reconquered Fez the same year and formed an alliance with Alcaudete. Salah Ra'is attacked Oran in 1556 but was killed, allowing the Sa'diyans to occupy Tlemcen. When the Janissaries tried to install their own beylerbey, Ottoman sultan Sulayman sent Hasan Pasha back to govern Algiers, and Turkish spies assassinated the resisting Muhammad al-Shaykh in 1557. Having lost this ally for an attack on Algiers, Alcaudete marched on Mustaghanim the next year; but tribes and the Turkish forces of Hasan Quru surrounded them. Alcaudete died, and 10,000 of his men were killed or captured. Hasan Pasha besieged Oran in 1563 but gave up after four months when Spanish reinforcements arrived. Spain retained control of Oran in Ottoman Algeria until 1708. In 1563 makhzan (governing) tribes were appointed to collect taxes in the countryside. In 1567, like his father, Hasan Pasha went to Istanbul to command the Ottoman navy. Algiers was governed by Turkish Janissaries and, unlike Tunis, held a state monopoly over privateering. The growing city of 60,000 acquired an additional 25,000 Christian captives. About 5,000 Jews in a ghetto had to wear special clothes and pay higher taxes, but some excelled at business.

By 1615 the state of Algeria was taking in between two and three million livres annually from its naval piracy, enriching many from this merchandise and slave trafficking. Many Christians worked in the galleys, but other slaves found their way into the society in a variety of roles. Europeans raised money to pay ransoms, and Lazarists led by Vincent de Paul tried to intervene on behalf of the captives' relatives. In 1628 Corsican Sanson Napallon distributed baksheesh (bribes) to secure a monopoly on coral fishing at the French Bastion, but he was caught and killed by the people of Tabarka five years later. In 1637 the Bastion was destroyed for having shipped contraband grain.

French merchants established a funduq at Tunis in 1659 and tried to exclude English and Dutch competitors, both of whom traded arms for grain. In 1663 Algiers made a treaty with the de Ruyter of Holland and increased privateering attacks on French ships. Seven years later their treaty with France's Louis XIV disrupted Dutch and English shipping, and the Algerian treaty with the English in 1681 led to war with France. After 1685 many Protestant religionaires sought refuge in Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco. In 1689 French navy commissioner Guillaume Marcel signed a hundred-years' treaty with Algiers excluding the merchants from meddling in politics and renouncing holy war; in the first half of the 18th century this convention was confirmed fourteen times.

In 1659 Ottoman pasha Ibrahim tried to levy a tithe on the subsidies sent from Istanbul for the Algerian fleet. A riot broke out, and the Janissary commander (agha) took over the government of Algeria, accusing the pasha of corruption. The next four Janissary chiefs were assassinated. After the fourth, Agha 'Ali (r. 1664-71), died, the officers elected a dey, meaning "maternal uncle," a title used in Tunisia since Ottoman soldiers rebelled there in 1591. Algeria thus became a military republic in 1671, but fourteen of the thirty deys in the next century and a half were removed by assassination. Yet deys worked hard for the state on public business, spending only one afternoon and one night per week in private with their family.

The dey appointed beys (military governors) to collect taxes and enforce laws, using the privileged makhzan tribes. The ongoing piracy made it difficult for the merchants to develop trade relations with Europeans, and until 1798 their ships were threatened by the Knights of St. John at Malta. In 1600 Algeria had about 75 ships, but by the middle of the 18th century this had been reduced to about twenty. Muhammad ibn 'Uthman (r. 1766-91) suppressed the rebellious Kabyles and used some of his wealth to construct a prominent mosque. In 1770 Spain went to war with Algeria in order to rescue 10,000 Spanish captives. Neither side won, and in the 1785 treaty Algeria released the prisoners in exchange for Spanish withdrawal from Oran. In 1788 Algeria had only ten ships for privateering, and only 800 captives were left.

As privateering profits decreased, taxes had to be increased. Algerians complained about exporting wheat, especially during droughts. In the western province the beys 'Uthman (r. 1747-60) and Muhammad al-Kabir (r. 1780-97) subjugated the tribes with military force to make them pay taxes. 'Abdul Qadir ibn al-Sharif led the Darqawiya Tariqa rebellion in the west from 1783 to 1805. They won over Tlemcen and besieged Oran, but the new bey Muhammad al-Muqallash forced Ibn al-Sharif to flee to Morocco. Outside the cities much of the country was governed by tribal leaders, often marabouts with spiritual authority. Sidi 'Abdul-Rahman was so respected that when he died in 1793, Hasan Dey (1791-98) venerated his tomb in the capital, while the people in his home village believed his body was buried there also. The Sufi brotherhoods went beyond tribal divisions, and in hard times they often rebelled against Turkish taxes.

North Africa and Europeans
Tunisia and Tripoli
North Africa 1300-1500
When Khayr al-Din conquered Tunis in 1534, Muhammad's son al-Hasan turned to the Spanish for protection and was reinstated the next year. While he was in Spain in 1542, his son Ahmad deposed him. The Turkish corsair Turghut (Dragut) fought Tunisia's Ahmad Sultan (r. 1543-69) and the Spaniards for several years. Turghut captured Tripoli in 1551, driving out the Knights of St. John, who had been there since 1535. Turghut governed Tripoli for the Ottomans. He and Piyale Pash led the Ottoman fleet to victory over the Spanish navy and exterminated their garrison at Jerba in 1560. Turghut died fighting the Knights of St. John with Turkish troops from Algeria at Malta in 1565. A sequence of many pashas ruled Tripoli for the Ottomans. Ja'far Pasha (r. 1586-1631) governed for an exceptionally long time and put down a rebellion with the help of the Mhamid tribe.

'Eulj 'Ali (r. 1568-87) was the last beylerbey of Algiers. He captured Tunis in 1569, when Ahmad Sultan fled to Spain for help. Spaniards reinstated Ahmad in 1573; but he was sent into exile in Sicily and replaced by his brother Muhammad. In 1574 the Turks conquered Tunis and ended the Hafsid dynasty by sending Muhammad to Istanbul. Vizier Sinan Pasha established 4,000 Janissaries with an officer (dey) over each hundred troops. The pasha was assisted by a commander called a bey, who maintained peace and collected taxes. In 1581 Philip II of Spain relinquished his claims in Africa when he made a truce with the Ottomans. After 'Eulj 'Ali died, the Ottoman sultan made Algeria, Tunisia, and Tripolitania regencies governed by pashas he could periodically replace; but in 1591 the Tunisian officers revolted and forced the Ottoman pasha to accept an elected dey as the supreme authority.

Tunisia's 'Uthman Dey (r. 1598-1610) reduced the pasha to a ceremonial figurehead and only used the divan (council) to ratify his own decisions. He relied on the head (qaptan) of the navy and the military commander (bey) to subdue the tribes and collect taxes. His son-in-law Yusuf (r. 1610-37) protected privateers, sponsored building, and fought Arab insurrections and Algerian invasions. 'Uthman Dey and Yusuf Dey did not indulge in luxuries and brought law and order to Tunisia, though piracy at sea brought in revenue for the state. When the Ghadames refused to send the Ottoman commander in Tunis five young eunuchs and eight pretty girls in 1609, he forced them to pay their tribute by cutting down their palm trees. Moors expelled from Spain came to Tunisia and improved the economy. Using revenue from privateering, Yusuf Dey sponsored construction of a mosque, a fortress, an army barracks, and aqueducts. The Hanafi qadi was the supreme judge, but the Malakis remained influential. The beys increased their power, and Murad Bey (r. 1612-31) gained the title pasha and made his office hereditary, being succeeded by his son Humada Bey (r. 1631-1666). The Muradists increased their revenues by opening up trade with Europe and monopolizing the sale of agricultural produce. Murad Bey II (1666-75) suppressed an army mutiny and moved into the palace of the Bardo. He arrested a dey for insanity in 1670 but was defied by the successor Sha'ban Dey. Murad also replaced him; but the Janissaries refused to obey his puppet and appointed their own dey while Murad Bey was visiting Tripolitania in 1673. His supporters in the divan were slaughtered; but Murad Bey had the forces to overcome the revolt.

When Murad Bey II died, his two sons and brother fought for power. The civil war lasted more than twenty years and was complicated by Moroccan Mawlay Isma'il's Algerian invasions of 1691 and 1701. Finally in 1702 cavalry commander Ibrahim al-Sharif had all of Humada's descendants killed and became Bey. The army proclaimed him Dey two years later, but in 1705 forces from Algiers and Tripoli led by Algerian dey Hajj Mustapha captured him. Another cavalry commander named Husain ibn 'Ali rallied the troops, retreated to Tunis, was proclaimed Bey, and fought off the Algerians. Hajj Mustapha returned to Algiers, where in 1705 a revolt beheaded him. Husain ibn 'Ali established his camp at Qairawan, where he recruited warriors; the dey in the capital could not raise taxes to pay his troops, who deserted him, and Husain was welcomed at Tunis in January 1706. The role of the dey was reduced to that of police chief. In 1711 'Ali Shaush refused to receive the Ottoman envoy until the sultan recognized him as pasha.

Husain ibn 'Ali recruited kulughli warriors, who were sons of Turkish fathers and native women. He made treaties with the French, English, Spanish, Austrians, and Dutch. After his son was born, he appointed his nephew 'Ali pasha in 1728; but after four years of ceremonial functions, 'Ali Pasha fled to Algiers, organized a revolt, and returned in 1735 with his Pashiya followers and an Algerian army to fight and defeat the Husainiya. Husain ibn 'Ali held out at Qairawan until 1740, when he was beheaded by 'Ali Pasha's son Yunis. 'Ali Pasha took the name 'Ali Bey I and ruled Tunisia until 1756. Yunis also revolted and fought a long civil war, driving his father out of the capital in 1752; 'Ali won back his place by allowing the Algerians helping him to plunder the Bardo palace, as Yunis fled to Constantine. The Algerians left Tunisia with their booty in 1756 and kept 'Ali Bey in custody; but their three ships were lost at sea.

'Ali's son Muhammad Bey had promised the Algerians tribute and ruled Tunisia for only three years. His application for Ottoman recognition as pasha was granted to his brother 'Ali Bey II (r. 1759-82). He used taxes on Jews to support Maliki religious teachers and their students. Trade increased; but privateering continued to be popular by the justification of holy war. 'Ali Bey II reformed the mushtara system that had forced farmers to sell produce to the government at low prices and merchants to buy it at high prices. He also reduced the tax on crops. The state even loaned money to merchants without charging interest. The resulting prosperity, religious support, and army discipline continued under Hamuda Bey (r. 1782-1814). He limited his own expenditures, and he urged the poor to work instead of asking for charity. He consulted the tribal chiefs directly and asked local governors for their opinions. Hamuda was assisted by the outstanding vizier Yusuf Sahib al-Taba'. Tunisians enslaved about a thousand people when they captured the entire population of Sardinia in 1798.


In Tripoli Ja'far Pasha (r. 1586-1631) was succeeded by Muhammad (r. 1631-49) and 'Uthman (r. 1649-72) of the Saqizli family, continuing Ottoman sovereignty over the Cyrenaican tribes. However, in 1711 while the Ottoman governor Muhammad Khalil Amis was visiting Istanbul, a kulughli chief of the cavalry named Ahmad Qaramanli usurped power by massacring 300 Janissary officers. After withstanding two Turkish attacks, he sent a delegation to Istanbul, where Sultan Ahmad III declared him pasha of Tripoli in 1722. Ahmad gained control of the trans-Saharan trade by sending three expeditions to Fazzan. The Qaramanli dynasty sponsored privateering while making commercial treaties with Britain and France. Ahmad Qaramanli was succeeded by his son Muhammad (r. 1745-54) and then his son 'Ali Pasha (r. 1754-93). 'Ali squelched an attempted rebellion by his uncles by having the princes supporting them arrested and executed in 1760, causing his uncle Mustafa to flee to Tunisia. Successful corsairs were treated as national heroes in Tripoli.

'Ali Pasha's son Hasan used his position as bey to take over his father's authority and came into conflict with his younger brother Yusuf. When 'Ali Pasha became ill in 1787, a civil war between the tribes of these factions erupted. After Yusuf assassinated his brother Hasan Bey in their mother's quarters in 1790, outraged Tripolitans forced him to flee. Yusuf claimed to be supporting his other brother Ahmad but besieged Tripoli the next year. 'Ali Burghul, a marine captain exiled from Algiers for having authorized plundering American ships, went to Istanbul and got 300 mercenaries to attack Tripoli in 1793. Elderly 'Ali Qaramanli fled to Tunis; but 'Ali Burghul extorted so much money and property from Jews and wealthy Muslims that after 17 months he was driven out of Tripoli by a Tunisian army led by Ahmad Qaramanli. Ahmad was installed as pasha and appointed Yusuf as bey in 1795. A few months later Yusuf used this power to proclaim himself pasha and appointed Ahmad governor of Darna. Ahmad fled to Tunis.

North Africa and Europeans
Morocco
North Africa 1300-1500
Wattasid Muhammad al-Burtughali (r. 1505-24) could not stop the Portuguese invasion of Morocco, as they took Safi in 1508 and Azemmour in 1513. The Portuguese had reached Marrakesh by 1515, but Sharif Ahmad al-A'raj entered Marrakesh in 1524 and gained allegiance. Al-Burtughali's son Abu'l-'Abbas Ahmad (r. 1524-48) made a truce with the Portuguese in 1528 and besieged Marrakesh, but his army was defeated by the Sharif's forces in 1537. Ahmad al-A'raj was deposed by his brother Muhammad al-Mahdi, who defeated the Portuguese at Agadir in 1541, the same year Spain attacked Algiers and was defeated. The Portuguese then withdrew from Safi and Azemmour. In 1548 Shadhiliya marabouts supported al-Mahdi's siege of Fez, while the Qadiriya marabouts sided with the Wattasids and Turks. Al-Mahdi was victorious and ruled Morocco for eight years. His son al-Harran captured Tlemcen the next year, but al-Harran ventured east and was defeated by the Ottomans and their Berber allies, who reconquered Tlemcen.

When the marabouts objected to the taxes of al-Mahdi, the Ottoman army took over Fez and set up the Wattasid Abu Hassun as their vassal. He was supported by the people even though he had to pay off the Ottomans. Abu Hassun formed an alliance with Ahmad al-A'raj to attack Marrakesh; but when Abu Hassan was killed battling the Sa'diyans in September 1553, his army fled, enabling al-Mahdi to reconquer Fez a year later. He had two hundred wealthy people executed and confiscated their property, taking over religious endowments also. Three years later al-Mahdi was murdered by his Turkish commander, who had been hired by Hassan.

Al-Mahdi's son al-Ghalib (r. 1557-74) made an alliance with the Spaniards to take Tlemcen and was succeeded by his son Muhammad al-Mutawakkil, who was overthrown at Fez two years later by 'Abdul-Malik but later returned with the Portuguese. 'Abdul-Malik declared a jihad and wrote a letter to Portuguese king Sebastian asking him not to wage war against his country and even offering to appear in his court of law to argue for justice. 'Abdul-Malik was able to destroy the Portuguese army of 20,000 in 1578. Yet he, al-Mutawakkil, and Sebastian died in this famous "battle of the three kings" that was called the Battle of Wadi al-Makhazin by Muslim historians and the Battle of Alcazarquivir by Europeans. Thousands died on both sides, and 14,000 Christians were captured. Mawlay Ahmad was crowned al-Mansur, meaning the Victor.

Al-Mansur (r. 1578-1603) gained wealth by ransoming the Portuguese prisoners and reigned over Morocco with an extravagantly rich court, patronizing poets, musicians, and religious scholars. Al-Mansur suppressed opposition by the zawiyas and the Berbers, developed agriculture and the sugar industry, and used force to collect taxes. In 1581 England's queen Elizabeth approved the export of naval timber to Morocco for saltpeter, which was used in gunpowder. Al-Mansur gave Jews concessions for running the state monopolies on sugar and saltpeter, and they also controlled the imported English cloth. In 1583 he captured the oases at Garara and Tuat, and in 1589 al-Mansur drove the Europeans out of Arzila. He defeated the Songhay empire south of the Sahara Desert in 1591 with the help of firearms he gained from the Turks. Gold and slaves were imported from the south, but the sultan prohibited exporting gold. Religious teachers debated the new habit of smoking tobacco. Barani Berbers revolted in 1596 but were crushed. Al-Mansur's son Muhammad al-Shaykh al-Mamun had been recognized as his heir in 1581; but his scandals and rebellions were so numerous that his father put him in prison in 1602.

A civil war followed the death of Mawlay Ahmad (al-Mansur) in 1603. His son Zaydan gained control of Marrakesh by 1609, while another son Abu Faris held Fez until he was assassinated by al-Mamun's son 'Abdullah in 1610. Al-Mamun helped the Spaniards take al-'Ara'ish that year but was assassinated himself in 1613. This betrayal to Spain tarnished his son 'Abdullah's reputation, though he managed to rule Fez until 1627. Zaydan was driven out of Marrakesh in 1612 by Ahmad Abu Mahalli from Sijilmasa; he claimed to be the mahdi and led a religious rebellion because of the betrayal of al-'Ara'ish. He married Zaydan's mother; but Yahya ibn 'Abduallah al-Hahi, the religious chief of Mount Daran, and his tribe helped Zaydan win back Marrakesh in 1613.

