"Indiens" in Saint Domingue

Although our attention at the blog has shifted to other topics of concern, we could not resist sharing some brief sources on "Indiens" in colonial Saint-Domingue. In this case, all appear in the late 1690s or early 1700s in Leogane, in baptism and marriage registries. ANOM has digitized registries from various parishes, but these stood out to us in our past "research" on the topic of "Amerindians" in Saint-Domingue. We hope these brief entries contribute to our previous longer article on the subject.

We shall begin with Grégoire Louis, an "Indien" who married a widow, Marie Antoine, in 1696. Both spouses were "Indien" but the origin was only specified for Grégoire Louis. St. Marthe could be a reference to Santa Marta on the Colombian coast in South America. If so, Grégoire Louis may have been an enslaved captive taken during French raids on the Spanish mainland colonies. Unfortunately, this short marriage record does not include information on Grégoire Louis's occupation or possible connections in Leogane parish. One can speculate that he somehow acquired his freedom, and that some "Indien" people sought marriage partners in the same colonial ascriptive racial category.

Our next case, Louis Charles, baptized in 1705, is worth considering. Unfortunately, we are given no record of his origin or background. Despite the small chance he came from India, we shall include Louis Charles as an example of an "Amerindian" in Saint-Domingue. That he was baptized as an adult and specified as "free" tells us that Louis Charles may have been formerly enslaved beginning in his adulthood. Alternatively, he could have never been a slave. Moreover, his godparents included connected people, such as the wife of the governor, Charles Auger. His godfather's occupation as a ship captain might indicate that Louis Charles was a sailor or perhaps some other occupation that brought him into contact with connected individuals. Perhaps he was a free laborer on French ships?

Another Grégoire, but this time a mestif. Baptized in 1701, Grégoire was the child of a "white" and a "free Indian" named Michelle. Identified as a "fils naturel" in this document, we know that his parents were not married. However, his father recognized him as his child, named him after himself, and the race of his godparents was not included. Jeanne Loppez, however, might have been a native of Veracruz, Cartagena, or another Spanish colonial city in the Caribbean region. Perhaps Grégoire's mother also came to the colony from a Spanish possession. While one might think some stigma was attached to mixed-race persons of "Indian" and white origin, perhaps in Saint-Domingue during the early 1700s, "mestizos" escaped much of the discrimination associated with "mulattoes" (the indelible stain of African ancestry). Of course, the reality on the ground is always quite different from what is written on papers, legal codes, and constitutions...

Our last case will be that of another mestive of partial "Indian" origin. Like Grégoire, her father was white, but her mother, Léonarde, was a free Indian. She was their "natural" child, presumably born around 1692 or so. One wonders if her "Indian" mother may have been one of the women taken from French raids on the Yucatan or perhaps what is now Colombia? Or, perhaps, a woman from the Lesser Antilles or North American mainland brought to the island? 

Sadly, most of the sources we have attempted to use to trace "Indiens" in Saint-Domingue were not specific with their origins. Unless specifying Carib or, in the case of Asian Indians, a part of the subcontinent, one must find other ways for trying to trace the birthplace of "Amerindians" in the colony. Clearly, they were present. And the vast majority were from other parts of the Americas, ruling out any continuity from the indigenous peoples of Hispaniola (except for the Spanish part of the island). We here are wondering exactly how many Natchez, Fox, Pawnee, Caribs, and other "Indians" reached Saint Domingue?

Abu Bakr al-Siddiq and Borno?

Although our sources for Abu Bakr al-Siddiq's maternal ancestry consist solely of his short Arabic autobiographies translated into English, it is interesting to consider his life in a "Central Sudanic" context. Incorporating Borno and Katsina into his biography and family background illustrates how connected or integrated West Africa in the precolonial era truly was. Cities in the "Western Sudan" like Jenne and Timbuktu, where Abu Bakr al-Siddiq's family originated (though claiming descent from the Prophet), were closely tied to trading and learning centers such as Kong and Bouna. The ancient cities of Timbuktu and Jenne were also integrated into "Sudanic" trading routes to the east, through Hausaland and Borno all the way to the Red Sea. Abu Bakr al-Siddiq's family history exemplifies this in a variety of ways. Therefore, one can view the family of al-Siddiq in various contexts: Atlantic World, Caribbean chattel slavery, Saharan and Sahelian Africa, and Dar al-Islam. 

