Abubakar's Dream

By Otieno Ogai

With a Preface by Dr Clélia Coret

Abubakar Bwana Kodo is the son of the Imam of Witu, a Swahili city-state within the Lamu archipelago. As a youth, he is taught his people’s culture and history. A sailor and soldier, he sails the Indian Ocean, visits coastal communities, and serves as a captain in his nation’s army.
Walter ‘Hassan’ Fox, a Royal Marine, is a descendant of al-Hassan bin Ahmad, the last Swahili Sultan of Mombasa. Decades before, his grandfather, Mitchel ‘Hassan’ Fox, was abducted and sold as a slave to the British East Indian Company. He serves in the anti-slavery blockade mounted by the Royal Navy across the Indian Ocean.
Set in the late nineteenth century, this is the tale of the Sultanate of Witu, of the Nabahani dynasty, her Sultans, and subjects. At stake in her fight against usurping Omani colonialists aided by their British allies is the survival of Swahili civilization. As the region descends into anarchy, the lives and destinies of Abubakar and Walter become intertwined.
Contained herein is a comprehensive record of native cultures, polities, and a catalogue of historical events.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Otieno Ogai
• Release date: Apr 29, 2022
• ISBN: 9781005990176

Book preview

Preface

By Dr Clélia Coret

Historian

Ghent University

At the novel’s beginning, Abubakar reminisces about his life. From a carefree childhood to his youth, travels, and political involvement with the Sultans of Witu, the venerable babu recalls his past. Abubakar’s story recounts the history of the Swahili Coast in the nineteenth century. It reveals a world that no longer exists: sultans and slavery, solidarity, and political alliances preceded European colonisation. Beyond the readers’ delight, while following the character’s evolutions in adventures narrated, this historical novel is a treat for those fascinated by history. In particular, it sheds light on the history of the Sultanate of Witu in Kenya, a Swahili city founded around 1860 by patricians of the Nabahani clan from Pate and destroyed by British colonisers in October 1890.

The novel’s narrative is of importance to us in more ways than one. Firstly, it portrays the links that unite societies living along the shores of the Indian Ocean. Presently, in 2021, when isolation is, unfortunately, the order of the day, this novel reminds us of the linkages between people through their business activities, kinship relationships, and the religions they share. Identities are fluid and cultures plural; the Swahili sphere is a world of junctions between the Indian Ocean’s shores, her horizons, and the African interior. Interpersonal ties provide the pulse to a shared universe of meaning and exchange, multiple integration, and brotherhood.

Abubakar, the main protagonist, embodies these connections because of his origins, travels, and general life. His paternal family links him to the highest spheres of political power: his father, an imam, is a council member of the court of the Nabahani sultans. His maternal uncle is the Wazir to King Makoran-a-Mungase of the Pokomo. Marriage alliances, such as those between people from different communities, among other types of relationships, guarantee mutual protection where necessary and testify to the fluidity of social relations between the inhabitants of the East African coast.

Therefore, Abubakar’s life is the tale of the great families of this region, that of the men of power and religious elites. With him, one enters the baraza of Witu and shares in the intrigues of the court of Zanzibar. Disputes between the powerful punctuate the romantic plot. Indeed, Sultan Bargash only dreams of annihilating Witu, which he considers a rebellious city, while the Nabahani resist the powerful Omani ruler. However, the voices of great men are not the only ones that are audible. We also hear those belonging to ordinary people. It is one of the novel’s great strengths; it gives voice to humble sailors, boatmen on the river Tana and fugitive slaves. Thus, one of the most enigmatic characters of the novel is Mzee Nyango. A recluse living deep in the vast forest in the vicinity of Witu, he narrates his story to the young and fearless Abubakar and his friend Amin. It is a story shared by thousands of runaway slaves (watoro) from the Great Lakes Region, forcibly brought to the coast to work in plantations in the environs of Malindi and Witu. Having been assisted in escaping by a gang of runaway slaves, they try to rebuild their lives through kinship ties with the local populations (Pokomo, Boni, Katwa, Orma). Others became clients of the Sultan of Witu, serving as the city’s soldiers and giving up part of their harvest to the Sultan as tribute. The lonely fate of Mzee Nyango embodies the uprooting of these men and women torn from their region of origin.

