The Journal of Negro History, Volume 2, 1917

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Abderrahman Sadi spent his remaining years, first at Timbuctoo, then
at Jenne. It seems that because of his unusual learning and knowledge
of politics and government he was employed by the pashas in diplomatic
affairs. Although there was then no longer the same center of culture
as flourished at the University of Sankore in former years,
Abderrahman Sadi, still imbued with the desire to impart knowledge,
devoted no little of his time to giving lectures and holding
conferences. His most important undertaking, however, was his great
historical work embracing all the countries of the Niger. For such a
stupendous task he had adequate preparation not only by his former
training but by his experience as a traveller, his services as a
public functionary, his social contact and his access to documents
which are no longer extant. The following is the preface:

"Praise be to God whom the weight of a pearl upon the earth does
not escape. May prayer and salvation be with the Master of the
first and last, our Lord Mohammed. We know that our ancestors
took pleasure in mentioning the companions of the Prophet and the
saints, the sheiks and eminent kings of their country, with their
lives, their edifices, and the great events of their reigns. They
have told us all that they have seen, or heard, of the times
extending behind us.

"As for the present time, no one is to be found to take an
interest in these things or follow the path traced by their
ancestors. Witnessing the decline of this science (history), so
precious on account of the instruction it offers to mankind, I
have implored the assistance of God in writing down all that I
have read, seen, or heard concerning the kings of the Sudan and
the Songhoi people, and in relating their history and the events
connected with their expeditions of war. I shall speak of
Timbuctoo and of its foundation, of the princes who have wielded
the power of that city, I shall mention the learned and pious men
who dwelt therein, and I shall continue this history to the close
of the dominion of the sultans of Morocco."[198]

While it is not our purpose to sketch here the history of this empire,
some knowledge of it will give a better appreciation of this great
work. As an historical document the Tarik e Soudan is the only source
from which we get an idea as to the origin of the Songhoi. The natives
of this country inform the traveller that they came from the east. The
Tarik e Soudan says: "The first king of the Songhoi was called
Dialliaman," meaning, "He has come from Yemen." Dialliaman quitted
Yemen in company with his brother. They travelled through the country
of God until destiny brought them to the land of Kokia. Giving a more
detailed account it says:

"Now Kokia was a town of the Songhoi people situated on the banks
of a river, and was very ancient. It existed in the time of the
Pharaohs, and it is said that one of them, during his dispute
with Moses, sent thither for the magician whom he opposed to the
Prophet.

"The two brothers reached the town in such a terrible state of
distress that their appearance was scarcely human; their skins
were cracked by the heat and dust of the desert, and they were
almost naked. The inhabitants questioned them concerning the
country of their origin, and their names have been forgotten in
the surname with which their reply provided them, 'Dia min al
Jemen'--'Come from Yemen,' And Dialliaman the elder settled in
Kokia. Now the god of the Songhoi was a fish who appeared to them
from the water at certain periods wearing a golden ring in his
nose; and the people gethered together and worshipped the fish,
receiving its commands and prohibitions and obeying its oracles.

"Perceiving their error, Dialliaman hid in his heart a resolution
to kill the false deity, and God assisted him in his design.

"One day he pierced the fish with a lance in the presence of the
people and killed it. Then the people proclaimed Dialliaman
king."[199]

Here the author has confused tradition with history.[200] The document
itself, however, substantiates the contention that there arose in this
region one of the world's greatest empires ruled by an almost unbroken
succession of kings who piloted the nation through the trials of its
incipiency, enabled it to develop a very advanced civilization, and
extended its influence over a large portion of Africa. The empire of
the Songhoi lasted about 1,000 years, during which three dynasties
ruled over these people. The kings of these lines adopted the names
Dia, Sunni, and Askia. The first included thirty kings who ruled from
700 to 1335; the second a line of eighteen kings from 1335 to 1492,
and the third and last dynasty from 1494 to 1591.

During the reign of Dia Sobi of the first dynasty the empire passed
through a crisis. Unable to conquer its enemies from without, it
finally became the vassal of the Mali empire on the west. Jenne, the
city of much wealth and culture, was then separated from the Songhoi
empire. But finally there came Ali Kolon, of the second dynasty, who
freed the Songhoi from the rule of Mali. The country thereafter
continued for some time in peace. Later it expanded considerably under
Sunni Ali, "the true Negro soldier," who ruled from 1464 to 1493.
Although skeptical, violent and oppressive he paved the way for the
establishment of the largest empire which had ever existed in that
part of the world.

