Abubakar Garbai

Abu Bakr ibn Ibrahim Kura al-Kanemi, known as Abubakar Garbai, was the last '' shehu'' of the Kanem–Bornu Empire, ruling in 1900 and in 1901–1902. He later served as the first ''shehu'' of the Borno Emirate, a traditional state under the British Northern Nigeria Protectorate and later Nigeria Protectorate, in 1902–1922.

Life

Abubakar Garbai was the brother of Sanda Kura, who he joined in 1898 in the struggle against the Sudanese warlord Rabih az-Zubayr, who had occupied the Kanem–Bornu Empire in 1893. After the defeat of Rabih at the battle of Kousséri in 1900, Sanda Kura was installed with French support as Kanem–Bornu's new ruler at Dikwa, az-Zubayr's former capital. Sanda Kura agreed to French demands for monetary compensation, a large fee of 30,000 Maria Theresa dollars but was dissatisfactory to the French authorities in other ways, exhibiting notable cruelty to his former enemies and refusing French demands to drive away the Baggara Arabs. The French withdrew their recognition of Sanda Kura as ''shehu'', having him arrested and replaced with his more pliable brother Abubakar Garbai in July/August 1900. Abubakar Garbai was installed at Dikwa and agreed to pay the remaining sum owed to the French (21,000 Maria Theresa dollars) and to drive away the Baggara Arabs.

Meanwhile, Rabih az-Zubayr's son Fadlallah tried to secure British support as ruler of Bornu. Abubakar Garbai tried to assert his rule as ''shehu'' by sending an army led by the eunuch Mestrema Musa to occupy the city of Maiduguri, within the British colonial sphere of influence. Fadlallah beat Musa to Maiduguri, reaching the city on 26 November, and was able to defeat Musa's 1,500-strong army with minimal losses. Fadlallah had Maiduguri burnt and marched on Dikwa. Abubakar Garbai and most of Dikwa's population fled to Ngala and Fadlallah retook the capital without opposition on 30 November. Abubakar Garbai requested support from the French general but the French faced difficulties in consolidating their forces in order to face Fadlallah. Robillot advised Abubakar Garbai to withdraw to securely French territory but Abubakar Garbai swore to defend Ngala to his death. Fadlallah reached Ngala on 6 December, where he decisively defeated Abubakar Garbai's army despite being outnumbered. In the aftermath of the battle, Abubakar Garbai fled to Kanem, east of Lake Chad, where he unsuccessfully tried to enlist the protection and support of the Senussi Order. Neither the French colonial authorities or anyone in Bornu knew what had happened to Abubakar Garbai. Refugees from the battle appointed Masta Gumsumi as the new ''shehu'', though real power was in the hands of Mestrema Musa.

Robillot militarily intervened in December, reoccupying Dikwa on 31 December and pursued Fadlallah's forces until mid-January. Abubakar Garbai returned in February 1901 and Masta Gumsumi fled from Dikwa. In June, Fadlallah returned again and occupied Burguma. Fadlallah's advance frightened Abubakar Garbai, who temporarily abandoned Dikwa again and fled to the lands around the Chari River, seeking French protection. Fadlallah's army was engaged by French forces at Gujba on 23 August 1901, with Fadlallah killed in the ensuing battle.

British forces occupied much of Bornu in March 1902, desplite lacking a legitimate figurehead, and incorporated the lands into the Northern Nigeria Protectorate. In 1902, Abubakar Garbai left Dikwa to serve as the figurehead ''shehu'' of "British Borno". British colonial sources state that the British invited Abubakar Garbai to take up the position, and that he accepted this. German colonial sources from the same time instead claim that Abubakar Garbai was kidnapped by British troops. Dikwa was left in the care of Sanda Mandarama, a brother of the former ''shehu'' Kyari, and was occupied by the French in April 1902.

Abubakar Garbai served as the ''shehu'' of British Borno, the later Borno Emirate, from 1902 to his death in 1922.

Gallery

File:Shehu Abubakar Garbai of Borno in 1906.jpg, Shehu Abubakar Garbai of Borno by Boyd Alexander in 1906
File:Abubakar Garbai of Bornu.png, The Shehu on his horse wearing quilted robes and chain mail.
File:1913 New Years durbar in Kano.jpg, Photograph of 6 emirs and sultans of Northern Nigeria at the Great Durbar in 1913 Kano. Abubakar Garbai is the third from the left.

References

Bibliography

Bosworth, Clifford Edmond, ''The New Islamic Dynasties: A Chronological and Genealogical Manual'' p. 128
*Cohen, Ronald, ''The Kanuri of Bornu'', Case Studies in Cultural Anthropology (New York: Holt, 1967).
*''Dictionary of African Historical Biography'', p. 100.
*''Encyclopædia Britannica'', 15th Edition (1982), Vol. VI, p. 506.
* Isichei, Elizabeth, ''A History of African Societies to 1870'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997), pp. 318–320, .
*Tukur, Mahmud Modibbo, “Shehu Abubakar Garbai Ibn Ibrahim El-Kanemi and the establishment of British rule in Borno, 1902-1914” in ''The Essential Mahmud'', ed. Mahmud Modibbo Abubakar (Zaria: Ahmadu Bello University, 1989).

External links

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Royalty of Borno
1922 deaths
Year of birth missing
{{Kanem–Bornu rulers
Commanders of the Order of the British Empire
People from colonial Nigeria
Kanuri people