Zaydan (r. 1609-28) ruled Morocco from Marrakesh but faced much opposition and was driven out and restored three times. Fez was governed independently by his nephew 'Abdullah ibn al-Shaykh until 1627. The Dala'iya from the middle Atlas mountains were the strongest opponents; but Abu al-Hassun al-Simlali in Sus and refugees from Andalusia in Bu Ragrag also challenged Sa'diyan authority. Abu al-Hassun organized the Berbers of the Jazula tribe and attacked Zaydan's protector Yahya al-Hahi over Sus. After Yahya died in 1626, Abu al-Hassun made Iligh his capital of Sus and conquered Sijilmasa in 1631. After the Spanish built a fortress at al-Ma'mura, Muhammad al-'Ayashi led Arabian tribes and Andalusian Moriscos in holy wars against Spaniards from 1615 for a quarter century, attacking al-Ma'mura, al-'Ara'ish, and Tangier. Eventually the Moriscos (Moors) turned against him, denying him scaling ladders in 1631 and helping the Dala'iya army to defeat and kill al-'Ayashi in 1641.

The Dala'iya shaykhs were influenced by Sufi teacher al-Qastali of Marrakesh, and Abu Bakr built hostels for students and the poor. His son Muhammad led the community 1612-36 and constructed a new zawiya for scholars that fed 7,000 people a day. The third Dala'iya chief Muhammad al-Hajj (r. 1636-68) organized a Berber army and built a fortress. He criticized the Sa'diyan rule of Muhammad al-Shaykh and defeated his army in 1638. Muhammad al-Hajj occupied Miknasa in 1640 in al-'Ayashi's territory, defeating him the next year. Andalusians were allowed to control Sala for the next decade until al-Hajj sent his son 'Abdulla as governor in 1651. That year 'Abdulla signed a treaty with the Dutch. In 1653 Arabian army chief al-Khadr Ghailan led a rebellion against the Dala'iya. Al-Hajj's son Muhammad governed Fez 1653-59 until he was poisoned. In 1660 Fez revolted, and Ghailan and the Andalusians defeated the Dala'iya army at Sala. 'Abdulla left a captain in charge of his Sala castle, but in 1664 the Andalusians began paying their taxes to Ghailan.

'Alawite sharifs had lived in Sijilmasa since the 13th century. In 1635 'Alawite Mawlay al-Sharif tried to expel Abu Hassan's Dala'iya garrison from the Tabu'samt oasis and was banished to Sus, where a black slave girl bore him two sons, including Mawlay Isma'il. Another son, Muhammad al-Sharif drove the Dala'iya out of the oasis by 1641, but they defeated him in 1646. After Mawlay al-Sharif died in 1659, his son Rashid left Sijilmasa to avoid his brother Muhammad and gained the support of the Banu Ma'qil Arabs and the Ait Yaznasin Berbers in 1663. Muhammad tried to reassert his authority in Angad against his brother Rashid, but he was defeated and killed in battle. Rashid captured Fez in 1666 and two years later took over Marrakesh from the last Sa'diyan 'Abbas.

Rashid was succeeded by his half brother Mawlay Isma'il (r. 1672-1727), who put down a revolt by his nephew and claimed religious authority as a sharif. Sharifs were descendants of the prophet Muhammad and were believed to have baraka (divine power). 'Ali ibn Haidar had gathered several thousand blacks in the Sudan but disbanded them after Rashid died. Isma'il recruited these for his guard. He defeated and killed Ghailan, forcing Fez to submit in 1673. After two years of siege, Isma'il captured and plundered Marrakesh. The last Dala'iya, Ahmad al-Dala'i, was defeated in 1678. The 'Alawites drove the Spaniards out of al-Ma'mura (al-Mahdiya) in 1681, and the English left Tangier in 1684. After twelve years of fighting, Isma'il's brother al-Harran and Ahmad ibn Mahriz were killed. The last resistance in Morocco was put down when the inhabitants of Taroudant were massacred in 1687. Moroccans retook Larache in 1689 and Arzila in 1691.

Mawlay Isma'il put Negro slaves in his army and encouraged them to have children, who were trained for their military careers, building his army to 150,000 men. Eventually he granted these slaves and serfs the right to own land. He established garrisons at kasbahs, building 76 new ones. His army invaded Algeria three times to discourage the Turks from threatening him. Yet because of his pact with the Ottomans, he replaced his son Mawlay Zaydan for having sacked the palace of 'Uthman Bey in Mascara. In 1701 his son Zidan rebelled in Taza and conquered Tlemcen. Isma'il was wounded in the battle that crushed them, losing 3,000 men. The 'Alawites opened up trade across the Sahara and annexed Mauretania for a while. Isma'il disliked Catholics, but he allowed Franciscan friars to have a convent in his capital at Miknasa to minister to the captives. Isma'il had a large seraglio and was said to have had 500 sons. He sponsored building at Miknasa and moved the Jews to a suburb. He enforced laws strictly and used convict labor for his construction projects. He used economic extortion to gain revenue and punished resistance. His government collected ten percent duties and as much as 25% on wax, the biggest export. Isma'il tried to negotiate a trade treaty with Louis XIV for thirty years, but they could not agree.

The eminent religious scholar Abu-Hasan al-Yusi (d. 1691) denounced Isma'il's repression in a letter. In 1697 Sultan Isma'il angrily answered scholars in Fez who criticized his using slaves ('Abid) in his army. In 1708 he ordered the scholars to sign the register of his 'Abid army, or they would be arrested and have their property confiscated. The prominent 'Abdul-Salam Jassus refused, was arrested, and lost his property. His Fez supporters raised money to free him; but he was arrested again and strangled the next year. In 1720 the sultan had all money that could be found in Fez confiscated. Isma'il claimed his authority as a descendant of the prophet rather than by upholding Islamic law. He recognized Sufis such as Sidi 'Abdulla (d. 1678) and his son Muhammad (d. 1708) as sharifs and thus formed an alliance with the Tayibiya tariqa (brotherhood). In 1718 Sultan Isma'il removed all of his sons from office and sent them to Sijilmasa, except for Mawlay Ahmad al-Dhahabi, who had governed Tadla in peace so well for twenty years.

The powerful 'Abid army provided the viziers. In the thirty years after Isma'il died in 1727, they appointed as sultans and deposed seven of Isma'il's sons. The Wadaya army protected Fez from plundering by 'Abid troops but occasionally looted it themselves. Mawlay 'Abdulla became sultan in 1729 and was deposed four times. In 1734 he fled to the Berbers of Ait Idrasin and won over the Wadaya army. Ahmad 'Ali al-Rifi gained power in the north but was defeated and killed in 1743. 'Abdulla gained Marrakesh in 1750 and appointed his son Muhammad governor. 'Abdulla gained money by ransoming Spanish, Dutch, English, and French captives.

Mawlay Muhammad ibn 'Abdulla (r. 1757-90) consolidated his power by overcoming Wadaya resentment of the Berbers at Fez in 1760, and during his reign he had to suppress Sanhaja revolts from the mountains. He made a trade treaty with Marseilles in 1767 and founded the port of Mogador. Muhammad ordered a thousand 'Abid transferred from Miknasa to Tangier in 1775. When they refused, he dispersed them to several cities, causing turmoil that lasted seven years. This lack of security and a plague reduced the population of Morocco from five million to three million. The Sultan reduced taxes, imported grain without a profit, gave bread to the poor, provided money to tribal chiefs, and punished the rebellious 'Abid. Later he justified extra taxes to pay the army in order to keep the peace. He followed Maliki rituals but adopted Wahhabi beliefs, even destroying books.

After Mawlay Muhammad died, his son Mawlay Yazid (r. 1790-92) rapidly became unpopular by his exactions and for arresting the Spanish consuls at Mogador and Larache and two religious men in Tangier. He was challenged by two brothers-Maslama in the north and Hisham in the south; but when Yazid died, the Ait Idrasin and the 'Abid proclaimed his scholarly brother Sulayman as sultan. Maslama submitted, and a naval blockade forced Hisham to give up in 1795. The next year Sulayman occupied Marrakesh.

North Africa and Europeans
Western and Central Sudan
Sub-Saharan Africa to 1500
Muhammad Ture (r. 1493-1528) founded Songhay's Askiya dynasty. He went on a pilgrimage and got the caliph in Cairo to recognize his authority over Takrur (West Africa). When he returned in 1497, he implemented Islamic law by appointing qadis (Muslim judges), such as Mahmud ibn 'Umar in Jenne. That year Muhammad Askiya declared a jihad to convert Nassere, the Naba of Yatenga; so many Mossi resisted that he had to build a special quarter for the captives in his capital at Gao. Muhammad fought wars against Mali governors, conquering the provinces of Baghana, Kaarta, and Galam; he drove the Tuareg back into the Sahara, captured Air in the east, and took over the salt mines at Taghaza. The Mali retreated south of the Niger delta to Malinke territory. However, Songhay failed to conquer the Bariba of Borgu, who defeated their army in 1504. Muhammad invaded the Hausaland, conquering Katsina and Zaria and killing their rulers; but Songhay had to withdraw from the Hausaland in 1515 because of the Kebbi revolt led by Kuta Kanta. Muhammad Askiya revived learning at Timbuktu but did not force the common people to become Muslims. The Songhay empire declined as Muhammad aged; in 1528 he had become blind and was finally deposed by his son.

Dynastic conflicts among the Askiya family caused short reigns in the next decade. Muhammad Benkan overcame the pagan Gurma but was defeated by the Kebbi before he was deposed in 1537. Ishaq I (r. 1539-49) was elected but was so suspicious that he had governors killed and dismissed. After he died, Dawud (r. 1549-82) gained the throne peacefully. Dawud also tried to subdue the Mossi and was praised for memorizing the Qur'an and supporting learning and religion. He even forced two scholars to become judges. A struggle with Morocco sultan Muhammad al-Shaykh caused the loss of the salt mines at Taghaza in 1557. Dawud reorganized the Songhay army and won victories over the Mossi, Borgu, Gurma, Hombori, Bandiagara, Mali, Fulani of the Sahel, and Arabs in the desert, though a cavalry raid on Katsina failed. When al-Mansur (r. 1578-1603) of Morocco imposed a tax, Dawud sent him 10,000 mithqals (1,250 ounces) of gold but did not recognize it as a tax. Al-Mansur sent an expedition in 1583 that in three years took over the Sahara oases at Tuat and Gurara for Morocco, which exchanged diplomatic gifts with al-hajj Muhammad II (r. 1582-86) of Songhay. Civil war caused by another succession struggle then weakened the Songhay empire, and Moroccan spies captured a brother of Askiya Muhammad Bani (r. 1586-88) and Askia Ishaq II, taking him to Marrakesh in 1589.

The next year al-Mansur demanded a tax of one mithqal of gold for every load of salt from Taghaza, but Askia Ishaq II answered his letter with spears. Al-Mansur sent 4,000 men under his Spanish eunuch, the pasha Judar. This force met the Songhay army of about 40,000 or more about 35 miles north of Gao in March 1591. The small Moroccan force had muskets and prevailed. Ishaq submitted and offered a heavy annual tribute, as Judar's troops occupied Gao and Timbuktu. The latter, led by qadi 'Umar ibn Mahmud Aqit, refused to cooperate with the conquering army, which tore down people's houses. Judar was replaced by pasha Mahmud ibn Zarqun. After a disturbance when a former Songhay governor of Timbuktu returned and was killed, 'Umar ibn Mahmud sent three 'ulama' (clerics) to Marrakesh. People put their goods in the houses of leading jurists; but in 1593 Mahmud sent the seventy jurists, including the great scholar Ahmad Baba, to Marrakesh in chains. The next year Mahmud ibn Zarqun was assassinated by the Songhay resistance in Bandiagara. Pasha Sulayman (r. 1600-04) restored order in Timbuktu by punishing criminals and by not letting Moroccan soldiers out after sunset.

In 1598 Fulani ardo Hammadi Amina tried to intervene for an imprisoned 'ulama' in Timbuktu and was driven into exile by the Moroccans. Mali mansa Mahmud IV attacked Jenne in 1599 but was defeated by Moroccan reinforcements. The death of Mawlay Ahmad in Morocco led to civil war there in 1603, and after that the Sudan army gave their allegiance to the prince in Marrakesh. Jenne revolted in 1609 with Songhay aid; but eventually the Moroccan army subdued the region. After 1612 the sultans of Morocco abandoned control of Timbuktu, and without Sudanese trade it fell into anarchy. The Fulbe and Tuareg plundered the fallen Songhay empire, which was divided among local pashas. Askiya al-Amin governed the Songhay in Dendi 1612-18 and helped them during famine. His successor Askiya Dawud was said to have killed many people, including his relatives and army commanders. His brother Isma'il escaped to Timbuktu, gained the support of the pasha, and returned in 1639 to depose Dawud. When he asserted his independence by sending back the arma (Moroccan troops also called Ruma), the pasha attacked the Dendi capital at Lulami and deposed Isma'il. However, the askiya appointed by the pasha was later rejected by the independent Songhay.

In 1618 Marrakesh sent to Timbuktu the new amin Mahmud ibn Abi Bakr; but in 1629 he was accused of corruption and executed by Mawlay 'Abd al-Malik ibn Zaydan. He was replaced by a local commander (qa'id), and two years later the pasha appointed the amin, who became his assistant. After the army elected the amin to be pasha in 1638, the former office was no longer filled. Jenne revolted against the pasha in 1632, but they were punished two years later by the new pasha from Timbuktu. Merchants left Jenne and went to Bina in 1637, and in 1643 the arma in Jenne revolted again, getting the troops in Timbuktu to replace the pasha. In 1644 the pasha defeated ardo Hammadi Amina II; but he regained his position the same year, and the next year a qadi of Massina went to Timbuktu and restored peaceful relations.

After the 'Alawi dynasty gained power in Morocco, the army in Timbuktu pledged allegiance to Mawlay al-Rashid in 1671. Whenever the soldiers elected a new pasha, they were given gold collected from Timbuktu merchants. The pashas were replaced more frequently, and between 1660 and 1750 there were 86 pashas. Pasha Mansur (r. 1716-19) tried to make the soldiers dependent on him, and he appointed Sudanese slaves as governors at the expense of the arma and made friends with Arab nomads and the 'ulama'. When the slave governors became tyrannical, the 'ulama' joined with the arma and replaced Mansur, who had accumulated 1,500 ounces of gold. The arma elected a pasha in 1766 who held the office until his death in 1775; but then Timbuktu had no pasha for eighteen years. During famines and pestilence the people suffered, because the troops were fed first. In 1794 the ethnic clans chose a pasha, and his successor made the office hereditary.


In the early 17th century slave-owning Fulbe nomads settled in the Segu region and married Berber, Bambara and Mande women. Banmana animists, called Bambara, revolted against local chiefs and the last Mali emperor Mansa Magan in 1645. The Kulibali family founded the Masasi dynasty that was established by the time of Kaladian Kulibali (r. 1652-82), but its influence declined under Danfassar (r. 1682-97) and Souma (r. 1697-1712). Mamari Kulibali became Biton, the leader of his ton (association of boys initiated together) and began pillaging. The booty was used to buy captives; others fleeing persecution joined Biton as slaves (ton-dyon). Kong gave them Wattara gold for their services, and then the Macina Fulbe helped Biton fight off the Kong about 1725; Biton Kulibali reduced the heavy tax burden of the Kong people. In 1739 local chiefs appealed to the Joola (Dyula) state of Kong led by Famagha Wattara, but Segu was rescued by Bambara ally Fulani of Fuladugu. Biton defeated the Marki rival capital Kirango in 1740. When clan leaders rejected his invitations, he had them murdered. Biton Kulibali also made the free men of the ton his slaves. He had palaces built in Macina and Jenne, and in 1751 he conquered the Mali capital of Niani and made them pay tribute. Since Biton's fleet and cavalry protected the Niger Bend from Tuaregs, even the pashas of Timbuktu paid tribute. When Kaarta ruler Fulakoro was besieging Murdia, Biton answered their appeal by defeating and imprisoning Fulakoro, who died in captivity.

Biton Kulibali died in 1755 and was succeeded by Dekoro, who was so cruel that he was assassinated after two years, as the ton tried to restore its egalitarian society. His brother Bakari tried to impose Islamic law and lasted only fifteen days. In the next nine years three military leaders were assassinated. Ngolo Diarra (r. 1766-90) had been a slave of Biton and made others pledge fealty to him. His son Monzon Diarra (r. 1792-1808) expanded Segu influence by taking over Kaarta and others in the west. The Masasi had moved to Kaarta after they were defeated by Mamari in 1754. They regained power under Deniba Bo (r. 1758-61) and Sira Bo Kulibali (r. 1761-88) by conquering villages and taking their supplies. Sira Bo established his capital at Guemu and made the Marka tributaries. In 1777 the Dabora faction was expelled, and the Masasi made the Diawara pay tribute. Under Desekoro (r. 1788-99) they attacked Segu during the turmoil following the death of Ngolo Diarra, razing Nyamina in 1792; but four years later Monzon retaliated by destroying Guemu and regaining most of the territory taken by Sira Bo. Khasso plundered Desekoro's people and sold them as slaves; but Desekoro fled to Guidimakha, gathered 800 warriors and attacked Khassonke villages. The Masasi made Dioka their capital and seized 2,500 slaves owned by Joola merchants to rebuild their strength. Segu and Joola merchants exported many slaves to the French, and Segu was also a main source of grain for the Niger region.