In 1494 the second dynasty was brought to a close when Sunni Barro,
the last of that line, was obliged to flee from the country and Askia
Mohammed usurped the throne. He began as a pious ruler and was,
therefore, praised as "a brilliant light shining after great darkness;
a savior who drew the servants of God from idolatry and the country
from ruin."[201] He made pilgrimages to Mecca, scattered his funds in
the holy places, rendered homage to the Khalif Abassid Motewekkel in
Egypt, got in touch with the theologians and learned men of Cairo and
endeavored to take over the more advanced civilization of Egypt.
During these years, however, his piety did not deter him from the use
of the sword. He ever fought his neighbors, conducting an expedition
against some nation almost every year. He eventually succeeded in
triumphing over his enemies, conquering Mali on the west and Agades,
Katsina, Kano, Zegzey, and Sanfara on the east. He was then Askia the
Great, the ruler of one of the greatest empires of the world,
extending north and south from Thegazza to Bandouk and east and west
from Lake Chad to the Atlantic Ocean. He was not a mere warrior. He
was just as successful in carrying out a constructive policy of
incorporation. Instead of being satisfied with the payment of tribute,
he destroyed old systems, established his lieutenants in the seats of
government, appointed viceroys to supervise the governors of
provinces, promoted commerce, and built up a formidable standing army.

Askia the Great, however, finally declined and was deposed by his son
Askia Moussa in 1521. He entered upon the policy of killing his
hundred brothers and was finally assassinated. Then came a nephew of
Askia the Great, Askia Bankouri, who, much like his predecessor,
endeavored to murder his uncles who might pretend to the throne.
Despite this blot on his escutcheon, however, it is said that he
wielded power with magnificence and maintained a great court. He was
dethroned by the Viceroy of Dandi in 1537 and Askia Ismael was
proclaimed king. His motives, according to the Tarik, are interesting.
"I accepted the honour for three reasons," declared he; "to rescue my
father from his distressful condition, to enable my sisters to resume
the veil that Bankouri had obliged them to relinquish, and to pacify
Yan Mara, one of the hundred hen ostriches, who was wont to throw
herself into a frenzy whenever she saw Bankouri."[202]

Ismael died in 1540 and was succeeded by his brother Ishak. Following
the example of his predecessor, he put to death many of his relations.
The last four Askia to rule over the entire empire had much difficulty
in maintaining their positions because of the internal and external
causes operating to make it decline and fall. The Moors, the most
aggressive peoples then seeking to invade the dominions, finally
overran the empire and made it a colony.

Referring to this turbulent period through which the empire passed,
the Tarik says: "All was changed in a moment. Danger took the place of
security, destitution of abundance, trouble, calamities, and violence
succeeded to tranquillity. Everywhere the populations began to destroy
each other. In all places and in every direction rapine became the
law, war spared neither life nor property, nor the position of the
people. Disorder was general, it spread everywhere till it reached at
last the highest degree of intensity." "Things continued thus," adds
the historian, "until towards the moment in which the Songhoi dynasty
approached its end, and its empire ceased to exist. At this moment
faith was exchanged for infidelity; there was nothing forbidden by God
which was not openly done. Men drank wine, they gave themselves up to
vice.... As to adultery, it became so frequent that indulgence in it
was almost accepted as permissible. Without it there was no elegance
and no glory. ... Because of these abominations, the Almighty in his
vengeance drew down upon the Songhoi the victorious army of the Moors.
He brought it through terrible suffering from a distant country. Then
the roots of this people were separated from the trunk, and the
chastisement they underwent was exemplary."[203]

The Tarik e Soudan, however, continues its story beyond the fall of
the empire of the Songhoi. It throws light on Foulbes, Touaregs, Mossi
and Ouolofs, mentions Morocco and Massina, sketches the careers of
saints and scholars, sets forth the authors _curriculum vitae_, and
brings this narrative to a close in 1653. His task as a historian
finished, the author appends the annals of the country to the year
1656, saying: "What shall happen hereafter I shall relate in the same
manner as that which is past, for as long as I shall be alive."[204]
It is highly probable that the author died that year.

