The Adamawa Emirate

The Adamawa Emirate is a traditional state located in Fombina, an area which now roughly corresponds to areas of Adamawa State and Taraba state in Nigeria, and previously also in the three northern regions of Cameroon (Far North, North, and Adamawa), including minor parts of Chad and the Central African Republic.

Modibo Adama was a commander of Sheikh Usman dan Fodio, the man who began the Fulani jihad in 1809. The capital was moved several times until it settled in Yola, Nigeria on the banks of the Benue River in Nigeria around 1841. At the time of Adama’s death his realm encompassed parts of modern Nigeria and much of north Cameroon. Much like the other emirates in the Sokoto Caliphate, Adamawa enjoyed considerable autonomy but it had to pay a tribute to the Sultan in Sokoto.

The name Adamawa derives from the name of the founder of the emirate, Adama bii Ardo Hassan. The suffix -wa is appended in the Hausa language to signify the collective identity of ‘people of’ that place, so, Adamawa means “the people of Adama”.

Fombina means ‘southlands’ indicating the area south of Bornu and Sokoto. It was the earliest name for the emirate with ‘Adamawa’ only coming to use much later. The earliest recorded use of ‘Adamawa’ was in Denham’s and Clapperton’s 1826 journal Narrative of Travels and Discoveries in Northern and Central Africa.[3]: 55

The Palace and Emirate Council today are called ‘Fombina Palace’ and ‘Fombina Emirate Council’ respectively. The present Lamido Adamawa, Lamido Muhammadu Barkindo, “strongly prefers” to be addressed as ‘Lamido Fombina’ with ‘Adamawa’ in bracket.

Geography

The nineteenth century Adamawa emirate lay south of Lake Chad, and east of Hausaland, within latitudes 6° and 11° North, and longitudes 10° and 14° East. According to some estimates, by the late 19th century, slaves constituted about 50% of the population of the Fulbe-ruled Adamawa Emirate, where they were referred to as jeyade (singular jeyado). Based on the region subjected to Fulani rule, the emirate stretched from areas south of the Adamawa plateau near Tibati, in the South, to the Diamare, in the north, from the slopes of the Bamenda-Adamawa-Mandara Highlands in the west, to Baya, Laka, Mundang and Musgum country in the east. Early British administrators reporting from Yola, put the surface area of Adamawa at between 35,000 and 40,000 square miles or between 90,650 and 103,600 square kilometers. As a result of European treaties in 1893 and 1894, parts of the Emirate can today be found in Chad, the Central African Republic, Nigeria and Cameroon, which retained about three-quarter of the total area of the emirate.

The altitude of much of the country lies at around 2,000 ft (610 m) above sea level. The Adamawa plateau itself however, called the Leydi Hossere by the Fulbe, rises to a general elevation of 4,000 ft (1,200 m), and forms the watershed, from which streams of water drain into the Benue river system, as well as into the inland basin of Lake Chad. Great altitudes of between 5,000 and 7,000 ft or between 1,525 and 2,150 meters above sea level are found, towards the western border region of the emirate with other regions of Nigeria and Cameroon, these are sections of the Cameroon-Bamenda-Adamawa-Mandara highland range which have record heights of about 13,350 ft (4,070 m) above sea level near the coast and steadily decreases northwards, to just around 4,000 ft (1,200 m) near Yola, the emirate’s capital city. North of Yola, these range of highlands is continued by the Mandara Mountains at over 6,000 ft (1,800 m), before finally tapering out around Balma, into the lake chad basin. The southern regions of the emirate are characterized by thin forest of broad leaved savannah woodland or orchard vegetation type. The country becomes more and more of open grasslands towards the north. The vegetation was a strong inducement to Fulani settlement in Adamawa, and during the jihad, it offered no serious obstacle to the extension of military power based on cavalry.

History

The earliest reference of Fulbe around the area of the Adamawa region was in the Kanem-Bornu empire when they came as envoys of the emperor of Mali during the 13th century. A century later, more Fulbe migrated to Hausaland especially to Kano during the reign of Yakubu. These Fulani settlers brought many books on Islamic thought and Law from Mali. Some others continued further east to Bornu and settled there. There was a steady flow of Fulbe immigrants to this region and by the 16th-century there were considerable number of them in Hausaland, Bornu, Bagirmi and among the Jukun in Kwararafa.

A Fulani from the Sokoto Caliphate

The Fulbe became known for their learning and understanding of Islam. The Bornu king, Mai Dunama ibn Hajj Ali (1476–1503), gave official recognition to their contribution to the Muslim community in Bornu. He conferred upon an Ardo (Fulani chief) and removed the requirement for him and all the Fulbe he led to pay taxes. All the subsequent Mais (or kings) of Bornu honoured this arrangement throughout the 16th and 17th centuries. It was not unusual to find the Bornu kings going to war on other groups to protect the Fulbe from raids during this period. This Fulbe, in turn, continued teaching and joining the army to fight for Bornu. Due factors like famine many Fulbe decided to migrate to Hausaland and the Adamawa region.

Migrations into Adamawa

The early Fulbe settlers in the Adamawa region were not driven by religious zeal or intention to conquer or dominate. Because these early Fulbe were not warlike, the migrations into this region, like earlier in the other regions, were peaceful. As a French colonial administrator, M. Masson puts it:

Since the fifteenth century, they had introduced themselves into the country in the most harmless manner, soliciting permission from the natives of the soil to graze and water their flock. Attracted by the rich pastures, several of the heads of the families settled in these territories as customers of the local populations.

They generally avoided conflicts and built relationships with the local populations sometimes through inter-marriages. Trade also helped improve these relationships as the local communities provided supplies like honey, fish and grain and in turn the Fulani provided milk, meat, butter and hide. It was tasked on the Ardo to facilitate building of relationships with the local populations. Herder-farmer conflicts inevitably occurred, but these cases were typically resolved on an individual level between the farmers and herders involved. The Ardo would usually cooperate with local authorities to handle such cases, if necessary.

In some communities, particularly the Bata, the Fulbe settlers were required to adhere to jus primae noctis. In order to live in peace in these areas, some Fulani groups agreed to this arrangement. Many of the families however, evaded the custom by paying a bull or two to the chief as a substitute. In most cases, when certain conditions or practices were enforced on the Fulbe, they left the area to find a more suitable place.

The rich Fulani families did not worry having to pay to avoid the jus primae noctis but the problem came from how the payments were collected. The chief would send his collectors to the father of the girl or the head of the family when he thinks he would not receive enough from the Ardo. He would then proceed to select the required number of cattle usually picking out the best cattle. At around 1803, this practice caused a conflict. One Ardo Njobbo of the Ba’an (a Fulani clan), refused to make the payment or surrender his daughter to a local prince. The prince then proceeded to pick out cattle from the Ardo’s herd. Njobbo then ordered his men to kill the prince which led to a violent conflict between local Fulbe and Bata groups. This fight is said to have led to the death of Modibbo Adama’s father, Modibbo Hassana.