The Book in the Sokoto Caliphate

Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za Quti had acquiredinCairo. Clapperton aGunter’s scale,alreadyhadallthearchitecturalpapers which hisfather scientific works.TheSokotobuilder, forexample,whoasked for andgotfrom copies oftextsbyEuclid(obtainableinMecca),andperhapsalsoothertechnicalor West Africanscholarsintheeighteenthcenturyownedwhatmayhavebeenprinted no doubtamongstthetextsthattheybroughtbackweresome printedvolumes. and Tripoli, bringingbackwiththemalltheArabicbookstheywereabletobegorbuy’, scholars returned,from‘Mecca,…theempiresofTurkey andMorocco,…Algiers,Tunis ately availablethanspecially commissioned copiestobemadebyhand.Pressescapable printed bookswerepresumably cheaperinNorthAfricanmarketsandmoreimmedi- Sidiya’s firstprintedbookarrivedaslate1861,reportsCharlesStewart. what theearliestprintedArabicbookinWest Africais.InscholarlyMauritaniaShaykh it is,IhaveomittedfromdiscussionthetradeinprintedArabicbooks.donotknow The focusinthischapterisonmanuscripts.Interestingandevenmoreneglectedthough government ofAndalucia. Arabic nowpreservedinalibrarybuiltTimbuktu withconsiderableaidfromthe Much hasbeenwrittenontheFondoKa’ti, thehugecollectionofoldmanuscriptsin Murray Last Sokoto Caliphate The bookinthe CHAPTER Morocco andtoalesserextentAlgeriafortheirimportsofpaperaswelltexts. of Mauritania,westernneighbourstheirTimbuktu colleagues;bothlookedto relatively wellresearched:perhapsthemostnotablearenomadicShinqittischolars made andsoldinWest Africa’s pre-colonialpast.Somescholarlycommunitiesare highlights thequestionnotonlyofpersonallibrariesbutalsowaybookswere collection, onlyrecentlycometopublicnotice.ItsverypresenceinTimbuktu the NewandOldTestaments, andthePsalms. Elements brought outforMuhammadBellosomesuitablebooks printed inArabic–Euclid’s ) fromGranada,wholeftSpaincirca1468AD. , aworkbyIbnSina,andthe 10 5 Similarly, onthatsecondvisittoSokotoin1826 Clapperton 1 The collection’s founderseemstohavebeena‘Goth’( History oftheTartars 6 When ‘Fellata’(Fulfuldespeaking) 2 It isanextraordinarilyrich , alongwithaHolyQur’an, 4 But elsewhere 7 Bound 3 al- THE BOOKINSOKOTO CALIPHATE their portability. leather walletswhichenhanced enclosed inprotectivetooled Opposite: Examplesofmanuscripts 135 Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za 136 THE MEANINGSOFTIMBUKTU Books, likeletters,travelledtoo. alike, andbothmovedfreelyaroundthecaliphate. the ‘commonmarket’hereforbookswaspotentiallyhuge,amongshaykhsandstudents but neitherlanguagewasregularlyusedinwritingprose(itforverse).Thus of NorthAfricaortheSudan.ThelanguageeverydayspeechwasFulfuldeHausa, Muslims tilltheeighteenthcentury. However,period. forostensiblyreligiousreasonsnousewasmade of printingby Arabic booksexportedfromEuropeforuseintheMiddleEastdatesame sixteenth century(someoftheskilledprintersbeingémigrésfromSpain),andprinted of publishingArabictextshadbeenestablishedintheMuslimworldbyearly to thereaderofbookhewaswritingenroute– Timbuktu in1607afterhisrelease fromdetentionasahostageinMarrakesh,apologised unpackedthemenroute,itseems.ThebibliophileAhmadBaba,returninghometo rarely sometimes composedonthemove.Scholarsajourneywiththeirbooks,however, but asmemoriesinthemindsofthosewhohadmemorisedthem.Andbookswere order. library oncamelbackbutensuredhisbooks(andcamels) werekeptinalphabetical ‘off head’.OneexceptionalMiddleEasternscholarwhowasregularlyontourputhis the wadiDra’aandsohecouldnotcheckaccuracyofcitationswasmaking import fromtheAmericas).Hisbooks,hesaid,wereallstillonhiscamelsascrossed any errorsinhisquotations(hewaswritingonthelegalityofusingtobacco,thenanew from aTuareg colleague,MalamAgali,tocarryhispreciouslibrary. jihad books (orcamels).Shaykh‘Uthman,makinghis Arabic inaMaghribiscript. mu’minin months northtosouth.Itwasrunasaconfederationofemiratesunderthe independent stateinAfrica.Thewasfourmonthsjourneywesttoeast,andtwo the SokotoCaliphatehadsucceededinunitingalargerregionthananyother especiallythe nineteenth centurywhen Nigeria –andfocusonthepre-colonialperiod, Timbuktu –theMuslimscholarlycommunitiesofHausalandandBornoinmodern-day I wantheretolookbrieflyattheproblemsofmanuscriptbooksfurthereast West Africaareprimarilycomposedofmanuscripts. though lithographsofahandwrittentextwereacceptable.Thusancientlibrariesin type, butsosacredatextastheHolyQur’an(orTorah) hadtobewrittenbyhand, Europeans untilthe1950s. the commonlanguagebetween scholarsbeingclassicalArabic–asLatincouldbefor to befoundintheSahara,buthedidnotspeakTamacheq (hisdaughterAsma’udid), to theBerberworldofSaharanscholarship,bothasstudents andascopiersoftextsonly pastoral Fulbe,regularlyused.FulbescholarssuchasShaykh ‘Uthmanhadcloselinks that hechoseacamelforthepurposeratherthan pack oxenhiskinsmen,the in thelatedryseasonof1804,packeduphisbooksandhad thentoborrowacamel 11 West Africanscholarswerenotusuallysoperipatetic orsowellstockedwith in Sokotowitha‘bureaucratic’staffwhocorrespondedbyletterswritten 9 The Arabicusedwas‘classical’,notthecolloquialspeech 10 Of course,manybooksmovednotasasetofpages 8 Ordinary religioustextscouldbesetinmovable hijra al-Lam‘fi’l-ishara li-hukmtibgh from Degelatthestartofarisky 12 It isinteresting amir al- – for Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za European booktrade. aboutthesametimeasprinting,andtogethertheytransformed introduced was of thecontemporaryEuropeanbookculturewereverydifferent,perhapsbecausepaper about thefarsouthernendofthissingleyetdividedworld.However, thecharacteristics tradebook and the imp so manyvibrant,creativeeconomiesarounditsshores.Whileweknowmuchaboutthe Muslims andChristians,theMediterranean,howeverdistantitwas,wascentralwith part ofChristendom(forthem,course,Latinwasthelanguagelearning).Forboth were nonethelesspartofitinthewaythatScotsorIrishScandinavianscholars suggest, scholarwasaccompanyinghisemironastatevisittoMecca(asinterpreter?).I the if part oftheirlives. fame. Manymerchantswerealsoscholars,sotravelling(say, toCairo)wasanordinary Kano, Katsina,KurminDanRankoandYandoto, scholarswhoachievedwide produced Zaria. years (1965–67)ontheNorthernHistoryResearchScheme atAhmaduBelloUniversity, with thegreatencouragementofHFCSmithandJohnHunwick, Iworkedforthree The dataonwhichthischapterisbasedwereinitiallycollected inthemid-1960swhen, of booklearningthusfacedrealhazards,bothinthenorth andinthesouth. unarmed, whocouldbetakenbynon-Muslimraidersandsold offasslaves.Thesurvival control treasurethatcouldbelooted.Theydid,however, havefamilies, traditionally but theyhadoneotheradvantageovermonasteries:werenotrich,nordid own inbuildinguppersonallibraries(whichtheymightatleastpassontotheirsons), finances, West Africanscholarsinthe‘remotesouth’,Biladal-Sudan,wereontheir manuscripts. This was followed by a further period ofworkfrom1978–80atBayero manuscripts. Thiswasfollowed byafurtherperiod rarebooksinprivatelibrariesaroundthecountry,photographed amongthem100Fulfulde manuscript collection(over3000manuscripts)intheNational Archives,Kaduna,and in acollectionoflettersbyal-Qalqashandi. example,therulerofEgyptinsuchfineArabicthatoneletterwaspreservedasamodel for ( To theeastofSokotoCaliphatewasautonomousstateBorno,for400years texts by overzealous librarians. texts byoverzealous learning andscholarshipamongthemonks,nottomentionweedingoutof‘obsolete’ up andtheirbookslost–thisbeingduenotjusttoraidersbutalsosimplythedeclineof libraries; andsecond,howeasyitwasforthosesameinstitutionallibrariestobebroken ambitious abbotstravellingdowntoRomeandbringingbackbookstheirmonastic that itshows,first,howlargelibrariesintheremotenorthofEuropecouldbebuiltupby Nonetheless, arecentstudyofthepre-paper‘Anglo-SaxonLibrary’isveryinterestingin African scholarshipthereforeneverhadtomakeandusevellumforitsbooks. Muslim worldsometwoorthreecenturiesbeforeMuslimsenteredWest Africa–West 300 yearsbeforetheprintingpress.Indeed,paperwasalreadybeingwidelyusedin c .1400–1800) thedominantMuslim‘empire’inregion.Itsstaffcorrespondedwith, 17 In all,Icataloguedsome10000manuscriptbooks,including theentireArabic then, thatBornoandHausaland,whileonthemarginsofIslamicworld, 14 The pilgrimagewasaspecialextensionofsuchjourneys,especially 15 act ofprintinfarnorthernEurope,thereisadearthknowledge In West Africa,paperbecameavailabletostudentsofIslamsome 16 By comparison,beingwithoutmonasteriesandtheir 13 Cities thenunderBorno’s hegemony, like THE BOOKINSOKOTO CALIPHATE 137 Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za 138 their wares. desert oncame who traversethe men these Tuareg merchants,similarto the regionon often carried around were Books hugeamongscholars. potentially colonial West Africawas The marketforbooksinpre- THE MEANINGSOFTIMBUKTU camel backby l-back totrade majority of texts cited by ‘Uthman dan Fodio inhis majority oftextscitedby‘Uthman danFodio merchants withatradition of importingItalianpaper. Thismightexplainwhythe source ofbooks–distinguishedFulbescholarswerebased there,asweretheTripoli carrying books,newsandideasintheirbaggage.ButBorno mayhavebeentheirbest the farwest(the‘Takruri’) passingtoandfroonthepilgrimageMecca,nodoubt Yandoto. Theywerealsoconnectedtothe stream ofFulfulde-speakingpilgrimsfrom the SahelandSaharaaswelltosuchanotablyscholarly Wangara tradetownas were Fulbescholarsandtheirstudents.Theyhadconnections totheBerberscholarsof system orientedmoretowardsTripoli andCairo.Interleavedamidstthesetwosystems base inTimbuktu andlinkstoMoroccanscholarship,theeasternBorno-centred Hausaland isonthecuspbetweenwesternWangarawa tradesystem withitsbook The context African savannahandSahel. suggest thatitisofrealsignificancetoourwiderpictureintellectuallifeintheWest taking upthesubject.ThesituationisnotnearlysodramaticasFondoKa’ti, yetI much remainstobedoneanditishopedthatthischapterwillstimulatestudentsinto public collectionsandskilfullyilluminatedourunderstandingofkeytexts.However, collections havecometolight,butvariousresearchersovertheyearsadded in northernNigeria,thoughnotonArabicmanuscriptsspecifically. Nonewmajor the old‘cultureofthebook’wasstilljustalive.SincethenIhavecontinuedtowork when students (insideBirninZaria)withintheirtraditionalworldofmanuscriptsatatime student ofashaykhwhowashimselfgreatbibliophile,andfromlivingamongIslamic University, Kano.SomeofmyunderstandingcomesfromhavingbeeninSokotoasa Bayan wujubal-hijra’ala’l-ibad‘ 18 are Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za rise tospecificreligiousdialects,suchasKanembu,alongsidethevernacularKanuri. such astheHolyQur’ancouldbewrittenin ajami emphasis onliteracymeantthatlocal-languagepoetrywascomposedandwrittenin law andpractice.Inthissense,secondtraditionwaspotentiallyrevolutionary. The students increasinglyawareofhowlocalMuslimgovernmentswerebreakingIslamic the preacherswholed towidespreadconversionandpersonalpietybut century ofmajorIslamicstates –thoseofSokoto,MasinaandSégou.Bycontrast,wasit arise inWest Africa,aculturethatledto