Wargee

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Wargee (* in the 1770s in Kisljar near Astrakhan ; †?) Was a Tatar prisoner of war, slave, trader, traveler to Asia and Africa.

The history

When the news spread among the locals of Cape Coast, West Africa, around June 1, 1822 that white Europeans had arrived in the Ashantine capital Kumasi , the British government officials at Cape Coast Castle initially paid little to no attention to these rumors. All the greater was everyone's surprise when an escort from the Asantehene arrived at Cape Coast Castle, with an elderly white man wearing an old African Company uniform. The excitement increased considerably when it was learned that this man had traveled from Tripoli to Kumasi and eventually to Cape Coast Castle. The man didn't speak a word of English, but by means of one of his companions who spoke the Hausa language (Marawah) and Wargee probably translated everything into Arabic and by means of a translation from Hausa into the Fanti language and from here into English came a communication, even if only with difficulty, comes about.

As it turned out, this man's name was Wargee, and he was a Tatar who was born in Kislar, Astrakhan Province. He did not know his exact age, as he stated at the time, he estimated himself at 70, but the British saw him more between 50 and 60, especially since he measured the time by moons. He said he was around 15 years old when war broke out between Russia and the Sublime Porte . His brother was called to arms at that time and he himself was tasked with giving his brother provisions and supplies. to bring. During a battle, he called the place Ebraig, he was captured by the Turks. He and other prisoners were then taken to Constantinople , which they reached in 34 days. There, Wargee was sold as a slave to a higher-ranking figure named Saladar. This happened during the reign of Sultan Selim III. (r. 1789-1807). At Saladar, Wargee stayed as a slave for about seven years. During this time he worked as a trader on behalf of his master. He must have been quite successful in this, because he soon owned numerous camels and commercial goods himself, and with his own proceeds he was probably able to buy his way out. As a free man, he went on extensive trade trips in the following years, including a. also one through Mesopotamia and Persia to India and Java and back via Arabia. Although not of Islamic faith himself, he was even allowed to visit Mecca during his stay in Arabia.

The trip to Africa

Wargee's last great journey began in Constantinople, where he embarked to Alexandria and then on to Tripoli and from here he finally started south with a caravan comprising 45 camels and carrying goods worth 1,500 silver thalers . Mursuk was reached via Sokna after 43 days and another 59 days later via Ganat (Chanab) and Assonada Agades . He mentions that Agades was then located in the land of "Turiack". At Galibaba, he was then attacked and largely robbed. He finally reached Kashna the next day and Kano 5 days later , where he initially stayed, traded extensively and toured and explored the neighboring provinces there. This happened during the reign of Sultan Mohammed Bello ( ruled as Caliph of Sokoto 1817 - 1837 ), who at that time was at war with the King of Niam-Niam , Malim Jago . The latter is noteworthy in that it made Wargee an eyewitness to cannibalism . Such was said of the Niamniam at the time anyway, which even the Sultan of Kano had doubted. Wargee related that the Niamniam prisoners of war were usually sold as slaves in the Kano market. One day one of them died. The Sultan, who wanted to investigate the rumor, refunded the seller the money for the dead slave, had him released and brought to his people, and they actually ate him. In this context, Wargee asserts that he had seen this with his own eyes.