The question of slavery runs through the novel. The stigmata of slavery are still ‘visible’ today on the Swahili coast. The book mentions slavery in its various aspects: the trafficking of men and women captured in the interior of the continent and brought to the coast by merchant caravans, trafficking at sea, then from the 1820s, the campaign mounted against this trade in the Indian Ocean by the Royal Navy who intercepted slave ships. Presented in the novel is the aftermath of slavery. We have already mentioned the fate of fugitive slaves. Some slaves, redeemed by the British, were transported to Bombay to receive a Western education (the fate of Reverend Jones illustrates this). Christian missions along the coast became settlements for freed slaves. These included the Church Missionary Society in Rabai near Mombasa. There, they learnt to read and write; they dressed like Europeans and spoke English. Some joined the British colonial administration.

As one reads the novel, the reader perceives the struggle against slavery and its complexities. The actions of Mfalme Ahmed ibn Fumo, the Sultan of Witu, a paradoxical figure, portray this. On the one hand, he owned many slaves who worked in the fields or as palace servants, including concubines of servile origin (suria). On the other hand, when he chose to, he welcomed fugitive slaves from Malindi and plantations in the hinterland of Lamu, or even the Somali coast. The novel reflects the complex and diverse situations related to slavery among its victims and those who practise it. Nevertheless, eradicating slavery is a long process that continues to date despite its official abolition from the Kenyan coast in 1907.

What must be emphasised about Abubakar’s Dream is the author’s powerful and historically precise narrative. The story embodies well-documented research into the world of the Indian Ocean on the one hand and the Sultanate of Witu on the other. Various sources document this relatively little-known episode, notably Swahili chronicles and written sources by the British and Germans (a German protectorate of Wituland existed on the East African Coast between 1885 and 1890). The author ingeniously evolves his main characters in this precisely drawn historical framework. A connoisseur of history, Otieno Ogai skilfully plays between reality and fiction thus allowing himself the freedom to masterfully develop his plot in this context.

Moreover, the novel skilfully dialogues historical and fictional characters. Among the former are the sultans of Witu (Ahmed Simba, Fumo Bakari), the Sayyids of Zanzibar (Bargash, Majid), traders of great renown (Tippu Tip), European consuls (Kirk, Rohlfs). It also mentions less well-known historical actors who played a decisive role in the contacts between Africans and Europeans in Witu. Sharif Abdallah (senior Wazir of Witu), the German traveller Gustav Denhardt, who was fluent in Kiswahili, and the German missionary, Ferdinand Würtz, co-producer of a German -Ki-Pokomo grammar dictionary. In addition, there are fictional characters, including the very credibly depicted family of Abubakar.

What fiction brings to history is the power of imagination. The images offered by the novel make it possible to reach beyond the historical narrative. Those who are already familiar with these natural and human landscapes will enjoy revisiting them. If, on the other hand, one is discovering them, they can imagine them effortlessly. Otieno Ogai describes visual, olfactory and sound atmospheres that make accessible the plural and coloured worlds of the Indian Ocean. We accompany the sailors, these eaters of worlds, especially in the first two parts of the novel, as we gradually progress southwards along the coast to the Rufiji, Madagascar, and Ngazidja, where we celebrate a wedding in a festive atmosphere.

Other chapters; different universes! Christian missions established in Muslim countries, the complexity of the communities residing within Rabai and Frere Town, headquarters of the Church Missionary Society, perfectly captured in the exchanges between the Bombay Africans (educated in India) and the paternal Reverend William Jones, a historical figure. Leaving the Protestants, we travel to the German evangelist missions on the banks of the Tana River, where the Neukirchen mission, established in 1887, evangelises to the Pokomo. Thus, the chapters of the novel are like the paintings of an exhibition. They each offer a universe of meaning and very different - but always connected - moods, capturing the richness of the history of the Swahili coast. They highlight the significant transformations of the nineteenth century, which accelerated sharply towards its end: the rise of slavery, its abolition, the settlement of Christian missions, and the violence of early colonisation.