bookishness (itslifestyle,itslearning)madetoenablinga distinctpoliticalcultureto the focusofthischapter. Anunderlyingquestion,however, iswhatcontribution this complementary, itisthesecondtradition,with theimportanceitputsonbooks,thatis tradition remainsstronganddiverse.Themostnotablenow are perhapstheYan Izala ‘Fulani’, butbothusedHausa(andArabic)asthelanguage of instruction.Thepreaching students enlistedineitheroneortheother. Onewasidentifiedwith‘Hausa’, theotherwith These twodistinctstylesofIslamicscholarshippersistedintothetwentiethcentury: memorable andsungwhilewalkingorworking. Religious poetryin The focusofitsteachingwas of Arabicbookswasrelativelyrestricted,withexpertisecentredaroundafewkeytexts. anditsneedforarange used locallanguages).ItsskillinArabicwasnotespeciallygood, two intellectualstyles:onewasatraditionthatspecialisedinpreaching(andtherefore The scholarlycommunity, ineighteenth-centuryHausalandatleast,wasdividedinto power intheMediterranean. economics oftheexpandingAtlanticslavetradeasmuchchangesinbalances to bereplacedbymoremilitary-orientedgovernments.Theshiftmayreflectthe West Africasignificantlylostpowerorinfluence–inTimbuktu, inKatsina,Kano– witnessed amajorpoliticalshiftinwhichtheNorthAfricanmerchanthousessettled post-1600 andEgyptianinorigin.Butthemid-seventeenthcenturydoesseemtohave also gointovillagesdeepinthecountryside. radicalgroupscanoftenbeheard inthemarketplacesoronstreets;preac small, exclusive, evenelitist.Thefocuswasmoreonjurisprudence( Arabistmadetheircircles( as tutorsatroyalcourts.Thenecessitytobeagood copies ofnewbooks.AsexceptionalArabists,itwouldbetheywhomightemployed Arabic. Scholarsofthistraditiontaughttexts(somealsopreached)andsoughtout nities. Thesecondtraditionwasbookoriented,withamarkedskillrequiredinclassical was populist,recruitingrunawayslavestoIslamandformingradicallyMuslimcommu- cation; inaddition,Sufism, requiring theuseofarangebooksandgreaterdegree‘international’sophisti- trade disputes–scholarshadaroleinmaintainingsocialpeace element forsome. (that is,locallanguageswritteninArabicscript);marginalnotesonkeytexts Fiqh ajami was importantformerchantsandthe became avehicleforpopulareducationandpiety, beingeasily tasawwuf 19 kalam (theology, and‘thestatusofsinners’).Itspolitics , especiallytheQadiriyya,wasanimportantnew jihad 23 ajami and theestablishmentinnineteenth Though thetwostylesofscholarshipare too. Thisuseoflocallanguagesgave 20 qadis fiqh – butitalsomade ), legalstudies who mediated not to major daira 22 hers but 21 ) THE BOOKINSOKOTO CALIPHATE 139 Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za 140 THE MEANINGSOFTIMBUKTU three orfoureachfortheIvoryCoastin1920seemsplausible. of 35books,buttheywerealmostallnewprintedtexts. 14 scholarsintheimportantscholarlytownofSalaga 1960seachhadanaverage of whichonewasondreams. six books; important latenineteenth-centuryofficialliketheMadakin Kanoleftonhisdeathonly back intothenineteenthcentury, particularly asitappearsthatawealthyand now inNorthwesternUniversityLibrary).Oneclearlycannot readthese1960sfigures that theKanoscholar‘UmarFalkeleftsome1600manuscript books(thecollectionis objects –thebooktradeovertimeperhapsneedstobeexaminedmoreclosely. and widelyread.Inthiscontext,then,thesignificanceofbookssimplyasmaterial legal milieu–andthiswasatleastinpartformedbywhatbookswereavailable icance inNigeriabecausetheyprovedveryrelevantwithinadistinctintellectualand territories underMuslimandnon-Muslimrulerespectively)haveacquiredtheirsignif- and understanding ofwhataproperMuslimshouldbe;andsuchkeynotionsas think wecanassertthatthebooktradehasindirectlyaffectedNigerianMuslims’ comfort, themakingsofanIslamicpoliticalradicalism?Ifthisisgoingtoofar, thenI in thislong-drawn-outsystemofbooklearninganddiscussion,carriedoutminimal andtheexperienceofitsjointritualsdiscipline?WasQadiriyya brotherhood there network ofscholarsandstudentfriends,allframedwithintheorganisingbond to variousothershaykhsreadfurtherbooks,andintheprocesscreatingawide and toreadwithhimalongseriesoftextsalongsidehisotherstudents;travellingaround much-cherished books–alongapprenticeshipwithshaykhtobecomefluentinArabic political change?Istheresomethingspecialinaneducationsystemcentredaroundrare, minor scholars,the statistically ishowmanybookswereownedonaveragebyeachofthevastnumber lation ofthebookstockismoreaguessthananestimate,sincecrucialproblem a smallpercentageofthetotal,andarenineteenthcenturyorlaterinorigin.Thecalcu- ‘religious’ books.Locallycomposedbooks–‘original’orprécisofclassicaltextsform majority ofthesebooksarecopies,oftenincomplete,schooltexts;almostall what iscountedasa‘book’,thefiguremightwellbeclosertohalfmillion.Thevast few reallylargecollectionsinemirs’palacesandscholarlyhouseholds.Dependingon book stockofaquartermillionbooks,housedinthelibrariesindividualswith estimate thatin1900(threeyearsbeforetheimpositionofcolonialrule)therewasa be illustratedbytakingnorthernNigeriaasanexample.Hereonemighttentatively Although thebooktradeshouldbeconsideredregionally, thescaleofproblemcan The problem Timbuktu intheinvasionof1591. Kaduna wasmadeupofmanuscripts boughtfrom dar al-harb 26 ooosWzr Gidadointhe1820shadonly‘asmallcollection’ofbooks, Sokoto’s Waziri (the ‘abode of peace’ and the ‘abode of war’ traditionally understood as ofwar’traditionallyunderstood ofpeace’andthe‘abode (the ‘abode malamai , andbytheliteratepublicgenerally. PaulMarty’s figureof 27 Nonetheless, AhmadBabalostsome1600booksin 28 A collectionlikethatinthe National Archivesin malamai 25 In 1962,JohnPadenreported 24 for verylowpricesand Jack Goody quotesthat Jack Goody dar al-islam Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za experience ofQur’anicschools. book. Paperinthenineteenth centurywasrelativelycheapandavailable,soastudent example, howmuchsuchstudents andscholarswouldbewillingtopayforacopyof educated women.Whatwedonotknowisthesizeof the demandforbooks– people literateinArabicor undoubtedly unreliable,itwouldseemsafetoassumethere wereatleastsome250000 and 165000students.Althoughthesefigures(derivedfrom the 1921Nigeriancensus)are clientele comprising50000peoplewhowere‘welleducated’, plussome35000teachers In short,Isuggesttherewas,around1900,apotentialbook-using (andbook-making?) have inhislargecollection.ButIwasneveraskedbyawife forabook–unsurprisingly. Sokoto,bookshedidn’t bought eachyearthebooksIgavetomyteacher, theWazirin cities likeLondonandParisalsoofferarangeofprintedbooks;itwasfromthesethatI but whatbooks(ifany)theybringbackwiththemhasnotbeenresearched.Shopsin sell printedtextsinArabic,andmanywomenhavegoneonthepilgrimagetoMecca, Todayto therecentpastorpre-colonialperiod. bookshops,forexampleinKano, this isadimensionofscholarlylifeweasyetknowverylittleabout,eitherinrelation or uncle,brotherhusband,andhavethemcopied(orcopythemselves),but most wantedforthemselves.Nodoubtwomenscholarscouldborrowbooksfromfather daughters whomanagedtosecureashareandgot–orinsomewaypaidforthetextsthey or, intheabsenceofsons,tomalerelatives.However, theremusthavebeenlearned Books inheritedfromafather’s librarywouldnormallybedividedupandgotothesons some poetryineitherArabicor book ortwoofselectedprayers(al-Jazuli’s owned intheirownright–myguesswouldbeaHolyQur’an(orpartsofone),small can onlybeamatterofconjecture;sotooisthenumberbooks,ifany, thatwomen Holy Qur’anunderthelearnedwomenofhouse.Howmanysuchhouseholdstherewere major scholarlyhousesthechildrenweretaughttoreadandwrite,firstlearned or whatbookstheypossessed;maynothavehadverymany. We know, too,thatin disposable stockofthe‘ordinary machines hadnotyetbeeninvented.Thecollectionisthusabetterindicationofthe paperhadbeenavailablefor50 yearsandphotocopying Ilyasu Katsina),whenmodern the 1950sandearly1960sbytouringemployeesofNationalArchives(likeMallam comprises oftenratherbattered‘schoolbooks’.Thecollectionwaslargelymadeduring the mid-nineteenthcenturyarewellknown. startedbyNanaAsma’uin still are,womenSufisorganisedintogroups–theYan Taru daughters offamousfathers,andtheywrotemuchpoetry. We knowthattherewere,and books theyowned,issimplyanunknown.Therewereindeedfamouswomenscholars, All thesearemale-ownedbooks;howmanywomenscholarstherewere,and library intheoldShahucijudicialschoolKano. Mallam MuntakaCoomassie),orinmajoremiratelibrariessuchastheSarkinKano’s Department ofAntiquities,Jos(mademoreprofessionallybyDrADHBivarand ajami 30 mallam In addition,therewillhavebeenseveralthousand ajami , withamuchlargernumberwhohadsome ’ thanarethemoreselectivecollectionsin (Fulfulde orHausa;perhapsKanuriinBorno). Dala’il al-khairat 29 But wedon’t knowhowmanytherewere , forexample),andperhaps THE BOOKINSOKOTO CALIPHATE 141 Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za 142 THE MEANINGSOFTIMBUKTU paper foraccounts,legaldocumentsandletters. early importsforWest Africanroyalchanceries;andpresumablymerchants hadsome profitable importthere. of earlysixteenth-centuryTimbuktu, LeoAfricanusreferstobooksbeingthemost excitement broughtbythearrivalofspecifictexts. hypotheses Ihavetosuggest. scholarly procedureandoutlineforpurposesofdiscussionthebroadhistorical Did thebookmarket‘work’and,ifnot,whynot?Letmeatoutsetreversenormal of thismarket,whatwasthedemandforsortbooks,andhowitsupplied? How, anddistributed?And,giventhesize then,didthisvastbookstockgetproduced memorised infull;hence,booksremainnecessary. takes amonthtorecite),andfewbooksaresowidelyvaluedthattheykept in debateorcourt.Butfullrecallrequiresregularrecitingtooneself(theQur’an already welltrained.Standard,much-citedpassagescametomindreadily, tobequoted to him?SincehehadprobablymemorisedtheHolyQur’anasachild,hismemorywas to committhetextmemory, oronlysuchpartsofthetextthatheknewwererelevant in needcouldcopyforhisownuseatexthehadborrowed.Butdidhe?Orprefer of boththefifteenthandsixteenthcenturies arship. Thenewsofanewbookintownwasnotableevent–forexample,theKano West Africanlibraries–andalso,itcouldbeargued,theshapeofWest Africanschol- for saleinnorthernAfricanbookshopswillhavelargelydeterminedthecontentsof date ofthisimportingboomandtheparticularcompositionstockbooksthen copies?) andafewnewlywrittenbooksavailableinCairoorMaghribibookshops.The been scarceandunmarketed.Thenewimportsincluded‘classical’texts(somein Initially, bookswereimportedathighprices;beforethen,andpaperhadsimply The fifteenthtosixteenthcenturies be asfollows: ofthebooktradeinWestA schematichistoricalperiodisation Africagenerallymight A possibleperiodisation:1400–1900 Girard). of alettersentfromTripoli toBorno(quotedbythelateJELavers,from histranslationof The firstmentionofpaperasastandarditemtradeto Borno seemstobetheprécis linen rags.Cottonwasapparentlyunsuitableforpaperand papyrushadgoneoutofuse. inWestPaper wasnotproduced Africaowingtothelackofflaxandshortage to makecopiesofbookslocallyinWest Africa–particularlyofbooks ingreatdemand. thehighpricesofbooksmadeitprofitabletoimportpaperinbulkand In thisperiod, The