The Adamawa Wars (1899-1907) were initially a series of military expeditions and border conflicts between the German
Schutztruppe
(, Protection Force) was the official name of the colonial troops in the African territories of the German colonial empire from the late 19th century to 1918. Similar to other colonial armies, the consisted of volunteer European commissioned ...
in
Kamerun
Kamerun was an African colony of the German Empire from 1884 to 1916 in the region of today's Republic of Cameroon. Kamerun also included northern parts of Gabon and the Congo with western parts of the Central African Republic, southwestern ...
and the
Fula
Fula may refer to:
*Fula people (or Fulani, Fulɓe)
*Fula language (or Pulaar, Fulfulde, Fulani)
**The Fula variety known as the Pulaar language
**The Fula variety known as the Pular language
**The Fula variety known as Maasina Fulfulde
*Al-Fula ...
Sunni Muslim states and tribes that were a part of the
Sokoto Empire
The Sokoto Caliphate (), also known as the Fulani Empire or the Sultanate of Sokoto, was a Sunni Muslim caliphate in West Africa. It was founded by Usman dan Fodio in 1804 during the Fulani jihads after defeating the Hausa Kingdoms in the Ful ...
(a Caliphate formed during the
Fulani Jihad
The Fulani War of 1804–1808, also known as the Fulani Jihad or Jihad of Usman dan Fodio, was a military conflict in present-day Nigeria and Cameroon. The war began when Usman Dan Fodiyo, a prominent Islamic scholar and teacher, was exiled ...
), particularly the
Emirate of Adamawa in the northern half of the region. After these territories were annexed major resistance continued for years and several uprisings occurred.
Background
The territories to the north of the portion of Kamerun under direct German control were part of either the Sokoto or
Bornu Empires, which along with the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
were the worlds last remaining
Caliphate
A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...
s. While the power of Bornu to resist was weakened after its temporary conquest by the Sudanese warlord
Rabih az-Zubayr
Rabih az-Zubayr ibn Fadl Allah or Rabih Fadlallah ( ar, رابح فضل الله ,رابح الزبير ابن فضل الله), usually known as Rabah in French (c. 1842 – April 22, 1900), was a Sudanese warlord and slave trader who establish ...
, Sokoto remained intact. Sokoto was an Islamic empire that controlled semi-autonomous emirates, the largest being Adamawa. By 1890 Adamawa was weakened by internal struggle, as a Mahdist state had developed within the Emirate, and its borders overlapped with German colonial claims in the region, though it remained defiant on ceding territory.
For economic and political reasons the Germans were determined to expand the colony into Adamawa, so exploration expeditions to survey the region began, with the intention of eventually taking it by force. However until 1898 the Germans were still primarily focused on the
Bafut Wars
The Bafut Wars were a series of wars fought in the early 20th century between the troops of the Fon of Bafut and German-backed troops of neighbouring fondoms and German troops.
The wars ultimately led to a defeat for the Fon of Bafut, forcing h ...
, attempting to conquer and pacify the chiefdoms of central and northwestern Kamerun, rather than spreading northeast.
Tibati Expedition
The military expeditions to expand German Kamerun north toward the
Sahel
The Sahel (; ar, ساحل ' , "coast, shore") is a region in North Africa. It is defined as the ecoclimatic and biogeographic realm of transition between the Sahara to the north and the Sudanian savanna to the south. Having a hot semi-arid c ...
, under the pretext of ending the Islamic slave trade in the region, began in earnest in January 1899, with the Schutztruppe under the command of Captain
Oltwig von Kamptz leaving
Douala
Douala is the largest city in Cameroon and its economic capital. It is also the capital of Cameroon's Littoral Region (Cameroon), Littoral Region. Home to Central Africa's largest port and its major international airport, Douala International Ai ...
for the north to subjugate the Tibati Sultanate in southern Adamawa. Tibati resisted fiercely, and the Bulu tribe on the former southern border of Adamawa rose up in revolt, the Bulu warriors marching to Kribi on the coast and destroyed the Catholic mission there. Only after an increase in troops in the colony and a severe campaign lasting until 1901 was the region pacified and the Tibati Sultan captured, his palace taken by storm.
Conquest of the Adamawa Plateau
The Germans had in the late 1890s taken a more military approach with Adamawa with the conquest of the Tibati Sultanate, which was favored by the governor of the Kamerun colony , despite attempts to peacefully penetrate the region through Christian missionaries, the approach favored by
Adolph Woermann
Adolph Woermann (10 December 1847 in Hamburg – 4 May 1911 in the Grönwohld-Hof near Trittau) was a German merchant, shipowner and politician, who was also instrumental in the establishment of German colonies in Africa. In his time he was the ...