Considered from all angles the student must agree with the
investigator that the Tarik e Soudan is a masterpiece. Barth, the
distinguished German scholar, says that the book forms "one of the
most important additions that the present age has made to the history
of mankind."[205] Lady Lugard, another writer in this field, believes
that it is not merely an authentic narrative but is an unusually
valuable document since it throws unconscious light upon the life,
manners, politics and literature of that country. "Above all," says
she, "it possesses the crowning quality, displayed usually in creative
poetry alone, of presenting a vivid picture of the character of the
men with whom it deals. It has been called the 'Epic of the Soudan,'"
continues the writer. "It lacks the charm of form, but in all else
the description is well merited. Its pages are a treasure-house of
information for the careful student and the volumes may be read many
times without extracting from them more than a small part of all that
they contain."[206]

Felix DuBois refers to it as serving him as his "charming and
picturesque guide through the Soudan." "The _Tarik e Soudan_," says
he, "is conceived upon a perfectly clear and logical plan according to
the most correct rules of literary composition."[207] "It forms, with
the exception of the holy writings, the favorite volume of the negro,
and is known to the furthest extremity of western Africa, from the
shores of the Niger to the borders of Lake Chad." "Its style,"
continues he, "is very simple and clear, entirely lacking those
literary artifices so much in vogue among the Arabs; and the author
displays an unusual conscientiousness, never hesitating to give both
versions of a doubtful event."[208] On the whole it is a book of
elevated active morals and with its charming combination of fables,
marvels and miracles it is well adapted to influence the negraic mind.
The work is not an uninteresting narration of events but an
explanation of them as the rewards of God when fortunate and
punishments of the wicked when calamitous. Devoted to religion and
civic virtue, the author portrays as sinful the evil deeds of all
whether they be peasants or kings. "The _Tarik_ is to this day,"
remarks Felix DuBois, "the Hozier of the Soudan. In addition to the
attractions to be found in its pages, it contains a charm which
entirely escapes the Sudanese, and which we alone are privileged to
taste, viz., the _naivete_, good nature, and delicious sincerity which
pervade the book." The "book admirably reflects the life and mind of
the Soudan of yesterday. One enjoys from its pages," says this writer,
"the delicate repasts offered by Homer, Herodotus, and Froissard, and
it is for this reason I have called the _Tarik_ the chef-d'oeuvre of
Sudanese literature."[209]

A.O. STAFFORD

FOOTNOTES:

[194] Felix DuBois, "Timbuctoo the Mysterious," 310.

[195] _Ibid._, 315.

[196] This work has been translated into French by M. Octave Houdas,
Professor of the Oriental School of Languages in Paris.

[197] Felix DuBois, "Timbuctoo the Mysterious," 312.

[198] Felix DuBois, "Timbuctoo the Mysterious," 313-314.

[199] Felix DuBois, "Timbuctoo the Mysterious," 90-91.

[200] "Like Homer, Abderrahman sometimes wanders astray," says DuBois,
"pen in hand. Side by side with the gravest events he mentions that 'a
white crow appeared from the 22nd of Rebia to the 28th of Djoumada, on
which day the children caught and killed it.' Elsewhere in the
narratives of his voyage to Massina, one of his hosts gave him his
daughter in marriage. He was fifty years of age at the time, and in
possession of several other wives. Not content with imparting the
event to posterity, he adds, 'My union with Fatima was concluded on
the twelfth day of Moharrem, 1645, but the marriage was not
consummated until Friday the sixteenth.' I believe he would have given
us his washing-bills if the use of body linen had been familiar to the
Sudanese. In referring to this tendency of the annalist, DuBois does
not mean to say anything which might be taken as an undervaluation of
this work. He aims to show how the Tarik reminds the reader of works
of some of the leading writers of the most civilized countries." See
DuBois, "Timbuctoo the Mysterious," p. 316.

[201] It was said "He made a pilgrimage to the house of God,
accompanied by a thousand foot-soldiers and five hundred horse, and
carrying with him three hundred thousand mitkals of gold from the
treasure of Sunni Ali. He scattered this treasure in the holy places,
at the tomb of the Prophet in Medina, and at the sacred mosque at
Mecca. In the latter town he bought gardens and established a
charitable institute for the people of the Sudan. This place is well
known in Mecca, and cost five thousand mitkals.

"He rendered homage to the Khalif Abassid Motewekkel in Egypt, praying
to be made his deputy in the Sudan in general and in Songhois in
particular. The Abassid consented, requiring the king of Songhois to
abdicate for three days and to place the power in his hands. On the
fourth day Motewekkel solemnly proclaimed Askia Mohammed the
representative of the sultan in Sudan. He accompanied this by placing
a green fez and white turban upon his head and returning him his
sabre." "Timbuctoo the Mysterious," 110.

[202] Felix DuBois, "Timbuctoo the Mysterious," 119-120.