In the 17th and 18th centuries the Tuaregs dispersed in the middle Niger region. In 1653 the Aulimadan forced the Tadmakka out of the Adrar. The Aulimadan began raiding, and in 1680 they took Gao away from the Moroccan forces (arma) for eight years. Then the Aulimadan moved south, and their leader Kari Denna became a vassal of the Moroccan pasha Hamad ibn 'Ali in Timbuktu. His successors were similarly installed by pashas in 1715 and 1741. The arma used the Tadmakka as mercenaries; but in 1737 the latter led by Ag-Moru defeated the arma and established Tuareg control over Middle Niger. After their great leader Ag-Moru died in 1755, the Tadmakka suffered internal conflicts.

Al-Mukhtar al-Kunti (1729-1811) united Qadiri factions into a zawiya (religious) group that renounced arms and pillaging. His diplomatic skill brought Kunta religious influence over the Arabs, Berbers, and Sudanis. After the death of the uncompromising Barabish leader Muhammad ibn Ruhal, al-Kunti won over Walad Suliman, and this alliance with the Barabish protected Kunta commercial interests. Al-Mukhtar al-Kunti mediated various disputes for the Aulimadan, Tadmakka, and the arma by using his spiritual power (baraka). He criticized the Tuaregs for expropriating Muslims' wealth and tried to remove superstitious customs of Berber and Sudanic paganism. Al-Kunti preached and wrote extensively, uniting the estranged branches of the Qadiriya order. The Aulimadan were re-established in Gao by 1770, and in 1787 they imposed tribute on the arma of Timbuktu and spread their power.


In the Hausaland wars between the Kano and Katsina were continued by Kano sarki Muhammad Rumfa's son 'Abdullah (r. 1499-1509) and grandson Muhammad Kosoki (r. 1509-65). Katsina ruler 'Ali (r. 1498-1524) was known as a religious warrior. However, tradition credits Katsina chief Ibrahim Maje (r. 1549-66) with being a religious reformer. Kuta Kanta led Kebbi by invading the Hausa states and defeating the Bornu army; but after he died in 1556, Kano and Katsina regained their independence. Rumfa's elderly son Yakufu let the Katsinawa ravage the country while he devoted himself to religion; he was deposed in 1573. Katsina defeated Kano sarki Muhammad Shashere (r. 1573-82); but his successor Muhammad Kisoki (r. 1582-1618) was victorious over them. Zamfara, south of Gobir, gained strength and fought a war for about fifteen years with Katsina that ended in 1609.

Kano sarki Muhammad Zaki (r. 1618-23) tried to make peace with Katsina; but according to the Kano Chronicle when they invaded, he won. Kano sarki Kutumbi (r. 1623-48) sacked the main city in the Gombe region, and Kano and Zaria warriors raided the Kwararafa empire to capture slaves. Kutumbi invaded Katsina twice; the first was a nine-month siege, but in the second he was defeated and killed. When Kwararafa began invading Zaria, Kano, and Katsina about 1650, Kano and Katsina made a perpetual peace treaty with each other that was not broken. About 1653 Kwararafa attacked Kano while Sarki Muhammad Kukuna was touring eastern provinces, and the same year Kwararafa besieged and set fire to Katsina, which was reported to have been saved by the prayers of a pious poet known as Dan Marina. Kwararafa attacked Kano and Katsina again in 1671; many were slaughtered as both cities were plundered. After Katsina's Muhammad Uban Yara (c. 1641-71) killed a Zamfara prince, Zamfara sarki Zaudai wanted to retaliate but was persuaded not to and died. The electors chose his brother Aliyu, who was the first Muslim ruler of Zamfara. In 1674 Sulayman led the Hausa states in a major attack on Kebbi's army of 6,000 and defeated them, enabling Ahir prince Agaba to take over Adar.

Kano ruler Mohamma Sharefa dan Dadi (r. 1703-31) imposed seven new taxes to pay for military forces. After Kumbari dan Sharefa (r. 1731-43) put a tax on scholars, many Arabs left Kano for Katsina, which, as the wealthiest commercial city in the region, welcomed foreigners. Poet Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Rahman al Barnawi composed the Shurb al-Zulal (Drinking of the Sweet) that distinguished what is permissible from what is forbidden according to Islamic law. He also criticized illegal taxes, greed, and perversion of justice. Kano ruler Baba Zaki (r. 1768-76) was unpopular for exploiting the nobles and forcing them to fight as soldiers. Sacrifices of cattle to the Qur'an did not end in Kano until the reign (1781-1807) of al-Wali.

In the 18th century Gobir with help from Zamfara and Ahir replaced Kebbi as a regional power. Ahir attacked Gobir and Zamfara while competing with Bornu for northern trade routes. Zamfara raids on Kano stimulated Kanawa vassals to build walls around their towns. Gobir under Babari (r. 1741-69) fought several wars against Kano early in his reign. Then Gobir went to war against Zamfara and finally sacked Birnin Zamfara about 1762. Babari fortified Alkalawa and made it his capital; but his son Dan Gudi (r. 1769-71) was killed fighting the Tuareg. Zamfara sarki Maroki went to Kiawa and in alliance with Katsina continued the war for fifteen years against Gobir sarki Bawa jan Gwarzo (r. 1771-89). Bawa plundered Katsina territory but died after the defeat at Dan Kashe. His son Ya'qub dan Bawa also died fighting Katsina at Kiawa in 1795. This ended Gobir's war with Katsina, but Ya'qub's successor Nafata (r. 1795-1802) turned to conflicts with Zamfara.


Mai 'Ali Gaji founded a Bornu dynasty about 1472 at Ngasargamu east of the Songhay empire and ruled for a quarter century. His son Idris, called Katakarmabe, inherited a peaceful kingdom but attacked the Bulala sultan Dunama ibn Salama, driving him out of Njimi before departing. Dunama was killed by his brother Adam, who reoccupied Kanem. Mai Idris then invaded Njimi again. Traveler Leo Africanus considered Bulala more powerful than Bornu because of its flourishing trade with Egypt. Bulala sultan Kadai ibn 'Abd al-Jalil attacked the son of Idris, Mai Muhammad (r. 1525-43), but Kadai was defeated and killed. Bornu's Dunama (r. 1545-62) opened diplomacy with the Ottoman Turks, who had occupied Tripoli in 1551. Dunama and his son 'Abdullah (r. 1562-69) continued to battle the Bulala. The mother of Bornu mai Idris Alooma (r. 1571-1603) was a Bulala princess. Idris Alooma led a campaign against the Kano, Tuareg, and Teda, and he also suppressed internal resistance of the Kotoko, Buduma, Ngizim, and the So. After fighting Kanem, Idris Alooma made a peace treaty with the Bulala. Trade with the Ottomans in Tripoli enabled him to employ Turkish musketeers. In 1582 Idris Alooma asked for military aid to fight infidels, and al-Mansur used this opportunity to extend his imperial influence from Morocco.

Idris Alooma in Bornu was succeeded by his three sons, Muhammad (r. 1603-18), Ibrahim (r. 1618-25), and 'Umar (r. 1625-44). Muhammad was said to have ruled in peace, but he died fighting a jihad. Ibrahim changed from a dissolute youth to a pious warrior, who fought ten battles. A song to the queen mother Amina praises Bornu as having a thousand thrones and 500 gunmen. 'Umar was elderly but went on a pilgrimage, and his son 'Ali ibn 'Umar went on three pilgrimages, letting his brother Kashim Birri rule as regent while he was away. When Kashim tried to take the throne, 'Ali had him blinded and banished. During his last four years in the early 1680s his son Idris acted as regent.

Tuareg warriors gave the Hausa states troubles, as Ahir sultan Muhammad al-Mubarak (r. 1654-87) and his son Agg-Abba expanded their domain and challenged Bornu sovereignty. In 1667 Tuareg disputes caused Sultan al-Mubarak to flee to In Gall. In 1679 he launched a raid on Bornu from Dabak, but four years later he arbitrated a peace between the Itisen and the Kel Away. In 1685 Sarkin Zamfara led forces that wiped out a party of about 700 Tuareg. The same year Muhammad al-Mubarak retaliated with a Tuareg army that routed the Zamfara forces, killing a thousand. Al-Mubarak died during a severe epidemic at Agades in 1687. His son Agg-Abba campaigned against Gobir in 1689 and sold some Gobirawa into slavery. Five years later he left Agades and took refuge in Dabak. In 1696 the War of Hunger between the Kel Away and the Itisen ravaged the sultanate, followed the next year by a devastating drought in the Sahel. When his brother al-Amin overthrew him in 1721, Agg-Abba fled to Adar. Agg-Abba ruled the refugee Itisen and founded their capital Birni-n-Adar, where he died in 1738.

These wars probably contributed to a series of famines that continued in the 18th century when Bornu was ruled by Dunama ibn 'Ali and Muhammad ibn Hajj Hamdun, who besieged Kano for seven months during the reign of Kumbara ibn Sharefa. Bornu mai Hamdun ibn Dunama emphasized piety and learning, beginning the influence of 'ulama' in Bornu that was continued by 'Ali ibn Hamdun (c. 1750-91). 'Ali fought off Tuareg attacks over the salt mines of Bilma in Kawar; but after an Ahirawa attack on Bornu in 1759, he allowed Ahir to engage in the Bilma trade. The Mandara rebellion eventually led to the routing of the Bornu army about 1781. Bagirmi led by Muhammad al-Amin (r. 1751-85) also threw off Bornu hegemony and made Islam the state religion. When his successor 'Abd ar-Rahman Gwarang (r. 1785-1806) married his sister, Wadai's 'Abd al-Karim Sabun used this as a pretext for attacking Bagirmi. Wadai under Jawda (d. 1795) invaded Bahr al-Ghazal, causing migrations and famines. Gobir also revolted against Bornu about 1785.

Islam in Western Sudan
West Africa and Slavery
Sub-Saharan Africa to 1500
All together over four centuries about ten million African slaves were transported to the Americas, more than six million of them during the 18th century when prices rose steadily. Africans were most viable economically for this exploitation because of their superior resistance to diseases and willingness to work. Native Americans died in enormous numbers as a result of contact with Europeans, and Europeans themselves were three times more likely to die of disease in America than Africans. Thus a greater percentage of the crews on the ships died during the passage than the slaves in miserable conditions. More slaves were continually needed, because only half as many women were transported as men, and the raising of children was difficult.

For fifty years after 1482 over 400 kilograms of gold were sent annually from El Mina ("The Mine") to Lisbon, Portugal. Led by Tengella and his son Koly, the Denianke Fulani fought a war against Mali between 1481 and 1514. Tengella invaded Zara but was defeated and killed about 1512 by the Songhay; Tengella had led the Fulani into Futa Toro and Jolof. Mali retained authority from Gambia to Casamance, and the mansa maintained diplomatic and trade relations with the Portuguese. Mansa Mahmud III in 1534 received envoys from Joao de Barros, who governed at Fort Elmina. The Portuguese transported slaves from Benin and the Kongo to Elmina to sell them to interior merchants; but Portuguese king Joao III (r. 1521-57) declared this illegal, because the slaves were becoming Muslims.

Portuguese Jews and criminals were sent to colonize the island of Sao Tomé in the Gulf of Guinea, as the slave trade was organized. In 1506 Pereira wrote that every year they were getting 3,500 slaves, plus ivory, gold, and cotton. Portuguese established sugar plantations worked by slaves on Sao Tomé, and as late as 1560 this island was exporting twice as much sugar as the Caribbean island of Española. The Portuguese took over the Cape Verde Islands in 1484 and required a license to travel to Guinea in 1514. By 1582 the Cape Verde Islands had 1600 Europeans, 400 free Africans, and 13,700 slaves. By 1600 Sao Tomé had imported 76,000 slaves as compared to 75,000 for all of Spanish America and 50,000 for Brazil. French raiders captured 300 Portuguese caravels between 1500 and 1531, and the French increased their trade on the Guinea coast. Starting in 1553, English ships began visiting and for a while were allied with the French. Captains William Towerson and George Fenner found trading difficult, because previous English privateers had raided the coast for slaves. In 1588 English queen Elizabeth granted merchants the right to trade on the Senegal and Gambia rivers. The Dutch made their first voyage to the Gold Coast in 1595, and three years later they settled at Mori, Butri, Kormantine, and Kommenda.

After tunnels collapsed near Elmina in 1622, Africans refused to go back in the mines. The next year the Portuguese went up the Ankobra River and built a fort to work a gold mine in Aowin territory. However, after an earthquake in 1636 destroyed tunnels, the Aowin people killed Portuguese, and the surviving garrison fled to Axim. In 1625 natives near Elmina repulsed an attack by 1200 Dutch troops and 150 Africans. Organization of the Dutch West India Company in 1629 for expeditions to the Gold Coast got competition two years later when the English crown chartered the Company of Adventurers of London Trading in Africa. The Dutch fortified Mori, and the English built a fort at Kormantine. The Dutch appealed to natives upset with the Portuguese and used force to take over Elmina from the Portuguese in 1637. While Portugal was preoccupied winning its independence from Spain in 1640, the Dutch captured Axim and drove the Portuguese off the Gold Coast by 1642.

In 1660 the Dutch ended their ban on exporting firearms. The English formed a new trading company of Royal Adventurers in 1662 that included the king's brother James. Their encroachment led to a war in 1665 with the Dutch, whose Admiral de Ruyter took back the lost towns on the Gold Coast, causing the Royal Company to go out of business in 1672. However, the same year the Royal African Company was formed with the English king as a stockholder, and between 1673 and 1704 they shipped nearly 66,000 firearms and more than 9,000 barrels of powder to West Africa. Brandenburgers, Swedes, and Danes sent traders. In 1693 the African Asameni tricked a Danish garrison into giving his men guns, and they took over the fort at Christiansborg. When the Dutch mediated, Asameni gave the fort back for 1,600 pounds after having taken 7,000 pounds worth of trading goods. The next year Dutch mining of a sacred hill at Fort Vredenburg provoked a war with the Kommenda people, who gained the Fante as allies. In 1698 the British Parliament opened West African trade to anyone paying ten percent on exports and imports as a license fee; but the Royal African Company complained, because gold and slaves were exempted.


Operating from the Cape Verde Islands, the Portuguese traded for gold, ivory, hides, spices, and slaves along the Senegal and Gambia rivers, and between 1562 and 1640 they transported about 5,000 slaves per year from the southern rivers to islands and the New World. In 1621 the Dutch moved into Gorée Island. The English built Fort St. James at the mouth of the Gambia River in 1651, and the French established Saint-Louis across from the Senegal River mouth in 1659. In 1660 the leather trade peaked with 150,000 hides meeting European demand. Gorée Island was taken by the Dutch in 1629 and 1645, by the English in 1667, and by the French in 1677. The French built the Saint Joseph fort at Galam in 1700. These western-most ports were used for transporting slaves before the larger slave markets were developed in the Gulf of Guinea and Angola.

After the Mali empire declined, the Kaabu became the dominant military power in this region. Early Portuguese trade favored the coasts and broke up the Jolof confederacy. In 1660 the Hassani were fighting the Berber marabouts in Mauritania. When Amari Ngoone defeated the Buurba Jolof at Danki, he proclaimed Wolof independent and became the Damel of Kayor.

A Zawiya (religious) leader who took the title Nasir al-Din opposed the slave trade and condemned kings who killed and enslaved people. He declared a holy war (jihad) against the Hassani in 1673 and crossed the Senegal River to invade Futa Toro, Wolof, Kayor, and Jolof. Marabouts from the countryside joined his movement, defeating and killing Wolof brak Fara Kumba. Nasir al-Din set up a theocratic government using the royal puppet Yerim Kode as brak, and he imposed an Islamic tax on tribes north of the Senegal. Turmoil occurred in Kayor as the marabout Njaay Sall assassinated Mafaali Gey for not respecting the Qur'an and then proclaimed himself viceroy. In 1674 Nasir al-Din was killed in a third battle against Hassani warriors in Mauritania, and his successor 'Uthman was killed fighting the Wolof. Three succeeding imams were also defeated, as the marabout movement declined. Because trade had been suspended by the viceroys, the French at Saint-Louis intervened for the Futa Toro, Wolof, Kayor, and Jolof kings and helped them defeat the marabouts by 1677. The war disrupted agriculture, and famine followed. Marabouts fled from Futa Toro to Bundu, where Maalik Sy founded a Muslim theocracy about 1690, taking the title Almamy.

The war chiefs strengthened their control and exploited the slave trade. Lat Sukaabe Fall (r. 1695-1720) of Kayor monopolized the sale of slaves and firearms and took over the crown of Bawol. His reforms attempted to integrate the marabouts into his political system by making them government agents. French desire to control the gum trade provoked a war in 1717 that lasted ten years in Wolof. The French supported provincial chief Malixuri in his rebellion against Wolof brak Yerim Mbanik in 1724. After mediation failed, Malixuri lost company support and was defeated. Yerim Mbanik increased his power, and his brothers Aram Bakar (r. 1733-57) and Naatago (r. 1756-66) expanded Wolof hegemony, especially over Kayor which had suffered civil war. Naatago kept raising the price of slaves, and in 1758 the English took over Saint-Louis. That year the French also abandoned Fort Saint Joseph at Galam. The English helped Kayor damel Makoddu Kumba Jaaring to recover his territory from Wolof in 1765. After Naatago died, British governor O'Hara supplied arms to Moors in order to overcome Wolof power and to take more slaves. In six months of 1775 the English took more than 8,000 slaves from Wolof alone; the price of a slave in Saint-Louis was reduced to a piece of cloth.