, an influential merchant in the colony. However, in the summer of 1901 and despite previous conflict with the Emirate, Lieutenant
Hans Dominik was ordered to meet with
Emir
Emir (; ar, أمير ' ), sometimes transliterated amir, amier, or ameer, is a word of Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person possessing actual or cerem ...
to reach an agreement on the contested territories and for the prospect of turning Adamawa into a protectorate of the German Empire, as Germany claimed all of the territory between the
Sanaga River
The Sanaga River (formerly german: Zannaga) is the largest river in Cameroon located in East Region, Centre Region and Littoral Region. Its length is about from the confluence of Djérem and Lom River. The total length of Sanaga-Djérem Rive ...
and Lake Chad, and conduct an expedition to the far north. However, ignoring orders from governor Puttkamer, Colonel brought his Schutztruppe from the west and invaded Adamawa, storming the city of
Ngaoundéré
Ngaoundéré, or N'Gaoundéré (Fula: N'gamdere 𞤲'𞤺𞤢𞤥𞤣𞤫𞥅𞤪𞤫𞥅) is the capital of the Adamawa Region of Cameroon. It had a population of 152,700 at the 2005 census. According to the film ''Les Mairuuwas – Maitre de l' ...
on August 20.
Seeing an opportunity to claim their portion of the Emirate, the British sent a force under Colonel
Thomas Morland
General Sir Thomas Lethbridge Napier Morland, (9 August 1865 – 21 May 1925) was a senior British Army officer during the First World War.
Early life
Born in Montreal, Canada East, Morland was the son of Thomas Morland and Helen Servante. Ed ...
from Nigeria to attack and occupy
Yola in September,
causing Emir Zubairu to flee from his own capital city. Dominik with his force fought their way northwest to Ngaoundéré where they linked up with Clausbruch's troops before attacking across the
Benue River capturing the city of
Garoua
Garoua or Garua (Fula: Garwa 𞤺𞤢𞤪𞤱𞤢) is a port city and the capital of the North Region of Cameroon, lying on the Benue River. A thriving centre of the textiles and cotton industries, the city has approximately 1,285,000 inhabit ...
. One of Fula rulers opposing the German advance (like most of his contemporaries) was Mal Hammadou, whose forces were devastated by the Germans. Lieutenant Radke, leading a force of 47 men, marched on Hammadou's capital of
Rei Buba by November, and attacked a strong Fulani force at a position just outside of the town, almost losing the battle, but being able to defeat and route the enemy in a final bayonet charge before marching on Rei Buba itself. Hammadou's capital was bombarded by cannons before being captured, causing him to flee. The Germans replaced him as local leader (holding the title ''Ardo'') with Bouba Djama.
Zubairu went to gather support in Sokoto and returned with a large force of Fulani cavalry and infantry, and also appealed for support from the Mahdist movement in Adamawa, no longer an enemy to the Emir since the death of Hayutu ibn Said in the 1890’s, and who sympathized with the Emir's call for jihad against the German invaders. However, informats told the Germans of Zubairu's plans,
despite this the Germans wanted to hold peace talks in Garoua and use Zubairu as a puppet, allowing him to stay in power in return for his help winning over the other sultanates and emirates in Sokoto. Instead the Emir attacked Garoua with a much larger force in November 1901. However Zubairu was defeated and routed, his force suffered some 300 dead.
Fleeing toward Maroua, Zubairu tried to raise another force, but Lieutenant Dominik led a small force of Schutztruppe in pursuit. At the decisive Battle another Fulani force of cavalry led by Zubairu and Ahmadou Rufai, supported by Mahdist sympathizers, was again defeated by the Schutztruppe, although Zubairu and Rufai again escaped.
After the Battle at Maroua, Zubairu and many of his supporters fled into the
Mandara Mountains
The Mandara Mountains are a volcanic range extending about 190 km (about 120 mi) along the northern part of the Cameroon–Nigeria border, from the Benue River in the south () to the north-west of Maroua in the north (). The highest e ...
deeper into the Sokoto Empire. Hans Dominik had the local Fulani ruler Bakari Yadji executed for assisting Zubairu's escape in this region to
Madagali
Madagali or Madagli is a town and local government area in Adamawa State, Nigeria, adjacent to the border with Cameroon.
History
The LGA was created in 1991 when Taraba State was created out of Gongola State. It borders Michika to the south, ...
, and his son Hamman was placed as local ruler instead. With the military defeat and expulsion of Zubairu as a spiritual and political overlord of the Fulani in Adamawa, the German colonial administration annexed the region from Sokoto, broke the historic ties to the Fulani's center Yola and replaced them with the connection to the seat of the residency Garoua as a new political and economic center. In April 1902 Sultan Umar of Mandara swore allegiance to German Emperor
Kaiser Wilhelm II
, house = Hohenzollern
, father = Frederick III, German Emperor
, mother = Victoria, Princess Royal
, religion = Lutheranism (Prussian United)
, signature = Wilhelm II, German Emperor Signature-.svg
Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor ...
