HISTORY OF BULSA'S (Excerpts of Bulsa Culture)

HISTORY OF THE BULSA WITH SPECIAL CONSIDERATION OF THE SLAVE WARS

BY DR. FRANZ KROEGER

Speech held at the Sandema Feok-Festival 2017

Mr. Chairman, Hon. Invited Guests, Hon. District Chief Executive, the Sandemnab and paramount Chief of the Bulsa Traditional Area, Nab Azagsuk Azantilow, Chiefs, Members of Parliament, invited guests both from home and abroad, ladies and gentlemen . 1 I have the greatest pleasure and honour to be given this opportunity, though a non-Bulsa, to deal with one of the chapters of Bulsa history at the 2017 Feok Festival. What I have written or know about Bulsa culture and history is the result of the efforts of and cooperation with the Bulsa people, especially the late Nab Dr. Ayieta Azantilow of blessed memory who was willing to give me and the late Prof. Schott all the attention we needed.  He was filled with a depth of knowledge about Bulsa history. We are indeed very grateful for his wonderful and warm receptions each time we visited him. Another important source for gathering knowledge about Bulsa history was the National Archive in Accra and other archives . The texts which were found there about our subject were almost exclusively 2 written by British colonial officers. As in almost all historical sources, they were also fraught with a certain amount of prejudice, which means that most events were seen through the eyes of colonial officers. Nevertheless, these archive sources are very important because they give us a chronological order by mentioning the year after Christ (AD). These numbers are the backbone of any historical representation. I would particularly like to draw attention to the colonial officials who, in the early years of the twentieth century, took the trouble to preserve historical knowledge through dialogue with elder Bulsa and other Africans. Although these British administrative and military officers usually did not have any historical or anthropological training, their research methods had an advantage over today's interviews: At that time there were many more old men with great historical knowledge among the Bulsa informants. Above all, many of their informants had witnessed important events themselves. Mr S.J. Olivier (or Ollivant), the British Commissioner of the Navrongo District which, at that time, included the Bulsa Native Authority, got information from Babatu's horse boy who had taken part in his master's battles and raids. Malam Abu, who in 1914 wrote the first comprehensive report on

Pi{aszewicz had been a fellow of the Institute of African Studies (Legon) in 1973-74.3

According to the Ghanaian Archaeologist Jobila Zakari, the oldest date of the Kintampo complex is 400 BC and4 comes from Ntereso while the latest is 1700 AD (Begho, Brong Ahafo Region). 4

Babatu's conquests, had always been a close companion of Babatu. The Malam wrote his book in Hausa using Arabic characters. In short chapters, he described Babatu's attacks on various villages in a matter-of-fact style. I could make use of Malam Abu's book after it had been translated into English in 1992 by Stanis{aw  Pi{aszewicz . 3

Regarding the contents of my speech, I would like to give a brief outline of the whole Bulsa history, but I will concentrate mainly on facts and events that are associated with this illustrious Feok Feast, namely Babatu's raids, the reaction of Bulsa to these attacks and the defeats Babatu had to suffer in the battles of Sandema and Kanjaga.

Early History

An important question about the beginnings of history in the area now inhabited by Bulsa is this: How long have people been living here and who were these people? No archaeological excavations have ever taken place within the two Bulsa districts. Therefore, we can only adopt research data from other parts of Northern Ghana to answer our question. In the millenniums before Christ (BC), the Sahara, which had not been completely infertile before, became dryer and dryer making it difficult for people to live there. The consequence was a migration, particularly of cattle-herders, from the Sahara to the south, which in some way might have also affected the Bulsa area. We do not know much about the original inhabitants of this area, but they were probably hunters and gatherers. Many Bulsa told me that these people liked to live in caverns, and some Bulsa even claimed that they came out of the earth itself, which probably means that they were the original inhabitants. The first cultural period in Ghana, about which we have fairly good knowledge, is called the Kintampo Culture and is regarded as a West African variety of the Neolithic or New Stone Age (Shinnie 1989). 4 We do not know very well how much this culture affected areas of northern Ghana. In Shinnie's and Kense's excavations near Daboya (1978-1983), objects which were characteristic of the Kintampo Culture were discovered for an early phase (Phase A), thus probably making them the most northern Kintampo site yet found. In the absence of excavation results for the Bulsa area, I wish to represent two objects which have been in use among the Bulsa and other ethnic groups for many centuries up to even very recent times and which were also found in excavations of Kintampo cultures and the early Iron Age.