In Futa Toro the violent climate of the war chiefs stimulated Bubakar Sire to appeal to Morocco for troops (Ormans) in 1716, and from then on they had to pay a grain tax. Power struggles led Samba Gelaajo to seize control with help of the Gaidy Ormans in 1725; but he turned from the Moors to the French and traded slaves for weapons. Later Samba was forced into exile but used his Orman army to return in 1738. The Moors dominated Futa Toro as one ruler followed another. Finally the Torodo party, led by Sulayman Baal, won a military victory at Mboya and ended the annual grain tribute to the Moors.

Because O'Hara was taking so many slaves, in 1776 the Torodo party banned all English trade with Galam. That year Sulayman Baal died and was succeeded by 'Abd al-Qadir ibn Hammadi, who was chosen for his religious learning to establish a theocracy. He defeated the Moors and made them pay tribute, overcoming the Denianke and distributing land to Torodo leaders. In 1786 he invaded Trarza, killing their emir Ely Kowri. 'Abd al-Qadir implemented land reform in Futa Toro about 1790. Kayor damel Amari Ngoone Ndeela (r. 1790-1809) renounced the previous submission to Futa Toro and killed 'Abd al-Qadir's envoy. 'Abd al-Qadir organized a military expedition with nearly 30,000 people to colonize Kayor; but Amari Ngoone's scorched-earth strategy left them thirsty and weak. 'Abd al-Qadir was taken prisoner but was magnanimously released by Amari Ngoone after he promised not to invade again. 'Abd al-Qadir invaded Wolof in 1796 and forced the burba of Jolof and the brak of Waalo to become Muslims. However, when he intervened in Bundu and wanted to attack the Bundu-Kaarta alliance, he was deposed by the Jaggorde opposition at home. He formed an alliance with Gajaaga and Xaaso but was killed in 1807 by the Bundu and Kaarta forces.

Large slave-hunts by the powerful Kaabu stimulated Fulbe and Mande marabouts in 1725 to revolt in order to gain security. The marabouts, led by Ibrahima Sambegu, declared it a jihad and defeated the non-Muslim Jallonke cattle herders; his nephew Ibrahima Sory smashed the pagan drums of Timbo. The Futa-Jallonke led the resistance and formed an alliance with Sulimana ruler Ayina Yella (r. 1730-50). After conquering Jallonke, Susu, and Pullis, in 1747 nine Muslim chiefs combined the Fulbe and Jallonke to form the theocratic Confederation of Futa Jallon under the leadership of Sambegu, who was given the titles Karamokho Alfa and Almamy. After he died about 1751, the army commander Ibrahima Sory used the excuse of jihad and an alliance with Yella-Dansa (r. 1750-54) of Sulimana to attack Farabana in 1754 and procure slaves. After Tahabaire became king of Sulimana, they attacked Farabana again the next year. This provoked a slave revolt, and some fled to Bundu, where they fortified Koundie. When Sulimana defected from the Fulbe and Jallonke alliance in 1762, Sory was defeated at Balia by Sankaran king Konde Burama. The Jallonke withdrew their support from the Fulbe, who reacted by beheading all the Jallonke chiefs of Sulimana in Futa. Tahabaire joined Konde Burama, and they took over Timbo and burned it in 1763. Tahabaire attacked Fugumba in 1767 but was driven back; yet he pillaged Limba, taking and selling 3,500 prisoners.

Sory fought back and eventually defeated Sankaran in 1776, becoming Almamy. When the council of 'ulama' (clerics) in Fugumba challenged his authority, Sory went there and beheaded those who opposed him, replaced them with his supporters, and moved the council to Timbo. So many slaves were held in Futa Jallon that several slave revolts broke out. In 1785 Mandinka slaves massacred their masters and burned the stores of rice. Sory influenced Bundu and the region, ruling Futa Jallon until 1791. Six years later his son Sadu was assassinated by supporters of Karamokho's son. The marabouts themselves had become a slave-holding class.

Islam in Western Sudan
Gold Coast, Asante, and Slavery
Sub-Saharan Africa to 1500
On the Gold Coast west of the Volta River, the Accra people destroyed the Portuguese fort at Accra in 1578 that had been there since about 1500. The Ga people, led by priests, moved into the Accra region and came into conflict with the Akwamu, reaching their peak of power during the reign of Accra king Okai Akwei (c. 1640-77). In 1659 Denkyira defeated Adansi and surrounding tribes to take control of trade routes from Assini and Axim to the coast. From 1662 to 1666 so much fighting occurred in the Accra region that Danes at Christiansborg could not get their provisions locally. The Ga army did not defend Okai Akwei, who was surrounded by the Akwamu army. He shot himself and left a curse on Accra. His son Ashangmo continued the war against the Akwamu. In 1677 the Akwamu led by Ansa Sasraku (d. 1688) using cannons took over the capital of Great Accra and drove their kings beyond the Volta to Little Popo on the Dahomey coast, where they became vassals of the Dahomey kingdom. The Akwamu made Nyanoase their capital.

As trading for gold gave way to trading for slaves, the Akwamu tried to stop the raiding but eventually engaged in it themselves. The Akwamu were disliked for robbing Akyem and Fante traders and selling them to the Dutch as slaves. By 1706 English ships had transported more than ten thousand captives in the last thirty months from Cape Coast. In 1726 a Dutch employee wrote that gold had become so scarce that the Gold Coast should be renamed the "Slave Coast." In 1730 a conflict between the Akwamu king and his maternal uncle provoked rebellions among the Akwapim scarplands. The Dutch supplied the Akwamu with muskets, cannons, and ammunition; but Akan chiefs in Akyem, longtime enemies of the Abrade, sacked Nyanoase and killed the king, causing the Abrade royal family to take refuge in different directions.


Under Oti Akenten the Asante (Ashanti) became a military people. When he died about 1660, his nephew Obiri Yeboa continued military expansion and confederated Asante tribes. Obiri Yeboa's sister Manu Kotosii had a son named Osei Kofi Tutu, who was raised at the Denkyira court of Boa Amponsem. After making the chief's sister Ako Abena Bensua pregnant, he fled to the Akwamu court. There he became friends with the priest Okomfo Anokye. When Obiri Yeboa was killed fighting the Doma, Osei Tutu was chosen chief. Okomfo Anokye and thirty Akwamus from Anum accompanied him back to Asante. The spiritual power of Okomfo Anokye helped mold the Asante into a unified nation so that they were able to overcome the Doma and the people of Tafo. The Doma chief was given a position in Osei Tutu's house, and the Tafo chief was killed. People hated and feared the domination of both the Akwamu and the Denkyira; but Okomfo Anokye brought conquered provinces into the Asante confederation as equals, respecting their customs and territory while listening to their chiefs in the Asante council called Abrempon.

The Asante had to pass through Denkyira and Adansi territory to get to the sea. When the Adansi rebelled against Denkyira and fled to Asante, the latter prepared for war against Denkyira. After Denkyira chief Bosianti died, he was succeeded by Ntim Gyakari, believed to be the son of Osei Tutu and Ako Abena Bensua. When Ntim Gyakari demanded tribute from Asante, Osei Tutu declared war in 1699. The Asante won the battle of Feyiase and captured Ntim Gyakari, whose successor Boadu Akefun swore to serve Asante. Then the Asante invaded and took over Denkyira territory. The Akyem had fought as allies of Denkyira and lost 30,000 men, becoming tributaries of Asante. The Elmina fortress, which had passed from the Kommenda to the Denkyira, was now controlled by Asante. In 1717 the Asante went to war with the Akyem Kotoku and killed their chief Ofosu Apenten; but Osei Tutu died also.

Osei Tutu was succeeded by his grandnephew Opoku Ware, who extended Asante territory to the Volta River. During this war the Sefwi raided the Asante capital at Kumasi. After his mother was killed, Opoku Ware sent Bantama chief Amankwa Tia, who defeated the Sefwi army at the Tano River and executed their ruler Abirimuru. Four years later a quarrel with the Wassaw resulted in their king dying too. The Asante army defeated Bono in 1723, threatened the Fante in 1726, and invaded Gonja in 1732. The Asante attacked Gyaman in the northwest and killed their ruler Abo Kwabena. Between 1742 and 1744 Opoku Ware's Asante armies invaded Akyem Abuakwa, Accra, Adangme, Akwamu, and Dagomba. Na Garba was captured and was released when he promised that Dagomba would send 2,000 prisoners annually to Kumasi. This caused Dagomba to engage many warriors in man-hunts within its own territory and in Gonja. By 1745 the Asante kingdom stretched from the Comoe River in the west to the Volta River in the east and beyond the Volta in the north. When Opoku Ware died in 1750, the Muslim chronicler al-Hajj Muhammad ibn Mustafa in the Kitab Ghunja criticized him for harming the people of Gonja by oppressing them and robbing their property, complaining he ruled violently as a tyrant and noting that people all around feared him greatly.

Opoku Ware was succeeded by his uncle Kusi Obodum (r. 1750-1764), who was remembered as "the chief that never killed a man if he could help it, but always commuted the death penalty to a fine."1 His nephew Osei Kwadwo (r. 1764-77) invaded Banda and Wassaw, and he punished Denkyira and Gyaman for having helped them. During a Dagomba succession dispute about 1770 the Asante used firearms against their spears and arrows to occupy their capital Yendi. Dagomba chief Garbia agreed to pay a tribute of 200 slaves annually, and the tribute continued until 1874. Osei Kwadwo continued the fighting against the Akyem, Akwapim, and Assin, even paying the Fante not to help their Assin neighbors. When the Fante broke their promise, Osei Kwadwo swore revenge; but he died. His successor Osei Kwame was only a boy, and for a decade a regent ruled Asante. No major wars occurred, and he prohibited the selling of his Asante people; but Osei Kwame was eventually deposed by the council of chiefs. His brother succeeded but died after a few weeks, making another brother, Osei Bonsu, Asantehene (Asante king) in 1801.

By 1750 the British Parliament was paying 13,000 pounds a year to maintain the forts. Rev. Thomas Thompson arrived from America in 1752 to propagate the gospel; he studied the Fante language but was only able to baptize eight people before he left in 1756. He did arrange for a few boys to go to London for an education. Philip Quacoe returned in 1765 and for a half century taught children at Cape Coast. During the Seven Years War, France tried and failed in 1757 to capture Cape Coast. Two British warships failed to take Elmina in 1780; but the next year Captain Shirley took the forts at Mori, Apam, Kormantine, and Beraku from the Dutch. A joint British military operation also captured Kommenda; but in the 1783 peace treaty of Versailles the status quo was restored, though the one fort at Sekondi taken by the Dutch had been destroyed. In 1792 the Danish governor at Christiansborg asked Osei Kwame for Asante mercenaries to fight the Fante. The British tried to stop this war between Asante and Fante, but the Asante warriors went to the coast. By then the Danish governor had died, and his successor paid the Asante to go home. Between 1750 and 1807 the British exported to West Africa 49,130,368 pounds of gunpowder and exported from West Africa slaves valued at 53,669,184 pounds.

In 1772 Granville Sharp helped a former slave from the West Indies to keep his freedom when his former master tried to claim him in the Somersett case that went to England's chief justice Mansfield. Sharp befriended Africans who had been in America and persuaded the British government to let them move to Sierra Leone in West Africa in 1787. Most were Christians, and they named their province Freedom. Temne chief King Tom made a treaty with the self-governing citizens; but when he died, the Koya Temne regent Naimbana could not read a new treaty that granted the newcomers claim to the land. When the settlers and European slave traders opposed Tom's successor King Jimmy, he burned their town in 1789. Two years later the Sierra Leone Company financed the venture. A thousand former slaves from Nova Scotia arrived in 1792 and built Freetown. Governor John Clarkson promised them free rent; but he left that year, and the Company demanded a small quit rent. Religious Zachary Macaulay was an effective governor and resolved this crisis; but when he left, armed rebellion broke out in 1800. A British ship arrived with troops and 550 new settlers, and they helped suppress the revolt.


Three former slaves from West Africa wrote books about their experiences that were published in England. The Letters of Ignatius Sancho (1729-80) were published by Joseph Jekyll in 1782. Sancho was born on a slave ship; on this journey to the Spanish West Indies his mother died, and his father committed suicide. Sancho was only two when he was taken to England to be a servant for two sisters. In 1773 he married and started a small grocery store. He recommended reading the Bible and believed that blessing follows virtue. His letter to novelist Laurence Sterne asked him to support the anti-slavery campaign.

Quobna Ottobah Cugoano was born in a Fante village about 1757. He was kidnapped by Africans about 1770 and sold to Europeans, who transported him to the West Indies. Taken to England in 1772, he became the servant of painters Richard and Maria Conway, who introduced him to prominent people such as William Blake. He worked with Olaudah Equiano to oppose slavery, and in 1787 he paid for the printing of his own Thoughts and Sentiments on the Evil and Wicked Traffic of the Slavery and Commerce of the Human Species. Cugoano argued that since God created all the races, none is inferior. Although Christianity advocates duties to fellow humans, he noted that this religion has been used to dupe innocent natives. He held that those enslaving humans could not be Christians. He suggested abolishing the slave trade and enforcing it with British ships. He hoped that the British could help improve Africa, and in exchange Africans could supply labor for industry and defense. He lamented the villainy of chieftains who cause the common people to suffer because of their wars and feuds. He wrote that any robbery is wrong, but stealing people is the worst.

But the robbers of men, the kid-nappers,
ensnarers and slave-holders,
who take away the common rights and privileges of others
to support and enrich themselves,
are universally those pitiful and detestable wretches;
for the ensnaring of others,
and taking away their liberty by slavery and oppression,
is the worst kind of robbery, as most opposite
to every precept and injunction of the Divine Law,
and contrary to that command which enjoins that
all men should love their neighbors as themselves,
and that they should do unto others,
as they would that men should do to them.2

Olaudah Equiano wrote that he was an Ibo from the Niger region and that when he was twelve years old, he was abducted and taken to America, though some research indicates he may have been born in South Carolina. He served in the British navy during the Seven Years War. By trading and saving, Equiano bought his freedom from a sea captain in 1766. After a shipwreck near the Bahamas, he helped save the crew. When a captain died, he was able to take over and sail to Antigua. In England he worked with abolitionist Granville Sharp on establishing the Sierra Leone colony; but he criticized the corruption that siphoned off the needed funds for the provisions he was employed to purchase. Although the Navy Board defended him, Equiano was fired. His Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano was published in London in 1789. During the middle passage he remembered the slaves' agonies, but he also observed a white sailor who was flogged to death and dumped overboard. He reminded the Europeans that their ancestors had once been uncivilized like the Africans. He blamed European traders for causing many tribal wars between Africans. He was proud that the Ibos were hardy and intelligent with integrity and zeal. The main purpose of his book was to persuade people to abolish slavery. In addition to the obvious human rights violations and the cruelty he witnessed, he argued that the slave trade was not economically viable. Equiano promoted his book and the abolitionist cause by going on lecture tours throughout the British Isles. His book was a financial success, and he married an Englishwoman in 1792. John Wesley liked Equiano's Narrative so much that he had it read aloud to him on his deathbed.

Asante, British, and the Gold Coast
Niger Coast and Slavery
Sub-Saharan Africa to 1500
In the Niger delta Ogio was the tenth king of Nembe and began his reign about 1639. During the reign of his son Peresuo, tribes developed the House system. Becoming a member of the sekiapu society depended on developing talent in music, dance, drumming, and understanding drum language. Sekiapu helped administer justice by enforcing a code of conduct on their members, collecting debts, and punishing offenders. Others who punished were the peri ogbo warriors, who had slain an enemy, taken a captive, or killed a dangerous animal. Nembe society divided in two in the mid-18th century when Mingi feuded with his cousin Ogbodo and took his throne at Ogbolomabiri. Ogbodo simply moved across the river and set up his kingdom at Bassambiri. Mingi gained wealth by smithing, farming, and trading slaves. He was succeeded by his three sons Ikata, Gboro, and Kulo, who was said to have ruled until 1830. King Ikata got help from Okpoma ruler Goli in his war against the Kalabari of Bile.

After Elem Kalabari was burned down, wealthy Amakiri of Endeme led the restoration effort. He traded for slaves to restore the population after a war with the Okrika. Amakiri's diplomatic methods of expanding his influence were in contrast to Agbaniye Ejike of Bile. On the shore the Bonny were ruled in the 18th century by Perekule, his son, and grandson Opubo. Wars could be provoked by piracy, head-hunting, and slave raids. The Nembe, Bonny, and Okrika each had a war god; but the primarily deity of the Kalambari was peaceful. The Kalabari Ke used religious sanctions to make peace, in the 19th century letting the British consul be the arbitrator. In the mid-18th century Okrika king Igo attacked and devastated Amakiri's city but died. The Kalambari turned to slave trading to replenish their manpower and used the Koronogbo system to assimilate slaves faster. Delta states trading slaves to Europeans became distribution centers for European merchandise. Tribes gained arms for slaves and became dangerous to their neighbors, who often armed themselves in self-defense. Salt cakes and metals were also highly valued.

