Abba Isa Tijani Tradition and Modernity The Gamergu (Malgwa) of North-Eastern Nigeria © Copyright remains with the author Non-profit publication By virtue of submitting this document for online publication with Mandaras Publishing, the author certifies that this is a true electronic equivalent of the copy of the dissertation approved by the University of London for the award of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in 2005. No alteration of the content has occurred and if there are any minor variations in formatting, they are as a result of the conversion to Adobe Acrobat format (or similar software application). Mandaras Publishing Electronic Online Publication London – 2010 www.mandaras.info ISBN-13 978-1-906168-01-8 A voluntary legal deposit of this publication has been submitted to the British Library at [email protected] to be managed through their new digital storage solution. Tradition and Modernity: The Gamergu (Malgwa) of North-Eastern Nigeria Abba Isa TIJANI For the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Anthropology At University of London 2005 1 ABSTRACT The Gamergu are one of the autochthonous groups in present-day Borno State, North Eastern Nigeria. Their history is one of continual accommodation to the presence of the Kanuri (the dominant ethnic group in the Lake Chad region and the Bornu empire), whose incursions into the lands of Gamergu started as early as the time of the Sayfawa Dynasty who established their capital at Birni Gazargamo in the late 15th century (CE). In the decades and centuries that followed the Kanuri invaded further south where the land was more fertile for agricultural production and where more ‗pagan‘ tribes existed to be plundered or converted to Islam. Many communities in the region assimilated Kanuri culture, including the Sao, Marghi and Mandara. The Gamergu population was much more vulnerable to Kanuri attack because of its lack of centralised government and army. They were hence left to defend themselves through their communal affiliations and by retreating further south. The Gamergu had to adapt to the fact that they existed on the border of the more powerful Kanuri Empire at its peak of state formation. Many Gamergu communities were brought within Kanuri political structures whereas some survived at the periphery of the Empire with the help of their local defensive mechanisms. This thesis investigates and documents the cultural and social changes that have taken place in this Gamergu borderland using oral historical records and contemporary ethnography. The Gamergu have maintained certain elements of their traditional practices which have been blended into contemporary socio-political institutions. Traditional beliefs and practices such as hǝ le (ritual performance for the beginning of the farming season) and zawada (oath taking) continue to form part of their modern social life. In some cases the rituals are linked to Islamic practice where, for example, the hǝ le festivity is combined with the Muslim festival of Eid ul Kabir (during the pilgrimage to Mecca). Many decades of frontier life have also enabled the Gamergu to adopt the Kanuri language as their second language and they identify themselves as Muslims. But Gamergu religious traditions are still practised by the people alongside the Islamic religion, whilst domestic rituals associated with the individual life cycle continue to create ―Gamergu-ness‖. This situation has also enabled the Gamergu people to resist total assimilation over recent decades of living on an expanding frontier characterised by the introduction of modern land tenure and land use systems. Modern agricultural development in many Gamergu communities has influenced the socio-economic growth of the region, leading to an influx of immigrant farmers. Access to land has changed from a system of local access (―land to the tiller‖) to arrangements for derived rights institutionalised in the community. The lands of the Gamergu have become a centre of attraction for agricultural production. In the course of this, Gamergu cultural identity, custom and residual land rights have become salient, once more, in contemporary life. 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................. 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................ 3 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ..................................................................................... 6 MAPS ........................................................................................................................... 6 FIGURES ..................................................................................................................... 6 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................ 7 CHAPTER ONE ......................................................................................................... 9 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................ 9 Context of Fieldwork and Research Methodology .................................................................. 12 Outline of the Thesis ................................................................................................................ 15 CHAPTER TWO ...................................................................................................... 17 CONTEXT AND THEORY ......................................................................................... 17 The Regional context and Environment ................................................................................... 17 North-eastern Nigeria ............................................................................................................... 17 Borno Region.......................................................................................................................................................... 18 The Gamergu Complex ............................................................................................................ 21 CHAPTER THREE .................................................................................................. 33 FORMATION OF ANCIENT GAMERGU POLITY .................................................. 33 Historical Origin of the Gamergu ............................................................................................ 33 Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 33 Oral Traditions ......................................................................................................................... 33 The Coming of a Stranger ....................................................................................................................................... 33 The North – South Migration.................................................................................................................................. 36 The Aborigines (Ngawarwu) .................................................................................................................................. 36 Archaeological Evidence ......................................................................................................... 38 Population and Pattern of Gamergu Frontiers .......................................................................... 41 Ancient Gamergu Settlements ........................................................................................................................... 44 Ishga Kewe ............................................................................................................................................................. 44 Dogumba .............................................................................................................................................................. 445 Iza Garu .................................................................................................................................................................. 44 Gawa ....................................................................................................................................................................... 44 Muna ....................................................................................................................................................................... 44 Kajeri ...................................................................................................................................................................... 44 Boboshe .................................................................................................................................................................. 44 Religious Practice and Social Hierarchy .................................................................................. 50 Religious Practice and Cosmology ............................................................................................... 50 Hǝ le ....................................................................................................................................................................... 53 Zawada ................................................................................................................................................................... 54 Socio-political Organisation ...................................................................................................