As a witness to these upheavals, Abubakar lives through these troubled times. Kinship networks influence the journey of this fascinating character: he is a grandson and a son before becoming a man, a husband, then a father, and a grandfather. His adventures reveal a vast world and act on him as rites de passage, allowing him to find his place. The stages of his life illuminate the historical period: his childhood takes place in Witu and the Lamu archipelago between 1860 and the 1870s. In the prime of his life, in 1890, the Sultanate of Witu is destroyed. He is a grandfather in the middle of World War I. The first part of the novel helps us understand Abubakar’s origins through Swahili and the Pokomo alliances. We follow his sea travels. Cultures and traditions are strong, and individuals’ lives are part of a whole through obligatory passages (rites, marriage, religious training). During this period, Europeans hardly get involved. The second part sees Walter ‘Hassan’ Fox, grandson of Mitchell Fox, return and takes place mainly along the coast and in Witu, where Abubakar lives with his wife. The Sultan is allied with the Germans, who supply him with weapons. The third part opens with the breakdown of relations with Germany following the profanation of a mosque by Andreas Küntzel, a bitter German entrepreneur, a historical episode that happened in September 1890. A page is turning. More dynamic than the previous two parts, this section allows us to follow the Swahili city-states’ political affairs closely. The political divisions around the Mfalme Fumo Bakari are particularly well portrayed; between the patricians who want to stop hostilities with the British (Bwana Kitini) and those who would prefer to resist and honour the struggle the Nabahani begun at the beginning of the 19th century. Finally, after waging a protracted campaign in which Abubakar actively participates, the British destroy Witu. The Mfalme draws on important allies such as Avutula, the powerful Katwa leader residing in the forests north of Witu, who mobilises the military force of fugitive slaves. In the fourth part, the book deals with the post-Witu period when the Imperial British East Africa Company controlled the districts. However, the Nabahani and their supporters were not yet defeated. Abubakar plays a decisive role with the last Mfalme, Fumo Omari, risking his life.

I feel honoured to be offered the opportunity by Otieno Ogai to write the preface to his novel. The book will interest all history enthusiasts and bring them into Abubakar’s dream.

Prologue

MITCHELL ‘HASSAN’ FOX

Lieutenant Commander John Hawkins, Captain of the Clive, a Bombay Marine man-of-war, sits listlessly. Dressed in a Marine Lieutenant Commander’s officer tunic adorned with medals and decorations, he stares at the ceiling. Beside him sits Captain Robert Cogan, assistant superintendent of the Marine, a friend and confidant, acting as his ‘Escorting Officer’. Captain Cogan sat beside him throughout his ordeal, offering comfort and seeing to his needs. In the crowded humid Bombay Supreme Court, the opposing barristers are presenting their final submissions. The last prosecution witness, an African youth named John, has finished addressing the Court and stands behind the witness box facing them with his colleagues, twenty-five African lads, ages ranging from six to sixteen. They wear rough-cut grey calico shirts and shorts, their heads clean-shaven, and bodies scrubbed and oiled. Peering above the witness box at the judge dressed in scarlet-red robes with a woolly ceremonial wig of office atop his head is the youngest boy, Mitchell. His elder brother John had just uttered the memorable words, ‘I thought in my heart that I was purchased… I was a slave, and being helpless, I went.’ The Times Newsletter reporter present in court dutifully jots down his words.

The date was 18 March 1831. A judicial cause célèbre for a Lieutenant Commander of the Bombay Marine to be arraigned in Court, charged under the Indian piracy laws. He stands accused of transporting slaves; an act contrary to the Abolition Act of 1807. Commander Hawkins had purchased the twenty-five boys in the course of his duties. Hawkins’ subordinate officers had acted commendably, doing their best to draw a veil over what transpired during the voyage. They tacitly denied that their Captain had actively participated in the matter before the Court. The freed captives had corroborated the evidence. Coached by the prosecutor and their ward, a staunch anti-slavery revisionist Catholic missionary, they narrated their story. Several were fluent in Kiswahili, and two spoke Arabic. The Company and Jesuit establishment were at loggerheads. The former was unaccustomed to being lectured to; the latter determined to have their way. Both had influential friends in high places.

His predicament had begun two months ago. His superiors, worried by a shortage of sailors to man the Company’s ships, dispatched him across the Indian Ocean to search for suitable recruits. In possession of bags full of ‘Maria Theresa’ dollars procured in Muscat, the currency favoured on the East African coast, he set forth. He had fond memories of Muscat, where he was an honorary guest. In 1829, while visiting the Persian Gulf as Captain of the Clive, the ship’s Company had joined in fighting a fire that threatened to destroy the town. Muscat’s imam had gifted him a scimitar that hung in the Captain’s cabin for his valiant efforts.

The Clive rode the monsoon to the East African coast, reconnoitring southwards along the white sandy, palm-tree-lined Swahili coast. His first port of call was Lindi. Shortly after dropping anchor, he got down to business, visiting the local slave market searching for suitable candidates. He did not need adult men or women; only young boys would do. The market was brimming with slaves, for a caravan had just arrived from Tabora, the infamous slaving enclave. The putrid air reeked with odours of unwashed bodies. The misery of the wretched souls on sale at the auction pervaded the consciousness of the uninitiated. Commander Hawkins was a seasoned hand.