[203] Lady Lugard, "A Tropical Dependency," 283-284.

[204] Felix DuBois, "Timbuctoo the Mysterious," 314.

[205] Lady Lugard, "A Tropical Dependency," 154.

[206] _Ibid._, 154-155.

[207] Felix DuBois, "Timbuctoo the Mysterious," 313.

[208] Felix DuBois, "Timbuctoo the Mysterious," 312.

[209] _Ibid._, 316.

FROM A JAMAICA PORTFOLIO--FRANCIS WILLIAMS[210]

A great dividing line in the history of Jamaica runs across the record
between the years 1834 and 1838. On the further side lay slavery; on
the hitherward side lies the freedom, partially proclaimed on August
1, 1834, and made complete and absolute on a like date in the year of
grace 1838. Amid the noise and gloom of the period from these years
back into the past, it is only here and there that the face and figure
of a son of Africa stands out with anything like clearness or
distinction against the background of historic events. It was in 1494
that the European first came to Jamaica. The island was then
discovered by Columbus. Fifteen years later the Spaniards, who had
meantime harried and slain the native Indians, set to work seriously
to settle in the island. As the Arrowaks withered from the land,
before the cruelty of the conqueror, the African was brought in to
supply slave labor.[211] It is not our immediate task to enquire into
the condition of the slaves during the Spanish occupation, nor does
there exist very much material for answering such an enquiry, but it
may be noted, as an interesting fact, that a black priest was in the
deputation that came forth to negotiate with the British conqueror
when, in 1655, the surrender of the capital city, St. Jago de la Vega,
became a necessity. The Spanish Governor, Don Arnoldi Gasi, sent as
one of his representatives Don Acosta, "a noble Portuguese."
Belonging to his establishment and accompanying him as chaplain was a
Negro priest. His name has not come down to us but we know his fate.
One of the conditions of the surrender was that the Spaniards were not
to attempt to remove their belongings.[212] The town, however,
contained a party, chiefly of Portuguese, hostile to the surrender.
The first article of the capitulation required that all "goods, wares,
merchandizes, or what else upon the said island, be delivered up,
etc., without any deceit, embezzlement, or concealment whatever." A
certain Colonel made bold to drive away into the woodlands all the
cattle he could collect. Don Acosta was not only as a man of honor
shocked at this breach of a solemnly signed agreement, but he had the
painful personal interest in it of being a hostage in the hands of the
British for the due performance of the treaty of surrender. He
therefore, we are told, sent to the Colonel "his priest, a discreet
Negro, to remonstrate."[213] The Colonel put the priest to death, and
apparently suffered no worse punishment for this dastardly act than to
have the cattle he had gone away with discovered and brought back to
the British lines.[214]

When the Spaniards a few weeks after evacuated the island, going by
ship to Cuba, they took the liberty of further transgressing the
treaty made with Penn and Venables, the British commanders, for,
instead of taking their slaves with them, they turned them loose into
the hills, with directions to harass the British as much as was
possible. These slaves formed the nucleus of the Maroons, a body of
mountain warriors whose deeds of daring and battle form a story too
long and too interesting to be dealt with here.[215]

The British speedily introduced African slaves into the island, and,
after a few generations, the population had taken the contour it still
preserves, namely, the pure whites, the colored folk (mixed breeds)
and the pure blacks. For one reason and another, individuals in the
last-named section obtained their freedom. Sometimes it was granted to
them by masters who appreciated some special service rendered.
Sometimes it was bequeathed to them by kind-hearted masters. At times
it was a gift from the state for services rendered in times of
rebellion or other disaster to the commonwealth.[216]

Among the colored element of the population the tendency towards
manumission was even more marked and extensive, for there the white
fathers often not only bestowed freedom on their offspring but
bequeathed to them comfortable, if not ample, means. Our immediate
interest is, however, to be found among the blacks, for it is among
them that we see a face and figure that holds our attention.

