Sefu bin Hamid (? – 20 October 1893) was an

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

Zanzibari slave trader and administrative official. The son of

Tippu Tip Tippu Tip, or Tippu Tib (1832 – June 14, 1905), real name Ḥamad ibn Muḥammad ibn Jumʿah ibn Rajab ibn Muḥammad ibn Saʿīd al Murjabī ( ar, حمد بن محمد بن جمعة بن رجب بن محمد بن سعيد المرجبي), ...

, he was killed while fighting in the

Congo–Arab War The Congo–Arab War (also known as the Congolese–Arab War, Belgo–Arab War or Arab Wars) was fought in Central Africa between the forces of Belgian King Leopold II's Congo Free State and various Zanzibari Arab slave traders led by Sefu bin H ...

Governor of the Stanley Falls District

In early 1887,

Henry Morton Stanley Sir Henry Morton Stanley (born John Rowlands; 28 January 1841 – 10 May 1904) was a Welsh-American explorer, journalist, soldier, colonial administrator, author and politician who was famous for his exploration of Central Africa Cen ...

arrived in

Zanzibar Zanzibar (; ; ) is an insular semi-autonomous province which united with Tanganyika in 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanzania. It is an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of many small islands ...

and proposed that

be made

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

of the

Stanley Falls District Stanley Falls District (french: District des Stanley Falls, nl, District Stanley Falls) was a district of the Congo Free State. It covered most of the eastern part of the colony along the Congo River south from Stanleyville (present-day Kisangani ...

in the

Congo Free State ''(Work and Progress) , national_anthem = Vers l'avenir , capital = Vivi Boma , currency = Congo Free State franc , religion = Catholicism (''de facto'') , leader1 = Leopo ...

. Both Leopold II and

Barghash bin Said Sayyid Barghash bin Said al-Busaidi,(1836 – 26 March 1888) ( ar, برغش بن سعيد البوسعيد), was an Omani Sultan and the son of Said bin Sultan, was the second Sultan of Zanzibar. Barghash ruled Zanzibar from 7 October 1870 to 26 ...

agreed and on February 24, 1887, Tippu Tip accepted. Around 1890/91, Tippu Tip returned to Zanzibar where he retired. Sefu bin Hamid represented his father in the eastern Congo region of

Kasongo Kasongo, also known as Piani Kasongo, is a town and a Territory, located in the Maniema Province of the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. Geography Kasongo lies east of the Lualaba River, northwest of its confluence with the Luama River ...

and carried on the war in his stead.

Participation in the Congo–Arab War

During March and April 1892, Sefu repeatedly attacked Congo Free State (CFS) personnel in the eastern Congo, including ivory traderivory tradesmen which ended up starting the Congo–Arab War. On 19th of September 1892, after suffering an early defeat,

Gongo Lutete Ngongo Lutete (or Gongo Lutete or Ngongo Leteta) was a Congolese leader and chieftain during the late 19th century. Biography As a boy Ngongo Lutete was enslaved by Arabs, but after winning his freedom he became a respected leader of the Batetel ...

betrayed Sefu bin Hamid and defected to the

Force Publique The ''Force Publique'' (, "Public Force"; nl, Openbare Weermacht) was a gendarmerie and military force in what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 1885 (when the territory was known as the Congo Free State), through the period of ...

.Edgerton, p. 99 In response to this, Sefu put the

Resident Resident may refer to: People and functions * Resident minister, a representative of a government in a foreign country * Resident (medicine), a stage of postgraduate medical training * Resident (pharmacy), a stage of postgraduate pharmaceutic ...

, Lieutenant Joseph Lippens, and his adjunct, Sergeant Henri De Bruyne, under house arrest. Sefu urged for a renegotiation of the borders of his territories and demanded

Francis Dhanis Francis Ernest Joseph Marie Dhanis (11 March 1861 – 13 November 1909) was a Belgian colonial civil servant and soldier noted for his service for the Congo Free State during the Congo Arab War and Batetela Rebellion. Early life and career ...

to deliver him Gongo Lutete through a prisoner exchange. De Bruyne was escorted to Francis Dhanis on 15 November to inform him of Sefu's demands. Dhanis refused to agree to these terms and De Bruyne returned to Kasongo. This was considered by Sefu bin Hamid as an act of war. Sefu crossed the

Lomami River The Lomami River is a major tributary of the Congo River in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The river is approximately long. It flows north, west of and parallel to the upper Congo. The Lomami rises in the south of the country, near Kamina ...

with 10,000 men—some 500 Zanzibari officers and the rest Congolese—and set up two forts on the

, where he was attacked by the

and eventually was forced to retreat.Cyclopedia, p. 190 In retaliation, Lippens and De Bruyne were killed in Kasongo, on 1 December 1892. After the capture of on Kasongo 22 April 1893, the Force Publique discovered the graves of Lippens and De Bruyne, they also found the diaries of

Emin Pasha 185px, Schnitzer in 1875 Mehmed Emin Pasha (born Isaak Eduard Schnitzer, baptized Eduard Carl Oscar Theodor Schnitzer; March 28, 1840 – October 23, 1892) was an Ottoman physician of German Jewish origin, naturalist, and governor of the Egyp ...

, which indicated that he was killed on 23 October 1892.Hinde, Sidney Langford (1897). The Fall of the Congo Arabs. p.186. The war's last major battle occurred on 20 October 1893, on the

Luama River The Luama River is a tributary of the Lualaba River in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Location The Luama rises in the mountains to the west of Lake Tanganyika, in the Kalemie Territory of Tanganyika District. It flows north and nort ...

, west of

Lake Tanganyika Lake Tanganyika () is an African Great Lake. It is the second-oldest freshwater lake in the world, the second-largest by volume, and the second-deepest, in all cases after Lake Baikal in Siberia. It is the world's longest freshwater lake. ...

. It was a tactical stalemate, but eventually Sefu was defeated and was killed in action.

References

Bibliography

* * *{{cite book, last=Hinde, first=Sidney Langford, url=https://archive.org/stream/fallofcongoarabs00hind/fallofcongoarabs00hind_djvu.txt, title=The Fall of the Congo Arabs, year=1897 19th-century African people 1893 deaths Congo Free State Year of birth missing 19th-century Arabs Arab slave traders African slave traders Slave traders of Zanzibar