There is a people in West Africa that has attracted the close attention of scientists for centuries. These are the Fulbe herders. Where did people with a light skin tone come from on the Black Continent, why there is so much "civilized" in them, where they got their knowledge, no one can say …
Indeed, the Fulbes on the African continent seem to be aliens. Scientists suggest that the Fulbe endured the whole way of life, all their cultural values thanks to contacts with highly developed civilizations, but with which ones, it is still unclear …
Mysterious people
Aristocratic appearance, proud posture, become, nobility of gestures in the manifestation of feelings, a high level of spirituality: these people have created thousands of fairy tales, legends, epics, proverbs and sayings - everything in their life is not like neighbors. Fulbe - Fula - is considered the most promising language among all the national languages of Africa.
Fulbe, in fact, African trendsetters, they created the famous Phrygian cap, bell hat, pointed straw hat - headdresses of shepherds. Famous throughout Africa and women's hairstyle with a "rooster comb" of the finest braids, stretched on a special frame of bamboo sticks.
Their mysterious Sacred Book, which in legends is called the Book of Pharaohs and the Book of Egyptian magicians, can be considered as confirmation of the theory of contact of the Fulbe with highly developed peoples. Perhaps the existence of this book speaks of the stay of the "Pra-Fulbe" in the Mediterranean-Middle East zone, where they got acquainted with the tradition of the sacred books? In general, more and more scientists agree that in ancient times a homogeneous population lived in northeast Africa, which scientists call the "Mediterranean contact race."
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For several centuries, scientists cannot agree on the origin of the fulbe. The intrigue in this riddle is involved in the external difference between the Fulbe and its Negroid neighbors: the Fulbe are tall, with a reddish skin color and thin facial features. Unusually beautiful female figurines attract men from the highest echelons of power in almost all African states. Fulbe is called the descendants of the Gypsies, the sons of Roman legionnaires lost in the Sahara, one of the tribes of Israel, and the famous linguist Meinhof generally considered Fulbe Hamites who came from Asia.
Legends of the times of Islamization speak of the origin of the Fulba from the Arabs, who, in order to convert the local pagans to Islam, married their women. The famous French scientist Maurice Delaphos considered them to be the descendants of the foods mentioned in the Bible. They, along with the geek-sos, invaded Egypt and settled in Cyrenaica. In IV BC. e. they were joined by the Jews expelled from Egypt by Ptolemy I Soter. Part of this ethnic group went to Morocco, and the other to the borders of present-day Mauritania, where in the 3rd century they founded the state of Ghana. It is on the territory of this African state that we meet the Fulbe for the first time.
It took the Fulba three centuries to conquer a dominant position among the local peoples and create their own states in these territories: Denianke - in Futa Toro and Diallub - near the city of Masina.
State creation
The Fulbe managed to create such powerful states that only one mention of their empire made their neighbors tremble! Even Europeans for the time being bypassed them. What was the impetus for such an unprecedented civilizational leap? First, it is a genetic predisposition: the Fulbe, most likely, in ancient times were one of the highly developed societies; secondly, their privileged economic position associated with cattle breeding.
Their proverbs speak eloquently about the role of cattle in the life of this people: “Cattle surpasses everything, it is even more important than father and mother”, “If cattle dies, the Fulbe will die”.
Fulbe treat their herds with sacred trepidation; they really know how to handle animals, breed and care for them. Livestock is the main achievement and the basis of the Fulbe's existence. In exchange for livestock products, the Fulbe receive agricultural products from neighboring peoples. In exceptional cases, when money is needed, the Fulbe goes to sell livestock, but, as a rule, sick and old animals are sold.
Islam played a huge role in the life of this African people. He became a powerful catalyst that accelerated the social, political and economic processes in the life of the Fulbe. Apparently, this people needed to have some kind of leadership in life, and Islam copes with this task very well: the Koran teaches how to behave under any circumstances. By the way, one Arab traveler called Fulbe "true children of Allah", they, like no other people who adopted this religion, are distinguished by great rigor in the performance of rituals. Islam contributed to the political and ideological unification of the people. Thanks to him, fulbe achieved amazing results in a historically short time.
The burden of revolutions
The 18th century turned out to be very important in the life of the people; it was a period of prosperity. As a result of the revolution of 1725, Futa Jallon was created: a feudal and military state was created, consisting of provinces, under the rule of a Fulbe imam. Further, a similar state was created in Futa Toro, which was again led by a Fulbe representative. At the beginning of the 19th century in Masin, Sheikh Amadu Barii created the Fulbe kingdom in Masin, which, thanks to competent management, existed throughout the 19th century.
In 1776, all the countries of the mountainous region of Futa Jallo-na, Futa Toro and the valley of the Senegal River were united into one imamate. It was headed by the leader of one of the Fulbe tribes Abd al-Qadir. The country was divided into provinces called mi-side. Each of them was headed by a Fulbe. There was a supreme council that ruled over all governors in the provinces. The social system had a patriarchal-feudal character. Many "kingdoms" of the peoples of the Gulf of Guinea found themselves in vassal dependence on the rulers of the Futa Jallon state.
In social terms, the Futa Jallonian society consisted of two main groups: the ruling elite from the Fulbe and the serfs, semi-serfs from the indigenous people of these territories.
Members of artisan castes were also in a dependent position: tanners, weavers, dyers, potters, blacksmiths, griots (musicians, singers, storytellers). The merit in creating a huge caliphate with its capital in Sokoto, a powerful Fulbian empire, belongs to the Fulbian Muslim preacher Osman.
During the existence of this empire, order was restored throughout the territory. After the death of Osman, his son Mohammed Bello began to rule the empire. Under him, emirates were created on the basis of the former independent city-states.
Each of the emirs had military squads at his disposal, collected taxes from the population and was obliged to appear with his troops at the first demand of the Sultan. At the end of the 19th century, Sokoto was captured by Great Britain and became part of the British colony of Nigeria.
So, as a result of the internecine and conquest wars of the Europeans, the powerful empire created by the Fulbe perished. Now it is in the areas of these former strong states that there are the greatest concentrations of this nationality.
The colonial policy of the French subsequently even suspended the development of the written language Fulbe - Fula, as well as other local languages. But the Fulbe, unlike other peoples, were very reluctant to come into contact with the French, so French officials even had to learn ful in order to somehow communicate with the local population.
Maria VOEVODINA