sixteenthtoseventeenthcenturies 33 At thesametime,around1635 AD,Takruri merchantsreturningfrom Egypt 32 Fine letter-writing paper, andpossiblyfineinks,werealso 31 In themoresophisticatedmarket Kano Chronicler reflects the Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za an extravagantuseofpaper. they hadatleastamonetaryvaluetotheirownersandwerefarfrom‘trivial’,soscarcely legal documents,the trace? Notbeingtextbooks,weretheynotcopiedandre-copied?Bycontrast,thebrief other statesor, alternatively, thatallothersuch‘trivial’textshavebeenlostwithout we assumethattherewerenopotentialhistorians(orsuitablekingsforcelebrating)in matters. Aquestionremainswhytherearen’t moresuchsurvivingseculartexts:must when quantitiesofpapercouldbedevotedtooriginalcompositionsonnon-religious asanewphaseinthebook cultureofWestis temptingtoidentifythisperiod Africa, about thistime–mostnotablythe Similar long,‘secular’texts,however, werebeingwritteninpaper-rich Timbuktu at useofpaper if paperhadbeenscarce. described, wouldotherwisestandoutasanodd IdrisAlooma, inwhichhismilitarycampaignsare relatively ‘trivial’booksaboutMai Timbuktu, weknow, wasrichinbooks,butwhatofBorno?Isuggestthattherethe alent toalittleoverthree-and-a-halfgrams,usedwithreferencegoldorsilver.) mithqals, morethanaslavewas worth. a potentiallyvaluablework: insixteenth-centuryTimbuktu acopyhadsoldfor 80 al-muhit Tafadek, northofAgadesintheAirmountains,tofindatextFiruzabadi’s hadtotravel lending abookwasnotableenoughtorecord.Thus‘Uthman danFodio no specificreferencestorestrictionsonbookloans–only tothosewhosegenerosityin nearbyinMasina),orthe reputationoftheKelel-Soukscholars.Ihave,how poverty uneven distributionofbooks(forexample,Jenne’s richescontrasted with Hamdullahi’s ‘secrets’ andforscholarstoregardthemselvesasaclosed‘craft’. Thiswouldexplainthe books was‘privatised’,andthisonlyincreasedthetendency forbookstobetreatedas his studentsand,asan particularly relevanttothescholar’s ownteaching.Was thisakindof‘reader’bothfor compiling theirownprécis,withpassagesorquotationstakenfromauthorsconsidered Meanwhile, thesepartialmonopolieshelpedtodistortthebookmarketandledscholars much fortheirtexts(andcommentariesonthem)asgeneralteaching. owners, andthesescholarlynetworkseffectivelyconstituted‘schools’notedperhapsas copying bystrangers.Asaresult,therewouldhavebeeninformalnetworksofbook for ontheborrowingofbooks the market,defactorestrictionsmayhavebeenintroduced In theseventeenthtoeighteenthcenturies,maintaincopyingtrade’s controlover The seventeenthtoeighteenthcenturies included paperintheirmerchandise. wise surprisinglywidedistributionandpopularityofal-Sanusi’swise one-fifteenth thevalueofaslave)by1570s. per volume.Presumablyasaconsequence,bookpricesfelltofourorfivemithqals(or merely amithqalpervolumeforhiswork,whereastheproof-readergothalf was evidentlycheapinTimbuktu –forexample,suppliedwithpaper, thecopyistwaspaid which hecouldcopy;presumablytookhissupplyofpaper withhim.Itwas mahrams aide-mémoire awarding grantstopeopleorplaces,dosurviveinBorno; Tarikh al-Sudan 34 , forhimself?Inshort,thetradeinrareandrecent The shifttocopyingmaypartlyexplaintheother- 36 But arewetoassumethat 35 Amtqlisaunitofweight,equiv- (A mithqal and the Tarikh al-fattash al-‘Aqida al-sughra c .1800 theres – sothatit . Copying al-Qamus imply ever, THE BOOKINSOKOTO CALIPHATE 143 Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za 144 THE MEANINGSOFTIMBUKTU of Hausaproseinnewcompositions whichEuropeansandthenew thatsawtherise ofalocal,ruralreligious group. Itwastheearlycolonialperiod product exceedingly rare;theearliestIknowisdateabletoaround the 1870sor1880sandis sometimes survivedwhentheArabicoriginalshavebeen lost.Prosein 30 to1,ormoreoutontheisolated,slave-runfarmsteads. Thesetranslationshave the linguafrancausedbynewlyacquiredslaveswhomight outnumberthefreeby small eliteandofpastoralists.Thedomesticlanguagethe vastmajoritywasHausa, they cycle;otherswhiledrive).Fulfuldebecameincreasingly thelanguageofa women Yan Taru, wouldsingthemastheywalked(Ihaveheardmensinging were beingtranslatedintoFulfulde(andlaterHausa); anewaudience,possibly devotional verse.Inmid-nineteenth-centurySokoto,poems firstwritteninArabic commonplace; itseemsprobabletherewasalsosometradeinatleastthemore ( example, mySokotocolleagueProfessorSamboJunaidutellsmeShaykhUthman References toscholarsfailingreturnbookstheyhadborrowedareeasierfind:for Tafadek textwas‘open’tohim?Itdoessuggestthatdemand,atanyrate,unsatisfied. was notanothermoreaccessiblecopyintheregion,orthatUthmanknew a distinctrangeofsecularsubjectsamonghistotal48works. them, whileacontemporary, theeruditescholarAbdal-Qadirb.al-Mustafa,wroteon were inArabic.ThethreeleadingSokotoscholarswroteover300proseworksbetween original compositions,sometimesinthelocallanguage.Thevastmajorityofearlytexts in theeighteenthandnineteenthcenturiesbyscholarsstartingtowritetheirown In reactiontotheserestrictions,theprocessofimportsubstitutionwasextendedfurther The eighteenthandnineteenthcenturies requires aninventorytobemadefortheformalpurposeofdividingupinheritance. Hence eventhesizeoflargepersonallibrariesisrarelyknownuntilowner’s death Sokoto; booksfromitwerealwaysbroughtouttomebytheAlkalinLardiYahaya. Asl al-wangariyyin Professor MAal-Hajjtheonlyknowncopyofimportantseventeenth-centurytext was AlhajiNasiruKabarawhosuddenlyoneafternoon,aftermonthsoftalk,showed might bringoneortwooutspeciallyforaparticularvisitor. Anotableinstanceofthis they had, they books what to me.Inthiscontext,thoughscholarstendednotdisclose It was,however, eventually‘recovered’throughnetworksofpersuasionquiteunknown tibgh Ahmad Baba’s( earlyseventeenth-centurytextonusingtobacco reason.Fore contents oftheircollectionsasecret,withgood were commonplaceinthetwentiethcentury. Scholarsalsotendedtokeeptheexact retrieve bookshelenttoacolleague.Tales aboutwhocouldnotbetrustedwithabook regard; thereisaletterintheBritishMuseumbySierraLeoneanscholartryingto taries in poetry, someofitin c .1800) complainedaboutthisinaFulfuldepoem.Sokotowasnotunique ), was‘stolen’almostassoonitslocationinalibrarybecameknownSokoto. ajami . Copyingofpoetry, especiallytheshorterpoems,wasapparently . Similarly, Iwasneveralloweddirectaccesstothesultan’s libraryin ajami , werecommittedtopaper;sotoomarginalcommen- xample, averyrarebook, 37 al-Lam‘fi’l-ishara li-hukm Local compositionsin boko (book) school- ajami Hausa is Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za writings neededtocirculateamongamuchwiderreadershipthanhadexistedhitherto. theirownliteratureinbothproseandverse.Allthesedevotional then produced the mid-nineteenthcenturywasbeingrivalledbynewTijaniyya There werealsotextsonSufimysticismformembersoftheQadiriyya governance.Othertextsoftheirswereworksspecialistscholarship. tips ongood emirs andtoofficialsthatgovernedthenewstate–mattersoflawaswellpractical these books,unlikeothers,werewidelycirculatedasguidancetothenewgenerationof the threemainleaderswrotesomehundredproseworksofvaryinglengthbutmany revival ofalocalbooktradeinthenineteenthcentury. Asalreadymentioned,eachof and theestablishmentofSokotoCaliphate,wouldappeartohavestimulated This newliterature,alongwiththeaudiencescreatedbysuccessof more ordinary–languageunder‘inspiration’. today. Ihaveneverfoundevidenceof‘automatic writing’using jinni ctho’ etil eetshlr,lk h aeWzrnSokotoandthelateWazirin ‘catch on’.Certainlyrecentscholars, likethelateWazirin ajami Theextenttowhichtherewasamarketforeitherfrivolousbooksand colonial period. their ownamusementandpassedthemaroundamong closefriendsinthepre- but Ipresumescholars,moreoftenthanwenowknow, didwritesuch aloud inDecember1961withmuchlaughter. Idon’t thinkwehaveeverseenitslike, ingly erotic–pornographiceven?andamusing;Iremember JohnHunwickreadingit Kano’s collectionintheoldShahucijudicialschoollibrary(now burned),wasstrik- mentioned earlier. classicalArabicandpreservedintheSarkin Onesuchpoem,ingood composed andcommittedtowriting,aswasthelengthybook ofdoctrinein Finally, inthelatenineteenthcentury, frivolousbooksoflocalauthorshipwere The latenineteenthcentury ( language of date tothe1930s.Presumablyothersuch‘secret’textsremainbediscovered.The Yoruba canberenderedin became intheSokotoCaliphate.HeavilytonallanguageslikeNupe,forexample,or Borno, butIdon’t thinkitsusewaseverascommoninBornoFulfulde orHausa ofKanuri religiouspoetryin is foundinmarginalannotationsandthereabody Other languagesweremoredifficulttoreadin Qur’an intoHausain1982byAbubakarGummi. lated intoHausaandprinted,aprocessculminatingintherenderingofHoly children andmissionariescouldread.Bythe1950sArabicprosetextswerebeingtrans- not sold.ThereisashortpoeminNupe in thissense,suchtexts Abd al-RahmanChachathatremainsunread;andtherearelettersinYoruba Ishara wa-i‘lam , ametalanguageonecouldhearinspirit-possession( prose isunclear, butastheyarerelatively rare,onemustassumetheydidnot jinn ) ofMuhammadBello’s, butitispresumablyatranscriptionofspoken could bewrittenin ajami ajami become an but itisusuallyonlytheauthorthatcanre-readthem; ajami ajami ; thereisabriefpassagein aide-mémoire by theearlynineteenth-centuryreformer ajami 38 . Asalreadymentioned,Kanembu only forthecomposerandare bori ) séances–asonestillcan jinni jinni tariqa – orindeedany tariqa prose inabook jeux d’esprit – itsshaykhs ajami , whichby ajami prose jihad that for THE BOOKINSOKOTO CALIPHATE 145 Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za 146 THE MEANINGSOFTIMBUKTU (especially MuhammadBelloas andhisfamily not tohaverevived.Itisforthisreason,then,that‘UthmandanFodio reception thesevisitorshadbroughtbooksasgifts.Theimporttrade,however, appears thronged withArabvisitorsseeking(andwinning)favours;perhapstogainagood found onlyinprivatecirculation.We knowthat,oncethe helped toreviveageneralmarketforbookswhichrecently, itseems,hadcometobe centres evidentlybecamefociforaregionaltradeinlocallycomposedtexts,andso Finally, inthenineteenthcentury, firsttheSokotoCaliphateandthenother which theyneededtocopy. Ibadis andthroughtheirowntravels,undertakensometimesinsearchofaspecificbook to West Africanscholarsthroughsuchlessconspicuousmerchantnetworksasthe draw onlyverylimitedinferencesofprovenance,giventherangecontactsavailable Egypt, Tripoli orTunis andwentintoWest Africancirculationfromthere.Butonecan nonetheless probablethatsomeoftheearliestnon-MaghribitextscametoBornofrom as arelatedmarket)wasbuiltlessonimportingbooksthancopyingthem,itis If, asseemslikely, Borno’s developmentlaterasacentreofthebooktrade(withKano of papermayhaveinhibitedusingsomuchforsuchsecularuses. places tokeeprecordsandwriteworksoflocalhistory;elsewhere,thepricescarcity Indeed, theirroleinthepapertrademayhavemadeiteasyforscholarstwo with Borno,thenalsopioneeredthesubstitutionofbulkpaperimportsinplacetexts. the maindistributorsfromthereeastwards.ItseemsprobabletoothatTimbuktu, along with Wangarawa scholar–tradersandFulbescholarsenroutetofromMeccabeing prices anddemandwerehighestappearstohavebeenTimbuktu andrelatedmarkets, To when sumup,themaincentreforimportationofbooksduringboomperiod The poemsdidnot,however, enterthebooktradeattime. later byfriendsoreventheirdriverswhoheardthembeingcomposedandrecited. speeches orweredrivenonlongcarjourneystomeetings.Thesewrittendown Gwandu, enjoyedcomposingArabicpoemsastheylistenedtopoliticians’interminable all weknowisthatFulbescholarshadindeedtravelledfor booksbeforethe no out emissariestobuybooksinNorthAfricaandEgyptbringthemback.We have hugely augmentprivatecollections inSokoto,KatsinaandKano?Ifso,nothingis learning). DidMuslimscholarsopposedtothe away, asbooty, manyifnotallthe booksoftheregion(itwasanareanotedforits earlier atGimbana.Zamfarascholarsmuchlatersaidthat Muhammad Bellohadtaken jihadi blowing around’becameafigureofspeechinrecountingattacks (‘wrongfully’)madeby ground, blownaboutinstorms(andpresumablydamaged drasticallybydamp).