The technique applied by the Bulsa is described in Kröger 2001, pp. 404-409.5 5

a) Twisted iron bangles with or without loops (Buli bang gbing respectively bang) were excavated by Shinnie and Kense near Daboya and, according to the archaeologists, they belong to the early iron age (p. 203 and 208). They are known as a result of other excavations in Ghana for example for those in New Buipe (R.N. York 1973, p. 203 and 208) and are distributed over large parts of West Africa. In the analysis of the objects excavated at Yikpabongo (N.R.), J. Anquandah writes about the iron bangles (1998, p. 97): The twisted iron lightweight pendant/bangle with loops found in the excavations has a direct parallel in modern Bulsa culture and is known as Bang-gbin (fig. 6.16).

b) Stone bracelets (Buli pung), which were worn on the right upper arm by Bulsa even in recent times, were found in Daboya. Apart from bracelets made from a greenish stone, two pieces are described as having been made of a "black stone mottled with white" Furthermore, "All the bracelets... are triangular in section and have been ground smooth..." (Shinnie and Kense, p. 178) Polished stone arm-rings, which are D-shaped in cross-section are also known from Kintampo sites (Ozanne 1971, p. 42).

In the last phase of the Kintampo culture (beginning around 150 BC) metallic iron was extracted from iron ore as industrial centres in the Brong Ahafo Region and Northern Ghana have proved. For producing iron the Bulsa used their local iron ore (balerik, a type of zinga), which is found in big quantities in many parts of the Bulsaland. Their technique was only given up some decades ago, when 5 scrap iron as material for new iron objects was easier to get. We may assume that producing metallic iron from iron ore had a very long tradition here, although there is a lack of any exact dates obtained through excavations. In some Bulsa villages iron-ore slags are scattered on the farmland so densely that the farmers had to collect them in big heaps. Around 1000 AD cowrie shells (Buli lig-piela) were introduced into West Africa and soon became not only an element for decorating both the human body and material objects, but also a widespread currency in West Africa. The first cowries (Cyprea moneta) had to be transported from the Maldives by way of North Africa so that their value was not based on their material but on the costs of their long transport. In the 19th century, large quantities of a slightly different type of cowrie (Cyprea annulus) were introduced by European merchants from East Africa and were also accepted by the West African population. Among the modern Bulsa both types of cowries can be found, but we do not know anything about their origin, because cowrie-money circulated over large areas of West Africa. Archaeological excavations closest to the Bulsa were carried out by J. Anquandah and after him by B. Kankpeyeng among the Koma (N.R.). In Yikpabongo Anquandah found both types of cowries, Cyprea

moneta and Cyprea annulus (Anquandah 1998, pp. 77-78).  The large volume of imported cowrie shells caused their value to depreciate so that higher units of payments were necessary, e.g. baskets or bags of cowries. The Buli term boosa (or boorisa), in the past used for 200 cowries or one bag, is still used at Bulsa markets. Today one borik (singular of boosa) corresponds to two Ghana Cedis. 

The Mamprusi and Atuga

From around the 9th century onwards, large kingdoms were established on the southern edge of the Sahara. The first was Gana, after which the modern state of Ghana is named. Old Gana's economic wealth was a result of its location where gold from the coastal areas was exchanged for salt from the Sahara. After the 15th century, new kingdoms were created in what is today Northern Ghana. These include the Dagomba, Nanumba and Mamprusi. The latter kingdom had a strong influence on the people who lived in Bulsaland. In the 17th and 18th centuries, according to some historians, there was a certain dependence of this area on the Mamprusi. More important for the historical self-identity of the Bulsa, however, is another event: After a family dispute, a Mamprusi prince immigrated with his family and a small entourage into Bulsaland. He probably first lived south of Sandema in an area that is still called Atuga Pusik and is close to today's Senior High School. Almost at the same time, other Mamprusi princes left the kingdom after either an argument with their father or in search of land. Ali, son of the Mamprusi king Atabia, took Bawku facing little resistance from the local inhabitants. Furthermore, Mosuor, the ancestor of the Namoo, a Tallensi clan, was a member of the Mamprusi royal family. He, too, had to flee after a conflict. After his death, three of his sons founded the Tallensi villages Yamelog, Sie and Biuk. A question that educated Bulsa often asked me is: "When did Atuga come to Bulsaland?" This question can perhaps be answered today with a certain probability. First of all, it is noteworthy that in all the eight versions of the story that I could gather about the immigration of Atuga and his family from Bulsa informants (BULUK 7, pp. 69-88), the Mamprusi Prince Atuga came from Nalerigu and not from Gambaga. Around 1760, the Mamprusi King Atabia had moved his residence from Gambaga to Nalerigu, and this became the new capital of his kingdom. The departure of Atuga must have taken place after that date. In all my Bulsa interviews I could not establish anything concrete about Atuga's royal father. In the National Archive of Accra, however, I found a report written by Olivier, who had collected data on Bulsa history before 1933. He was told that Wurungwe (whose name also appears as Wurume), together with his son, Atuga, had left Atabia, the Mamprusi king, in search of land (BULUK 7, p.73).

