Nearly Native, Barely Civilized African History
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Nearly Native, Barely Civilized African History Editorial Board Peter Geschiere, University of Amsterdam Odile Goerg, Université Paris-Diderot Shamil Jeppie, University of Cape Town VOLUME 3 The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/afh Nearly Native, Barely Civilized Henri Gaden’s Journey through Colonial French West Africa (1894-1939) By Roy Dilley LEIDEN • BOSTON 2014 Cover illustration: Captain Henri Gaden in the late 1890s (courtesy of the Municipal Archives, Bordeaux, and copyright © cliché A. M. Bordeaux, photographer Bernard Rakotomanga). Image of a hand-drawn map by Gaden (Fonds Gaden, CAOM 15 APC/1 (12), author's photograph taken with permission of the archive). Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Dilley, Roy, 1954- author. Nearly native, barely civilized : Henri Gaden’s journey through colonial French West Africa (1894-1939) / by Roy Dilley. pages cm. -- (African history ; volume 3) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-90-04-25096-3 (pbk. : alk. paper) -- ISBN 978-90-04-26528-8 (e-book) 1. Gaden, Henri, 1867-1939. 2. Colonial administrators--Africa, West--Biography. 3. Linguists--Biography. 4. Africa, West--Politics and government--1884-1960. 5. Mauritania--Biography. I. Title. II. Series: African history (Brill Academic Publishers) ; v. 3. DT554.67.G34D55 2014 966.031092--dc23 2013040482 This publication has been typeset in the multilingual “Brill” typeface. With over 5,100 characters covering Latin, IPA, Greek, and Cyrillic, this typeface is especially suitable for use in the humanities. For more information, please see www.brill.com/brill-typeface. ISSN 2211-1441 ISBN 978-90-04-25096-3 (paperback) ISBN 978-90-04-26528-8 (e-book) Copyright 2014 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands. Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Brill Nijhoff, Global Oriental, Hotei Publishing and IDC Publishers. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Koninklijke Brill NV provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910, Danvers, MA 01923, USA. Fees are subject to change. This book is printed on acid-free paper. <UN> <UN> To my three sons Francis, Jerome and Luke <UN> <UN> <UN> <UN> CONTENTS List of Illustrations .....................................................................................................ix Acknowledgements ................................................................................................. xiii Note on Orthography – Place and Personal Names ...................................... xvii Introduction ..................................................................................................................1 A Funeral: Thursday, 14th December 1939 ..........................................................7 1 Gironde, Paris and Beyond ................................................................................ 15 2 Agent of Commerce, African Novice: From Bordeaux to Bandiagara, 1894–1896 ..................................................................................... 35 Interlude: Furlough in France I ............................................................................. 91 3 On the Trail of the Black Napoleon, 1897–1899 ........................................ 93 Interlude: Furlough in France II .........................................................................149 4 The Mallam and the Qadis: A Posting to Zinder, 1900–1903 ................155 Interlude: Furlough in France III ........................................................................209 5 Cherchez la Femme: Tchekna, Chad, 1904–1907 ....................................213 Interlude: Furlough in France IV ........................................................................285 6 Confidential Relations: Boutilimit, Mauritania, 1908–1911 .................293 Interlude: Furlough in France V ..........................................................................327 7 Paperwork and Bullets: The Years of Scholarship and War, 1912–18 ...............................................................................................................329 <UN> <UN> viii contents 8 Governor, Savant, Adopted Son: St Louis, 1919–1927 ............................349 9 The Monk of St Louis, 1927–1939 ................................................................379 General Bibliography .............................................................................................421 Bibliography of Henri Gaden’s Published Works ...........................................431 Index ...........................................................................................................................433 <UN> <UN> LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Maps* 1 Colonial French West Africa and Equatorial Africa around the turn of the 20th century ............................................................................. 14 2 Missions to Bandiagara 1894–1896 and to Beyla and Nzo 1897–1899 .................................................................................................... 36 3 Missions to Zinder 1900–1903 and to Chad 1904–1907 .......................156 4 The Colonial Territory of Mauritania c. 1930 (Fort Gouraud established in 1933) ..........................................................................................295 5 The Town of St Louis prior to World War II ................................................351 Plates 1 Gaden’s gravestone in Sor Cemetery, near St Louis, Senegal. Author’s own photograph ................................................................. 11 2 Sub-Lieutenant Gaden, 53rd Regiment in Tarbes, c.1890–92 (Fonds Gaden CAOM 15 APC/2, envelope 5, item 117, no. 788, author’s photograph taken with permission of the archive) ................... 27 3 Moussa Diawara, Gaden’s ‘boy’ recruited first during the Bandiagara mission and then again during the Samory campaign. Municipal Archives, Bordeaux, and the copyright © cliché A.M. Bordeaux, photographer Bernard Rakotomanga ............. 39 4 Devastation along Samory’s trail, Gaden’s photograph entitled ‘Dabardiyo, 26.09.98’, Municipal Archives, Bordeaux, and the copyright © cliché A.M. Bordeaux, photographer Bernard Rakotomanga ......................................................................................................124 5 Samory Toure after his capture on 29th September 1898, taken by Gaden, Municipal Archives, Bordeaux, and the copyright © cliché A.M. Bordeaux, photographer Bernard Rakotomanga ......................................................................................129 * All maps are based on the Perry-Casteñeda Library Map Collection, Courtesy of the University of Texas Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin. <UN> <UN> x list of illustrations 6 A band of officers at Beyla in October 1898. Figures are, from the left, Lt Jacquin, Capt Gaden, Capt Gouraud, Sergeant Bratières (?), and the medic Dr Boyé. Municipal Archives, Bordeaux, and the copyright © cliché A.M. Bordeaux, photographer Bernard Rakotomanga ........................................................130 7 ‘Woman and Officer at Beyla, Oct. 1898.’ Could this be Salome Samory, daughter of the Almamy? Courtesy of the Municipal Archives, Bordeaux, and the copyright © cliché A.M. Bordeaux, photographer Bernard Rakotomanga ...................................................................................135 8 The Sultan or Mbang Gaourang and the Kolak Doudmourrah (fig. 90 from G. Bruel, L’Afrique Equatoriale Française 1918, reproduced by kind permission of the General Research and Reference Division, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations, USA) ........................................................225 9 ‘A bevy of beauties’, untitled photographs taken by Gaden of women most likely in (a & b) Zinder and in (c & d) Chad. Could 9c be ‘…something for Gerhardt. A likeable Arab girl…’? Could 9d possibly be an image of Gaden’s mousso, named Niorga, ‘la grande mademoiselle sous la Fronde’? All images courtesy of the Municipal Archives, Bordeaux, and the copyright © cliché A.M. Bordeaux, photographer Bernard Rakotomanga ........................................................230 10 ‘Famous French Officers under the historical tree at Fort Lamy (Shari River)’ a photograph from A. Henry Savage Landor’s, Across Widest Africa, vol. 2, 1907, reproduced by kind permission of the General Research and Reference Division, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations, USA ..........................................................279 11 ‘Hôtel de la Mauritanie’, Avenue Dodds, St Louis (n.d.) (with kind permission of CAOM, digital image DAFANCAOM01_30FI) ..................................................................................315 12 Henri Gaden as Governor of Mauritania (reproduced with kind permission of the Direction des Archives, Ministère des Affaires Etrangers, Paris) .....................................................353 13 Taleb Khiar (standing in the centre) with Emir Sidi Ahmed and Mohammed Wuld Khalil (seated) and attendants standing behind, most likely at the time of Khiar’s submission