‘Books We knowthatafteratleastthreeattackspagesofbookswererecorded aslyingonthe jihad rihlat , withallitshastyescapesandraids,maywellhavedisrupted scholars’collections. fighters onlearnedMuslimsettlementssuchasYandoto orKalembaina,much recounting thesebook-buyingexpeditions,norlistsofwhattheybroughtback; amir al-mu’minin jihad in Sokoto)mayhavespecificallysent forfeit theirlibraries?Didvictory jihad was successful,Sokoto jihad . The jihadi Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za quially asametaphorfor‘library’. famine, oftenforyearsonend.Indeeditcouldbethat‘granary’becameusedcollo- designed tokeepantsawayfromtheunthreshedgrainstoredthereasareserveagainst and unnoticed.Traditionally, bookscouldbekeptinagranary, astructurespecifically worse dangercomesfromantsandtermiteswhosedestructionmaycontinueunseen floor,behind instore.Boxesmaykeepoutrainfromaleakingrooforflooded buta may havebeenthemorecrucialloss.However, booksarevulnerableevenwhenleft which paper is being purchased or obtained from Kano. The question remains: were there paperisbeingpurchasedor obtainedfromKano.Thequestionremains:werethere which house inSokotoanddating mainly tothe1880sand1890s,includesafewlettersin copyists inSokoto.Indeed,theSokotocaliphalcorrespondence, preservedinthe recall thenamesofanynineteenth-centuryorearlytwentieth-century booksellersor The Caliphate, bookshopswerelargelyconfinedtoKano,as indeed wasthepapertrade. allowed thebooktradetobeunusuallycentralised;for example, withintheSokoto official (withthelatterbeingbiggerspender?)were habituallymobile,andthis main categoriesofpurchaser, theprofessionalstudentorscholarand thegovernment shop, therewereretailerswhohadtheirownareainthe marketplace.Boththetwo Apart fromthesmallerperipateticdealersinbooksandpamphlets whohadnoformal refers tothisandtheearlycolonialperiod. revived inthenineteenthcentury, andsuchdetailaswehaveonthelocalbooktrade local copyingindustry. Bookselling–ifnotthebusinessofimportingbooksonly replaced ontheonehandbypersonalimportingofsingletexts,andothera The hypothesishereisthatbookimportingasabusinessdiedoutatanearlydate,being Book merchandising the head. Qur’an byheartrepresentedahugelossof‘bookstock’,albeitinthisinstancekept Battle ofTsuntsua in1805ofsome1800scholarsandstudentswhoknewtheHoly mentioned ofallthisinthehistories.Finally, weknowthatthelossatdisastrous palace inSokoto1988;thetalkisoftermitesandantsspoilingsomebooks. nineteenth-century libraryofMuhammadBellohasfaredsinceitwasremovedfromthe Birnin Kanotestifies.Similarly, thereisconsiderableanxietynowoverhowtheearly as the1960sburningofemirKano’s libraryintheShahucijudicialschool readily. We havenowayofcalculatingtheextentbooklossesbutdangerwasreal, got loosefromtheseboardsandthewindcaughtthem,scatteredpageswouldburn kept asloosesheetsbetweentwoboardstiedwithaleatherstrap.Butoncethe hard toburn,buttraditionallynoneofthepre-colonialcopieswerebound;they copy ofEuclidhadbeendestroyedinahousefire1827.Boundbooksarerelatively and lootingwasaprobleminthefewcaseswehaveanydataon. regularly setalightbyraiders;residentsinpanicemptiedtheirroomsofpreciousitems waziri 39 of Sokoto,whenhespoketomeaboutitinJune1983,could notoffhand But whatotherbookshadtheymemorised?That,intellectuallyspeaking, 40 Granaries, however, canburn,andtownswere 41 Indeed, Bello’s first waziri’ s THE BOOKINSOKOTO CALIPHATE 147 Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za 148 THE MEANINGSOFTIMBUKTU rather thanrareorrecently writtenworks.Theymayhavestocked,though,the Bookshops presumablyprovided the‘classics’,localfavouritesandbest-sellers, and needreturning.Thewrappingpaperwasthesamebrand( export. Thewrappingcarriedthenameofmerchant,shouldclothprovefaulty in marketswasforwrappingthecloththathadbeenwovenordyedaroundKano Heinrich Barth,thefamousGermanexplorerwhovisitedregionin1850s,saw type ofpaperindemand.Inthemid-nineteenthcentury‘commonpaper’that retailers fromthemarkettooktheirsupplies.Writing paperwasnot,ofcourse,theonly of writingpaper. a watermark,henceourknowledgeofthebrandsused. been veryabsorbent–orelseanareaofitwas‘sized’first.Almostallwritingpaperhad name waswrittenlegiblyonthewrappingpaper, thatqualityofpapermustnothave absorbent, andtheinkspread,makingwritingillegible.Butifclothmaker’s period. in Kano,andgivesdetailsoftheKanopaperbooktradesearlycolonial contrast, AlhajiMahmuduKoki(1894–1976)recallshisearlylifeasascholarandcopyist regular basis,thoughSokotointhe1820swasamuchlargercentrethanKano.By local scholars?ThereisnoevidenceofdirectimportationpaperintoSokotoona no papermerchantsinSokoto,orwasthe library. Baghdadi practiceofascholarhiringbookshopforwhole nighttouseasatemporary part ofscholarstodivulgetheirtotalbookstock.Nor is thereevidenceoftheold equivalent todistributingone’s thereisaclearreluctanceonthe assets,justastoday suspects thattohandoverforpublicsaleararebookfrom one’s own collectionwas reached abookshopandthereforeneverattainedwidespread circulation.Indeed,one their ownandfriends’use,inwhichcasecopiesof thesebooksprobablynever more oftenindividualsreturningfrompilgrimagemusthave broughtinsinglecopiesfor was nottheessence,specificbooksmighthavebeenorderedfromCairo.However, copied ondemandandthusrequiredtimetoorganise.Similarly, nodoubtbecausetime Multiple copiesoftextswereprobablynotstockedinbookshops;instead,books children. Therewereoftenmanycharmsonasinglecord. in asmallleatherpouchforhangingroundtheneckorwaist,especiallyofyoung sometimes withsmalltwigsorleavesadded.Thewholepacketwasthenfoldedandkept of paper. Charms( could becorrectedbyattachingtothepage(withathread)smallsupplementarypiece examining thethreadtoseeifitisoldpre-colonialtreecotton.Errorsinatext repaired inthisway, butIdon’t knowofawaytodatetherepair withoutscientifically carefully sewedalongthetearwithcotton;somequiteancientbookshavebeen book pageswereneverfolded.Atornpageinacouldbemendedbybeing indigo-dyed cloth.Letterswerewrittenonthesamestandardsizeofpaperasbooks,but waziri’ relatively stiff,itcouldbefolded;wasnotbrittlelikelaterpaper. Lettersfromthe chanceryhadadistinctwayofbeingfolded,andwerecarriedinpouches s 45 42 To runabookshopmayhavebeenrathertrickierthanoneperhapsimagines. The Tripoli merchantstherekeptstocksofpaperintheirhouses,fromwhere 43 laya The criterionofqualitywasthepaper’s degreeofabsorbency:too ) werealsoacommonuseofpaper;prayerswrittenuponit, waziri’ housedefactothesourceofpaperfor s 44 While writingpaperwas tre lune ) asthebettersort Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za amir al-mu’minin example isapoem(againsttheinvadingChristians)attributed tothelastindependent authorial nameandtheconventionalopeningsentences areabsent.Acommon would notinfacthavewrittensuchamanner. Thisoftenappliesto textswhereany Mahdiyya ortheTijaniyya –forwhichthereisevidencethatthepurportedauthor dispute. Frequentlythetextisaboutacontestedelement ofMuslimlife–suchasthe attributed toanineteenth-centuryauthor. Thefirstismorecommon, andopento to awell-knownauthor;andbookswhollyconcoctedin thetwentiethcenturyand in thenineteenthcenturybutattributed(wrongly, orshouldonesay‘optimistically’?) Forgeries poseproblems,too.Theyaremainlyoftwokinds: booksprobablycomposed ‘BU’ hasbecomethearchives’mostprolificauthor. common enoughcategorythathasconfusedresearchersunusedtothearchives’codes: listed as‘anonymous’(BaniUlama-i)intheNationalArchivesKaduna.Itisa and standardschooltextsarecommonplaceobvious,butaproportionremains end, itisnotalwaysclear, excepttotheerudite,whereexcerptcomesfrom.Classics of thelocalbookstock.Sincequiteafew‘books’incollectionhavenobeginningor merely fromthepresenceofaquotation,thatoriginalworkinitsentiretywaspart having himselftakenthequotationfromanearlierprécis.Inshort,onecannottell, may wellbethattheoriginal,wholebooknotexistinanylocallibrary, theauthor decision. Inasinglework,youhaveprécisofwholelibrary, many‘books’inone.It reader withaveryusefulselectionofsentencestoquoteindebateormaking consistofquotationsandcitations,thusprovidingthestudent ‘Abdullahi danFodio it is not beconsideredasinglewhole.Afterall,theHolyQur’anisdividedinto countenance thedivisionofabookintoseparablepartsdoessuggestthatneed (after all,noonedividesupahorseorgown),butIthinkthefactthatpeoplecan by beingsplitup.Somescholarsdisagreeandinsistthatabookiskeptinitsentirety among thedeadman’s inheritors;abook,theexecutorwouldsay, doesnotloseitsvalue executor ofaninheritance,abookisnotindivisiblewhole–itcanbedividedup excerpt isonlypartofwhathewroteunderthattitle.Fromtheperspective extensive quotationhemayhaveinhishead.Fromtheauthor’s perspective,suchan uses andneedstohaveacopyof–inthissense,itisthepaperequivalent From areader’s perspective,a‘book’maybesimplythepartoflongerworkthathe raises thequestionofwhatconstitutes‘abook’. collections wereperhapsnotunlikestudents’own‘libraries’ofxeroxestoday. Thisthen excerpted frombooks,orsimplyfragmentsoflargertexts.Itseemsthattheresulting by authorbutbookseller–‘provenance’)musthaveconsistedofpoetry, chapters libraries (iftheNationalArchives’collectionisanythingtogoby;itcataloguednot books wereseeminglydesignedforthisendofthetrade.Butbulkpersonal books apparentlydominatedthe‘mass’market.SomeofShaykh‘UthmandanFodio’s occasional fine‘presentation’copy, particularlyoftheHolyQur’an.Similarly, small the book parexcellence.Similarly, manyofthebooksbyShaykh‘Uthmanand , Attahiru,butinternalevidence makesitclearwasnotcomposedby sura s, and THE BOOKINSOKOTO CALIPHATE 149 Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za 150 THE MEANINGSOFTIMBUKTU scholars’; He addsit‘isnotwellregardedinSokotoandhas,forthisreason,beenneglectedby Hunwick hasincludeditinhisbibliographyofSokoto al-Hajj knewofittooanddismissedoninternalevidence,butrecentlyProfessorJohn Sokoto AlhajiJunaiduknewofthebook’s existenceandsaiditwasfake;ProfessorMA to Gusau);acopyofthebookhasnowgoneintoBayeroUniversityLibrary. Wazirin I haveseenonlytwocopies(aprivateoneinKano;Kanohasverycloseconnections byascholarinGusautheearly1950s. Ahmed