The Diary of Hamman Yaji
Edited & Introduced by: James H. Vaughan, Anthony Hamilton Millard Kirk-Greene.

Who was Hamman Yaji?

Hamman Yaji was the Fulbe (Lamido of Madagali between 1912 and 1920) ruler of Madagali District of the Sokoto Caliphate (now part of Adamawa State) in the early 20th century. He is credited with developing a unique and intensified form of slave raiding which later extended into the Mandara Mountains proper. His case is a peculiar one because he kept a diary in which he documented his restructuring and management of slavery as an economic sector. Reading this guy's diary is like going through an excel sheet of the slavery business, it also gives one a well detailed look into how Indirect rule worked. The diary's editors, Vaughan and Kirk-Greene, chose to focus on the broader historical context and the British view of the events that led to Hamman's eventual deposition. The original copy of the diary is long lost, it was dictated and written in Arabic '...of a very illiterate kind...it is sometimes very difficult to discover it's correct meaning...' according to Captain L.N. Reed it's erudite translator who was most likely asked to translate only the politically relevant pages of the diary. Reed was unfortunately only able to translate Yaji's trading activities, local and private affairs from the period prior to January 1924. The diary appears to have been written for himself alone, not for posterity and certainly not as an apology for his life.

Background:

Although inhabitants of the Mandara Mountains and it's surrounding foothills were not new to slave raids, the Montagnards; sometimes called kirdi, Kanuri word for 'pagan' (kirdi is a derogatory term so the author chose the word Montagnard), on whom Hamman preyed on, experienced very little raids up until the 20th century. They consisted of numerous ethnolinguistic groups who spoke related Chadic languages and were organized into small chiefdoms rarely exceeding a few thousand inhabitants.
From 1808, the area owed allegiance to the Sokoto Caliphate through Modibbo Adama who was Emir of Adamawa with his capital at Yola. Hamman Yaji came into power in 1902 succeeding his father Bakari who had been shot by troops commanded by Oberleutnant Hans Dominik, he would rule until deposed by the British in 1927.
The Madagali District has a varied and turbulent colonial history. It was first incorporated into German Kamerun in 1902 and in 1916 it came under partial and erratic control by the French until 1920 when responsibility was transferred to Britain, though formalized under a league of nations mandate in 1922.

Madagali, the Europeans and the Diary.

Anthony Kirk-Greene a British Resident of Yola at the time describes the area in 1920:
'The...[northern districts of Madagali, Cubunawa and Mubi] taken over by this province are the most lawless, ill-governed places I have seen in Nigeria, slave dealing and slave raiding are rampant...chiefs of minor importance were given rifles with which they were encouraged to attack wretched pagans [who are] hiding like frightened monkeys on inaccessible hill tops... of course everyone goes about fully armed: spears, shield, bows, arrows, clubs, etc'
From the beginning of the diary, Hamman is in contact with German resident Friedrich Duhring in Garoua. He serves as a tax collector and supplies laborers and porters in considerable numbers. In September 1914, the first English men arrive seeking horses and a little later the first French men. The British and the Germans begin fighting around Garoua and in June 1915, it is surrendered to the allies by von Crailsheim after it was besieged. By 1917, Hamman begins supplying laborers again, but this time to the Allies (British and French).
The French mark out boundaries and assign and reassign montagnard settlements to and from him. His men and the French raid together on at least two occasions, although the prefered French term is 'police operation' - (Beauvilain 1989:320-27) - with little success.

On [27th September 1916]...the Lieutenant left for Madara and the Sergeant with Yerima Baba went off to raid the pagans in Gaur



On [29th September 1916]...Yerima Baba returned from raiding Gaur. The pagans have driven off my people, wounding 4 men and 1 horse


Generally however, French attitude was somewhat permissive as long as taxes were brought in. Hamman could live with this.
In August of 1920, he is informed by the French, much to his considerable displeasure that his land falls within the British part of the mandated territories. He is immediately told by S.H.P. Vereker, the Political Officer attached to the British military patrol that he must desist from raiding. (Vaughan 1995:14, Kirk-Greene 1958:84) Hamman stops recording raids from this period onwards except for two occasions in 1922 and 1925 neither at his behest. From 1921, Hamman Yaji farms the hills by collecting taxes and is able to keep the existence of some villages from the British until his arrest in 1927.
According to his diary, he kept records including dates, number of slaves captured, number of men killed, gifts from captured villages, number of guns lost or gained and number of cartridges lost or acquired.

