Sprache und Geschichte, vol. 14, Arabs and Arabic in the Lake Chad Region.

• Author: Miller, Catherine

The six papers in this volume discuss the origin of the Arabs and Arabic in the Lake Chad region, taking into account the historical links and relations between this region and the rest of the Sudanese belt, including Upper Egypt, Libya, and the Sudan. There are few studies on this topic despite the appearance of a number of publications in the last fifteen years. The contributors to the present volume are specialists in their fields and provide updated bibliography. Moreover, the volume adopts a multidisciplinary approach. This volume raises many issues and will certainly serve as a landmark in the field of subsaharan Arabic history and linguistics.

Braukamper presents an interesting hypothesis concerning the cultural and historical origin of the Baggara Arabs: their shift from a camel-rearing economy to a mixed cattle herding/millet cultivation economy was not only the result of ecological constraints but was made possible through the incorporation of many Fulanis, who acted as a cultural model, and Fulani customs. While the Arabs adopted the Fulani way of life, they kept Arabic as their language. It was the incorporated Fulani who became Arabized. Relying on historical records, oral history and anthropological data, Braukamper dates the beginning of the Baggarization process in the seventeenth century in the Wadai region. From this area Baggara groups and culture spread eastward up to the White Nile and westward up to Nigeria. Braukamper's analysis throws new light on the impact of ethnic and cultural contacts in this part of Africa. While previous studies have stated the mixed origin of the Baggara groups (defined as a mixture of Arabs and indigenous Sudanese groups), this is the first time that the specific role of the Fulani is clearly underlined, a fact recorded in the autochthonous oral traditions of both the Baggara and the Fulani. However, the decisive Arab-Fulani interaction did not preclude other types of contact, especially with the African sedentary groups. This latter type of contact is not well preserved in the Arab oral tradition because it is considered far less prestigious.

In his two papers, Zeltner discusses the reasons for the migration of the Awlad Suleiman from Fezan (Libya) to Kanem (Chad) in 1842. He details the conflict between them and the government of Tripoli, their defeat and retreat further south. Their migration to and subsequent role in Kanem shed light on the relation between the Fezzan and the...