around1818–19butactuallyproduced unproblematic. scholarslikethelateMervynHiskett useitasifwas name onit.Again,modern but theoneaccountwedohaveofshaykh’s oralteachingtherehastheauthor’s give inSifawa(theshaykhwouldhavebeenspeakingFulfuldeorArabicoriginally), anonymous disciple’s transcriptionofanoralaccountthatheheardShaykh‘Uthman the shaykheverwroteandhasnoconventionalstart.Itcouldpossiblybean as itdescribeshisvisionoftheProphetandShaykhAbdal-QadirJilani and widelycirculatedinaHausatranslation:itisusuallysaidtobebyShaykh‘Uthman, whom hewasgiventheswordoftruth( invention? Shouldwesimplyleaveit,sayingthatitmaybethe or couldbe,legitimated–butdoesthatmakeittoocrucialtodismissasapossible al-awlad There maywellbemoreforgeriesthanweknowof,butoneofthebetterknownis its statusasaformallyauthored‘book’? copying. Hence,Itooktophotographing manuscriptsinthehouseofbooks’owner; scholars wereknownfornever returningthemanuscriptstheyhadborrowedfor Certain lay inensuringthatthemastertextfromwhichcopy was madegood. andwhosewasnot,whoareallycarefulcopyist.Buttherealproblem was good another scholar. Thesumspaidwereverysmall,buteveryoneknewwhose handwriting manuscripts fromscribes,andthedeliveredmanuscriptwould thenbeproof-readby 1960s (before‘xerox’machineswereavailable),whenone couldstill‘order’copiesof My onlyfirst-handevidenceforthecultureofcopyingcomes fromtheearlytomid- be made.Might,therefore,widedistributiononetestof atext’s authenticity? a bibliographer’s culture),aforgeryhastobeacceptedasgenuineifmany copiesareto against hisgeneralargument).Ingeneral,inacultureofhand-copying(asdistinctfrom text tobeaforgery, buthehadnoseriousevidenceforsayingso(exceptthatitwent apparently rare.IhaveheardthehistorianDJMMuffetfirmlydeclareanearlycolonial own andbecitedindoctoralthesesasahistoricalsource.Otherwise,forgeriesare important misattributionconcernsthe (Fulfulde) texts,evenwhenwemayknowthenameoftranslator. Another late translationsofpoemsintoHausaareattributedtotheauthorearlyoriginal unworried aboutacceptingaconventional(butinaccurate)attribution.Similarly, some researchersseem him personally;itreflectshissentiments,nodoubt,butmodern , inpartahistoryofthe 47 he hasnot,however, studiedthetexthimself.Itmayyetgainalifeofits 46 The textisindeedcrucialtoourunderstandingofhowthe jihad wird purportedly writtenbyMuhammadSambob. sayf al-haqq or Lamma balagtu ). Thebookisunlikeanytextthat jihadi works asifitwasauthentic. which hasbeenprinted story is truebutnot c jihad .1794 by Kanz was, Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za property inKano, Much laterandmorelocalisasurvivinginventoryofrecentlydeceasedofficial’s journal; itbelongedtooneoftheWangarawa merchantsbasedthereatthattime. repayments writtenhiggledy-piggledy(andalmostillegibly)onpagesofabound National Archives,Kaduna),butitisunique:containssomereferencestoloansand from an‘office’.Amerchant’s notebookfrom1830sKatsinahassurvived(inthe into asinglebook–buttheyarelettersofadvice,notshortbureaucraticnotestoor preserved, andonewonderswhy. Muchearlier, morepersonallettershadbeencollected standardised styleofscript.Earliercorrespondencethis‘standard’typehasnotbeen colonial it wasaslatepost-1875.Itisindeedtemptingtospeculatewhetherthelasttwopre- handwritingchanged,letalonewhy–myguessisthat ofgood exactly whenthemodel ( ‘classic’ hands(thatis, it preservedaccuracyaswellrecordedtheactualhandoforiginalcopyist.Early Kano wereinstitutedonlyinthecolonialperiod. with textswritteninclassicalArabic.Bycontrast,judicialrecordsoftheemir’s courtin from theemir’s slaveestates.Thesesuggestanordinarybureaucraticusageofpaper, there to learn that hand (and the Qur’an copyists’ trade) – their products wereexported there tolearnthathand(and theQur’ancopyists’trade)–theirproducts Nigeria: HolyQur’anscopiedtherearethemostprized,and youngscholarsweresent was muchadmired.Bornohandshaveremained themostdistinguishedin elegantly complexorbeautifullyinscribed),nonetheless a finebook-handforwriting (I knowofnopublic‘sign’fromnineteenth-centuryNigeria, norwerethecaliphalseals Although calligraphywasnevertheexquisiteartformithad becomeintheMiddleEast deliberately orevensimplythrownaway. to bedrasticallypunished.Whateverthecase,traditional paperisrarelydestroyed some Christianhaddeliberatelybesmircheditandsothe communityneeded Arabic onithadbeenfounddirtiedandlyingtheground, thesuspicionbeingthat it. Anurbanriotcouldbesetoffbya(stereotyped)rumourthatsheetofpaperwith Qur’an –itcannotbeplacedontheground,norcananotherbooktopof violent districthead.Nonetheless,somebooksaresanctified,mostnotablytheHoly to meillustratehowdeeplyshockingwasthebehaviourofacertainnotoriously not. Inthiscontext,storiesofhowa words havebeenwritten.Suchboardsmaysanctifiedinawaythatpaperwas them tomake easily, itissaid).ButIhaveneverseenthemusedas‘notepads’;students,we ubiquitous andcheap.Theylastwell,too,eveniftheyarebulkytostore(andburn teaching youngchildrenhowtoreadandwritetheArabicscript,theywere(andare) previously fortemporaryrecordsandcalculations.Primarilymadeas‘exercisebooks’ used forbooks.Itispossiblethatan material, itseems,wasregularlycommittedtowriting;thevastmajorityofpaper c .1890 or today): paperwasscarcerandhandwritingsmaller,.1890 ortoday): neater. Iamnotsure waziri rubutu institutedaregular chancery intheirhouseSokoto,witha s 48 and thereisalistofgrainbroughtintoKano’s Nasarawapalace , thetonicmedicinepeopledrinkmadeofinkinwhichsacred c .1830 orbefore)wererecognisablydifferentfromlaterhands mallam’ allo , a wooden, reusablewritingboard,wasused , awooden, s allo 49 boards wereallowedtoburntold Thus onlyalimitedamountofstate THE BOOKINSOKOTO CALIPHATE 151 Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za 152 THE MEANINGSOFTIMBUKTU innovation. Asno collections. Publiclibrarieswithhugestocksofmanuscriptbookswerealate-colonial not onshelvesend–thismayreflecttherelativelysmallsizeandpersonalnatureof Africa, thoughboundbookswereclearlyknown.Booksalsostoredontheirsides, required awiderangeofskills.Bookbinding,Ithink,wasneverdevelopedinWest it resemblesbookbindersinthepastEurope:amuchunderpaidexpertisethat it wasconsiderednotsomuchacommercialactasdutifulworkofpiety. Inthatway, scholars. Certainly, inthe1960scopyistscouldbe‘bullied’intoworkingforlowprices; also forthegrosscommercialisationofatraditionalskilllinkedtoold-stylepiety Africa –largehouses(‘lineages’)actedascentresofcharityandknowledge. imports in1718butCurtindoesnotquotetheactualquantities. for West Africatakenasawhole. south-western one.Theoverallquantityimportedmusthave beensubstantiallygreater Tripoli wasnot,ofcourse,theonlyNorthAfricansource,norSenegambia only Qur’an, theTripoli tradewasenoughtoprovidepaperforsome16000Qur’ans.But of textsagain. kept thefortunetohimself.Thecopyistwassodisgustedthatheneverdidanycopying and madeafortunefromsellingtheprintedcopiesataninflatedprice;businessman c copyists, ShaykhBala,waspaidlittleforanactofskilledreverence(itissaidhegot£5, source ofincomethatpersistedintothetwentiethcentury. Oneofthemostfamous in the1820stoNorthAfrica.Finecopying,withuseoftwoorthreecolours,wasa 4 millionfoliosor80camelloads. Imported fromTripoli, theyearlysupplyin1767wassome2000reams,equivalentto Quantities Paper for itappearsthatthenineteenth-centurybookwasrelativelycheaptoproduce. whenthestructureofindustryandmarketconditionshadradicallyaltered; period, generally. copyingandbookproduction in Again,muchofwhatfollowsrelatestothislater bothinthelocalauthorshipandmarketingofbooksledtoanincrease revival narroweduntilthelateeighteenthandnineteenthcenturies,when titles reproduced imported) booksonalargescaledatebacktothesixteenthcentury, thoughtherangeof The hypothesishereisthattheimportationofpaperandcopying(previously Book production inthenineteenthcentury specifically fortheLevantine market.Thecrescentwatermarkhasbeencommonsince Much ofthenineteenth-century importedpaperwasofItalianmanufacture,produced Sources .1959), yetthebusinessmanwhocommissioneditthenhadprintedbyphoto-offset Mai belt waqf , ashiscopyisnowcalled,maybeamuseumpiece,butitstands institutions existedintheSokotoCaliphate–unlikeNorth 50 In Senegambia,paperconstituted3percentof 51 At 230foliostoa Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za and sellingthere‘for40or50dollarseach’. worth 20000–in1820sBorno,fineQur’answerebeingexported to‘BarbaryorEgypt’ 5 000cowrieswasaverageforastandardtext(orexcerpt?). ButaQur’anmightbe price. Indeed,thepriceofbooksseemstohavebeenrelatively low–perhaps4000or disposed oftobookdealers,orevenstudents,theymust haveundercutthemarket unlikely toreflectverycloselythecurrentpriceofanew copy. Iftheseoldbookswere arrived atinthenineteenthcenturyisnotstated,but valuesgivenforbooksare page. Rarelywasanornamentalfrontispieceortailpieceincluded. decorations wereusuallyadded,eitherasaborderaroundpageorpartofthetitle page (one-eighthMansuri)wasusedforpocketprayerbooks.Intheseformats,no books, thefoliosizehalfMansuriwasnotusedasitinNorthAfrica.Anoctavo 10 to15cowries. bought asheetofpaper, thesamepriceashalfapoundinweightofhoney. Apagewas quarto). The sizeofpageusedforbookswas,Isuggest,aquarterMansuri(veryclosetocrown be treatedasatype–sizeandweightratherthanbrandname. were, itseems,onlypart-booksandcommononesatthat. death. ThustheMadakinKano’s sixbookswereworthonly8000cowries,butthey Valuations arefoundindocumentsrelatingtothedisposalofpropertyataperson’s Books was 26000aream. the Sahara,etc.),inKanowouldcometo24000aream.By1910price it was12000areamwhich,given100percentmark-up(forthecostsoftransportacross In 1805atSansandingontheNigerRiver, areamcost20000cowries.In1861atTripoli Paper Prices if any, importedintonorthernAfrica. papers werealsomanufacturedinTurkey, butIhavenotseenfiguresforthequantities, It wasespeciallystrong,relativelycheap,andofthirdtofourthquality. ‘Crescent’ crescents) paperwiththenamesofvariousGalvani example, Darfur)bytheeighteenthandnineteenthcenturies.The at least1320butwasincreasinglytobefoundinNorthAfricaandthesouth(for Tomas EdwardBowdichin1819,an‘inferiorMoor’couldliveamonthKumasi. it wasevencheaperbythecentury’s end.Yet withasheetofpapertosell,reported been relativelycheapthroughoutthenineteenthcentury, thoughbecauseofinflation the exporttradeinQur’ans.Contrarytoexpectations,therefore,paperseemshave rewarded inotherways. three orfourtimesthewage of anunskilledlabourer. Copyists’labourmusthavebeen the firstiteminalistofarticlesmostdemandBorno 55 Because booksinWest Africawereseldomwritteninthemarginsofother 57 56 In the1820s,‘writingpaper, onwhichtheprofitisenormous’was Sold bythesheet,profitmarginwasconsiderable:60cowries 54 In short,itmaybethat‘crescent’paperhasto 61 As letterwriters,scribeswerepaidsome 52 has achievedacertainfame. 