, and by early May 1902 an expedition had reached the southern shores of Lake Chad. Despite being in exile Zubairu sent agents to get revenge on the Germans. In January 1903 one of his agents, Yerima Mustapha, arranged to meet and then assassinated the German resident of Maroua, Graf Fugger, with a poisoned dart, prompting Dominik to engage in a harsh occupation of the city. Zubairu himself was killed later that year by his tribal rivals in British Nigeria. In 1903 Germany and
Britain
Britain most often refers to:
* The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands
* Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...
officially partitioned the region, which was followed by the formal ending of the Sokoto Caliphate. This established complete German control of northern Kamerun up to the shores of
Lake Chad
Lake Chad (french: Lac Tchad) is a historically large, shallow, endorheic lake in Central Africa, which has varied in size over the centuries. According to the ''Global Resource Information Database'' of the United Nations Environment Programme, ...
in Bornu.
Mahdist Uprising
Between 1903 and 1907 the situation had calmed in the parts of the former Sokoto Caliphate occupied by the Schutztruppe. However under German rule Muslims saw themselves on the defensive over their religion, and a significant uprising occurred in the summer of 1907.
After a pilgrimage to
Mecca
Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red ...
, Mal Alhadji returned to northern Kamerun and, under the influence of the ''Mallam'' (Koranic theologian) Liman Arabu, began preaching the
Mahdi
The Mahdi ( ar, ٱلْمَهْدِيّ, al-Mahdī, lit=the Guided) is a Messianism, messianic figure in Islamic eschatology who is believed to appear at the Eschatology, end of times to rid the world of evil and injustice. He is said to be a de ...
yya throughout Adamawa. In June he started a Mahdist revolt against German rule near Maroua, claiming he had been appointed to deliver them to the Mahdi out of colonial rule and from the Muslim rulers loyal to the
German Empire
The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...
, installing himself at Goudoum-Goudoum, gathering forces both from the Fulani and the
Shuwa Arabs in the far north. Simultaneously, Goni Waday, another Mahdist who recently travelled to Mecca, launched a revolt in Ngaoundéré having gathered support with his passionate sermons calling for a jihad from the Mosques of the city to expel the German Christians and restore the old caliphate.
Mal Alhadji moved north to defeat the Schutztruppe, burning down villages considered complicit with the Europeans along the way. In early July the Mahdist force attacked the German camp at Malam-Petel (commanded by
Capt. Zimmermann), but they were immediately met with gunfire, and after heavy losses had to retreat. Zimmermann's force pursued Alhadji, capturing him at Doumru. The Germans turned Alhadji over to the local ruler of Maroua, ''Lamido'' Soudi, and he was publicly beheaded in the Maroua market-place along with several of his accomplices. The Germans killed ''Mallam'' Arabu for playing a prominent role in Alhadji's revolt. Meanwhile, the ruler of Ngaoundéré, worried of German retaliation, expelled Waday and his rebels from his domain. Waday and his followers decided tried to head north toward Garoua with the intention of capturing it. Crossing the Benue River to the southeast of Garoua, the Fulani force closed in. The Schutztruppe sent a force under Lt. Nitschmann to Guébaké, where on July 18, 1907, they ambushed the Fulanis marching on Garoua. Waday was raked with machinegun fire and killed, and only the rearmost Mahdists escaped the ambush. By August 1907 the rebels across north Adamawa had been suppressed, ending the uprising. To prevent similar uprisings the Germans rounded up all of the Fulani leaders who had supported Waday and hanged them in Garoua. Because both Alhadji and Waday had recently returned from the
Hajj
The Hajj (; ar, حَجّ '; sometimes also spelled Hadj, Hadji or Haj in English) is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for Muslims that must be carried ...
, restrictions were put in place and pilgrimages to Mecca had to receive prior authorization.
With the end of the Mahdist uprising Adamawa and all of Kamerun would see relative peace until the
Kamerun Campaign of
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
.
Sources
* Martin Njeuma: ''The Usmanuya System, Radicalism and the Establishment of German Colonial Rule in Northern Cameroon, 1890-1907'', Frobenius 1994
* Florian Hoffmann: ''Okkupation und Militärverwaltung in Kamerun. Etablierung und Institutionalisierung des kolonialen Gewaltmonopols 1891–1914'', Göttingen 2007
* Hans Dominik: ''Vom Atlantik zum Tschadsee: Kriegs- und Forschungsfahrten in Kamerun'', Harvard 1908
* Holger Weiss: ''The Illegal Trade in Slaves from German Northern Cameroon to British Northern Nigeria'', Wisconsin 2000
* A. H. M. Kirk-Greene: ''Adamawa Past and Present: An Historical Approach to the Development of a Northern Cameroons Province'', Taylor & Francis 2018
Citations
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maroua-Miskin
Kamerun
Conflicts in 1899
Conflicts in 1900
Conflicts in 1901
Conflicts in 1902
Conflicts in 1903
Conflicts in 1907
Military history of Cameroon
Conflicts involving the German Empire
1902 in Africa
1900s in Kamerun
African resistance to colonialism