account of its situation, bordering, as it did, closely upon the central parts of the empire of Melle, which, at this time, formed almost the only portion that remained of that vast empire, and which was nearly overwhelmed by the Songhay in the course of the sixteenth century. Even the Imóshagh or Tawárek became tributaries.

South of the river two other provinces are mentioned by A'hmed Bábá, namely, the province of Hómbori, which from the nature of the country was also called Tondi, or El Hajri, and Burgu*, or rather Barba, though the latter country was apparently never entirely subjected.

The governors of these provinces were certainly possessed of considerable power, and belonging, as they did in general, to the royal family, exercised a very prejudicial influence upon the destinies of the empire, as at the same time the central government became weak and debilitated. The governor of Kúrmina, especially, conscious of the important influence and the rich character of his province, was very prone to mutiny and revolt. For as it was certainly a great advance in the scale of civilisation, that it was

In the passage (Journal of the Leipsic Oriental Society), p. 546, in the seventh line, a second is added by mistake. The name cannot be read as Burgu-koy, as all the parties composing the army of the pretender Mohammed e' Sadík, are said to have belonged to the people of the west, while Burgu is situated at the S.E. frontier of Songhay; nay, it is quite clear, from page 547, that the Barakoy is meant, and not the Burgu-koy.

CHAP. LXVI.

HEIR-APPARENT.

423

not customary amongst the Songhay to murder the younger brothers of the newly elected king, or to render them incapable of aspiring to the royal dignity by depriving them of their sight (as is still the custom in Wádáy), or in some other manner disabling them; so, on the other hand, it was no doubt very prejudicial to the stability of the empire, that so many royal princes were constantly installed as governors of powerful provinces, some of them situated at a great distance from the capital. Such a government could only prosper under the rule of a powerful king, such as Mohammed el Háj A'skia was during his most vigorous period.

On the other hand, we find that the government of Songhay was far more despotic than that of Bórnu, where, as I have had occasion to relate*, the election of a new king from among the royal princes was placed in the hands of three electors, themselves chosen from the most trustworthy men of the country; while the kings of Songhay appear originally to have designated their own successor among the royal princes, there being even an established dignity of something like an heir-apparent or crown-prince, with the title of "feréng-mangha :"† but this principle, as is naturally the case in barbaric states without any written con

* Vol. II. p. 270.

†The exact meaning of the title "feréng-mangha," and the authority with which it was invested, are not quite clear; for although there is little doubt that "feréng-mangha" signifies "great prince," it is remarkable that on various occasions we find two "feréng-mangha” instead of one; and it is stated of Mohammed

stitution, was only observed as long as the king exercised paramount authority, while we see in other cases the army, or even a powerful governor, choosing a successor, as that of Dendi, who deposed Mohammed Bánkorí, and installed in his place A'skía Ismåíl.

As I stated before, we do not even find in Songhay a regular vizier; but we find a sort of treasurer in the person of the "khatib," that is to say the imám who preaches before the congregation every Friday. Thus we find the great Háj Mohammed A'skía taking the whole of the money which he thought necessary for his royal pilgrimage, viz. 300,000 mithkáls, out of the royal treasury, which was in the hands of the khatib 'Omár*; but we even find, in another passage, the same khatib authorised to liberate a princely prisoner; and, from a third passage†, it is quite evident that the khatib in Gágho exercised the same authority as the kádhi in Timbúktu, although we find a kádhi besides him in the capital.

There appears to have been an established state prison in Songhay, namely, in a place called Kantú, the exact situation of which, however, I have not

Ban A'skía, that he expressly designated two (J. O. S. p. 545). Moreover, we find that neither of these two was taken into account in appointing a successor (Ib. p. 546). But another passage (Ib. p. 552) is not less clear, stating plainly that, the feréngmangha having fallen in the battle, the A'skía named another prince as his successor, implying clearly the identity of the title "feréngmangha" with that of heir-apparent.

* Journal of the Leipsic Oriental Society, p. 533.

† Ibid. p. 555.

CHAP. LXVI. POLITICAL CONDITION OF SONGHAY. 425

yet been able to ascertain. This prison could not fail to become of great importance as the dissensions and feuds in the royal family increased; and there appears to be no doubt that at times it was quite full of royal prisoners, and in this respect, as well as on account of the various assassinations which occurred there, fully corresponded with the character of the Tower in the middle ages. There is no doubt that polygamy, with its consequent intrigues in the harím, was the chief cause of the speedy decline of the Songhay empire from the high position it had attained under the rule of Sonni 'Alí and Háj Mohammed A'skía. The large number of ambitious children that A'skía Dáúd, the most peaceful of the Songhay rulers, left behind him, seems especially to have contributed in a great measure to this speedy decline; but the example had been set by that ruler himself, who, having no other claims to the royal dignity than his talent and energy, revolted against his liege lord, whom he conquered and supplanted, but had himself to endure the misfortune of being persecuted, and finally dethroned in his old age, by his own son Músa.

On the subject of the manners and customs and the state of society in Songhay during its period of power, we find but little in the short extracts which I was able to make from the history of A'hmed Bábá ; still a few hints as to some remarkable usages are to be gleaned from them. Islám, as we have seen, had been adopted by the royal family at the beginning of

the eleventh century of our era; but we learn from the eminent Andalusian geographer El Bekrí, who finished his work on Africa in the year 1067, that while the king was a Moslim by law, receiving at his accession to the throne, as emblems of his authority, a sword, ring, and a copy of the Kurán, which were said to have been sent by an Emír el Múmenín (from Egypt), the greater part of the inhabitants even of the capital, at that time, were still addicted to paganism*; and we may fairly conclude from the description of Leo Africanus, and from what we observe in Negroland at the present day, that even during the time of the A'skías, the greater part of the natives of the country were idolaters, at least in heart and superstitious usages. However, it would seem as if they had received, in more ancient times, several institutions from the Egyptians, with whom, I have no doubt, they maintained an intercourse, by means of the energetic inhabitants of Aújilaf, from a relatively ancient period; and among these institutions I feel justified in reckoning the great care which the Songhay bestowed upon their dead. We see that even those among their kings who died in the very remotest part of the empire were transported with the greatest trouble to the capital, in order to be buried there with due ceremony. For instance, Sonni 'Alí had died in Gurma; but his sons, who accompanied him on the expedition, took out his entrails, and filled his * El Bekrí, ed. de Slane, p. 183.

† See El Edrísi, trans. Jaubert, i. p. 288..