60 58 How thesevaluationswere – nodoubttobeusedin tre lune (three 59 53 THE BOOKINSOKOTO CALIPHATE 153 Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za 154 THE MEANINGSOFTIMBUKTU is notknownwhichspecialitystartedfirst–Qur’anicstudiesorcalligraphiccopying. since handwritingwastheothereconomicskillwhichstudentswenttheretolearn.It Qur’anic studies.Perhaps,then,oneshouldspeakofaBorno‘schoolcalligraphy’, Borno attractedstudents(andthereforecheapcopyists?)byitsspecialisationin exported, anditispossiblethatdemandforQur’answassatisfiedbyBorno’s production. population estimatesgivenearlier).BornoQur’answereofanotablyhighqualityand ofsome1600Qur’ansayear(onmystudent theQur’an,thatimpliesaproduction copying Labour expended inbookproduction. the writingofcharmssubsidisedscholarlywork,ineffect payingforthelabour forces, with‘alms’replacingpriceandlabouranactofpiety. Indeeditseemslikelythat of theiralsobeingreligioustexts,mayonoccasionhavebeenlessliabletodirectmarket imposed restraints.Despitebeingboughtandsoldinthemarketplace,books,byvirtue The booktrade,likereligiouslearning,wasprobablyalsosubjecttocertainculturally undercut pricesforallbutthefinestwork. a part-timeoccupation.Asinothertrades,studentlabourwillpresumablyhave sional copyists,remainstobeestablished.Nordoweevenknowifitwasalwaysmerely more fluid,lessformal.Butaprofessionalscript,letalonetheidentitiesofprofes- scribes’ handsintheSokotochancerysuggestthatanindividual’s handwritingwas neater, maybereflectingpersonal,ratherthanprofessional,styles.Similarly, thevarious larger asthenineteenthcenturyworeon;early, in theirownhand,willhavehadlessresalevalue.Thesizeofthestandardscriptgrew whatever thecircumstances.Butpersonalcopies,madebylessconscientiousscholars his handinbydoingsomecopyingthelightofasmalloillamp,everysingleevening, –soDrADHBivarwastoldkept handwriting. Ascholarlike‘AbdullahidanFodio The valueofabookforsalewillhavedependedinpartonthequalitycopyist’s Professional copyists Koki. Mahmudu mightbuyhimselfabiggownandturbanfromtheproceedsofhisfirstQur’an,says student traditionally giventohisteacher, whointurnpresumablysoldit–butnotalwaysso:a A student’s graduationwassignalledbyhiscompletingacopyoftheQur’an.This Students All suppliesofblack,redand yellowinksweremanufacturedlocally, though certain Inks andpens not madespecificallytoattractthecollector. lavishness, howeverlovinglythepagesmightberepaired inside.Inshort,bookswere by thecopyiststhemselves.Butbookswerenotusually finished externallywithany Apart frompaper, noneoftheothermaterialsusedhadtobeimported; someweremade Other costs 62 If weassume1percentofallstudentsinanyoneyearactuallyfinished 63 jihadi hands aremuchsmallerand Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za inheritors ofadeadscholar. especially ifacommonsourceforthemarketinbookswasoldtextsunwantedby than mostcommercialitems,therewasprobablylittleproblemoveroldstock, does notaffecttheferro-tannicinks.Furthermore,asreligiousbooksdatelessrapidly held thebagsofbooks,andintheseconditionsbooksdeterioratedlittle;evendampness a standardformat.Theycouldholdmorethanonebookattime.Aspecialstoreroom to anadequatelyhighquality tocompetewithpaper. Onecharacteristicofpaperisthat Paper madeofbarkwasnotused either, thoughbarkclothwasavailablelocally, ifnot otenMrco oee,i h letbo nFnoK’iand dates toAD1198. northern Morocco,however, istheoldestbookinFondoKa’ti tomanufactureeither.earlier periods, (AHolyQur’anwrittenonvelluminCeuta though therewerebothsufficienthidesandthetechnology available,atleastinthe As farasIknow, neithervellumnorparchment wasusedforbooksordocuments, Leather is possiblethiswasonefactorinhelpingtodeterminewhich pagesizebecamestandard. of text.Thewidththeboardiscourselimitedby girthofthetreeused,andit Although thereisnofixedsizefortheseboards,themajority takeaquartoMansuripage as aschoolexercisebookandnodoubtalso‘scrappaper’fortryingoutcompositions. ‘slate’orboard,used mostwidelyused‘substitute’ forordinarypaperwasthewooden The Boards quality whitepaper. There wasapparentlynosuitablelocalmaterialtouseasasubstituteforimportedgood- Substitute materials in speciallydesignedgoatskinleatherbags( As withthebindings,sotoostorage–costswerekeptlow. Bookswerepacked Storage tioning aninheritanceamongheirs. incomplete, eitherthroughlossordeliberatedivisionofthebookwhenappor- as isfoundinNorthAfricancities.Oneconsequencethatalargenumberoftextsare never tohavedevelopedinWest Africaaspecificcraftofelaboratebookbindingsuch to whybookswerenotboundinthelaterMiddleEasternmanner, butthereseems tied togetherwithathong,asweretheearliestMuslimtexts.Ihaveseennoreference or boxoftwoboards,usuallymadegoatskinstiffenedbycardboardmembrane,and The finishedbookwasnotusuallysewn,thoughthepageswereenclosedwithinacover Bindings available locally, aswereerasingmaterials. and couldbesafelydrunkasmedicine.Pens,madefromcornstalks,werereadily used onpaper. writing boards, Thecarbonandvegetableinksdidnotstainthewooden ‘slates’,while ferro-tannicinkswere tannin (forexample,vitex)wereusedonwooden ingredients mightbeimportedforspecialinks.Inksmadefromcarbonorvegetable 64 gafaka ) whichweresewnsmoothsideinto 65 ) THE BOOKINSOKOTO CALIPHATE 155 Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za 156 THE MEANINGSOFTIMBUKTU the sandwherediscussantssatwasused. those madespecificallyforEuropeanvisitors;again,simplegeographicaldiagrams, of colonial mapsordiagramsdrawnonlargesheetsofpaperexceptasreproductions the finishedsquares,however, mightbecommittedtopaper. seenpre- never Ihave tray(ifinamarketplace)orsimply drawn insandheldwithinawooden on the ground; any), withcolouredinksratherthanpaint.Thecalculationsdonefordivinationwere the nineteenthcenturypaperpagewasmainmediumfordecorativework(if There undoubtedlywerewell-read scholarsinSokotoandKano,buttheirneedsseem systematically, nobooksellerimportingcontentious textsforanavidreadingpublic. such paperwasusedoccasionallyforsomeoftheearlycolonial‘treaties’. had itnotbeenwhollyreplacedbypaperintheMuslimworldataveryearlydate. have notlostbooksduetoreuse.Vellum wouldhavebeenthelonger-lasting material, it cannotberubbeddown(asvellumcan)andreusedasapalimpsest;thismeanswe faced thenewChristiancolonialism.Therewasno current in,say, Egyptandcausinggreatdebate amongstthescholarsofdayasthey available tobuyorincirculationKano–booksonthekey Islamistthemesthatwere West bookseither Africa.Forexample,in1900therewere,itseems,fewifany‘modern’ to hand;differentintereststoo.ButIthinkoverallthebook tradedidnot‘work’in –firstthesixteenththennineteenthcenturieswithdifferenttextscoming periods topic indepthandconsidertheimplicationsofbookishness. Thereclearlywereboom a subjectitis,butItrustmightalsohavepersuadedsome readertopursuethewhole culture –asyet.ButbywritingaboutitherenotonlyhaveIsuggestedhowsignificant This chaptershowshowrelativelylittledetailedknowledgewehaveofSokoto’s book Conclusion Small prayerswerewrittenontheedgesoflargewhitecottonflagsusedin Other materials later usedby beaten indigomightjustifythecostofwrapping.Presumablysomethispaperwas especially fortheclothtradeinwhichhigh-valueitemsliketurbansandgownsof Not allpaperimportedwasforwriting;wrappingrelativelycommon, Other papers available andonlyindigo-bluewhite-earthwasheswereusedonwalls. could containimpuritieslikeanimalurineordung.Oil-basedpaintwasnotreadily Timbuktu, nocutstonewasever used)andsometimesplastered,thematerialsforwhich outside ofbuildings,wasnotafeature,either. Walls weremadeofclay(unlikein Eastern buildings.Thepublicdisplayoftexts,onwallsforexample,insideorthe stencils wereused,either. Norweretheretextson,say, glazedtiles,asusedinMiddle no large-scaleinscriptionswereputonthemorthelaterflagsmadeofdamask; mallams to makecharmswhichdidnothavebeeasilylegible.Similarly, 68 waqf -financed librarybuyingbooks 67 Hence in jihad , but 66 Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za ‘literacy’, asearlierhistorianshavedone,letalonebysimply contrasting‘oral’with‘the Finally, myargumentisthatourunderstanding isdistortedbyfocusingjustupon the bookmarketwithered.Inevitablyinthiscontext,bookishness hasalsowilted. from teachersandfriends.Inthelastfewdecades,thatwindow hashalfclosedagainas through books(albeitinEnglish)whichwerereadilyavailable inlibrariesoronloan young Muslimsreadavidlyinthenewliteratureandsciences nowopentothem bring itclosertotherestofMuslimworld.Similarly, acenturylaterinthe1930s, aBiladal-SudanthatwasnowmoreovertlyMuslim,and they soughtto‘modernise’ This wasrealised,Ithink,byMuhammadBelloandhiscolleagues in1820sSokoto,as some500yearsago.Butbookishness needstobemorethananeliteobsession. experienced happens, therecouldbethesameexcitementoverlatestbookasKanointellectuals access’ andtheinternetnowoffertoreleasescholarsfromtheirtimewarps.Whenthat library.time warpdatingbacktowhentheylasthadlong-termaccessagood ‘Open without havingfirstseenthelatestresearch.Theseauthorsarestuckinanintellectual themselves. Thisresultsintheaverageauthorofanacademicarticlehavingtowrite have tocollectionsoftheirown,gettingbookssentoutthemormakingtrips orevenadvancedtextbooks.Thismeansthatscholars,iftheyaretobe‘update’, graphs and suchbookstoresasdostillfunctionstockprimarilyschoolbooks,notthelatestmono- systematicallybuythelatestworks,universitybookshopshave mainlycloseddown, longer find echoesofthispasthistoryinthestatetoday’s bookstock.Universitylibrariesno Anyone whohasworkedintheNigerianuniversitysystemoverlast40yearswill local shortageofbooksleadtoapre-colonialversionthe‘braindrain’? students fromBorno(Sokotoseemsnevertohaveestablishedsuchplaces).Didthe to seekfurthereducationinCairo,whereaplace( backwater, asiteitwasfor howevergood wentofftoNorthAfricaortowardsMecca,abandoningWestthem Africaasan academic andtheirbookstockadequateforneeds.Theintellectually curiousamong sufficient, networks. Butitmayhavebeenthatlocalscholars,inthemain,sawthemselvesasself- from 1820sBorno),thentheintellectualmilieudependedonindividualbibliophilesor therewasnosystematicimportationofbooks(butremember,If therewasabigbookexport speculationsfromabroad,thathadpriority.not modern people seriouslythoughttheworldwasnearingitsend,itcoretextsofIslam, they did,remainedwhollyprivatecopies).Oneexplanationcouldbethat,as ferment inCairo,buttherelevantbooksdidnotcomebackwiththem,itseems(or, if Yola) spokeaboutthethreatfromEuropeansandmusthaveheardintellectual the ScholarsnewlyreturnedfromEgypt(likeHamman Joda, ink (andblood). Baghdad in1258,whentheTigris wasblockedwithbooksanditswaterblack turned tolearneddiscussionsthattookplaceattheMongols’horrificsackingof not acontemporaryone.Forprecedentsonhowtohandlebarbarianinvaders,they not tohavebeenmetbythebooktrade.Theyreliedmoreona‘classical’stock, jihad . Itwas,afterall,along-standingtradition riwaq ) hadoncebeenmaintainedfor qadi at THE BOOKINSOKOTO CALIPHATE 157 Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za 158 THE MEANINGSOFTIMBUKTU original textandsuggestedcorrectionsadditions. IwouldalsoliketothankcolleaguesinSokotoandKanowhoreadthe thank theEditorforpermissiontore-publishithere. to mitigateitseffects,andnotrelyonanimperfectbooktrade. does today. Abook‘drought’weknowcanbedevastating;itisessentialthatlearn required muchmoretoilthaninCairoorFez–evenTimbuktu –asindeeditstill far outontheIslamicfrontierespeciallyworthresearching.Bookishnessinthiscontext can onlybeverypartial.Butitdoesmakeaproperhistoryofbooksandthebooktrade intellectual historyofaplacelikeSokoto,sofarfromtheMediterraneanbookstores, conversations, unlesstheyweresubsequentlyreferredtoinabookorletter. Soour substitute.Ashistorians,however,memories canbeagood welackall accesstosuch are othermedia.Admittedly, longconversationswithcolleaguesexcellent there Ofcourse,booksmaynotbetheonlysource ofideas,andtoday particular period. of Arabic,areallsignificantifwetounderstandtheactualintellectualhistorya range oftextsandtheirup-to-dateness,thequalityscholars’students’command the availabilityoftexts:whohadaccesstowhat,andwhen?Thesizelibraries, works skirtthecentralproblemof‘thebook’andsimplefactsconsequences written’. Indeed,studiesofthepapertradeandevenlistslocalauthorstheir hs ok eecoe ihcr.Blohdakdfrboswe lpetnsi ody ohmi 84 butwe BellohadaskedforbookswhenClappertonsaidgoodbye tohimin1824, Thesebookswerechosenwithcare. 