See some excerpts:

On [1st October 1912] I bought a suit of chain armour at the price of a horse and on the same day raided Mufuli [Mufuli a straight line distance from Madagali, about 27km] There we captured 2 calves, a cow , 14 sheep and goat; a result which displeased me.
On [11th June 1913] I sent Barde [one of his commanders] to Wula and they captured 6 slave-girls, 10 cattle and killed 3 men.
On [11th April 1918]...my people raided the pagans of Dinlim and captured 14 slaves, 33 cattle, 68 sheep and 45 goat. The total livestock being 118.
On [19th May 1920] I sent Fadhl al Nar [his chief of soldiers] to raid Muktu pagans. They captured 11 slaves and 13 cattle. They killed 9 of the pagans and 2 Michika men. One of our men was wounded.



Hamman Yaji' diary also serves as a history book for some of the communities of the Montagnard. Their history starts with his depredations and in their stories, collected by district heads in the 1930s, he is described as a monster who amongst many atrocities used enemies's servered heads as cooking tripods. (Kirk-Greene 1960:75).
Source:
A Close Reading of Hamman Yaji's Diary: slave raiding and Montagnard responses around Madagali(Northeastern Nigeria, Northern Cameroon)
By Nicholas David
University of Calgary.
www.sukur.info/Mont/HammanYajiPAPER.pdf

Kehinde H. Thompson For ‎The Nigerian Nostalgia Project - Pre-Nigeria Discussion on Facebook

Vice-Admiral Sir Reginald Hugh Spencer Bacon K.C.B., K.C.V.O., D.S.O.


BACON was born in September, 1863, and entered the Navy in 1877.
In 1883 he became a Lieutenant. In 1887 he joined the " Camperdown " as Torpedo Lieutenant. He was awarded a silver medal by the Italian Government for bravery displayed in rescuing the crew of the Indian vessel, " Utopia," wrecked in Gibraltar Bay in March, 1891.
As Commander of the " Theseus," he served in the punitive Naval expedition commanded by Rear-Admiral Rawson, C.B., and took part in the landing and capture of Benin City in February, 1897.
It was in connection with this campaign that he wrote " Benin, the City of Blood."
As Chief of the Intelligence Department, he was mentioned in despatches, received the General African Medal, Benin Clasp, and the D.S.O.
He was the first Inspecting Captain of Submarines, and held the appointment from March, 1901, till October, 1904, being in charge of the Submarine Service during that time.
He was Naval Assistant to the First Sea Lord from October, 1904, to December, 1905 ; the first Captain of H.M.S. " Dreadnought," 1906-07, and Flag-Captain and Chief of the Staff in the Home Fleet in the latter year.
From August, 1907, to December, 1909, Rear-Admiral Bacon was Director of Naval Ordnance and Torpedoes. On the occasion of King Edward VII's Review of the Home Fleet in the Solent he received the C.V.O., and was Aide-de-Camp to the King from 1908 to 1909, during which year he became a Rear-Admiral.
Having retired in 1909 to take up the post of Managing Director of the Coventry Ordnance Works, he returned to service in January, 1915, as Officer Commanding the Siege Brigade, Royal Marines, with temporary rank of Colonel Second Commandant.
He served with the Expeditionary Force in France. Later in the same year Admiral Bacon was placed in command of the Dover Patrol, becoming a Vice- Admiral on July 15th, 1915, and being made a K.C.B. on January 1st, 1916.
On the occasion of the King's visit to his Army in the Field in August, 1916, Vice-Admiral Bacon received the K.C.V.O. He became a Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour in September, 1916, and was also created Grand Officer of the Order of Leopold by the King of the Belgians in November, 1916.
In 1917 he received the Belgian Croix de Guerre.
-- wikipedia - Few of Bacon's contemporaries denied his brilliance, but many felt that he was also blinkered, arrogant, slow to acknowledge his mistakes, and a poor leader of men.
Admirals of the British Navy by Dodd, Francis
Published 1917