Perrault was a Rev. Father (White Father?) at the Catholic Mission of Navrongo. 6 7

According to Perrault (1954, p. 47), Atabia reigned from 1760 to 1775 in Nalerigu. This means that 6 the immigration of Atuga and his family to Bulsaland might have happened around 1770 or 250 years ago. According to Olivier (1933, p. 2) he married the daughter of his Bulsa friend, Awulong, and had 4 sons: Asam, Akadem, Awiag and Asinieng. These sons settled in the villages of Sandema, Kadema, Wiaga and Siniensi. Atuga's ancestral shrine is venerated in Kadema, where his eldest son had lived and died.

The Consequences of Atuga's Immigration

The lasting effects of the Atuga's and his family's immigration are not extraordinarily great. In most of the Bulsa villages, they established a kind of chieftaincy with court officers if it hadn’t existed before. In the pre-Atuga Bulsa society a very important power – particularly in the religious sphere – resided with the earth-priest (teng-nyono). In the secular sphere of the society, the "big men" (i.e. the rich and/or influential people) might have occasionally obtained chief-like positions, particularly if they were also the commanders of the temporary village armies.  The bulk of Bulsa culture, e.g. material objects, agriculture, animal husbandry, lineage structure, religion as well as the Buli language remained unchanged. The office of the teng-nyono (earth-priest) was furthermore exercised by men of the original population. There is an anecdote, told by Olivier (1933, p. 2), demonstrating that the Atuga-bisa even adopted customs hitherto strange to them. After having settled between Wiaga and Sandema, Atuga met a man called Awulong who spoke a language called Buli... These two became friends but Atuga, being a Mamprussi, was not a dog-eater. Awulong was, and he asked Atuga to join in eating a dog to celebrate his arrival. Atuga agreed and swore an oath to this effect: "Now that I have eaten a dog, I am no longer a Mamprussi and none of my descendants shall ever set foot in Mamprussi country again on pain of death". This story has been handed down to the present day and no descendant of Atuga has ever been into Mamprussi unless ordered to by the British to a conference at Nalerigu or for some other reason. Historically more important than the enculturation of material things and customs was the relationship between the two groups of different ethnic origin. Among the Tallensi, the descendants of Mosuor, called Naamos, and those of the original population, the Talis, have formed two different clusters of people who remain separate to this day. According to Meyer Fortes (1949, p. 2-3), "the two groups never combined for defence or attack on neighbouring tribes, but were traditional enemies. War sometimes broke out..."

Historians differ in their statements about the exact number of slaves to be paid. A number of 200 (Tamakloe, p. 19)7 sounds reasonable to me. 8

The situation among the Bulsa was and is quite different. Although conflicts between small groups of Atuga-bisa and original Bulsa might have taken place in early times, there has never been a war between the two clusters of population. And in times of danger, members of both groups fought side by side. The reason for this relatively peaceful cooperation might be found in their very close emotional and local co-existence. There is a legend that Atuga's young relatives even herded their cattle together with native Bulsa boys. Above all, it was the intensive intermarriage between the two groups that melted them together. I don’t think that any Bulsa among you gathered here today, can say that all of your male and female ancestors were either completely Atuga-bisa or non-Atuga-bisa. On September 3rd, 1978, there was a football match in the then new sports-stadium of Sandema: The wives of Atuga-bisa played against the wives of the non-Atuga-bisa. If we consider that part of the wives of the Atuga-bisa might have been non-Atuga-bisa, and part of the wives of the non-Atuga-bisa were Atuga-bisa, we can understand the confusing complication of the intermingled teams. One young Bulsa told me that he is at a loss, because he does not know which team he should favour. The solidarity of the two groups was displayed in a significant political crisis that jeopardized the existence of both groups, namely Babatu's slave raids, which is the subject of our next historical description.

