A Labyrinth of Kingdoms
Page 45
tattoos, 24
Tawarek people, 300
tax-collectors (chimas), 144, 263
Tazyıˉn al-Waraqaˉt (dan Fodio), 238–39, 385
Tchadda River, see Benue River
Tebu language, 171
tebulloden, 105
Tebu people, 88, 93, 169, 172, 206, 216, 225, 245, 307, 311, 323, 324
Ténéré plain, 57–59
Tessaoua, 107–10
government and justice in, 109–10
population of, 108
Thousand and One Nights, A, 48
Tibesti, 141, 225
Timbuktu, x, 14, 15, 16, 22, 33, 83, 92, 93–94, 110, 121, 146, 254–58
architecture of, 265–66
Barth’s detention in, 265–79, 281–93, 295, 305, 308, 312, 314, 386
Barth’s escape from, 296–304
Barth’s historic arrival at, 259, 263–66, 278
Barth’s journey to, 232, 235, 243–53, 274, 346
Barth’s trips to the desert from, 271–74, 283–84, 312
caravan routes to, 199
commerce and trade in, 260, 262, 273
cuisine of, 283, 289
dangers of passage to, 214, 222, 223, 229, 232, 243, 247–51, 280, 346
death threats to Barth in, 265, 270, 271, 275, 278
Djingereber mosque in, 261, 266, 273, 276, 281, 283
European interest in, 254–55, 260, 262, 314
1590s Moroccan invasion of, 240, 261–62
first European to return from, 258–60
gold, salt, and slaves as wealth of, 254, 260, 261, 262, 273, 281
golden age of, 261–62, 266
history of, 240, 254, 260–63
idiosyncratic jargon of, 267, 273
magical myth of, 254–55, 258, 262, 367
peaceful and social people of, 255, 258
population of, 258, 273
religious devotion and scholarship in, 254–55, 256, 260–62, 267, 268, 273–74, 367
ruling caste of, 262
Sankore mosque in, 266, 386
singing and dancing in, 255
Tuareg power in, 261, 263, 281–82, 284, 286–87, 288, 290–91, 296–97
unfixed geographical position of, 254, 255
unsuccessful missions to, 255–56, 266
Times (London), 364
Tin Abutut, 260
Tintellust, 77–89, 98, 375
tobacco, 292, 299, 387
Tombo people, 278
Tosaye, 299
Travels and Discoveries in North and Central Africa (Barth), xi, 44, 160, 197, 274, 362, 366
account of Overweg in, 219–20
account of Vogel in, 316–17, 320
Barth’s payment for, 331
complaints and criticisms in, 351–52
English edition of, 331, 349–50
German edition of, 331, 349–50, 388
lasting importance of, 366
lithographic illustrations in, 349, 389
maps of, 334, 349
poor sales of, 350–53
preface to, 36, 367
publication of, 348–50
reviews of, 350
writing of, 337, 342, 346, 347
Travels in the Great Desert of Sahara, in the Years of 1845 and 1846 (Richardson), 10, 13, 204, 372
Trieste, 43, 45, 121
Tripoli, 8, 14, 15, 18, 20–33, 36, 37, 42, 46, 47, 82, 84, 88, 99, 104, 106, 189
Barth’s return to, 327–28
British consulate in, 24, 25–26, 45, 50, 203–7, 216, 229, 247, 277
changing regimes in, 22
dissipation and squalor in, 24
fanaticism in, 24
founding of, 22
population of, 22
as port and trade hub, 22–23, 25, 45
Tripolitania, 25
Tuareg people, 34, 93, 97, 109, 110, 113, 127, 132, 206, 246, 249–50, 252–53, 260, 271, 374–75
Arab conflict with, 66
bargaining with, 49–50, 58, 59, 77, 84, 88
Berber origins of, 66
branches of, 66
camels of, 38, 61, 67–69, 75, 83, 88
children of, 69
classes of nobles, vassals and slaves among, 63, 66, 68, 69–70
culture of, 66–70, 79–81, 83–87
fear of attacks by, 57–65, 70–75
female, 65, 66, 67, 68–70, 83, 85–87, 96, 297, 300–301
as guides, ix, 43–44, 47, 49–60
Hadanara, 63
hardship and labor of, 70, 298
Hoggar, 61, 62, 63, 81
as hunters, 58
Islam adopted by, 66
Kel es Suk, 301
Kel Fadey, 62, 65, 374