Among the earliest Negroes in Jamaica freed because of services
rendered to the state was one John Williams. Under date of 1708, a law
stands on record, the first of its kind, forbidding slave testimony
being received in evidence against two Negroes, to wit, Manuel
Bartholomew and John Williams. This was bestowing on them one of the
vital privileges as a rule confined to whites. Eight years later there
was passed another act extending the privilege to Dorothy Williams,
wife of John, and also to the sons of these two, namely, John, Thomas,
and Francis. Exactly what led to such marked discrimination in favor
of Williams and his family the records have not so far revealed, but
the mere continuation of the concession and its extension suggest that
there was something special about the character and worth of John
Williams, Senior, as viewed by the ruling authorities. Another fact
emphasizes this. John Williams, between 1708 and 1716, had to endure
the rather dangerous hostility of a member of the legislature. This
legislator applied to Williams the term "a black Negro," as one of
contempt. Williams replied with the term, self-contradictory no doubt
but effective enough to rile a Jamaican legislator in the early part
of the eighteenth century. He styled his would-be traducer a "white
Negro." As a result he ran the risk of seeing his valued privileges
withdrawn once and for all. Supported by a few of his friends, the
irate legislator brought the matter before the House of Assembly, and
it was actually proposed that the Act of 1708, the Magna Charta so to
speak of the Williams family, should be revoked. The effort, however,
failed, and it seems reasonable to view that fact as a testimony to
something of worth in John Williams, especially when we find that soon
after his privileges were extended to his wife and his three
sons.[217]

Francis Williams now replaces John, his father, and Dorothy, his
mother, against the background of the past. The Duke of Montague
wished to put to the test some of his opinions about the capabilities
of the Negro. He desired to see whether a black boy taken and trained
at an English school and then at a university would not equal in
intellectual attainments a white youth similarly educated.[218] The
links that would explain how it was that the choice for this
experiment fell on Francis Williams are missing, but there it did
fall. He must certainly have been, as Gardner suggests, "a lively,
intelligent lad,"[219] but that by itself would not fully explain his
being chosen. Someone fairly high up in Jamaica must have been taking
a special interest in the Williams family, and that interest, in view
of the collateral facts, must have been based on something of note in
John Williams, Senior.

Francis received preliminary training in Jamaica, and then was sent to
an English grammar school. Thence he went to Cambridge University.
Only the bare facts of his story remain, like a skeleton, but we can
safely argue that he did not disappoint the expectations of his patron
to any serious extent, for, when the time came for Francis to return
to Jamaica, the Duke of Montague used his influence with some
determination to get his protege appointed to a seat in the Council,
that his abilities might be fully put to the test. The Governor of
the island with whom the Duke had to do was Edward Trelawny, and this
shows that Williams returned to Jamaica between 1738 and 1748, for it
was between those years that Trelawny held sway. They were stormy
times, and Trelawny was a man with anything but a placid temper or
compliant views. The famous war of "Jenkin's ear," between Britain and
Spain, began in 1738. Porto Bello was destroyed by Vernon and
Cartagena was attacked with troops whose base was Jamaica. In fact,
Trelawny added a Negro detachment to the army employed.[220] In the
quarrels that followed the disastrous failure at Cartagena, Trelawny
had even more than his fair share of the cursing, and it is hardly
surprising to find that a man of such temper, and amid such storms of
fate, was anything but malleable to the Duke's request. The Governor
knew his mind, and it was that setting a black man in the Council
would excite restlessness among the slave population. The Duke's
experiment with Williams was, therefore, not completed as the Duke
himself intended it should be.[221]

Williams settled down in Spanish Town (St. Jago de la Vega), the then
capital of the island, and conducted a school for imparting a
classical and mathematical education. He became known also in the
island, and to some extent abroad, as a poet and the fragments of his
work that have come down to us show that he was at any rate a fair
literary craftsman. Of the sort of man he was personally, we have not
the material for a fair judgment, for we are practically shut up to
surveying the man through the very colored glass that the historian
Long inserts in the loophole of observation he has turned on Williams.
Long, who published his History of Jamaica in 1774, was of the planter
class, and his prejudice on such a matter was probably so complete
that he was not even conscious that prejudice existed. He says of
Williams: "In regard to the general character of the man, he was
haughty, opinionated, looked down with sovereign contempt on his
fellow blacks, entertained the highest opinion of his own knowledge,
treated his parents with much disdain, and behaved towards his own
children and slaves with a severity bordering on cruelty. He was fond
of having great deference paid to him, and exacted it with the utmost
degree from the negroes about him. He affected a singularity of dress
and a particularly grave cast of countenance, to impart an idea of his
wisdom and learning; and to second this view, he wore in common a huge
wig, which made a very venerable figure."[222] The influence of
prejudice on this picture is easily to be detected. There is not a
single line of sympathy through the whole presentation, and it is
something more than probable that there is actual misrepresentation of
facts. Long would repeat what was current in his own circle, without
feeling himself at all bound to investigate the assertions before
setting them down for future generations to read.[223]

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