The Zabarima Slave Raids

The first event that included the original cause for the slave-raids was a conflict between the Dagomba and the Ashanti. The Dagomba king, Na Gariba (1700-1720), was taken prisoner in Yendi and promised freedom upon the payment of 2000 salves. When he could not provide such a big number, the Ashanti allowed him to pay a certain number of slaves yearly instead .  As the Dagomba were not willing or able to use people of their own kingdom, they started slave-raids among the ethnic groups north of them who had no strong chieftaincy with a large army and who were generally called Grunchi or Gurunsi. After some time, the Dagomba saw a chance to transfer these raids to another group of warriors, the Zabarima, most of whom were living in the Dagomba town of Karaga.

Something should be said about the origin of these people. They came from the region of Niamey in the modern state of Niger. In the early time of their stay among the Dagomba, they were traders in horses, cola-nuts and slaves. Others were mercenaries, Malams or scholars  who tried to spread a militant form of Islam among the Dagomba. In his unpublished booklet about Babatu, Alhassan Bako from Yendi wrote in 1991 that the Zabarima introduced Islam as the first missionaries among the

Regarding the Zabarima leaders we do not have undisputed data about their times as leaders.8

Tamakloe, p. 45.  According to Levtzion (p. 153) the "Zaberma adventures in 'Grunchi' land, independent of the9 Dagomba, started probably c. 1870. He believes that Tamakloe's date is too early.

Holden, p. 66, footnote 35: Tamakloe gives Alfa Gazare's leadership as lasting 12 years... and the Yendi Zabarima10 say that this leadership lasted 7 years...

According to Tamakloe (p. 49), Babatu's marks consisted of "two parallel dotted cuttings from the temple down to11 the cheeks (both sides), with one cutting from the middle of nose on the right". 9

Dagomba. But this cannot be quite true because many Dagomba had been converted to Islam in the course of their trade relations with the Hausa. Among the Zabarima there was one very respected scholar named Alfa Hano who became the spiritual and, later, also the secular leader of all Zabarima . 8 When a new slave-raiding expedition started in 1856 , a group of Zabarima under Alfa Hano 9 accompanied them. After a joint expedition that included fighting together with the Dagomba army, the Zabarima decided to stay in Grunchi-Land and live by raiding Grunchi villages (including the Bulsa). Alfa Hano died after about 3 (Holden) or 6 (Tamakloe) years of leadership around 1870 (Holden, p. 66), and Alfa Gazare became his successor. According to Holden (p. 66), "in probably less than ten years he laid the military and organisational basis for the Zabarima state . When Gazare was wounded 10 in a battle by a poisonous arrow, his two sons, Hamana and Babatu, became his successors. Later it was Babatu who became the most powerful ruler of the Zabarima and Grunchi-Land.   What type of personality was this Babatu? It is a pity that, in contrast to Samori and even Babatu's officer (and later enemy) Amaria, we have no photo of Babatu. At the very least, we know something about the clothes he was wearing. Before his death, Alfa Hano let his followers know that the Zabarima chiefs, from that point on, should wear outfits consisting of a white gown, a hat and a turban. Their clothes probably looked like those worn by Samori. Babatu wore tribal marks invented by him. He believed it to be necessary and expected not only the leaders but also their soldiers and slaves to wear uniform marks . 11 Babatu was a devout Muslim. He invited several Malams of different ethnic origin to join him. However, this did not keep him from attacking other Muslims, e.g. those of Wa. Malam Abu, Babatu's permanent companion, criticised this attitude vehemently and called him a "suppressor of Muslims" and also a "wicked ruler" in his book. Babatu's army, with its horsemen and soldiers equipped with muzzle loaders (Dane guns), was quite superior to the troops of the Grunchi who, by contrast, only fought on foot with bow and arrow and a war-axe or spear. In spite of this superiority, Babatu prepared his battles carefully.

By the way: In the beginning of my field research, I (Franz Kröger) was suspected by some people in Sandema to be a kind of spy like Mohamed, sent to collect data which would enable the colonial powers to re-conquer Bulsaland.

According to one informant from Sandema, he sent an agent called Mohamed into the Bulsa villages he intended to raid. This man pretended to buy millet and to build a house in Bulsaland. After making friends with some important Bulsa, he inquired into the types of weapons they possessed and the strategies they used in battle. Later he reported everything to his master, Babatu, who reacted by providing leather clothes for his warriors . 12 Perrault (1954, p. 94) describes Babatu sometimes using a trick in his attacks in order to avoid bloodshed among his own soldiers. He used to send some of his soldiers to attack one village. They would fire only a few shots there. When the surrounding villages heard this they would run to help their neighbours and while their able men were away, Babatu would attack the unprotected villages with his main force. He used to kill the old people and the young children and take the young adult men and women to be sold as slaves or to be kept as soldiers or, respectively, wives.