Kel Owi, 56–65, 71–75, 77–89, 106, 141
Kel Ulli, 286–87, 290–91
language of, 66, 68, 70
male, 65, 66–67, 69–70, 87–88, 297
Merabetin, 59, 73–75, 77
as raiders, 25, 33, 59, 169, 222, 227, 257–59, 264, 270, 278, 286, 313
robes and headdresses of, 61, 63, 65, 66–67, 75, 83
salt caravans of, 81, 87–89, 100, 104, 107, 110, 117, 227
sexual relations and monogamy of, 66, 69–70, 86–87
Timbuktu power of, 261, 263, 281–82, 286–87, 288, 296–97
as warriors, 67, 70–75, 88, 102–3
weapons of, 63, 67, 71, 103, 252, 257
Tuat, 91, 199, 296
Tunis, 20–21, 83
Tunisia, 8
Turkey, 8
Turkish army, 146
Turkish language, 8, 45, 264–65
Turks, see Ottoman Turks
Tyrolean Alps, 154
Umar, Sheik of Bornu, 114, 127, 129, 134, 138, 142–44, 146, 148–50, 165–66, 174, 176, 191, 215, 380, 382, 383
Barth and, 139–40, 153–54, 162, 206, 209, 216, 222, 223, 311, 313, 317–23
death of, 323
harem of, 190
overthrow and restoration of, 306–7, 311, 316, 388
treaty with Britain confirmed by, 165, 330
Vogel and, 295
venereal disease, 42
Venice, 5, 121
Victoria, Lake, 347
Victoria, Queen of England, 44, 84, 204, 205, 222, 327, 360, 384, 389
African gifts sent to, 231
Barth awarded Companionship of the Bath by, 331, 357, 361
Vogel, Eduard, 142, 338–39, 345
appointment as Barth’s assistant, 232, 278, 294–96, 302, 307, 310, 383
Barth and, 320, 322, 341
Barth’s death falsely reported to, 312–13, 317
Barth’s first meeting with, 316–17, 335, 388
character and personality of, 319–20
education of, 294
murder of, 348
provisioning of, 294, 317
Voyage of the Beagle (Darwin), 352–53
Wadai kingdom, 144, 146, 166, 190, 193, 198, 211, 213, 216, 224, 348, 366, 382
Wadi Halfa, 8
Wadi Telisaghe, 52
Walati, Weled Ammer, 246–50, 253, 266, 270, 272
Wallace, Alfred Russel, 9
Wanderings Along the Shores of the Mediterranean (Barth), 10
Wanyamwezi people, 148
Warrington, Frederick, 230, 325–26
Warrington, Hanmer, 45, 230, 256–57, 259
warthogs, 192, 226
Weimar, 332
Welad Sliman tribe, 88, 167–75, 383
Barth and Overweg with, 168–74, 203
predatory habits of, 167–72
West Indian colonies, 353
Woghda tribe, 172–74
World War II, 365
Wurno, 236–37, 238–39, 308
Württemberg, 332
Yakoba, 341
Yamiya, 226
Yedina people, 150–51, 165, 380
Yelou, Valley of, 242
Yerima, Muhammed Bello, Emir of Katsina, 114–16, 233–34
Yola, 153, 161–64
Barth expelle
d from, 162–63
reported white women in, 155–56, 161
Yusuf, Sultan of Logone, 191–92, 193
Zambezi River, 242
Zani language, 156
Zanzibar, 205
Zinder, 56, 58, 78, 79–80, 84, 87, 101, 107, 114, 126–32, 138, 145, 152, 216, 222, 228, 231, 233, 295, 310–12
social classes in, 127
women of, 127–28
Zogirma, 242
Zummuzuk, 100
Portrait of Barth done after his journey.
(Courtesy of Boston Public Library)
Barth in 1864.
(Courtesy of the HeinrichBarth-Institut)
Adolf Overweg.
(Courtesy of Boston Public Library)
Frontispiece from An Account of the Progress of the Expedition to Central Africa by cartographer August Petermann (1854). The lithograph, by Ferdinand Moras, depicts scenes from the journey. The portraits, clockwise starting from top left, are of Richardson, Overweg, Vogel, and Barth. (Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University)
Letter of transit carried by Barth. On the back of it he wrote, “Safe-conduct given to Dr. Barth by the Sultan of Bagirmi in the case he might choose to visit his country once more; he having been ill-treated before in the absence of the Prince.”