The Benin empire of Nigeria was east of the Oyo River. They settled succession disputes for the Ibo rulers by keeping the rejected candidate as a sword-bearer and sending back the new king. The Portuguese founded Christian missions in Benin and Warri in the 16th century. In the 1640s Benin supplied the Dutch and British with large amounts of cloth. In the second half of the 18th century Benin opened their ports to slave trading so that they could import Brazilian tobacco, cowrie shells from the Indian Ocean, brass pans, and brandy.


West of the Niger River, the Aja felt the impact of Europeans before the inland Yorubas at Oyo. After the Moroccans conquered the Songhay in 1591, the Oyo began moving south toward the coast. Horses helped them conquer the grasslands. The Nupe drove the Oyo from their homes but were defeated by Oyo king Ajiboyede. Oyo expansion in the Yoruba country was continued by kings Abipa and Obalokun. Under Ajagbo's improvement of the military the Oyo cavalry reached the coast, conquering Weme. A series of unpopular rulers led to an army mutiny against Odarawu for carrying on a vendetta.

Early in the 17th century the Dutch put agents in Assim in the Aja kingdom of Allada, and the French sent Capuchin missionaries in 1640. The Allada king even sent an envoy to Paris in 1670, but the Aja would not sign a trade agreement he considered unfair. The French established a trading station at Whydah the next year, giving Allada an economic rival. The English established their factory for slave trading at Allada in 1674 and began trading at Whydah in 1681. The Dutch arrived the next year and Brandenburgers in 1684.

About 1625 a younger brother was forced off the Allada throne and migrated north. His followers killed the local leader Da. Dogbagrigenu still did not have land for a kingdom; but he was succeeded by his son Dukodonu, who conquered enough territory and was crowned Dahomey king. The next king, Wegbaja, reigned from about 1650 for thirty years; he encouraged agriculture, trained his warriors, and used new tactics such as surprise night raids to expand his domain. This new kingdom in the Abomey plateau emphasized merit and service to the king over lineage. Dahomeans turned away Allada slave raiders in 1671 and 1688 and made them negotiate. Akaba ruled Dahomey from about 1680 until 1708, coming into conflict with the Weme people but increasing Dahomey to forty towns.

In 1680 the Oyo went to war against the Aja of Allada and Dahomey for two years. Then Oyo warriors withdrew; but civil wars resulted in which European mercenaries participated, as traders tried to set up favorable kings. In 1698 Allada citizens appealed to Oyo when the basorun was ruling for the young Ayibi. When his messengers told the king of Allada to put his kingdom in order, the king had them killed. This outrage provoked another Oyo invasion, though the Allada king escaped. Whydah was the most important slaving port in the region and was used by the British, Portuguese, Dutch, Brazilians, and the French. In 1703 the Europeans signed a treaty making the port neutral so that it would not be attacked because of European wars, and two years later Allada and Whydah agreed to let each other trade with the Europeans. Unfortunately when Whydah's king Aisan died in 1708, European traders enthroned 13-year-old Huffon (r. 1708-27) in violation of the Whydah constitution, causing a trade war with Allada. In 1712 a Dutch ship attacked a Portuguese trading vessel in the Allada harbor, and the Portuguese declared war on Whydah. The next year Huffon dismissed his advisors and turned to foolish young men, and the war dragged on for a decade.

Meanwhile in 1708 the Dahomey king Akaba was succeeded by his younger brother Agaja Trudo. He trained boys to be warriors by letting them witness battles, armed women as guards, and sent out spies called agbadjigbeto. In 1724 Agaja took advantage of a succession dispute in Allada to occupy the city. Two years later Oyo invaded Dahomey, and peace talks began; but in 1727 the Dahomeans led by Agaja invaded Whydah as the incompetent Huffon fled to the Popo islands. The rainy season ended the negotiations; but the Oyo invaded Dahomey again the next year, only to find that Agaja had burned and evacuated his Abomey capital. After the Oyo soldiers left, the Dahomeans returned and began rebuilding. In 1729 the Oyo army was prepared for this tactic and brought supplies and killed more Dahomeans. The Oyo army returned once again in 1730, and Agaja agreed to pay Oyo an annual tribute. Allada became the Dahomey capital for the next thirteen years, and the new kingdom of Ajase later became known as Porto Novo. Dahomey prince Tegbesu went to Oyo as a hostage, and each king married the other's daughter.

During this war Agaja had made the slave trade a royal monopoly and executed violators. In 1725 Agaja had sent an envoy to England to say he wanted Europeans without slave ships. In 1729 he had an English fort commander executed for opposing him with Whydah collaborators. After signing the 1730 treaty Agaja negotiated with Englishman Edward Deane and agreed to cooperate with European slave traders; but all trading was to be done at Whydah. Dahomey's monopoly on slave trading became its main source of income, and in 1733 Agaja appointed one Yovogan for trading with all the Europeans. The death of Huffon weakened the resistance in Whydah. Agaja had some top officials executed, and others fled. These conflicts caused the Europeans to trade for slaves elsewhere, and Dahomey had trouble meeting its tribute payments to Oyo. After Agaja attacked Badagry in 1737, Oyo invaded Dahomey two years later. Agaja fled his wasted kingdom and died in 1740.

Former hostage Tegbesu won the succession struggle for the impoverished kingdom of Dahomey. He put to death his opponents and sold their supporters as slaves. Pressed for money to pay the tribute, Tegbesu executed the rich; but he let chiefs appoint trading agents and moved the capital back to Abomey in 1743. For the next five years Oyo invaded Dahomey several times until Tegbesu renewed the 1730 treaty. He decreed that only a son could succeed to the throne. In 1751 he designated his oldest son; but the French would not let the prince go to France for an education. In 1754 Tegbesu had himself declared dead to test his new law. He found it worked and reformed Dahomey administration according to Oyo institutions. In 1763 Popo and the old Whydah attacked the Dahomean port of Igelefe, which required assistance from the English fort. Slave trading increased and made Dahomey prosperous, but by 1767 European ships were using other ports. By the time he died in 1774 Tegbesu had expelled four French and four Portuguese directors for being disloyal to him. He believed it is better to trade than to make war and helped refurbish the European trading houses. Tegbesu passed a law to make his subjects sell their slaves.

Tegbesu attacked the Mahi in the mountains and gained sovereignty over them. The mother of his son and successor Kpengla (r. 1774-89) was a Mahi. Kpengla organized war parties, and these policies removed manpower from their kingdom. In 1779 he ordered roads made thirty feet wide and put clan chiefs in charge of their construction. Kpengla's son Agonglo found Dahomey in economic depression when he became king in 1789. He asked the Portuguese for help; but they demanded he become a Christian. When Agonglo announced he was going to be baptized, his subjects objected, and he was murdered in 1797. After a short civil war, Agonglo's son Adandozan gained the throne; but the troubles continued until he was deposed by Gezo in 1818.

In Oyo the basorun Gaha favored military expansion; but the Alafin kings, backed by wealthy traders, wanted to exploit the domestic economy. The Oyo army fought off an attack by 2,000 Asante soldiers in 1764. The Gaha faction was stronger until the trader Abiodun became king in 1770. After Gaha was overthrown in 1774, the export of slaves increased. Within two years Porto Novo had become the leading port for the slave trade. Abiodun kept Oyo free of foreign wars and domestic conflicts until the Bariba subjects revolted in 1783. He sent Kpengla to suppress rebellions and died in 1789. Abiodun's successor Awole (r. 1789-97) also promoted trade; but new revolts broke out every other year. Oyo lost sovereignty over the non-Yoruba provinces in the north after being defeated by Nupe in 1791. Two Alafins failed to gain the throne in 1797.

Asante, British, and the Gold Coast
East Africa, Portuguese, and Arabs
Sub-Saharan Africa to 1500
In 1498 Vasco da Gama reached Mozambique and Mombasa, and the next year he bombarded Mogadishu. Kilwa had long prospered from the gold trade at Sofala and was reached by Pedro Alvares Cabral in 1500. Da Gama imposed tribute two years later, and in 1503 Ruy Lourenço Ravasco collected tribute from Zanzibar. In 1505 the Portuguese led by Francisco d'Almeida built a fort at Sofala near the mouth of the Zambezi River before sacking and garrisoning Kilwa; Mombasa, Hoja, and Brava were only plundered. At Mozambique the Portuguese built a hospital, church, factory, warehouse and fort in 1507. Only Mogadishu was strong enough to maintain its independence from these attacks. By 1512 the Portuguese garrison and Franciscans left Kilwa, and Sofala also suffered because of lack of gold. Nuno da Cunha plundered Mombasa again in 1528. The Turks raided the east coast down to Malindi in 1540. By then posts were established at Sena and Tete for gold mining up the river. The Portuguese destroyed the shipping at Mogadishu in 1541. Led by Francisco Barrero, they invaded the Zambezi lowlands in 1571 and massacred Muslim traders. Another Portuguese invasion three years later forced the Uteve ruler to pay tribute to Sofala. Yet the Mutapa state managed to retain its independence on the eastern plateau.

In 1585 Turks led by Emir 'Ali Bey caused revolts from Mogadishu to Mombasa against the Portuguese landlords; only Malindi remained loyal to Portugal. Zimba cannibals overcame the towns of Sena and Tete on the Zambezi, and in 1587 they took Kilwa, killing 3,000 people. At Mombasa the Zimba slaughtered the Muslim inhabitants; but they were halted at Malindi by the Bantu-speaking Segeju and went home. This stimulated the Portuguese to take over Mombasa a third time in 1589, and four years later they built Fort Jesus to administer the region. Between Lake Malawi and the Zambezi mouth, Kalonga Mzura made an alliance with the Portuguese in 1608 and fielded 4,000 warriors to help defeat their rival Zimba, who were led by chief Lundi.

A Portuguese captain made Malindi king al-Hasan bin Ahmad sultan of Mombasa, but arrogant commandants irritated him. In 1614 he went to the Portuguese viceroy at Goa in India to complain. When he returned to Mombasa the next year, he fled to the Nikiya tribe and was assassinated for a Portuguese bribe. The highest ecclesiastical court in Portugal ruled that the king was wrongly murdered and that his son Yusuf bin al-Hasan was his rightful heir. Yusuf was then educated at Goa and baptized as Dom Jeronimo Chingulia by the Augustinian order. He returned with a Portuguese wife to rule Mombasa in 1630. The next year a Portuguese spy saw him praying like a Muslim at his father's grave and reported it to Portuguese captain Pedro Leitao de Gamboa; but the spy also informed King Yusuf about this. Yusuf stabbed the captain as 300 of his followers took over Fort Jesus from the garrison. Some who refused to convert to Islam were killed, and 400 were sold as slaves. A Portuguese fleet with a thousand troops arrived the next year but could not retake Mombasa. Yusuf captured two ships and fled to Pate. Portuguese captain Francisco de Seixas de Cabreira hunted him down there and rejected a bribe of 4,000 paradaos. He punished Pate in 1636 by beheading 200 of their leaders and chopping down 10,000 coconut trees, demanding 8,000 paradaos; Siu and Manda were forced to pay heavy tribute and destroy their defensive walls. Yusuf escaped, but while trying to get Turkish support he died at Jidda in 1638.

Arabs in Oman led by Nasir ibn Murshid rose up against the Portuguese in 1643 by capturing the fort at Sohar. In 1650 they expelled the Portuguese from the trading port of Muscat. They built a fleet and responded to appeals from Mombasa by attacking the Portuguese on Zanzibar in 1652. The Otondo queen of Pemba accepted the imam of Oman and paid tribute. Captain Cabreira from Mombasa quickly arrived to burn her town and attack the Omani ships at Pemba. In 1660 the Omani navy landed at Mombasa and drove the Portuguese into Fort Jesus. Nine years later eighteen Omani ships invaded Mozambique but could not capture the Portuguese fort. In 1678 Portuguese viceroy Dom Pedro de Almeida from Goa assaulted Pate and set up his headquarters in the mosque. The Portuguese were supported by the Faza king who brought a thousand Wagunya allies, though 200 of them mutinied and were massacred. The soldiers raided Pate and the cities of Siu, Lamu, and Manda, and Almeida ordered the four kings of these cities beheaded. After Omani troops from four ships arrived three days later, the Portuguese fled, leaving behind half of their ivory booty.

In August 1686 Joao Antunes Portugal organized political support in Mombasa for an attack on Pate but did not take the island until Arab ships withdrew a year later. The people of Pate did not resist and promised to pay 17,000 crusados. Within a few weeks Portugal arrested the king and twelve elders and sent them to Goa, where they were executed on Christmas Day 1688. A year before that, an Arab fleet from Muscat had arrived at Pate, and Portugal had retreated back to Mombasa. In 1694 the island of Pemba overthrew the Portuguese masters. Two years later the Omani fleet besieged Mombasa as the population of 2,500 fled into Fort Jesus. The Zanzibar queen sent supplies to this last Portuguese bastion in East Africa, but the Portuguese failed to relieve the fort. They held out for 33 months, dying of hunger and smallpox before the last thirteen survivors surrendered to the Arabs. The Omanis then sent garrisons to Pemba, Kilwa, and other cities.

The Omanis governing Mombasa were of the Mazrui lineage. The Portuguese occupied Mombasa once more in 1728. The same year the king of Pate agreed to garrison 150 Portuguese soldiers and give Portugal a monopoly on ivory. After the people of Pate refused to build the fort and burned down half of Pate, the king sold the Portuguese a ship to return to Goa. In Mombasa townsmen joined by Musungulos murdered some Portuguese outside the fort in April 1729, taking the outpost fort at Makupa. Other towns rebelled against the Portuguese also, and in November 1729 the Portuguese abandoned Mombasa for good. The Omani Arabs soon arrived and took over Pate and Mombasa. After Sohar governor Ahmad bin Sa'id founded the al-Busa'idi dynasty of Oman in 1744, the Mazrui leader Muhammad bin Uthman proclaimed himself governor of Mombasa. Soon Pate, Malindi, Pemba, Zanzibar, and Mafia became independent also. In 1745 Bwana Mkuu took power on Pate. The next year Omani agents murdered Muhammad bin Uthman and imprisoned his Mazrui brother 'Ali ibn Athman, who escaped, rallied the people, overthrew the new governor, and executed the assassins. 'Ali (r. 1746-55) proclaimed himself sultan at Mombasa and seized Pemba, but a family quarrel prevented him from taking over Zanzibar. His successor Mas'ud ibn Nasir (r. 1756-73) cooperated with Pate and developed Mombasa's relationship with the inland Nyika, extending Mazrui influence from Pangani to Malindi.

The Portuguese attempts to exploit East Africa for its gold, ivory, and slaves had little positive effect except for the foods they introduced from America. Cassava was brought from Brazil to Mozambique in 1750 and gradually spread. A Portuguese governor remained at Mozambique and in 1756 sent spies to Mombasa and Muscat. Another Portuguese attempt to attack Mombasa in 1769 failed. Omanis had revived Kilwa by developing the ivory and slave trades for the French, who acquired the Mascarene Islands; but in 1771 the Omani governor was driven out of Kilwa. Portuguese conflicts with the Makua disturbed Mozambique, which was competing with Swahili and Arab merchants. The French had occupied the island of Mauritius in 1714, and the number of slaves increased steadily. In 1776 French trader Jean-Vincent Morice made an agreement with the sultan of Kilwa to purchase one thousand slaves a year for twenty piastres each to supply the French plantations on the islands of Mauritius and Bourbon. After Oman ruler Ahmad ibn Sa'id died in 1784, Saif ibn Ahmad claimed the throne. His son Ali conquered Kilwa, but Zanzibar held out with its governor. Eventually Zanzibar and Kilwa surrendered to the new Omani ruler.


The Portuguese signed treaties with chiefs in western Madagascar in 1613, and a Jesuit mission went up the river Manambovo to Sadia three years later. A civil war broke out and affected the founding of the Sakalava kingdom of Menabe. In the Luso-Dutch treaty of 1641 the Portuguese claimed western Madagascar; but mostly they used it to supply slaves to the Dutch East India Company, which had taken over Mauritius for its timber. The French built Fort Dauphin in 1643, but they abandoned it in 1674; their governor Etienne de Flacourt (r. 1648-58) wrote two books about Madagascar. A census taken at Barbados in the West Indies at the end of the 17th century found that half of their 32,473 slaves were from Madagascar. In the 18th century Madagascar supplied thousands of slaves to the French plantations on Mauritius and Bourbon (Réunion). In the central Imerina Romboasalama overthrew his uncle Ambohimanga about 1785 and proclaimed himself King Andrianampoinimerina. By 1792 he had eliminated two other local kings and moved his capital to Antananarivo.


