Chapter 6
This is a short chapter by the author to describe the situation in the conquered settlements of Bilma, Fachi and Daura. It is written, unlike the other chapters in a very technical and un-narrative format using many modern notations. The writer would like to thank the Imperial University of Elsass-Lothringen for this data.
The Banu Khattab conquered Bilma in 1072. It hadn't changed much when Sheikh Talim went there 17 years later in 1089.
Bilma features a hot desert climate. The town lies deep in the heart of the Sahara desert, more precisely in the Tenera, an hyper-arid desert region lying over northeastern Niger and western Chad, and as such is extremely dry, averaging only 12.7 mm (0.50 in) of measurable precipitation annually. Bilma is also hot during the "winter" months and extremely hot during the summer months and for prolonged periods of time. Average high temperatures in "winter" months surpass 27 °C (81 °F), and exceed 40 °C (104 °F) from April to September inclusively, peaking at 44 °C (111 °F) in June. The sunshine duration is extremely high year-round with some 4,000 h of bright sunshine annually. The region excels at hot, sunny and dry weather.
Bilma was mostly famous for its salt mines. These were deathly hellish places were slaves toiled all their life trying to dig up and separate salt from the ground. Salt was an oft ignored but very important commodity for the Trans-Saharan trade and this isolated oasis was the only place along with Fachi where one could get salt for thousands of miles around. As a result, the oasis was filled with a few rich men who paid taxes to the Malik Hiba and the remaining populance served these men.
Additionally, the Sheikh also wrote a few detailed descriptions about the oasis.
"The village has mud brick walls and a fort like appearance, possibly Bilma. Most people were either Berbers or blacks community. Some of the young boys in blue robes had partially shaved heads. Mud walls surrounded the town. Women carried water on their heads. Camels were being loaded with goods, including a live goat which was strapped to a camel’s back. Donkeys and cattle roamed freely in large quantities on its sullen streets. Everywhere, there were square cut water filled holes in the rocks for salt production. Stacks of round salt blocks and long cone shaped blocks lied in the sun. The salt buyers were wrapping the salt cones in woven baskets for strapping to the camels."
Water flowing at Bilma oasis.
Bilma salt mine. Salt was extracted from the sand and from the ground water formed after sparse rains.
Fachi is an oasis surrounded by the Ténéré desert and the dunes of the Erg of Bilma in eastern Niger, placed on the western edge of the small Agram mountain outcropping. It had an estimated population of some 2000 people. A stopping point of the Agadez to Kaouar caravans of the Azalay, Fachi is 240 kilometres (150 miles) west of Bilma and 320 km (200 mi) east of the Aïr Mountains. Apart from water, dates, and most importantly, locally mined salt, Fachi produces no provisions, and depends entirely upon trade in these products with passing caravans.
Frequently raided by Tuareg and other Bedouins in its past, the town was built within high fortifications, known locally as a ksar, built from banco salt blocks. These had been demolished down by Malik Hiba's armies during his conquest but were rebuilt by him a few years later.
The settlement of Fachi(Left) ; The Ksar fortifications(Right)
The salt mine at Fachi.
This excavated site of the salt storehouse at Fachi also housed caged rooms for keeping the slaves and provides a fabulous insight into its brutal history. It was located onsite right near the salt mine.
Salt, the bloodline of Fachi and Bilma.
The Erg of Bilma is a dune sea in the Ténéré desert region of the south central Sahara Desert. The Erg of Bilma stretches southwest from Fachi and the Tibesti Mountains. On the west it is bounded by the Aïr Mountains in north central Niger, and to the east it passes Bilma. It surrounds on three sides the oasis of Bilma, southernmost of a north–south string of oases of the Kaouar rise. The Erg covers an area of approximately 455,000 square kilometres (176,000 sq mi). This natural fortifications made it hard for those not accustomed to the desert to attack Bilma and Fachi.
View of the landscape in the deathly Erg of Bilma.
At its southernmost edge, some of the dunes have been stabilized by the growth of vegetation, allowing human cultivation of crops like millet and sorghum on the slopes.
Daura on the other hand was a very culturally developed place. According to Sheikh Talim's accounts, it was the very border of his world and was filled with pitch Black Hausa peoples with not one Arab or Berber in sight(Except for 3 representatives of the Banu Khattab). Beyond Daura were unknown lands full of cruel and unknown beasts.
However, the Sheikh also says that unlike Fachi and Bilma which were just small oasises, Daura was a well developed town.
The town lies in a savanna zone. An ancient settlement, the name of Daura means “blacksmith” in the Tuareg language, it was founded by a queen and was ruled by women in the 9th century and 10th centuries. This did not change even after its conquest by the Banu Khattab as its ruling nobility remained the same. It is the spiritual home of the Hausa people: a well-known legend of western Africa relates that Bayajida (Abuyazidu), a son of the king of Baghdad, killed Sarki, the fetish snake at the town’s well, and married the reigning Daura queen. Their descendants became the seven rulers of the Hausa Bakwai (The Seven True Hausa States). Daura thus became a Hausa state that stretched across the borders of present-day Nigeria and Niger. Daura town became a caravan centre for salt and potash from the Sahara Desert and for cloth, slaves, leather, and agricultural produce from the south; but it never gained the political or military prominence of Katsina (49 miles [79 km] west) or of Kano (73 miles [117 km] south). Nevertheless, Daura remained a very important and last stop for many Sahara trade caravans.
Daura also represented the end of the long, hard Sahara desert and a sense of relief for all travellers.
The Sheikh describes in one passage, the trade and trade goods of the strange city.
"Local trade in Daura is primarily in sorghum, millet, onions, peanuts (groundnuts), cotton, and hides and skins; cattle, goats, sheep, horses, and donkeys are kept by its Hausa and Fulani inhabitants. Cotton weaving and peanut collecting (for export) are significant economic activities."
Lastly the Sheikh also reports this
"The local general of the Hausas who fought against the Malik Hiba in the name of the Chieftess is forever guarding the gates of Daura. After the battle, he was caught and jailed. He was then chained and buried chest deep in the scorching desert sun without food or water and in the company of stinging red ants till death. After that, the Malik had his skull removed and perched on a spear to serve as a welcoming sign at the gates of Daura."
Men in Daura.
This painting shows a typical Daura house built with mudbrick and with a large, bare courtyard.