The Lindi slave market primarily sold slaves from the continent’s interior. Home to the Bantu, these were territories still unknown to Europeans. Ringed by five lakes: Nyasa, Tanganyika, Nyanza, Kivu, and Lolwe, it features some of Africa’s most spectacular landscapes. Rolling hills, dense forests, snow-capped mountains, and lush valleys through which clear rivers and streams flowed. Swahili and Arab raiders had devastated the land, sparing neither women nor children. They destroyed homes and crops, leaving death and despondence in their wake. They purchased the collaboration of powerful chieftains in exchange for trinkets and ancient muskets, setting brother against brother. Loath to traverse the territories of militant nations who disapproved of their activities, they took long detours. It made the journey back to the coast more arduous. The despondent shackled captives trekked for hundreds of miles laden with elephant tusks and whatever else the unscrupulous merchants appropriated. What awaited those who survived unimaginable hardship was a life of exploitation and mutilation. Their only relief was a merciful death.

All went under the hammer at the Lindi auction house. Ships from across the Indian Ocean, Europe, and the Americas visited Lindi searching for slaves and ivory. They purchased merchandise using Maria Theresa dollars, rupees or bartered in exchange for Arabian horses. All were welcome. Lieutenant Commander Hawkins did not participate in the auction. He sat on a wicker chair under a canopy, an honorary guest entertained by circus performers while indulging Arab and Indian merchants, who petitioned him to intercede on their behalf with the Company. Several sought his collaboration on various issues. All the while, his assigned agents went about their business of seeking out young boys.

The intense haggling demanded perseverance. The hot, humid, still air added to the participants’ misery. After much cajoling and threats, they managed to secure twenty boys from the small, wiry auctioneer and overseer of the slave market. A representative of the local Sheikh on whose behalf he was authorised to consummate contracts, he doubled up as the collector of customs. The Lieutenant Commander’s Subaltern, assisted by his Chief Petty Officer, closed the transactions. All the boys purchased were thoroughly inspected and certified to be of good health, for the journey back to Bombay would test their mettle. Onboard the Clive, they would be expected to work. His was a first-rate ship, and all hands had to work their passage.

The Commander started his career as a Midshipman in the Royal Navy at the tender age of thirteen. He had worked his way to the top and was familiar with all shipborne tasks. A sailor’s lot was for hardy souls, not the faint-hearted. He had to admit that it had gone relatively well. By a lucky coincidence, a slave caravan had just arrived, giving him the first pick. The twenty scruffy boys now lined before him would do just fine; sixty ‘Maria Theresa’ dollars per head was a fair price. He was elated. All would get English names. His next port of call was Mombasa, where he would be making a courtesy call to the Sultan’s Palace. Afterwards, he planned to hold a meeting with Lieutenant John Reitz, Station Commander in Mombasa. They were to conclude pending Company business. The ship’s crew would take onboard provisions for the voyage to Bombay.

The Clive set sail the next day. Four days later, canons firing, she announced her arrival, gliding through the sheltered harbour full of dhows and ships from Arabia, India, Europe, and the Americas. As they sail through the narrow channel into the port, the dazzling white cliff of raised coral rocks, worn into hollows and caves by waves that crush its face with clouds of spray, rises to the south. To the north stretch the Leven Reefs, smothered by a large sheet of surf, where over a century before, Swahili swimmers ventured to cut the anchor of Vasco da Gama’s ship, the Sao Gabriel, hoping to run her aground. In the distance, the white glistening Swahili buildings nestle amongst Mombasa Island’s tropical green foliage.

The Clive threads her way through shipping: Batil from Muscat with long projecting prows, massive bhagalas from Bombay with square sterns boasting high poops, graceful light mtepes from Lamu, and an American merchant vessel. Sailors clamber up the ship’s mast and lower her sails as she works her way slowly up the port against the falling tide. One hundred yards from the quay, they drop the anchor.

They lower a longboat, and Commander Hawkins clambers on board. Ten stout sailors bend their backs on their oars as they steer shoreward. Commander Hawkins savours the exotic sights. The steady breeze carries the sea’s tangy aroma, tingling his nostrils. Towering above the town is the grand Fort Jesus. Over the formidable redoubt’s battlements, Lieutenant Commander Hawkins is pleased to see the Union Jack fluttering next to the Sultan of Zanzibar’s standard.

The longboat is secured as she comes alongside. Standing on the quayside are Lieutenant John Reitz and Arab and Swahili officials. Donning a peaked hat, Lieutenant Reitz steps forward, smartly saluting his superior as the bugle sounds. His pale-yellow malaria-wracked face strives to conjure a cheerful countenance. Beside him is the Swahili Harbour Master splendidly attired in flowing dark blue satin robes; his dress is more suited to the hot, humid climate. Curious onlookers mill around following the proceedings from a distance. Along the quay, the racket continues unabated. The multitude of merchants, sailors, and slaves lugging wares from the holds of the dhows and ships curse and cajole, oblivious to the ongoing. He exchanges pleasantries, firmly grasping the dignitaries’ hands, then climbs into a curricle attended by two burly slaves. With the delegation in tow, they spirit him to the Palace for an audience with the Sheikh.