(British National Archives)
Letter sent to the Foreign Office by Barth from Kano to rebut reports that he was dead.
(British National Archives)
Page from one of Barth’s vocabularies, comparing Hausa, Emgedesi, and English.
(British National Archives)
From Heinrich Barth, Travels and Discoveries in North and Central Africa.
From Heinrich Barth, Travels and Discoveries in North and Central Africa.
From Heinrich Barth, Travels and Discoveries in North and Central Africa.
From Heinrich Barth, Travels and Discoveries in North and Central Africa.
From Heinrich Barth, Travels and Discoveries in North and Central Africa.
From Heinrich Barth, Travels and Discoveries in North and Central Africa.
More Praise for Steve Kemper’s
A Labyrinth of Kingdoms
“Heinrich Barth belongs in the ranks of the greatest explorers of Africa. But unlike most of the others, he was less interested in imperial conquest and self-promotion than in the cultures, the peoples, the languages, and the ancient manuscripts that he found there. It’s a pleasure to see a lively, readable biography of him in English at last.”
—Adam Hochschild, author of King Leopold’s Ghost and To End All Wars
“Sometimes a book grabs you by the throat and won’t let you put it down. I recently experienced that with A Labyrinth of Kingdoms.”
—Pamela Toler, History in the Margins blog
“Let us hope Steve Kemper’s fine study of an extraordinary personality gives Barth the wider, albeit posthumous, audience he so widely deserves.”
—Justin Marozzi, Literary Review (London)
“Kemper ably resurrects the unsung and unappreciated accomplishments of this intrepid explorer and clearly shows that his high level of scholarship and attention to detail are relevant and useful today.”
—Ben Moise, Post and Courier
“Barth’s story comes alive in Kemper’s capable hands; A Labyrinth of Kingdoms is erudite but never stuffy—at its core, the book is an excellent adventure story.”
—Biblioklept
“An enticing read of history and anthropology, very much recommended reading.”
—Midwest Book Review
“Steve [Kemper’s] book brings home what an extraordinary feat a 19th-century expedition really was… . The story is an insight into what really lay in those blank bits on European maps of the time… . [T]hese areas, far from being blank, teemed with life.”
—Nicholas Walton, New Books in African Studies
“Stories in the vein of explorer Heinrich Barth’s are seldom told outside of the summer blockbuster… . [Kemper] documents the remarkable journey of one man in the darkest territories of unknown Islamic Africa.”
—Louisville.com
“Kemper has created a vivid celebration of determination and curiosity while exploring a hostile and still little-known region.”
—Richmond Times Dispatch
“A fascinating new account of a much-overlooked explorer and his incredible journey.”
—Newport Library blog
“A nicely rounded literary study of an intrepid explorer undone by the cultural biases of the time.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“[Barth’s] story has been known primarily to scholars, so this is an important corrective.”
—Library Journal
“A Labyrinth of Kingdoms is a fascinating account both of one man’s journey and of African cultures on the eve of European expansion… . Barth’s story is equal parts adventure and scholarship. Kemper treats both with a sure hand.”
—Shelf Awareness
Copyright © 2012 by Steve Kemper
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
First published as a Norton Paperback 2013
Map courtesy of the Watkinson Library, Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Kemper, Steve.
A labyrinth of kingdoms : 10,000 miles through Islamic Africa / Steve Kemper. — 1st ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-393-07966-1 (hardcover)
1. Barth, Heinrich, 1821–1865—Travel—Africa. 2. Africa, Central—Discovery and
exploration—German. 3. Africa, Central—Discovery and exploration—British.
4. Africa, Central—Description and travel. 5. Africa, North—Discovery and
exploration—German. 6. Africa, North—Discovery and exploration—British.
7. Africa, North—Description and travel. 8. Explorers—Africa, Central—Biography.
9. Explorers—Africa, North—Biography. 10. Explorers—Germany—Biography. I. Title.
DT351.B277K46 2012
916.70423—dc23
2012002562
ISBN 978-0-393-34623-7 pbk.
978-0-393-08406-1 (e-book)
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