After 1500 Bito kings from Bunyoro sent out raiding parties, and their chiefs took over tribes such as the Haya of Kiziba, Kooki, Toro, Busoga, and Buganda in the region northwest of Lake Victoria. These chiefs set up independent kingdoms; but they became overextended. This region suffered four terrible droughts that began in 1588 and included a five-year famine that ended in 1621. People believed these natural disasters were "sent by God" and so called this period the Nyarubanga, during which many people migrated. About 1650 Ankole defeated the Bunyoro army, and Ganda king Katarega expanded his realm by war west to Mawokota, Gomba, Butambala, and Singo. Bunyoro men were usually busy cultivating the land, since they believed it was wrong for women to do this work. The Ganda ate mostly bananas and could leave the work of supplying food to the women. With a centralized kabaka (king) the Buganda kingdom was more stable. Kabaka Tebandeke (c. 1644-74) increased his royal power by reforming the exploitation of the religious rituals. So as not to be dependent on Bunyoro for iron and smiths, Mawanda (c. 1674-1704) expanded Buganda territory into Singo, eastern Kyaggwe, and Bulamogi. His officials became more influential than the local chiefs. After 1700 Buganda avoided succession struggles by letting two senior officials choose the new kabaka. Junja annexed Buddu and got Kooki to pay tribute. Kabaka Kamanya took Buwekula from Bunyoro and developed a trade route to the coast.

Bunyoro still suffered many succession disputes, and Omukama Isansa (c. 1733-60) persecuted his opponents in Paluo, causing them to migrate to Acholi in northern Busoga. His wars in the south provoked Kooki and the Busongora states of Kisaka and Bugaya eventually to become independent of the Bunyoro empire. Isansa alienated the Cwezi cult by attacking the Wamara palace in Bwera. Because of this sacrilege, people believed that Buganda would swallow up Bunyoro.

Before the slave trade and European guns, most Africans lived and traded more peacefully with each other and the Arabs or Indians on the coast. The Masai tribes east of Lake Victoria were exceptional in that they were trained to be warriors and limited their consumption to the products of their herds. After 1700 the number of slaves captured in the interior of east and central Africa by Omani Arabs and Portuguese increased to about one or two thousand per year by 1750; but the French escalated this to supply their plantation labor on the islands of Mauritius and Bourbon.

East Africa, Arabs, and Europeans
Southern Africa, Portuguese, and Dutch
Sub-Saharan Africa to 1500
Portuguese explorers had reached the kingdom of the Kongo by 1483. Eight years later a Kongo embassy went to Lisbon, and by 1506 the Kongo king was baptized as Afonso I; the Portuguese renamed his Mbanza capital Sao Salvador. The Portuguese tried to impose a feudal hierarchy on this king. They sent an embassy to Ngola in 1520, and Balthasar de Castro was held captive for six years. In 1526 Afonso complained to his "royal brother" in Lisbon that their population was being depleted as people were captured for slavery; but he was not able to expel the Portuguese. Raiding the country for slaves made enemies in Mbundu; four to five thousand slaves were being shipped annually from the Kongo. In 1532 Portugal required that all trade with the Ngola be through the Kongo.

Ngola Inene requested missionaries in 1557, and three years later Jesuits arrived with ambassador Paolo Dias; but the next year the Ngola stopped cooperating with the Portuguese and held the Jesuits captive until 1565. Afonso II became Kongo king that year but was killed at mass. Jaga cannibals invaded the land west of the Kwango River and sacked Sao Salvador in 1568; but the Kongo kingdom was defended by 600 Portuguese musketeers from Sao Tomé, reinstating Kongo king Alvaro I in 1574.

In 1571 the Portuguese chartered the royal colony of Angola (named after the title ngola) around Luanda, and three years later colonizers set out to settle in western Kimbundu. The Jaga turned toward Angola and eventually settled in the area by the Kwango they had conquered from Yaka. The Portuguese also wanted the silver from the Ndongo mountains; a century of wars over this began in 1575, causing Ndongo to become depopulated. Paolo Dias de Novais had tried to found a colony on the coast of Ndongo for mining silver in the Cunza valley; but this failed, and Luanda became a center for the slave trade instead. The Portuguese suffered major defeats by the Ngola in 1585 and five years later by a coalition army of Ndongo, Kongo, Matamba, and Jaga. About 1600 a Luba king named Kibinda Ilunga moved west and founded a new state among the Lunda in the south by the Kasai River. The Portuguese sent reinforcements, and in 1607 Angola governor Manuel Pereira Forjaz was able to make peace with Mbundu for four years; but his successor Bento Banha Cardoso launched campaigns against Mbundu and their ngola. By 1612 the Portuguese were shipping about 10,000 slaves a year from Angola. In 1618 Luis Mendes de Vasconcellos invaded the heartland of the Ndongo kingdom and destroyed the royal compound.

Kongo king Alvaro II (r. 1587-1614) asked for technical assistance from the Portuguese but got little. Alvaro III (r. 1614-22) brought in the Jesuits in 1619, and their influence began to surpass that of the mestizo clergy. Kongo and Angola quarreled over Luanda Island, and in 1622 Angola governor Joao Correia de Souza invaded the Kongo, trying to gain more slaves and territory with mines. Mbundu queen Nzinga Mbande (1580-1663) became the ruler, and the next year she went to Luanda to negotiate peace, trade, and less slave capturing. The Portuguese governor baptized her; but Portuguese troops helping her fight the plundering Imbangala warriors resulted in the Kimbundu fleeing to the east, where she settled in Matamba. The Imbangala established the state of Kasanje in the Kwango valley. The wars between Angola and the Kongo would go on for a half century.

Early in the 17th century the Dutch had developed trade in Sohio, the western province of Kongo, and in 1641 a Dutch slaving fleet captured Luanda. Queen Nzinga protected Matamba from the Portuguese by making an alliance with the Dutch. In 1648 Salvador Correia de Sa came from Brazil and drove the Dutch out of Angola, forcing Nzinga to retreat back to Matamba, which developed into a commercial center that included the slave trade. In 1651 Portuguese king Joao IV exempted Capuchins from laws against foreigners in his empire as long as they asked his permission and sailed from Lisbon. Capuchins and the Jesuits studied Bunda and other native dialects, and Vitralla published a short grammar. In 1655 Nzinga sent warriors to attack a small Christian tribe led by Pombo Somba on the Kongo border; but she repented and made peace with the Portuguese. She persuaded her witchdoctors to accept her Christian faith. Lisbon ratified the treaty in 1657, and Nzinga was baptized again at Luanda. In 1664 Ndongo ngola Ari II by defeating local chiefs took control of trade routes in order to tax caravans between Luanda and the Kongo; but in 1671 the Luanda governor captured the Ndongo royal family and sent them to a monastery in Portugal, building a fort in their last capital.

Garcia II (r. 1641-61) consolidated power over Kongo. He invited Italian Capuchins in 1645. When Georges de Geel was killed in 1653 for interfering with local shrines, Garcia protected the Capuchins. Garcia tried to make peace with Luanda governor Salvador de Sa, but they could not agree. Garcia died and was succeeded by Antonio; but at Mbwila (Ambuila) in 1665 the Angolan army of 360 Europeans and 7,000 Africans defeated and killed Antonio and 400 Kongo nobles. In 1670 another army led by the Portuguese was defeated at Soyo in a failed attempt to conquer Kongo. By then the Kongo region was exporting about 15,000 slaves each year. The Catholics preferred to sell slaves to the Dutch, because they took them to the Spanish Indies, and in 1687 the English Royal African Company complained to the Ngoyo kings they were being charged higher prices for slaves. Two years later when the Soyo army attacked Ngoyo, British marines tried to help defend Ngoyo but lost their artillery. Soyo and Ngoyo made a treaty in 1690, and the British merchants were allowed to stay in Ngoyo.

In 1701 Soyo prince Antonio III wrote to the Pope, asking him to over-rule the Angola bishop and allow them to sell slaves to anyone. The war resumed. An old woman named Mafuto had a vision of the Virgin and claimed that Jesus was angry at the people of Kibangu and Pedro IV for not restoring the city. In August 1704 20-year-old Beatriz Kimpa Vita fell sick and then claimed that she had been taken over by saint Antonio (Anthony). She criticized the greed and jealousy of Capuchin priest Bernardo de Gallo and protested that Pedro did not occupy Sao Salvador and end the war. She preached that God cares more about intention than rituals such as baptism, and her following grew, sending out other Antonios. She modified Catholic teachings to support African saints and a nationalist movement. Although she taught chastity, Beatriz had two abortions and then a son. On July 2, 1706 she and her son were burned to death by order of the royal council; even her bones were burned so that no relics would remain. The wars and slave trade continued, and many of the slaves exported were Antonians. In the next decade British traders exported more than 65,000 slaves from this region. The Kongo kingdom broke up into local chiefdoms until the Kimbangu defeated Joao Manuel II and put Pedro IV on the Mbanza Kongo throne at Sao Salvador in 1709. In 1716 Joao II reclaimed the Kongo throne.

In 1765 the Holo signed a treaty recognizing the sovereignty of the Portuguese, agreeing to allow freedom of religion, access to missionaries, and not to fight against Matamba. During the 18th century the Portuguese exported between 5,000 and 10,000 slaves per year from Luanda. Independent slave trading by people in Ovimbundu through the kingdom of Sela provoked the Portuguese to wage war against Ovimbundu for three years starting in 1774; but the Ovimbundu's Mambari caravans continued to prosper, as they used their military skills to raid for slaves and cattle. In the second half of the 18th century an estimated 50,000 guns were imported into this region.

Joao V (r. 1706-50) had reigned over the Portuguese empire in relative peace, but changes in Portugal under King José (r. 1750-77) stimulated Angola to favor large Lisbon companies. The dictatorial Sebastiao José de Carvalho e Mello wanted to combine the power of the Inquisition with secular control, as in England. The Jesuits in Brazil opposed slavery, and in 1758 he expelled the Jesuits from the Portuguese empire, affecting Angola, the Zambesi, and Mozambique. They had done much good work educating Bantu tribes and were missed. Tribes in the Inhambe fields revolted and massacred a town. Francisco Innocencio de Sousa Coutinho (r. 1764-72) encouraged commerce with Portugal and Brazil and tried to diversify the Angola economy with an iron industry, cotton production, a soap factory, and salt pans. He favored paying both whites and blacks fair wages. Lencastere became governor in 1772 and implemented Carvalho's order to make sure all education was in Portuguese and Latin and to destroy all religious materials in the natives' own language. Finally in 1777 Carvalho was removed from office, and the Angola chronicle recorded it as a time of redemption and joy. The new bishop resumed the teaching of the Kimbundu language in 1784. Although the Portuguese banned the hunting of slaves by Africans or Europeans, African prisoners of war and convicted criminals could be sold as slaves. At the end of the century the slave trade with Brazil still accounted for 88% of Angola's revenues, while ivory exported to Portugal provided less than five percent.


On the east side of Africa the Portuguese occupied Mozambique Island in 1507 and built Fort Sao Sebastiao there in 1558, sending settlers up the Zambezi River to Sena and Tete. The Mutapa emperor ordered Conçalo da Silveira killed in 1560, because he believed the missionary had led Portuguese invaders. A year after Sebastiao became king of Portugal in 1568, he sent Francisco Barreto to govern Mozambique and to explore the mineral resources of the mwanamutapa kingdom. In 1573 the Portuguese gained gold mines in a treaty with Nogomo, who wanted a garrison near his capital at Masapa and trade with the coast. In 1585 Portuguese soldiers tried to punish a Makua maurasa (chief) for his ravaging the coastland; but the Makua slaughtered most of the detachment and established their capital at Tugulu (Uticulo), which governed Macuana for three centuries. After mwanamutapa Gatsi Rusere (c. 1589-1627) succeeded Nogomo, the Zimba attacked his territory in the Zambezi valley in 1592. When a tribe attacked his gold fields five years later, a domestic conflict provoked a rebellion led by Matuzianhe. Gatsi Rusere got assistance from Portuguese traders at Masapa, Tete, and Sena, and after 1599 he allowed the Portuguese to enter his kingdom with guns. In 1607 the trader Diogo Simoe Madeira persuaded Gatsi Rusere to cede the mineral wealth of his kingdom to the crown of Portugal.

Luba kings rose to power in the Kongo grasslands in the 16th century. Some of them wandered to Malawi and shared their form of government. The main Malawi chief was called kalonga after a Luba hero who led a migration. Kalonga Mzura sent 4,000 Malawi warriors to help the Portuguese fight the Shona during their invasion in support of mwanamutapa Gatsi Rusere south of the Zambezi in 1608. The same year the Makua helped the Portuguese defend Fort Sao Sebastiao from a Dutch siege. The Portuguese returned the favor by helping the Malawi against Mzura's rival lundu. However, after Gatsi Rusere died, Mzura led the Malawi across the Zambezi, expanding his territory toward the seaboard of Mozambique. In 1628 an army of 250 Portuguese and a reported 30,000 Africans defeated Gatsi Rusere's successor Kapararidze, and the next year they killed many chiefs and took power from the mwanamutapa, making a treaty with Mavura, whom they put on the throne. In 1667 the Portuguese official Manoel Barreto reported that the main reason the gold trade had declined was because violence by the Portuguese against the Africans caused them to leave. In the 18th century the Portuguese believed that the Malawi kalonga had diminished influence also.

Further west the Portuguese did not penetrate the Urozwi of Zimbabwe until after the Nguni invaded in the 19th century. In 1684 their changamire (ruler) Dombo drove the Portuguese out of Sena despite their guns. This enabled the mwanamutapa to invade the western territory of the Urozwi; but in 1693 the mwanamutapa and Urozwi joined together and killed many Portuguese soldiers and settlers at Dambarare. Yet in 1750 Sena governor Francisco de Melo e Castro praised the peace and security of the kingdom ruled by the changamire. Mozambique captain general Baltasar Pereira do Lago (1765-77) supported missions and hospitals but had to build a fort at Mossuril to respond to Makua raids. He said that the changamire treated the inhabitants of Zumbo with the "most civilized justice." Pereira had been exiled to Africa by Carvalho and was ordered to double the duties on ships going from Mozambique to Delagoa Bay, enabling foreign ships to undersell the Portuguese. Carvalho gave extensive instructions but little practical support. Arabs and Banyans were prohibited from entering Mozambique from India.

The Portuguese began trading for ivory from the interior as far west as Zambia when they founded a market at Zumbo in 1714. Feira was established across the Dwangwa River in 1732. Portugal granted prazos (estates) to settlers to encourage colonization, and these prazeros assumed the power to wage war, impose tribute, and exploit the labor of the Makua, Manganja, Sena, Kalanga, Tonga, Tawara, Nsenga, and the Tumbuka. About 1740 they began mining gold north of the Zambezia in the kingdom of Undi, who had conquered the Nsenga. As the gold and ivory trade declined, the Portuguese turned more to the slave trade, which dominated the Kilwa market after 1770. In 1798 Francis de Lacerda organized the opening of a trade route from the Zambesi to the chief Kazembe with the goal of reaching Angola, but he died of malaria along the way. The chaplain Pinto replaced him, and Kazembe persuaded them to leave their gifts with him and turn back. Fear of an invasion by the French or English prevented another expedition for several years.


South of Zimbabwe lived the Tsonga, Venda, and the Sotho, who believed that their well-being depended on the health of their chief. The Nguni cultivated the soil, and the Khoikhoi kept herds and hunted along the southern coast of Africa. In 1488 Portuguese explorer Bartolomeu Dias met the Khoikhoi, and he named the Cape of Good Hope. In 1500 he erected a cross but died in a storm. De Almeida, the Portuguese viceroy of India, was killed fighting the Khoikhoi in 1510 at Table Bay. The pastoral Khoikhoi were called Hottentots, and the short-statured San, who primarily hunted and gathered, were called Bushmen. The English explorer James Lancaster began bartering with the Khoikhoi in 1594. Cornelius Matelief was the first Dutchman to barter for sheep at Table Bay in 1608. The Khoikhoi bartered cattle for copper and then brass. When the prices went up, a Gorachouqua Khoikhoi named Goree was abducted in 1613 and taken to London. He begged to return to his warm country. In 1617 he persuaded the English to give their convict settlers guns to fight his enemy, the Cochoqua. The outnumbered British withdrew; but Goree got the Dutch to raid the Chochoqua. Goree still preferred the English, and in 1626 Dutch sailors killed him for refusing to trade with them. A Khoikhoi named Autshumao went on a ship to Java about 1631 and learned English. He was called Harry and passed messages to English travelers at the Cape until he died in 1663. The Dutch ship Haerlem was wrecked at Table Bay in 1647, and the sailors built a fortress on the beach.

In 1652 about ninety men led by Jan van Riebeeck established a refreshment station at Table Bay for the Netherlands East India Company (VOC). Vegetables and fruit were cultivated to help prevent sailors from getting scurvy. Riebeeck was forbidden to capture slaves, but they began importing slaves from Angola and Guinea in 1658. That year free farmers went on their first strike against the Company, and the next year Goringhaiqua interpreter Doman led a Khoikhoi rebellion against Dutch encroachment. The Dutch built a stone fort, planted an almond hedge, and brought more settlers. In July 1673 Jeronimus Cruse raided Cochoqua livestock, taking 800 cattle and 900 sheep. This and more land seizure provoked the second Khoikhoi war that lasted four years. Horses imported from Batavia (Java) gave the Dutch a military advantage, and in June 1677 Cochoqua chief Gonnema promised to pay an annual tribute of 30 cattle. By 1679 the European population was up to 259, and Cape governor Simon van der Stel (1679-99) founded Stellenbosch to expand the colony.