198[2ndjourney]). 364[1stjourney]);Clapperton(1829: 6 2: (1828, Denhametal. 5 243). Stewart(1970: 4 Lydon (2004). 3 156). Hofheinz(2004: 2 Hofheinz(2004). 1 NOTES This chapterisaslightlyrevisedversionofanarticlefirstpublishedin ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Ke 17) h itet-etr rvle e fiau eotdo h oktaei ooc n ibku However, traveller Leo Thesixteenth-century Africanus reportedonthebooktradeinMoroccoand Timbuktu. (1971). Krek 8 206). Clapperton(1829: 7 do notknowwhathewanted. ot aigise motlcne) u rbctasain fEci ogpeee h deto rnig anditis But Arabic translations ofEuclidlongprecededtheadventprinting, Porte havingissuedimportlicences). wereprintedbytheMedicisfor export(the forexample, theworksofal-IdrisiandEuclid, Inthe1590s, Abi Farès(2001). see whilecommentsonearlyItalianeffortsattypesettingtheQur’anareinMahdi(1995);forathoroughlisting, (1995), Ottomanedictsonprintingaregivenin Atiyeh ambiguous –seethenewstudyofhimbyNatalieZemonDavis(2006). other possiblelinksofhiswithpapermakersandprintersconnectionsin theNorth African tradearemore hisinvolvementinthepapacy’s plansforexporting Arabic booksorany his interestin Arabic bookproduction in Rome, to 20300. remindsmethatBellosaidheoncecounted thenumberofbookshehadread–theycame Professor SamboJunaidu, mySokotocolleague, widelyread: very anyway, Muhammad Bellowas, BritishgovernmenttopostadoctorinSokoto. the Ibn Sina’s Sotoowouldacopyof Clapperton’s withBelloduringhispreviousvisit. conversationsonearlyMiddleEasternhistory of his EdwardGibbonforChapter54 by some50yearsearlier, whichinaFrenchtranslationwasmuchused, Ghazi Bahadur, Decline andFall al-Qanun , given howactivelyinvolvedBellowasinmedicineandhisinterestnewapproaches–hewanted given , h rne h rbctasaini o la,butitwouldhavebeenasuitablepresentafter Whoprintedthe Arabic translationisnotclear, . The History ofthe The History Tartars under Tamerlane Studia Africana may havebeenthe 7 95,Otbe20.We Octubre2006. 39–52, 17: , Shajara-i Turk by Abu‘l- Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za 2The Yan Izalaorthe ‘Society forRemovalofInnovationandtheReinstatement of Tradition’ wasthelargest Wahhabi 22 Bivar(1960). 21 SeeBrett(1983). 20 Thelatesixteenthandearlyseventeenthcenturies sawintheMediterranean ‘first worldwar’inwhichthestatesof 19 Fudi(1978). Uthmanb. 18 Last(1966–67). 17 Lapidge(2006). 16 Eisenstein(1979). 15 wasMuhammadal-Kashnawial-Danrankawiwholodged forexample, Cairo, Anotablefigureineighteenth-century 14 Al-Hajj(1983). 13 Asinglecamel’s loadwouldsuggestthattheShaykh ‘Uthman’s atthistimetotalledperhaps100to150books. library 12 Mysourceforthisis Alberto Manguel’s 11 Norweretherecarts, professionalrunnerscarriedthestate’s letters. butspecial, Therewasnoformalpostalsystem, 10 Last(1967b). 9 Islamic reformmovementin West Africa. Muslim West Africa circulated quitewidely. whichimpliesthatnewsfrom Shakespeare andMarlowe;presumablyLondonaudiencesrecognisedthereferences, Echoesofthe West playsof African conflictareheardeveninthecontemporary where itintroducedtheuseofguns. the easternendofseafoughtwesternstates;thisconflictalsoinvolved states inthe West African savannah, asIvor Wilks’s (1968)workontheirkininGonjaconfirms. their homearea), The Wangarawa merchantsherewereseriousbookownersinthe ‘western’ traditionof Timbuktu (whichwas in thewind. Neither townhadbeeninclinedtojointhe Yandoto. morefamousscholarlytown, andwassackedbyMuhammadBelloshortlyafterheanother, today), Itwasabaseusedby Wangarawa merchantsonthekolacaravanroutebetweenKanoandGonja(inwhatisGhana town. DanRanko nolongerexistsasa with al-Jabarti’s forhispowersofmagic. fatherandearnedamentioninhishistory theShaykh’ssuggests howeverthatprobablymorethanonecamelwasusedtocarry books. IbrahimGandi, MySokotocolleague, thentheShaykh’s wasamodestone-camelcollection. scholarlytrope, this classical, Shaykh ‘Uthman (andtheKunta)wereconsciouslyfollowing perhaps, If, the numberofcamelloadsittooktotransportit. itwascommontoestimatethesizeofaperson’s by library IntextslikeIbnKhallikan’s, his 450booksontwocamels. thegreatKuntaCheikhBaye(d.1927)reportedlycarried near Timbuktu, DrBazLecocqtellsmethat, or otherequipment. dividedintotwopanniersornets;fourboxescontaining50pounds ofbookseachwouldallowforadriver an oxload), atotalloadofsome300pounds(morethantwice Acamelcancarry (8 sheets=1ounce;128pound). includingtheboardsthatactasbinding manuscriptbookIhavefromnorthernNigeriaweighssome2pounds, century nineteenth- whereasanordinary totheHolyQur’an(my ‘modern’ manuscriptcopyweighs4.5pounds), say, compared, onwhat constitutesa ‘book’ –apoemwouldbelight ofcourse, depends, The numberofbooksacamelcancarry Mahmud ofGhazna(Kraemer1992). wasfinallyburnedbySultan Thelibrary whilethelibrary’s catalogueitselftookup10volumes. camels neededas100, 123)givesthenumberof Pedersen(1984: his beasts(unlessthevolumescarriedweremainlyshortbooksofpoetry)! hewasoverloading Atsome 300bookspercamel, werehetotakeupthepostanemirofferedhim. move hislibrary camels inalphabeticalorderatleastsoundsfeasible! The 400camelsrefertothenumberhesaidwouldneed to al-Aghani 250)saysthe 2: Khallikan (1842–71, Ibn Elsewhere, name istheSahib Abu ’l-QasimIsma’ilibn Abi ’l-Hasan Abbad al-Talakani (hediedinRayy AD 995). aboutthealphabetisedcamelswhoseowner’s quotesthisparticularstory proper 1), IbnKhallikan(1842–71, source, ofPersia History A Literary book tocheckforareference. had memorisedbyheartbeforethe Professor SamboJunaidu(2007)haspointedouthowmanymulti-volumebooksShaykh ‘Uthman andhisfellowscholars withallitsdistractions. for seriouslearningandrepresentedanintellectuallifedifferentfromtheschoolsincity, acquiredareputa Isolatedgroupsofscholarsdeepinthecountryside suchasthe groups Wangarawa) inthebigcities. unlesstheymadeaseriousefforttokeepgoodrelationswithcolleagues(orrival out onthecaravan-bornebooktrade, SoFulanischolarswithaschool( and restovernight. horses)andtheporterstofeed mules, oxen, camels, 15milesorsofortheirbeasts(donkeys, withfacilitiesevery cities, thereweremainroutesusedbycaravansbetween Inpractice, which meantthatanysmallpathwaspotentiallya ‘road’. forexample. of newmosques, hisuncle ‘Abdullah wasmoreofamathematician–hedeterminedtheorientation Euclid isnotcleartome;ifanything, found BellolookingathisnewEuclid’s Clapperton notaprintedbook. possible thatthecopyofEuclidBellofirsthadfromMeccawas Arabic manuscripttext, o b lFrj‘l .a-uana-saai neh a oyo t ftesoyi o pcyhl then30 isnotapocryphal, Ifthestory al-Husainal-Isfahani)oncehehadacopyofit. (of Abu ’l-Faraj ‘Ali b. 12–9 admsplsteshlrpto’ ae.NeitherBrownenorBrowne’s main (1928–29) (andmisspellsthescholar–patron’s name). jihad sahib Elements o oetermmr a iul enablingthemtorunthro wasvisual, ; forsometheirmemory A History ofReading A History jihad sdt orudwt 0cml nt40,butlateronlyneededthe used togoroundwith30camels(not400), fe h akn fYnoo pagesofbrokenbookswereseenblowing Afterthesackingof Yandoto, . u el sntigmr.WhyMuhammadBellowassointerestedin buttellsusnothingmore. , tsangaya ) off the beaten track – as many were, by choice – missed bychoice–missed ) offthebeatentrack–asmanywere, 19) wherehecitesthefourvolumesofEGBrowne’s (1996), ugh thepagesofa Kitab Kitab tion THE BOOKINSOKOTO CALIPHATE 159 Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za 160 THE MEANINGSOFTIMBUKTU 1Ple 12) nterino auub Adlai(.426) the ‘Abdullahi(c.1452–63), Inthereignof Yakubu b. Palmer(1928). 31 First, buttwopointsshouldbekeptinmind. Pre-colonialdemographyisanevenmorehazardoustopic, Meek(1925). 30 2000). Boyd(1989);&Mack(1997, 29 79). Saad(1983: 28 365) (1828: Denhametal. 27 139) Hiskett(1996: 26 217). Goody(1968: 25 274–275). Marty(1922: 24 Kane(2003). 23 3Eineder (1960);Fedrigoni(1966); Walz (1985). 53 d.1855. d.1824; Andrea Galvani, forexample Anton, d.1810 ; FratelliGalvani, Valentine Galvani, 52 246). Curtin(1975: 51 Lavers(1979);heisquotingconsulFrazer’s reportinFO76/21. 50 Christelow(1994). 49 Hiskett(1966). 48 231). Hunwick&O’Fahey(1995: 47 Hiskett(1973). 46 Toorawa (2005). 45 (1985). SeeWalz 44 Kirk-Greene(1962). 43 Skinner(1977). 42 224). Clapperton(1829: 41 Ba&Daget(1962). 40 31). Last(1967a: 39 Brenner&Last(1985). 38 Hunwick&O’Fahey(1995). 37 80). Saad(1983: 36 80). Saad(1983: 35 Walz (1985). 34 Lavers(1979);Girard(1685). 33 468–469). Africanus(1956: 32 Colonial (‘Christian’)rulewitnessedaboominMuslimreligiouseducationandscholarship. theyretainedanenhancedstatusbybecomingscholarsinstead. were once ‘royal’ slaves–aftertheendofslavery, Ihavefoundinvillageslearnedmenwhosefamilies atleastinthetwentiethcentury. be awayoutoflowlyslavestatus, Butbecominga ‘scholar’ could children –boysandgirlsofscholarlyparentswere(andstillare)somethinganelite. sch Hence, whoseinterestinIslamicscholarshipmightbeminimal. families wereoftenbroughtupprimarilybyslaves, Suchchildrenfromimportant bornfree. ofcourse, numbers ofchildrenbytheirconcubines;andthesewere, asthefreemenfathered large thisinitialpopulationgrewhugelyinthecourseofcentury seriously literate?Second, which meansperhaps250freeadultmalesandtheequivalentnumberofwomen–withonly25to50them womenandchildren, inKanocitytheremightbeasfew1000free-bornmen, Inwhichcase, to beonly10percent. 