In reality, this Saefe was most certainly a Negro of Teda origin,
who established his residence at Njimi, between Mao and
Yagubri in the Kanem, and set his domination over the Teda of the
Borku, the Tibesti and the Kawar, over the Kanembu or the inhab-
itants of the Kanem and over the Kanuri or Baribari of Bornu and
Munio. We do not know at what epoch he lived. It is towards the
11 thcentury, under one of his successors named Oume, that Islam
is thought to have made its first appearance in the country.
At the end of the 12thcentury the Teda and pagan dynasty founded
by Saefe was overthrown by a Kanembu and Islamic dynasty
whose first representative was Tsilim or Salmama, that is to say,
“the Muslim”, who reigned, it is believed, from 1194 to 1220,
taking the title of mai. His successor Dunama I (1220-1259) was
obliged to combat Teda revolts. Then two centuries passed in
almost continual anarchy. Under the mai Ibrahim (1288-1304)
began the revolt of the vassal tribe of Bulala, which continued to
trouble the empire for more than three hundred years. The mai
Idris I (1352-1376) had just mounted the throne when the Arab
traveller Ibn-Batuta, coming from Timbuktu to the Tuat, sojourned in
1353 at Takedda, between Gao and Agades (Teguidda of our
present maps), at that time celebrated for its copper mines in full
operation; the Takedda people told Ibn-Batuta that King Idris never
showed himself in public and never spoke to anyone except hidden
behind a curtain, according to a custom that may still be observed
in our day in many States of Negro Africa.
The mai Omar (1394-1398) decided to abandon the Kanem to
the Bulala and went to settle in Bornu, where one of his successors,
Ali (1472-1504), had established the capital of the empire of
Waaga grave figure (Konso).
Ethiopia.
Wood, height: 213 cm.
Private collection.
Intensive agriculture is practised by the Konso who live in a walled hilltop village.
Bravery is a highly revered quality, as hunting is a prestigious activity; men who have
killed a dangerous wild animal or enemy are consisdered heroes. This phallic stone
is placed atop the grave of a hero; if he was wealthy and of senior Gada status, a
group of carved figures accompany this stone around his grave. When new, the
figures are painted with red ochre, have bone eyes and teeth, and painted black
eyebrows and beards. The sculpture, meant to represent the hero, portrays him to
be aggressively masculine with an erect penis. His phallic forehead ornament,
hairstyle, and bracelets denote his senior Gada rank as well as his hero-status.