nominal sovereign. Another of his sons, Tchigama, deposed his
brother, was arrested by order of Saboun, was brought as prisoner to
Wara, capital of the Wadai, then released, and finally came back
to Massenya, where he reigned under the name of Ousman
Borkumanda from 1807 to 1846, paying regularly enough the
tribute exacted by the Wadai. He conducted several expeditions
against Bornu but was defeated by the Kanemi in 1824 in Lederi,
near Chad, thanks to two cannons which the English major, Denham,
had given to the chief of Bornu. Abdelkader (1846-1858), in spite
of a victory over Mohammed-Cherif, king of the Wadai, remained
tributary to this State. Abu-Sekkine (1858-1884) wished equally to
throw off the tutelage of the Wadai. In 1871, vanquished and driven
from Massenya by Ali, king of the Wadai, he retook his capital after
the death of this prince, in 1875. The cruelty of his son Borkumanda
(1884-1885) roused his subjects to drive him from the country and
he was replaced by Abderrahman-Gaurang II who, attacked by
Rabah in 1893 and menaced anew by this conqueror in 1896,
accepted French protectorship in 1897.
TThhee KKi innggddoomm oof f WWa addaai i
If the history of the Bigirmi sums up in a perpetual oscillation between
the yoke of Bornu and that of Wadai, the history of this latter State is
made up of hardly more than the cruelties and debaucheries of the
majority of its kings. The country known under the names of Wadai,
Bergu and Dar-Selah is peopled by some tribes of more or less pure
Arab origin and a great number of Negro tribes, the principal one of
which is that of the Maba, the others being the Tama, Massalit, Mimi,
Kuka, Bulala, Rougna, etc. The Teda can also be found there.
The Wadai was at first governed by pagans to whom is attributed a
Semitic origin, the Tunjur, who had their capital in Kadama, to the
southwest of Abecher. It is only around 1615 that Islam was adopted
by a portion of the population, under the influence of one named
Jameh or Saleh, whom some say was a native of the country while
others relate him to the Arab tribe of the Jaaline, whose original home
is at Berber on the Nile, downstream from Khartoum. As for the Tunjur
they had remained pagans. A son or descendant of this Jameh,
named Abdelkerim, raised an army of Arabs and of recently
Islamised Negroes, defied and killed the Tunjur prince, proclaimed
himself Sultan of the Wadai and established himself to the north of
Abecher, at Wara, where he reigned from 1635 to 1655,
converting a part of the inhabitants, by force, to Islam. Like the Tunjur
princes whose place he had taken, he paid tribute to Darfur.
His son Kharut (1655-1678) pursued the Islamisation of the Wadai.
Kharif (1678-1681) and Yakub Arous (1681-1707) tried at several
times to shake off the tutelage of Darfur; the later finally succeeded
in defeating and capturing Omar-Lele, king of Darfur. After an unfor-
tunate struggle against the Bagirmi conducted by Mohammed
Ez-Zaouni, the war between Wadai and Darfur recommenced with
Joda (1745-1795), under whose reign the first of these States
extended its influence over a part of the Kanem.Saboun (1803-1813), after having seized the throne from his own
father Saleh-Derret or Dered, distinguished himself by victorious
expeditions against the Bagirmi and against his revolting vassals
of the Tama. He was a cruel and sanguinary prince, who was
assassinated by an unknown hand. His son Yussef, called
Kharifine, was perhaps even more barbarous. Around 1829, after
a feminine regence which was marked by the worst atrocities,
Abdelaziz, grandson of Saboun, seized power; he had to struggle
against continuous rebellions which he drowned in blood.At his death (around 1835), an army of Darfur invaded the Wadai,
following depredations made in the western provinces of the first of
these kingdoms by the Wadaians, whom famine had pushed to pil-
lage. The troops sent by Mohammed-Fadel, king of Darfur, entered
Wara and placed on the throne of Wadai one named Mohammed-
Cherif who engaged himself to accept the suzerainty of Darfur. This
Mohammed-Cherif (1835-1858) appears to have been the only
sovereign of the Wadai who showed restraint in the matter of capital
punishment. He enjoyed a real prestige and considerable power.
He did not fear to attack the powerful sheik Omar, Sultan of Bornu,
whom he defeated at Kusseri and from whom he obtained a war
contribution of 8,000 thalers. It is he who transferred the capital from
Wara to Abecher. Becoming blind, obliged to defend himself
against the revolting Tama and one of his own sons, he ended by
dying half insane in 1858.One named Ali succeeded him and was especially active in encour-
aging commerce with the Mediterranean and bringing back order
to the country. He received a visit from Nachtigal in 1873-1874, at
the moment of his struggle against Abu-Sekkine, mbang of the
Birgirmi. It was he who had the royal palace of Abecher constructed
by two Tripolitanians and who annexed the Rougna and the Kuti.King Yussef (1874-1898) allowed the Bagirmi to regain their
independence. It was under his reign that Rabah, coming from Bahr-
el-Ghazel, invaded the Kuti (1879), then the Rougna, raided the
southern dependencies of the Wadai, and installed one named
Senussi (1890) as sultan of the Kuti and the Rougna. The latter, once
Rabah was at Bornu (1894) accepted the suzerainty of the Wadai,
then, a little later, that of France. Ibrahim (1898-1901) perished as
the result of wounds inflicted by rebels. Abu-Ghazali (1901-1902)
had to struggle against one of his officers, Acil, who drove the king
from Abecher and then took refuge himself in the Fitri, where he
placed himself under the protection of the French troops. Dudmurra
replaced Abu-Ghazali. In 1909, the French took Abecher and
placed Acil on the throne of the Wadai; Dudmurra took refuge in the
north of the country, continued the struggle for two years and at last