African Kingdoms

Zobeir Dynasty (Ouaddai-Chari & Bornu) (Africa)
AD 1890 - 1901

The Zobeir formed a short-lived dynasty in territory to the east of Lake Chad, much of which had formerly belonged to the Bornu empire. A Sudanese slave trader and warlord called Rabih az-Zubayr served as the lieutenant of the notorious Sebehr Rahma, the 'Slaver King' who provided British Governor-General Charles George Gordon with some opposition in Sudan in the 1870s. Rahma's son, Suleyman, led a revolt against the British in 1878, but he was defeated by a native governor and surrendered in 1879. By that time Rabih had already retreated southwards, having suffered heavily losses to his own forces. With a command that totalled about fourteen hundred men he spent the next few years carving out a brutal and violent domain in territory between the Nile basin and that of the Ubangi, in the lands of Dar Benda and Kreich.

By 1885 those lands had been laid waste, so Rabih attempted to return to Sudan at the invitation of Muhammad Ahmad ibn Abd Allah, 'The Mahdi'. Learning of a plot to assassinate him, he turned away, invading Darfur instead. There he was defeated by the sultan of Ouaddai, being deflected instead into Ouaddai-Chari (Ubangi-Shari, named after the two rivers between which it lay and later part of 'French Equatorial Africa'). This time he was successful, deposing the Muslim chieftain there and installing the chieftain's nephew as his puppet. To seal the arrangement, Khadija, the daughter of the new chief, Al-Mahdi al-Senoussi, was married to Rabih's son, Fad el Allah. Rabih went on to lead attacks on neighbouring provinces and kingdoms before invading the Bornu empire in 1893. In the end, having stirred up a hornet's nest of trouble with the colonial French, Rabah's forces were overwhelmed by them in 1900.

(Information by Peter Kessler, with additional information from Ba Karim: An Account of Rabeh's Wars, Michael Horowitz (African Historical Studies 3, 1970), from La vie du sultan Rabah, Gaston Dujarric (Paris, 1902), and from External Link: Encyclopaedia Britannica.)

1890 - 1893

Having set himself up in the minor territory of Ouaddai-Chari, Rabih az-Zubayr leads attacks on a number of local regions, including Dar Runga, Kreich, Goula, and then Banda Ngao. With the colonial French showing an interest in the region, an expedition of theirs is attacked in 1891. The expedition's French leader is killed and the weapons are collected to rearm Rabih's own forces. The Baguirmi kingdom to the south-east of Lake Chad is attacked in 1892. The capital is besieged and in 1893 is completely destroyed.

Rabih az-Zubayr, perhaps a typical south Sudanese warlord of any period right down to the modern age, captured an empire but couldn't keep it in the face of French superiority - instead he ended up on the end of the spear of a French native soldier

Also in 1893, Rabah turns his attentions towards the fading Bornu empire. He makes short work of capturing the minor sultanate of Karnak Logone on the empire's eastern border, which catches the attention of the Bornu emperor, Hashimi. He sends 15,000 men to confront Rabih but they are routed not once but twice. Hashimi, instantly broken, flees to the north of the empire where he is assassinated under the orders of his nephew, Kyari. Kyari himself is soon defeated (in 1894) and Rabih has the diminished empire for himself and his puppet sultan, Al-Mahdi al-Senoussi.

1893 - 1900

Sudanese warlord who captured the Bornu empire. Killed.

1900

Rabih has spent seven years rebuilding the Bornu empire in his image, re-equipping the army and founding new forts. However, his troops are still primitively armed by Europeans standards. Talks with the French lead to the explorer Ferdinand de Béhagle being arrested and hanged, and the commander of a French unit being killed in action. In response, three French columns are sent against him, and on 22 April 1900 Rabih's forces are overwhelmed and Rabih killed during an attempted escape. His territory is incorporated into the French Chad military territory.

1901

Son. Defeated and killed by the French.

1901 - 1960

Fad el Allah attempts to hold together the splintering forces of his father, but he is quickly defeated and killed. Chad is taken by France while Borno goes to Great Britain to be incorporated into the Northern Nigeria Protectorate, neighbouring the Southern Nigerian Protectorate and its defeated Benin empire territory (merged in 1914 to form the beginnings of modern Nigeria). In 1903 the French also gain Ouaddai-Chari, adding it to French Equatorial Africa. French control of Chad is fully secured by 1920 as part of French Equatorial Africa, and remains in place until 11 August 1960, when Chad gains independence and a republic is formed.