171);andtheproportionof ‘Fellata’ whocould readandwritewassaid(snidely?) tobe30:1(Clapperton1929: at thetime, bylocallyresident Arabs Buttheratioofslavetofreewasestimated, withSokotothenabout120000. at about30000, inthe1820spopulationofKanocitywasestimated Forexample, the numbersinvolvedmightberelativelysmall. asln rmMle bringingwiththembooksonDivinity[ Hausaland fromMelle, nadto oteKrn onlythebooksofLaw[ in additiontotheKoran, probably hismajorworkof ‘Abd al-Salamalongwithcopiesof ‘classics’: saghir Theemir Abu Bakralsoinauguratedthereadingof brought toKanobyShaykhal-Tunisi inthepreviousreign. MuhammadRumfawasthefirstemirtoread the ruler Abu Bakrb. of the the Wangara scholar–merchantal-ZagaitiinitiatedtheteachinginKano Atthesametime, but theyarenotspecified. says the , then a relatively new book by al-Suyuti (d.1505) which was brought to Kano, also in the previous reign, by Shaykh byShaykh alsointhepreviousreign, thenarelativelynewbookbyal-Suyuti(d.1505)whichwasbroughttoKano, , Mukhtasar Asl al-wangariyyin of KhalilibnIshaq(healsotaughtthe asr Bahral-‘ulum tafsir, a-aj16:10]). [al-Hajj 1968: Mudawwana . At the end of the fifteenth century al-Maghilihad Attheendoffifteenthcentury ‘brought manybooks’ . fiqh Mudawwana ] andthe Traditions [ by Sahnun(d.855)andaworkal-Samarkandi(d.983)– tauhid ] andEtymology[ but hedidnotneedacopy– ‘he knewitbyheart’, al-Shifa’ Kano Chronicler hadith of al-QadiIyad(d.1149)–ithadbeen lugha ’ hn in1565–73itsaysthat Then, ]’. reports that ‘the Fulanicameto .Frel,ourdoctorshad, Formerly, ]. Jami‘ al- olarly Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za 8Dna ta.(88 2). (1828: Denhametal. 68 2). (1828: Denhametal. 67 (1981). Bloom(2001);Boschetal. 66 165). Hofheinz(2004: 65 Athird commonlyoccurincollectionselsewheretheMuslimworld. excerptsorpartsofalongwork, ‘Broken’books, 64 3Tesic ocpigi ibkui elcinpraso h trcinIlmcshoighdfrlclcide.Were Theswitch to copyingin Timbuktu isareflectionperhapsoftheattractionIslamicschoolinghadforlocalchildren. 63 Koki(1977). 62 etc. binding, ThecostofQur’anscoursevarieswiththequalitycopying, 162). 2: (1828(1stjourney), Denhametal. 61 Thebooksweretwovolumesofthe 139). (1966: Hiskett 60 completedpeacenegotiationswith in1817, BowdichwasaBritishtravellerandscientificwriterwho, 203). Goody(1968: 59 189). (1828[1stjourney]: Denhametal. 58 34). Koki(1977: 57 Thereamwas500sheetsfromwhich4pageswerecutpersheet. 32–33). 218–221);Koki(1977: 2: 464, 1: (1816, Park 56 the ‘familiar’ sizeofpaper. accordingtoal-Qalqashandiin1412, Itwas, ThequarterMansuriwas213mmby142mm. 55 IamindebtedtoProfessorMenageforlendingmethisbookwithitsreproductionsofboth Turkish and Ersoy(1963). 54 a aieAtoiyofca nKn,andnotaprofessionalscholar. was aNative Authority officialinKano, a OneIhaveseen, kept unboundbetweenboards. printedclassical Arabic booksinpersonallibrariesmightbe into parts?Eveninthefirsthalfoftwentiethcentury, as ‘fragments’ or ‘incomplete’? Was bookbindingthereforeunpopular becauseitmadeimpossibletosplitabookup shouldwestopreferringtothem Ifso, serialsandotherepisodicliterature. reissuedineffectlikepart-works, as books, perhapsweshouldconsiderthem re-copiedandsoldjustlikebooks, borrowed, a ‘book’? Iftheseexcerptswereused, whatconstitutes only withscatteredexcerptsfrom ‘classics’? The commonnessofexcerpts raises thequestionagain: perhapsspecificallycomposedtoovercometheproblemsofstudentshaving tootherwisework composed –indeed, ofcompletebookshavebeenthoselocally willthelargestcategory then, Inthiscontext, collections andbookshops. wasparticularlyhighamong ‘classics’ inprivate Isuspect, Theprevalenceof ‘broken’ books, of twoorthreebooks. and ‘volumes’ mightcontainparts of whatShaykhSidiyaboughtinMarrakeshwasonlypartsbooks(Stewart1970), katib or in Arabic whatterminologywasused, even, was adivisionoflabourin West African bookproductionisnotclear–nor, Howfarthere Thecopywouldthenbeproof-readandcorrected. separate copyistputinthevowellingcolouredink. a InBorno, butapparently itwasmoreusualforacopyisttotranscribeanentirebook. systems wereusedinSokoto, the different sectionsofthebooksimultaneouslytoscribesforcopying(apracticeknowninmedievalEuropeas the schools ‘overproducing’ then? The timeifnotthelabourorcostofcopying couldbereducedeitherbyputtingout roughly comparable. bookpricesinlatesixteenth-century Timbuktu Kanowere andlatenineteenth-century then, Apparently, this time. 40 percent?Five-thousandcowries(orthecostofpaperforaQur’an)isaboutone-twentiethvalueslaveat Itishardtoestimatewhatproportionofabook’s salepricewenttothecopyist–perhapsaslow Sahilliogiu (1977). quotedby Compare withtherangeofvaluesgivenininheritancedocumentsfromfifteenth-century Turkey (Brusa), alongside ‘ten dollars’. low downonthelist, partof a the Asante Empire(nowpartofGhana)onbehalfthe African CompanyofMerchants. 43). notes40, 46, 1985: Usually thenumberofsheetsperreamvariedsomewhatbutdataotherthanforKanoarenotavailabletome(see Walz speculative suggestion. makemineonlya periods, andthelimiteddataavailableonIslamicpapersizesatvarying The variationinpagesize, imported watermarks. ajami pecia was moreascribethansecretary. nSkt,termslike InSokoto, . Ashfa rqie ytm,o yoerae ittn h ett ru fcpit tesrpoimsse) Both orbyonereaderdictatingthetexttoagroupofcopyists(thescriptoriumsystem). system), orquire, , again andapartofthe warraq were apparentlynotused; Mukhtasar (of Khalil)withthe Mukhtasar Sahih fBkai twovolumesof of Bukhari, rne nCio wasnumbered ‘90’ bytheownerwho printed inCairo, k.t.b. Risala and (of Ibn Abi Zayd?). In the inventory theycome Intheinventory (of Ibn Abi Zayd?). n.s.kh. r ohue o oyn,whilethe are bothusedforcopying, Dala’il ashfa (of al-QadiIyad?), THE BOOKINSOKOTO CALIPHATE 161 Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za 162 THE MEANINGSOFTIMBUKTU Junaidu SW(2007)ResearchmethodologyamongscholarsoftheSokotoCaliphate beforetheBritishcolonialinvasionof Ibn Khallikan(1842–71) Ibn Hiskett M(1973) currencyofthewesternSudan. Hiskett M(1966)Materialsrelatingtothecowry Hunwick JO&O’FaheyRS(Eds)(1995) InSSReese(Ed.) in oftheKa’tiLibrary survey Timbuktu. Apreliminary Hofheinz A (2004)Gothsinthelandof theblacks: al-Hajj MA (1983) Some diplomatic correspondence of the Seifuwa Mais of Borno with Egypt, Turkey and Morocco. In B Usman InBUsman Turkey andMorocco. al-Hajj MA(1983)SomediplomaticcorrespondenceoftheSeifuwaMaisBornowithEgypt, al-Hajj MA(1968) activitiesofthe chronicleontheoriginsandmissionary A seventeenthcentury Wangarawa. InJRGoody(Ed.) Goody JR(1968)RestrictedliteracyinnorthernGhana. Girard (1685) Fedrigoni A (1966) Fedrigoni A Ersoy O(1963) Eisenstein EL(1979) Eineder G(1960) ClappertonH&OudneyD(1828) Denham D, Davis NZ(2006) Curtin P(1975) Clapperton H(1829/1969) Christelow A (Ed.)(1994) Browne EG(1928-29) tenth–eleventhcentury AD. Brett M(1983)IslamandtradeintheBiladal-Sudan, Brenner L&LastM(1985) The roleoflanguagein West African Islam. Boyd J&MackB(2000) Boyd J&MackB(1997) Boyd J(1989) CarswellJ&PetherbidgeG(1981) Bosch G, Bloom JM(2001) Bivar ADH (1960) A datedKuranfromBorno. Ba AH &DagetJ(1962) Atiyeh GN(Ed.)(1995) Kane O(2003) Kane Krek M(1971) Kraemer JL(1992) Africanus L(1956) Abi FarèsHS(2001) REFERENCES Koki M(1977) Kirk-Greene AHM (Ed.)(1962) 93 nulse ae.Skt:UsmanuDanfodiyoUniversity Sokoto: Unpublishedpaper. 1903. The transmissionoflearninginIslamic Africa & N Alkali (Eds) 7–42 I(4): Cambridge UniversityPress Publications Society 82 1823and1824 1822, odn JohnMurray London: atLnig MichiganStateUniversityPress East Lansing: Michigan StateUniversityPress SUNY Press of Tradition L’Histoire chronologiqueduRoyaumede Tripoly deBarbarie edn Brill Leiden: . ulmmdriyi otooilNgra AstudyoftheSocietyforRemovalInnovationandReinstate Muslim modernityinpostcolonialNigeria: h aihssse:Nn sau 7316:Tahr poet&Islamicleader. Teacher, 1793–1865: Nana Asma’u, The caliph’s sister: Typographia Arabica Kano malam/MahmuduKoki VI.v X Yuzyillarda Turkiye' Kagit veIX. XVIII. 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New York: Hill & Wang Hill New York: loigo:IndianaUniversityPress Bloomington: SOAS Bulletin Journal of African History e ok OxfordUniversityPress New York: . e ae:Yale UniversityPress NewHaven: . odn FrankCass London: 91:132–141 29(1): , oio ILTE Torino: . Vl ) edn Brill Leiden: 2). (Vol. ivru:Paper Hilversum: . 4 431–440 24: East Lansing: Kano Studies Cambridge: lay NY: Albany, ment . Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za ik 16)Ilmclann ntewsenSdn InJRGoody (Ed.) Wilks I(1968)IslamiclearninginthewesternSudan. publishedas The papertradeof Walz T (1985) A noteonthetrans-Saharanpapertradein18thand19thcenturies, Fudi(1978) Uthman b. Toorawa SM(2005) Stewart CC(1970) A newsourceonthebookmarketinMoroccoandIslamicscholarship West Africa. &Ed.)(1977) Skinner N(Tr. ailoi 17)Otmnbo eais In H(1977)Ottomanbook legacies. Sahilliogiu Saad EN(1983) Pedersen J(1984/1946) Park M(1816) Palmer HR(1928) Meek CK(1925) Marty P(1922) (1996) Manguel A ad 19)Fo h aucitaet h g fpitdbos InGN Atiyeh (Ed.) Mahdi M(1995)Fromthemanuscriptagetoofprintedbooks. ReflectionsontheproductionofIslamicknowledgein Lydon G(2004)InkwellsoftheSahara: BayeroUniversity Kano: Unpublishedpaper. Lavers JE(1979) Trans-Saharan tradebefore1800. Last M(1967b) Arabic (pp.43–46);iii. Fulfuldepoetry Arabicprose(pp.31–42);ii. i. Last M(1967a) ‘The Arabic-script literatureoftheNorth’: Last M(1966–67) Arabic manuscriptbooksintheNational Archives Kaduna. Lapidge M(2006) University Press of RichardHill 209–250 11: to Abdul-Latif Tibawi by colleagues, friends and students and friends colleagues, by to Abdul-LatifTibawi written wordandcommunicationintheMiddleEast The transmissionoflearninginIslamic Africa correspondence (pp.47–70). 1–15 3(1): 1–10, 2(2): gp n h ua nte1t n 9hcnuis InMWDaly(Ed.) Egypt andtheSudanin18th19thcenturies. Travels intheinteriorof Africa Etudes surl’IslamenCôted’Ivoire The SokotoCaliphate Social history of Social history Timbuktu The northerntribesofNigeria e ok LBarberPress New York: . The Anglo-Saxon Library The Anglo-Saxon Sudanese memoirs A history ofreading A history Ibn Abi Tahir bookmaninBaghdad Aninth-century Tayfur and Arabic writerlyculture: Bayan wujubal-hijra ‘ala `l-‘ibad The Arabic book The Arabic Alhaji MahmaduKoki Second interim report, Northern History ResearchScheme NorthernHistory Second interimreport, odn ogas Green Longmans, London: . ao:GovernmentPrinter Lagos: . odn HarperCollins London: . rnltdb rnh rneo,N:PrincetonUniversityPress NJ: Princeton, Translated byGFrench. . abig:CambridgeUniversityPress Cambridge: . e ok OxfordUniversityPress New York: . Arabic and Islamic garland: Historical, educational and literary paperspre educationalandliterary Historical, Arabic andIslamicgarland: (2 Vols). London: John Murray John London: (2 Vols). atI.Lno:OxfordUniversityPress London: PartII. . edn Brill Leiden: . ai:AhmaduBelloUniversityPress Zaria: . ai:EditionsErnestLeroux Paris: . lay Y SUNYPress NY: Albany, . dtdb He-ar.Katu:KhartoumUniversityPress Khartoum: EditedbyFHel-Masri. . 1719.Lno:IslamicCulturalCentre London: (197–199). Literacy intraditionalsocieties eerhBlei,Centreof Arabic Documenta Research Bulletin, oensto nteSdn Essaysinhonor Modernisation intheSudan: h oki h sai ol:The The bookintheIslamicworld: ai:AhmaduBelloUniversity Zaria: . Bilad Shinqit abig:Cambridge Cambridge: . odn Routledge London: . InSSReese(Ed.) . Hesperis-Tamuda sented tion THE BOOKINSOKOTO CALIPHATE 163 Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za 164 THE MEANINGSOFTIMBUKTU