From Kano he finally moved on via Terna, Galata, Samfera, Banagah Dowcassim to Lacoree, which he reached after 25 days. After a trip to Zeggo (Zugoh) we went from Lacoree to Fogan, Karamana and Cumba, where we crossed the Niger . At that time, people and goods were usually translated by boat; camels ran or swam across. We continued through the landscapes of Gurma , Moosh (Musedu or Mossi ), Imbulee, Kabarah (Kabra, Kabre) to Timbuktu . Wargee stayed in Timbuktu and Djenne for a long time, which he spent in intensive trading. He also married a local woman in Djenne. Since the British at Cape Coast Castle also asked him extensively about Timbuktu, which was then shrouded in legend, his report on the country and local trade is also very detailed at this point and is far more magnificent and positive than the representations of Heinrich Barth , who was in Timbuktu more than 30 years later. When Wargee stayed in Timbuktu, Sultan Mohammed (Mahomed) ruled here, who had succeeded his late father Abubekir in 1814. Wargee describes Timbuktu as the end point of the caravan routes from the north, which began in Fez and Mequinez and which took about 3 months to reach Timbuktu. These caravans mostly brought cotton textiles, silk, iron, pearls, silver, tobacco in rolls, paper, ceramic ware and tar to Timbuktu in exchange for gold dust, ivory, teeth of hippopotamuses (also counts as ivory), gum (gum arabic), ostrich feathers and especially slaves, of course. It is worth mentioning in this context that a true jewelry industry had developed in and around Sansanding , which had specialized in processing the silver brought from the caravans into jewelry, which was often to be admired on the women of Timbuktu. From Djenne, which could be reached from Timbuktu in 22 days, Wargee then turned south and continued via Surondumah, Keri, Samaco, Galasu to Kong , where he arrived after 33 days. From here it went to Fulana, the capital of an empire of the same name, which was a neighboring empire of the once so powerful Bambara empire of Mali , which had previously ruled Timbuktu. Since his wife became seriously ill, he returned to Kong and stayed here for a while, where he traded in particular with some small vials that he had brought from Kano and that contained a substance called "Hainar" by the Arabs and by the Kongs "Incassah" was called and which was used to color eyebrows, eyelids and eyelashes. This substance was particularly popular with Kong women and was very popular, so Wargee was able to make high profits with the vials. Originally, however, this substance came from Niamniam, from where it had come to Kano.

From Kong Wargee finally moved on to Goonah and from here eastwards via Foulah to Banah, which he reached after 35 days. At Banah (Banda?) Ran the border with Asante, the place was already under Ashantic suzerainty. However, the local chief stopped him and forbade him to move on until he had consulted the king about it. Wargee was asked to go to Deboyah ( Daboya ) (twelve days eastbound) or, if he wanted, from here to Salaga (eight days further southeast), where he was allowed to trade until the king's answer present. This is what he did. When asked specifically by the British whether he had heard of an empire called Degwombah (meaning Dagomba ), he mentions that a place with that name is 33 days east of Kong and five days north of Salaga, and that Degwombah and Yendi have two names for one and the same place, which is the capital of a kingdom of the same name. Degwombah (Dagomba) would be the name in Haussa and the Marawah language, while Yendi would come from the Mossi language. In this context it is interesting to learn that during this period both Salaga and Yendi / Dagomba, including the Hausa there, paid annual tribute to the Sultan of Bornu .

After three months and three days, the King of Asante finally replied that he could go on wherever he pleased. At first he passed through many cities in the east of the Ashanti territory, but found hardly anyone with whom he could talk, since he only had a Hausa boy with him as an interpreter. The Hausa language was more or less understood, but probably not so much on the Volcano. Consequently, Wargee moved west through Asante towards Kumasi. After 14 days he reached a village near Kumasi , where he was told to stay, while a sheep, a bottle of rum, and some yams were brought to him as a personal gift from the king. Four days later he was allowed to come to Kumasi and asked to see the king, where he was again presented with a pig, a sheep, some rum, yams, bananas and some gold, while in return he told the king about his travels had to. When the Asantehene asked him where he wanted to go on, he replied that he had already traveled a long way and that he had heard that the English had a place not far from here and that he knew they would help him find his way again to find home. The king agreed and determined that he should be taken to Cape Coast Castle soon. He stayed in Kumasi for another 25 days before setting off, accompanied by a royal escort who, as already mentioned, escorted him unscathed to Cape Coast Castle. During his stay in Kumasi, the king met him with a lot of friendliness and attention. It took a full 21 days to get to Cape Coast, but you also only traveled very easy and pleasant daily distances and sometimes stayed a day longer in different places.

literature

• J. Thursfield Pierce: The Travels of a Tartar to Timbuctoo. In: The Asiatic Journal. Volume 16, 1823, pp. 16-23 ( full text in Google book search).