In 1685 visiting commissioner Hendrik van Reede noted that 57 children had white fathers; so he decreed that male slaves could buy their freedom for 100 guilders at age 25 and females at 22 if they could speak Dutch and joined the Dutch Reformed Church. In 1688 two hundred Huguenots were granted land, mostly at Franschhoek. Unable to compete in the labor market against slaves, Dutch "trekboers" with Khoikhoi servants began wandering outside of the Company's control to find grazing land and water for their livestock. In 1690 four slaves revolted at Stellenbosch; but three were killed, and the other was imprisoned. Runaways and slaves caught stealing were often hanged. A slave using violence against an owner could be tortured on the wheel that broke bones. Laws against sexual relations between white men and slaves were often broken, and Europeans occasionally married African women. Disobedient slaves could be flogged.

Wheat was exported, and in 1700 the Dutch East India Company permitted grazing cattle outside the settlement. The first lethal clash between Dutch cattlemen and the Xhosa (called Kaffirs) occurred in 1702, and the Company reimposed the ban on trading with the Khoikhoi for two years. The ban was lifted in 1705 until 1727, after which private cattle bartering continued illegally. Farmers complained that Governor W. A. van der Stel (1699-1707), son of his predecessor, and his officials were violating the VOC regulation that forbade their private farming or trading even though anyone who objected to this corruption risked being sent to a penal colony such as Mauritius. In 1707 the seventeen directors of the Company ordered officials not to farm. Every free man between the age of 16 and 60 was enrolled in the militia, which had 513 European men by 1708. In 1713 a smallpox epidemic started from laundry brought by a passing ship. The Africans were decimated, while 110 Europeans also died of the plague. Too much wheat and wine caused a price slump, and by 1717 the Company stopped allowing farmers to immigrate into the Cape colony. The Company maintained a monopoly on all commercial activity and fixed prices.

As the increasing numbers of trekboers let their livestock graze further, the game animals departed, causing the San people to begin raiding the invading herds. Since the trekboers had firearms, the San were easily defeated. The San lost their usual livelihood, as did the herding Khoikhoi, who were reduced to being servants; these people merged and were called the Khoisan. In 1724 the Company opened a slave station at Delagoa Bay, but in the 1730s most slaves were imported from Mozambique and Zanzibar. In 1728 Dutch farmers killed twelve Khoisan while taking back 23 stolen cattle along with 62 Khoisan cattle. The Company directors ignored appeals to return the Khoisan cattle. In 1732 the quitrent system of land tenure was introduced. After the Company prohibited stock bartering in 1738, Estienne Barbier escaped from prison and led ten farmers in violent disobedience for a year before he was arrested and eventually executed. Also in 1739 the trekboers broke their promise to share the spoils of looted cattle with the Khoisan. Swartebooij complained to the VOC directors, who backed down and awarded the Khoisan share to the trekboers. A bloody battle ensued in which Swartebooij and a hundred Khoisan were killed as hundreds of cattle were taken. After 1740 the Khoisan in the colony could no longer herd livestock but had to serve as laborers. The Swellendam district was established in 1745. The continued importation of slaves made them more numerous than the Europeans by 1748.

Cape Town had no newspaper, although Governor Ryk Tulbagh (1751-71) founded a library and promoted the scientific study of plants and animals. In 1754 the Khoisan raided farms in Roggeveld. In 1765 the Meermin left the Cape and purchased slaves from Madagascar. Allowed to work, the slaves got weapons and took over the ship; but most were recaptured at Cape Agulhas, and they were taken to Cape Town. After trekboers crossed the Gamtoos River in 1771, clashes with the Xhosa worsened. The Khoisan, caught between the colonists and the Xhosa, resisted the trekboers. The Xhosa were ruled by Phalo from about 1730 until he died in 1775. His son Gcaleka defeated his brother Rharhabe but died in 1778, succeeded by Khawuta, who ruled only the Gcaleka faction as the conflict continued. By 1778 the trekboers had reached the Great Fish River, and Cape governor Joachim van Plettenberg tried to set the eastern boundaries with Gwali chiefs. Two years later Van Plettenberg took in the Zuurveld even though it was not yet occupied by Europeans. The Gonaqua claimed they occupied the land, and the Gqunukhwebe said they had bought some of it from the Khoikhoi. Commandant Adriaan van Jaarsveld led his commandos in 1781 to evict the Gwali, who believed Van Plettenberg had agreed in 1778 this was their land. When Dange chief Jalamba refused to leave, Van Jaarsveld scattered gifts of tobacco and then had his men open fire on the Dange. Most of the surviving Xhosas left, and the commandos killed many Ntinde who did not. Rharhabe and his heir Mlawu were killed in a war against the Thembu in 1782; his followers divided when the regent Ndlambe came into conflict with the young Ngqika.

In a secret meeting at Cape Town four hundred burghers signed a petition to the governor asking to send a delegation to the 17 directors in Amsterdam with economic proposals. Because officials were underpaid, corruption permeated the Company. Farmers also complained of heavy taxes. The Heren 17 did not respond until 1783, when they exonerated the officials; the only major concessions allowed free trade with foreign ships and the purchase of surplus produce at fixed prices, though after Company demands were met. The Cape exported much wheat to the eastern Dutch empire until war with England stopped this in 1781. The Company complained the Cape colony caused large deficits.

In 1786 Moritz Woeke became landdrost of the new eastern district named Graaff-Reinet after Governor Jacob van der Graaff and his wife Reinet. In 1789 Ndlambe and Langan attacked the Gqunukhwebe, who crossed the Fish River and occupied the land. Woeke let them remain, and conflicts arose. Trekboer Coenraad de Buys abducted the wives of minor chiefs. When Cape authorities refused to aid the burghers in controlling the angry Gqunukhwebe, the farmers led by Barend Linderque made an alliance with Xhosa leader Ndlambe. The battles resulted in many thousands of cattle being stolen, and farmers fled west. Woeke's secretary Honoratus Maynier led the Graaff-Reinet commandos, and the Cape council sent a force from Swellendam. The Gqunukhwebe led by Tshaka tried to flee east but ran into Ndlambe's Xhosa, who killed Tshaka. Maynier's force killed many Gqunukhwebe and made off with 8,000 cattle. Tshaka's son Chungwa agreed to a truce but still claimed that his father had bought the land from Ruiter. By now Ngqika was 15 years old, and he attacked and imprisoned his regent Ndlambe. In these frontier wars during the last ten years of the Dutch East India company's rule to 1795, a reported 2,504 "Bushmen" were killed and 669 were captured, while 276 colonists (mostly Khoikhoi) were slain.

At a meeting in February 1795 burghers calling themselves "patriots" expelled Maynier and other officials from Graaff-Reinet. Cape authorities suspended the supply of ammunition to the district. A commission sent to investigate was expelled by armed burghers for refusing to act against the Xhosa in the Zuurveld. The burghers no longer recognized the VOC; as this rebellion coincided with the overthrow of the Dutch monarchy by the French and the British takeover of Cape Town, they asked the British to appoint magistrates. They could not agree, but lack of gunpowder and lead forced the burghers to recognize the authority of British general James Henry Craig by 1797. Craig replaced the high court commission with a senate of six burghers chosen by the governor. The British increased official salaries and reduced perquisites to reform corruption, and they abolished the brutal tortures used against suspected and convicted criminals.

Two years later Adriaan van Jaarsveld was arrested for forgery in connection with a loan. He was set free by fellow burghers. After General Thomas Vandeleur arrived with a "Hottentot" Cape corps, the rebels led by Marthinus Prinsloo and Coenraad de Buys surrendered and were imprisoned. Maynier was reappointed landdrost and had Fort Frederick built at Algoa Bay. During the first five years of British rule, government attempts to collect annual rents helped provoke these rebellions. In 1800 Ndlambe escaped to the Zuurveld. In trying to bring order to the Zuurveld, Vandeleur persuaded Khoikhoi leader Klaas Stuurman to lay down their arms and move to Algoa Bay, where the governor's secretary John Barrow tried to keep them apart from the trekboer families seeking protection. Chungwa stayed in the Zuurveld, and he was joined by 700 Khoikhoi fleeing the trekboers. Armed burghers objecting to Khoikhoi soldiers in Graaff-Reinet provoked another frontier war that lasted until 1803.

Southern Africans and Zulus
Notes
1. Quoted from Adansi oral history in A History of Ghana by W. E. F. Ward, p. 137-138.
2. Thoughts and Sentiments on the Evil of Slavery by Quobna Ottobah Cugoano, p. 11.


Copyright © 2004 by Sanderson Beck
This chapter has been published in the book Middle East & Africa to 1875.
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Introduction
Ethics
Prehistoric Cultures
Sumer, Babylon, and Hittites
Egypt
Israel
Assyrian, Babylonian, and Persian Empires
Muhammad and Islamic Conquest
Abbasid, Buyid, and Seljuk Empires 750-1095
Islamic Culture 1095-1300
Ottoman and Persian Empires 1300-1730
Ottoman and Persian Empires 1730-1875
Africa to 1500
Africa and Slavery 1500-1800
Africa and Europeans 1800-1875
Summary and Evaluation
Bibliography
ETHICS OF CIVILIZATION Index
BECK index

BECK index
Africa and Europeans 1800-1875
Egypt of Muhammad 'Ali
Ethiopia
North Africa and Europeans
Islam in Western Sudan
Asante, British, and the Gold Coast
East Africa, Arabs, and Europeans
Southern Africans and Zulus
British and Boers in South Africa
This chapter has been published in the book Middle East & Africa to 1875.
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Egypt of Muhammad 'Ali
Egypt Under the Ottomans
Not only commercial interests but France's conflict with England led the Directory to send Napoleon Bonaparte to Egypt in 1798. The general had been warned by the traveler Volney that if the French invaded Egypt, they would find themselves at war with the British, the Ottoman empire, and the Muslims. Napoleon gathered a force of 36,000 veterans and hundreds of civilian experts in 400 ships, which reached Alexandria just after Nelson's British fleet had left there. On July 2, 1798 a French army quickly stormed Alexandria and read Bonaparte's proclamation that he respected Islam, that he had destroyed the Pope and the bigoted Knights of Malta, and that they had come only to terminate the tyranny of the Mamluks. Murad Bey persuaded Ibrahim and Sa'id Abu Bekir Pasha that they should resist the French invasion; but in the battle by the pyramids the French killed about 2,000 Egyptians while only losing ten of their men. Murad fled south up the Nile to Upper Egypt, while Ibrahim and the Pasha deserted Cairo for Palestine. On the first of August, Nelson's squadron returned and destroyed the French fleet at Abuqir, leaving ships to blockade the harbor. Although Napoleon claimed to be acting on behalf of the Ottoman empire, the French did not even have an ambassador in Istanbul. The British had Spencer Smith there, and he formed a coalition with the Ottomans and Russia. On September 11 Sultan Selim III (r. 1789-1807) declared war on France.

The French levied money from the merchants and artisans of Alexandria and Cairo, and Mamluk properties were confiscated. Everyone was required to register their properties with the government or lose them, and new urban taxes were imposed. After Napoleon had the local administrator Muhammad al-Kurayyim executed as a traitor, Egyptians in Cairo rose up in October and killed 300 French while losing more than two thousand in two days of insurrection; ten shaykhs were beheaded. In February 1799 Napoleon led 13,000 troops and stormed al-'Arish. After Jaffa killed his messenger, the town was taken; then Napoleon had two or three thousand prisoners shot. General Desaix led French troops into Upper Egypt and occupied the Red Sea port of Qusayr in May 1799. Napoleon's siege of Acre failed, and his battered army returned to Cairo in June. Napoleon secretly left Egypt in August with a few officers, leaving General Kléber in command. He wanted to evacuate Egypt and began negotiating with the Ottoman vizier in December. That month an Ottoman army reconquered al-'Arish. A month later an agreement was made that the French would be escorted out of Egypt by the Ottoman allies; but the British government rejected the Convention of al-'Arish, and in March 1800 the French defeated the Ottoman army at Heliopolis, causing another insurrection in Cairo. Kléber besieged Cairo for several weeks; after an assault resulted in capitulation, he punished the city with fines.

Kléber was assassinated in June 1800 and was replaced by General Jacques Menou, who wanted to colonize Egypt. He converted to Islam and married an Egyptian. He tried to reform the land taxes and the judicial system. In March 1801 British general Abercromby landed with a force of about 15,000 British troops, followed by about 7,000 Ottomans at Abuqir. Abercromby was killed; but as the British marched toward Cairo, an army of 7,000 from Palestine led by the Ottoman vizier Yusuf Ziya Pasha entered the Delta. French general Belliard in Cairo surrendered on June 27, and his forces were evacuated in August. General Menou surrendered at Alexandria, and his French forces also left Egypt. The extensive research the French did was published in twenty volumes as Description de l'Egypte. The significant discovery of the trilingual inscription on the Rosetta Stone facilitated the deciphering of ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics, providing the literary keys to much ancient knowledge.

Ten thousand Ottoman soldiers had not been paid and looted Egypt. Amid the breakdown of law and order, British general Hutchinson tried to protect the Mamluk beys after Yusuf Pasha killed and arrested many of them. In the March 1802 Treaty of Amiens the British agreed to withdraw from Egypt by July; but General Stuart did not pull British forces out until March 1803, taking with him Mamluk bey Muhammad Alfi, who had driven people out of Upper Egypt with his excessive taxation. To curtail Mamluk power the Ottoman sultan had decreed that Circassian slave boys were no longer allowed to be imported and sold in Egypt; the beys were assigned to the province of Aswan but were supplied with arms by Stuart. Khusrav Pasha imposed arbitrary taxes despite a weak economy and sent Albanian troops led by Tahir Pasha to pursue the Mamluks in the provinces. When the Albanians returned to Cairo for their pay, Khusrav had his troops fire on them. The Albanians bombarded the viceroy's palace, and Khusrav fled to Damietta.

When Tahir had trouble paying Turkish officers, he was murdered. His deputy Muhammad 'Ali formed an alliance with Bardisi Bey, and they captured Khusrav. The next viceroy 'Ali Jezairly arrived in July; but he stayed in Alexandria, because Ibrahim Bey told him he could only bring an escort of 200 men into Cairo. The Mamluks controlled the grain market, and people in Cairo were starving. Bardisi ordered Muhammad 'Ali to break in and distribute grain, making the latter a hero. Jezairly demanded the Mamluk beys submit, but the Mamluks and Albanians put him to death in January 1804. Muhammad 'Ali ordered his soldiers to stop the looting and arrest anyone molesting civilians. When Alfi returned, the Albanians demanded pay from Bardisi, who sent them to plunder Alfi. Unsatisfied, Muhammad 'Ali attacked the house of Bardisi, who fled. Muhammad 'Ali became popular for stopping an exorbitant tax and for having the Albanians troops drive the Mamluks out of Cairo. He released Khusrav and proclaimed him viceroy; but the Albanian captains quickly deported Khusrav to Istanbul. The Cairo leaders selected Alexandria's Pasha Khurshid as viceroy, and he was confirmed by imperial edict in April. Khurshid brought in Kurdish Delhis, and their looting, kidnapping, raping, and killing alienated the people of Cairo until finally the chief judge and leaders persuaded Muhammad 'Ali to take over as viceroy (wali) in May 1805; this was accepted by the Sultan two months later.

In August 1805 Muhammad 'Ali arranged for the Mamluks to enter Cairo and had them ambushed by his soldiers; but the Albanians' attack on the beys under Ibrahim Bey at Giza failed. Next Muhammad 'Ali sent an army under Hussain Pasha to drive the Kurdish Delhis out of Egypt to Syria. Further expeditions attacked the Mamluks and collected taxes from the peasants (fallahin). Merchandise was seized, and the Christian and Jewish minorities especially suffered. In July 1806 a Turkish admiral arrived at Alexandria to remove Muhammad 'Ali. Alfi had offered 1,500 purses for power but sent the envoy to Bardisi and Ibrahim for two-thirds of it. Muhammad 'Ali agreed to pay 4,000 purses to be confirmed as viceroy and borrowed it from wives of Mamluks and wealthy Christians.

After Bardisi and Alfi died, in 1807 Muhammad 'Ali sent an army to subdue the Mamluks in Upper Egypt. In March a British brigade led by General Wauchope landed at Rosetta; but Governor Ali Bey's forces defeated them, killing ninety and capturing twenty. Muhammad 'Ali at Asyut asked the Mamluks to help him drive out the British, and in April the Turks won a bloody battle against the British, who were led by General Stewart. In exchange for the return of his prisoners, General Frazer evacuated Alexandria in September 1807. The next year Muhammad 'Ali agreed to sell grain to the British army. He had triumphed; but he was shot at by his own troops, and his palace was attacked by Ottoman and Albanian troops demanding back pay. He promised them three months and a bonus when they gained control over Upper Egypt. He granted Shahin Bey the province of Fayum. Muhammad 'Ali's oldest son Ibrahim had been held hostage for a year in Istanbul; but in 1807 he returned to become defterdar (treasurer) for the next six years. Later when Ibrahim Pasha was governing Upper Egypt, he followed his father's orders in having the Coptic moneychanger Muallim Ghali executed for opposing a new tax on date palms.