He passes through the Palace gate into the courtyard and onwards to the great hall. His host gets to his feet and walks towards him, arms extended as if welcoming back a long-lost friend. He exudes charm and deference to the Commander, a senior servant of His Majesty’s government. Commander Hawkins, fluent in Arabic learnt during his long service across the Indian Ocean, returns the courtesy. The Sheikh requests he sit next to him. Not needing a translator, they get down to business, conversing in hushed tones. The price of gold is the first item on the agenda; The Company sanctions Hawkins to negotiate the purchase of gold bullion on its behalf. Within the territory, the Sheikh is the sole official authorised to trade in gold.

The day’s business concluded, the Commander joins his host for a sumptuous luncheon of Swahili culinary delights in the Palace dining hall. After courteously declining his host’s pleas to spend the night at the Palace, Commander Hawkins and his retinue retire to Lieutenant Reitz’s residence within the precincts of the Fort. The house is of Portuguese architecture. He savours his surroundings. Its low-slung roof is thatched with makuti (coconut palm leaves), keeping the room cool by day. Along the walls, cushions are laid out for visitors to sit on. He sinks into the seat assigned him; a low-slung European couch covered in green silk. Lieutenant Reitz perches himself on a stool to his right. His Aide de Camp, Ensign Roberts, sits to his left next to Midshipman Phillips, Reitz’s deputy. After exchanging pleasantries, Lieutenant Reitz launches into his brief, covering the situation prevailing in Mombasa and along the Swahili coast. Afterwards, the Commander hosts a select group of Swahili dignitaries. They are individually ushered in by Lieutenant Reitz.

Commander, our last guest is an emissary from the Wazir of Mombasa, Bwana Abdullah Daud, announces Reitz.

Bwana Daud addresses Commander Hawkins. Mwenyezi Mungu anakubonesha ishara zake Rubbani. Wazir atuma salamu zake. Nimebeba barua yake kwa Mheshimiwa Harris, katibu wa kampuni ya India Mashariki. Anakuomba ukabidhi kwake kurudi kwako Bombay. Pia anaomba niwakabidhi karama hizi kutoka rafiki kwa Mheshimiwa Harris. (Allah’s graces shower upon you, Captain Hawkins. The Wazir sends his greetings. I bear his letter for Mr Harris, Secretary to the East India Company, which he begs you to hand over to him on your return to Bombay. He also requests I hand over gifts from a friend to Mr Harris.)

Commander Hawkins speaks. Inform the Wazir I will gladly deliver the letter to its rightful owner. I also humbly accept the gifts on his behalf. Inform him Mr Harris is most grateful for this kind gesture. May I offer you a cup of chai (tea)?

Bwana Daud accepts his offer. They spend the next ten minutes conversing on general topics, ranging from the price of cloves and ivory in Zanzibar to Bombay textiles. Bwana Daud craftily steers the conversation to the subject of slaves.

"Rubbani Hawkins, nina elewa sehemu ya biashara yako ni kununua vijana wa kutumikia kwenye meli za kampuni kama baharia. Katika suala hili, tunaweza kuwa na msaada kwako." (Captain Hawkins, I understand part of your business is to procure young men to serve the Company ships as sailors. On this matter, we can be of assistance to you.)

The Company charged me to undertake various tasks during my voyage along the coast, replies Commander Hawkins guardedly.

Bwana Daud continued, "Katika suala hili, nina amini tunaweza kuwa msaada, Rubbani Hawkins. Tuna bidhaa za kutoa (In this regard, I believe we could be of assistance to you, Captain Hawkins, for we have some merchandise that I wish to offer you)."

Commander Hawkins, Thank you, but I have concluded my business as concerns this matter.

Bwana Daud, "Hiyo itakuwa hasara yangu, Insha’Allah nina paswa kupata fursa nyingine katika siku zijazo (That will be my loss. Insha’Allah, I should get another opportunity in the future)."

"Insha’Allah," replies Commander Hawkins.

Bwana Daud, "Waziri ataelewa. Hata hivyo, kama ilivyo desturi, yeye analazimika kuwapa baadhi ya watumwa kwa rafiki. Tunaweza kufanya biashara hali kama hiyo siku zijazo."