Mamluks were allowed to govern in Upper Egypt and paid taxes to Muhammad 'Ali. In 1809 he began taxing the waqf or rizqa lands that had been set aside for religious purposes to pay for mosques and madrasas (schools). 'Umar Makram led a revolt that failed, and Muhammad 'Ali exiled his former ally to Damietta. As Muhammad 'Ali got more control over Upper Egypt, he gained revenue by exporting its grain. Egypt began building a fleet of eighteen ships for the Red Sea in 1809. The Ottoman sultan had been asking Muhammad 'Ali to send forces against the Wahhabi revolt in Arabia, and the Pasha of Egypt announced a ceremony to invest his 16-year-old son Tusun with the command. On March 1, 1811 the 24 Mamluk beys and 60 agents he invited were massacred by the Albanians. There and in their houses more than a thousand Mamluks may have been murdered, and Muhammad 'Ali expropriated their tax farms (iltizamat). Then Ibrahim was sent to dispossess other tax farmers (multazimun) also and to seize all the rizqa lands in Upper Egypt. In seven years Muhammad 'Ali had tripled his annual revenue, and trade with Europe was increasing. In 1813 he ordered a survey of all agricultural land in Egypt in order to regulate the collection of taxes.

Tusun's army captured Mecca and Medina early in 1813; but Muhammad 'Ali went to the Hijaz himself in August and replaced the less competent Tusun with his oldest son Ibrahim. Wali Muhammad 'Ali sent the mamluk Latif Agha to present the keys of Mecca and Medina to the sultan in Istanbul, and they plotted to replace the wali of Egypt; but while Muhammad 'Ali was in Arabia, his deputy Muhammad Lazughlu had Pasha Latif Agha beheaded in Cairo. When the wali returned, the Albanians were upset by his reforms making their tax farms unprofitable and by his modernizing military uniforms and discipline, imitating the French. An assassination attempt was foiled, and the wali ordered compensation to the merchants for the frustrated rebels' looting. Ibrahim captured the Wahhabi capital of Dariya after a six-month siege in 1818.

Egypt began manufacturing its own gunpowder and armaments in 1815. The same year government factories began weaving cotton, jute and silk, prohibiting private looms. The wali monopolized staple foods and cash crops, such as cotton, which was grown in the Delta. Fallahin had to sell their grain to the government at its fixed price. Merchants worked for the government or went out of business. Children were brought into the factories and were trained to be workers. In 1820 the Viceroy ordered all foreign merchants to pay their debts or leave Egypt. In the 1820s embargoes blocked the importation of foreign textiles, except for luxuries. By 1825 total imports into Egypt had risen to $5,043,000, but total exports were valued at $10,636,529.

Muhammad 'Ali modernized government bureaucracy according to Ottoman and French models. He put large numbers to work using corvée labor, improving and adding canals. The new canal from the Nile to Alexandria was named after Sultan Mahmud II and was completed in 1820. The wali sent his son Isma'il Pasha to capture slaves from Sudan, which was made a colony; but of the 20,000 slaves taken to Aswan for his modern army, only 3,000 were still alive in 1824. Funj sultan Badi VI surrendered in 1821 at Sennar, while another force led by Treasurer Muhammad Bey Khusrav was conquering Kordofan. Distant Darfur could not be subjugated and was not annexed by Egypt until 1874. Isma'il on his way through Shindi in 1822 demanded $30,000 and 6,000 slaves in two days. When the local Ja'liyin chief Nimir protested that was too much, Isma'il hit him with his pipe. In revenge for this insult, Nimir had Isma'il and his staff burned in a dwelling. Khusrav came and used firearms to suppress the uprising with massacres.

Muhammad 'Ali conscripted 4,000 men from Upper Egypt and built up his army to 130,000, using half his budget to pay them. Originally conscription was only supposed to be for three years; but continuing wars kept soldiers so long that by 1835 Ibrahim suggested limiting it to only fifteen years. Ottoman Turks were considered superior, and peasants speaking Arabic were not promoted above the rank of captain. Conscription in Lower Egypt caused a rebellion in 1823, and the next year 30,000 men and women revolted in Upper Egypt; but the troops sent remained loyal and quelled the rebellion by killing 4,000 in two weeks. The modern army proved its effectiveness by defeating a Wahhabi force ten times its size in the Hijaz. An explosion in the powder magazine of the Cairo citadel killed 4,000 on March 24, 1824. Disgruntled Albanian troops were blamed, but a modern battalion restored order.

In 1821 the Sultan had asked Egypt to help fight the Greeks, and the next year they suppressed the revolt on the island of Crete. Ibrahim Pasha led 17,000 trained troops that fought more successfully than the Ottomans and occupied the Morea. The Egyptian army captured Choron, Navarino, and Tripolitza in 1825, Missolonghi the next year, and Athens in June 1827. A quarrel between Muhammad 'Ali and Ottoman fleet commander Khusrav got the latter removed; but on October 20, 1827 the French-British-Russian fleet destroyed the Egyptian-Turkish navy at Navarino Bay. The Egyptian army left the Morea the next year. The wali and his son Ibrahim blamed the Sultan for refusing to accept European mediation for Greek independence. Muhammad 'Ali ordered a new navy built at Bulaq and Alexandria. Sultan Mahmud had promised the wali part of Syria but gave him only rebellious Crete. Egypt had established government printing about 1822, and in 1828 Muhammad 'Ali authorized the publishing of an official gazette. A council of 156 advisors with Ibrahim as chairman was established the next year.

In November 1831 the Egyptian army and navy led by Ibrahim Pasha invaded Syria by landing at Jaffa with 30,000 troops and besieging Acre. Muhammad 'Ali told the Ottoman envoy that Acre was his; he would stop there if the Sultan agreed. If not, he would take Damascus and stop there if that was accepted; if not, he would take Aleppo. Ibrahim's army stormed Acre in May 1832, killing 5,600 of its 6,000 men. They took Damascus in June and marched on Aleppo in July, capturing eight pashas and killing 2,000 men near Homs. Ibrahim invaded Anatolia and captured Konya in December 1832. He wanted to march to Istanbul; but European pressure and a letter from his father made him stop at Kutaya. In the treaty of May 1833 Ibrahim was made wali of Acre, Damascus, Tripoli, and Aleppo and tax collector for Adana in Anatolia; but Egypt still had to pay annual tribute to the Ottoman sultan. Conscription and new taxes to pay for the occupation caused rebellion in Syria, and within a few years at least 60,000 soldiers had deserted. Ibrahim followed his father's policy of religious toleration; this was welcomed by the many Christians, but it was resented by the majority Muslims.

With so many men in the Egyptian army, women had to work, mostly in the Viceroy's factories. Prostitution spread disease, and in 1834 it was banned in the cities. Following a plague in 1835, Egypt established free clinics in urban areas, and a new hospital with a medical school was built at Cairo in 1837. The autocratic Viceroy allowed the private manufacture of cloth in 1835. Apparently he discovered that private incentives were more profitable, but he taxed them highly. Egypt had 29 cotton factories in 1837; but war, plague and perhaps competition had reduced the number of factories to 15 by 1840.

In 1838 Sultan Mahmud ordered Muhammad 'Ali to dismantle his fleet and reduce Egypt's army; he refused, and 70,000 Ottoman troops invaded Syria in April 1839. Ibrahim Pasha won his last great victory at Nezib, capturing 10,000 prisoners. Sultan Mahmud died before hearing of the defeat, and his 16-year-old son Abdul Mejid succeeded him. Two weeks later the Ottoman navy sailed to Alexandria and defected to Egypt. Envoys of Britain, France, Russia, Prussia, and Austria intervened diplomatically. England's foreign minister Henry Palmerston wanted to curtail Muhammad 'Ali's power lest the Ottoman empire turn to Russia for protection, and he got the young Sultan to agree to the Balta Liman treaty that banned monopolies in the Ottoman empire. In September 1840 Charles Napier led a British squadron to Beirut and demanded that the Egyptian army evacuate the Levant. Ibrahim led his reduced and starving army of 20,000 back to Egypt. In 1841 Muhammad 'Ali accepted an imperial edict that recognized his authority in Egypt and established that he would be succeeded by his oldest male relative. The annual tribute to the Ottoman empire was set at 18,000 purses (9 million francs), and the Egyptian army was not to exceed 18,000 men. Egypt was to be under Ottoman imperial law and could not build warships without permission from the Sultan.

After the end of government monopolies, large private estates increased the use of arable land from about ten percent in 1818 to about 45 percent in 1844. In 1836 the uhda system allowed the wealthy to take over lands where the taxes were in arrears. By 1837 these estates could be inherited, and in 1842 they became private property. Thus Muhammad 'Ali let the elite acquire these assets, and by 1845 his family owned 18.8 percent of the land. Muhammad 'Ali declined in old age. Ibrahim Pasha took over the government in 1848 but died a few weeks later.

Muhammad 'Ali died the next year and already had been succeeded by his grandson 'Abbas (1848-1854). He continued the autocratic rule of Egypt, and in 1851 he agreed to pay increased tribute to Istanbul in order to reestablish his right to confirm some death penalties. 'Abbas was suspicious of European influence, and he told the British that the railway to be built between Cairo and Alexandria would be financed and administered by the Egyptian government. In 1854 'Abbas sent money and troops to help the Ottoman empire in the Crimean War. He and his successor Sa'id maintained the Egyptian army at about 50,000 men despite the 1841 edict. 'Abbas was criticized for personal cruelty, and in July 1854 he died, probably murdered by two of his slaves.

Muhammad Sa'id (r. 1854-63) was the fourth son of Muhammad 'Ali and became viceroy of Egypt. He allowed free trade, and he ordered taxes collected in coin rather than in kind, except in Upper Egypt. He borrowed money to construct canals, railways, bridges, harbors, and telegraph lines. In 1854 Sa'id gave his friend Ferdinand de Lesseps land free of taxes for ten years for the Suez Canal and purchased 64,000 shares. The British opposed French construction of the isthmus canal and persuaded the Ottoman sultan to withhold permission. In 1858 de Lesseps went ahead anyway and sold shares for 200 million francs (8 million pounds), mostly in France and some more to Egypt. Unlike his predecessor, Said welcomed European participation in Egypt, and he allowed them to use the Capitulations to try cases involving Europeans in consular courts. He trusted European bankers, who made 21,876,000 pounds in fees and commissions, about a third of the loans to Egypt. For centuries corvée labor had been used to clear irrigation canals, and this continued. Slavery remained a part of Egyptian culture, as many slaves brought from the Greek war chose to remain slaves in Egypt rather than return. Slaves in Egypt often considered themselves better off than the peasants subject to the corvée. Said conscripted all parts of the population, but Christian Copts resisted military service. Some Bedouins refused to farm as settlers and went back to raiding. Said Pasha died in January 1863 and was succeeded by his nephew Isma'il.

Isma'il Pasha (r. 1863-1879) at first benefited from a four-fold increase in the price of cotton because of the civil war in the United States. He used lobbying money (bakshish) to get the Sultan in 1866 to change the Egyptian succession to his own oldest son, and Egypt's annual tribute to the Ottoman empire was nearly doubled the next year when the Sultan proclaimed him khedive. Contributions also allowed Egypt to acquire the Red Sea ports of Suakin and Mitsiwa in 1865. The Turkish captain Selim had led an Egyptian expedition as far south as Gondokoro in 1841, and others used Khartoum as a base for raiding in the Sudan. In 1869 the khedive sent British explorer Samuel Baker to the lake country of western Uganda. By 1875 Isma'il had extended his authority to Harar in eastern Abyssinia.

The Egyptian government still allowed slave trafficking from the Sudan down the Nile, and Khartoum became the entrepot for this lucrative trade. Shaykh Rifa'a al-Tahtawi (1801-73) had published his thoughts on the French Revolution and urged a secular constitution for Egypt to protect civil liberties in 1834; but these ideas did not take hold for thirty years. He brought a renaissance to literary Arabic by translating European works, though wali 'Abbas closed down the translation bureau and sent Tahtawi to Sudan. His 1869 book The Paths of Egyptian Hearts to the Joys of the Modern Way of Life started a national movement toward socialism. Al-Tahtawi advocated sharing work among all for the public interest. Foreign minister Nubar Pasha proposed an international tribunal to replace the consular courts, and in 1875 fourteen European nations agreed to independent tribunals mixed with European and Egyptian judges using the Napoleonic Code. Nubar had to go into exile, because Isma'il was upset that he was now subject to this jurisdiction.

Isma'il greatly increased Egypt's debt; but about twice as much as was spent on the Suez Canal went into 910 miles of new railways and nearly that much also paid for maintaining 8400 miles of Nile canals. They also built 64 sugar mills and extended telegraph lines 5200 miles. In 1864 Viceroy Isma'il and the Ottoman sultan agreed to let France's Napoleon III arbitrate the Suez Canal project, and he withdrew the company's right to use free Egyptian labor and returned the land to Egypt for 84 million francs. The work resumed in 1866, and Napoleon III's wife Eugénie witnessed the opening of the historic canal on November 17, 1869. The English avoided using the Suez Canal at first, but by 1874 it was making a profit. The next year Isma'il Pasha had so much debt that he sold all Egypt's shares to British prime minister Benjamin Disraeli for four million pounds. The Suez Canal had cost the Egyptian government more than 13 million pounds, and all it got for this was the Sweet Water Canal and the land it irrigated.

Ethiopia
Ethiopia and Eastern Sudan
Shoa chief Asfa Wossen (r. 1775-1808) expanded his territory by taking Oromo land; he became independent of Ethiopia and reformed taxes. His son Wossen Seged (r. 1808-13) took the title of ras and fought with Tigray's Ras Wolde Selassie against Wallo and Yejju. Wossen Seged's son Sahle Selassie (r. 1813-47) was a powerful ruler of Shoa and called himself negus (king), extending his authority over 'Yefat, the Oromo people, and Gurage. He kept the peace; but after his death, his son Haile Malekot (r. 1847-55) had to face an Oromo uprising.

Bofu ruled the Oromo in Enarya and was succeeded by his son Abba Bagibo (r. 1825-61), who enriched the kingdom by trading slaves, gold, ivory, and civets. To the south Abba Magal founded the kingdom of Jimma-Kakka and was succeeded by his son Abba Jifar Sana (r. 1830-55); but Abba Reba (r. 1855-59) provoked war with his Oromo neighbors and was killed in battle. His brother Abba Boko (r. 1859-62) promoted Islam by having mosques built, and his son Abba Gommol (r. 1862-78) expanded the kingdom.

In Ethiopia after the death of Wolde Selassie (r. 1795-1816), a succession struggle resulted in Sebagadis Woldu (r. 1822-31) taking the throne. He fought the Yejju dynasty but was eventually captured and executed. Ras Wube gained control of Tigray and fought Yejju ruler Ras 'Ali with rifles the French gave him; but he was captured while celebrating and was released on ransom to Tigray. Amhara ruler Ali Gwangul was succeeded by his nephew Gugsa Mersu (r. 1803-25), who nationalized the land as Islam spread. Gugsa's son Ras Yeman (r. 1825-28) favored Muslims over Christians, but his nephew Ras 'Ali Alula (r. 1831-53) shared power with his mother Menen, who converted to Christianity.

Kassa Hailu was the son of a Qwara chief and a poor widow; he became a soldier and took the title Dejazmach. He took over Gondar by force in 1847, capturing Yejju empress Menen, whose granddaughter he had married. The next year he attacked Egyptians but could not take Sennar because of their firearms. Kassa revolted against Menen's son Ras 'Ali in 1852 and defeated Gojjam. Tigray's Wube joined with 'Ali; but Kassa defeated them too, burning Ali's capital Dabra Tabor in 1853. The next year he captured 7,000 firearms from Wube at Derasge.

Crowning himself emperor in 1855, Kassa took the name Tewodros II. He invaded Wallo and made the fortress of Magdala his capital. Then he took over Shoa and appointed the deceased king's brother Haile Mikael his governor there, while taking the latter's son Menelik as his hostage. Tewodros tried to break tribal ties and discipline his army by paying them himself. He imported firearms and especially wanted artillery. He issued strict laws and executed bandits who refused to farm. He got his men to build roads by working along with them. Tewodros believed he had a religious mission and ordered Muslims to become Christian within a year, and he expelled Roman Catholics. He caused resentment when he imprisoned church leader Abuna Selama, tried to reduce the number of priests, limited ecclesiastical land, and made clergy dependent on state salaries.

After his wife Tewbech died in 1858, he took several concubines and let slave-trading resume. He allowed missionaries to hold religious services but expected them to repair muskets and produce weapons and ammunition. In 1863 he began imprisoning missionaries. Suspicious that the British were allied with Egypt, Tewodros had consul Cameron and his staff arrested in 1864. Two years later he released them but kept other European prisoners. In 1867 Lt. General Robert Napier invaded from India with a British force of 12,000 men. Tewodros burned Debre Tabor and retreated to Magdala. A negotiation nearly was achieved; but Napier rejected Tewodros' peace offering of 1,000 cows and 500 sheep as too large. When the British stormed his fortress with their superior breech-loading Snider rifles, Tewodros shot himself with the pistol Queen Victoria had given him.

Wagshum Gobeze was crowned Emperor Tekla Giyorgis in 1868, and three years later he tried to capture Adwa, the capital of Tigray. Kassa of Tigray defeated him and became Emperor Yohannes IV in January 1872 at Axum. He built many churches and gave extensive lands to the Church. He converted the Muslim Halima before marrying her, and he prohibited witchcraft and the use of tobacco. Yohannes sent an appeal to England for help against Egyptian encroachment. In 1874 the Egyptians occupied Zeila and Harar. Yohannes raised an army of 70,000 to stop the Muslim invasion, and on November 15, 1875 at Gundet the Ethiopians destroyed the invading army, capturing 2500 Remington rifles and 20,000 Maria Theresa dollars.