First, who was Abu Bakr al-Siddiq's mother? Named Naghodi in one of his autobiographies, a Hausa term meaning "I am thankful," her Islamic name was Hafsa. She was likely a later wife of his father, Kara Musa. Indeed, al-Siddiq's autobiography lists several half-siblings, indicating that his father had numerous children with at least one other woman or wife. His mother was born in the capital of Borno, presumably some time in the second half of the 18th century. However, her Hausa personal name and links to Katsina suggest Hausa heritage. In consideration of the close economic ties between Borno and Katsina, as well as the past history of Katsina as a tributary state of Kanem-Borno, we cannot rule out a Kanuri origin or affiliation for Naghodi through her father. Indeed, both Katsina and Gazargamo were major trading stops for trans-Saharan caravans coming crossing through the Fezzan and Agadez to reach the "Sudan." Migration of traders, Islamic scholars, and other groups between Katsina and Borno must have occurred on a large scale.

As for the identity of his maternal grandfather, al-Siddiq identified him as al-Hajj Muhammad Tafsir of Borno AND Katsina. His mother was an infant during the pilgrimage of her father, and the pilgrimage to Mecca would have left Naghodi and her mother in Gazargamo for an extended period of time. This makes one think her maternal grandfather may have been a native of Gazargamo and perhaps from a large household with dependents, relatives, and economic means to support his children while abroad. Moreover, the inclusion of tafsir in his name points to a scholar with a background in Quranic exegesis. Furthermore, the fact that he went on the hajj at least once would have significantly increased his standing in Borno. Indeed, those who went on the hajj were even absolved of taxes by the Sayfawa rulers of Borno. Consequently, Muhammad Tafsir must have been of means, respected in Borno and Katsina, as well as someone who benefitted from the privileges of the hajj through tax incentives that Mai Ali maintained. Even if he was a Hausa or Fulani from Katsina, performing the hajj undoubtedly aided his business or trading concerns in Borno and beyond.

So, how exactly did al-Siddiq's father, Kara Musa, meet Naghodi? According to al-Siddiq, his father traveled to Katsina and Borno frequently, likely as a trader. A man from a reputable lineage in Timbuktu and the Middle Niger was likely an attractive prospect for al-Hajj Muhammad Tafsir's daughter. Both men were probably traders, and the marriage of Naghodi to Kara Musa would have helped cement trading ties between them. One can surmise that Kara Musa was older than Naghodi and may have already possessed trade connections to Kong and sources of gold and kola nuts through his connections to Dyula trading and scholarly networks. Perhaps a marriage helped ensure honest dealings or trading partnership between Naghodi's father and Kara Musa? Evidence in favor of this can be found in al-Siddiq's allusion to his father sending gold, Egyptian silks, horses, mules, and other goods to his father-in-law. 

This may have been initially part of a dowry, but his father's past of "always" traveling to Katsina and Borno hints at trade in goods, such as gold, motivating his travels from Jenne to Kong, Ghonah, and, eventually Katsina and Gazargamo. Evidence for traders from the Fezzan, Hausaland, and Borno knowing of Kong, Bouna, Dagomba, and the "Gold Coast" can be found in other sources, but the Dyula networks of Kara Musa would have been an excellent network for Hausa and Kanuri traders from the east to tap into for opening up relations with that part of West Africa. Perhaps Kara Musa's network and access to gold (and the possibility of kola nuts) intersected with Muhammad Tafsir's connections to Borno's salt and natron exports to Hausa cities?

Our other references to Hausaland or the 'Central Sudan" in the context of Abu Siddiq are more problematic or impressionistic. John Davidson's Notes Taken During Travels in Africa reports confirmation for al-Siddiq's illustrious pedigree in Morocco and the Sahara. Other informants even claim al-Siddiq was related to the rulers of Timbuktu, Kong, and "Houssa," which must be Katsina or a generalized Hausaland. While one can surmise from the earlier autobiographical fragments that al-Siddiq came from a respectable family with roots in the ulama of Timbuktu and Jenne, the grandiose relations attributed to him may not reflect the realities of post-jihadist West Africa. For example, Borno's capital was destroyed and abandoned by the time al-Siddiq returned to West Africa via Morocco. Katsina was also in a period of decline. The Sokoto Caliphate changed the political map of the "Central Sudan" and al-Siddiq would have been in the dark for about 30 years during these momentous decades. Nevertheless, one can see that several years after his bondage in Jamaica, al-Siddiq could still believably call upon powerful and politically connected relatives in Timbuktu, Kong, and Hausaland. This illustrates just how overlapping the worlds of Islam, "Sudanic" Africa, and the Atlantic were.

Bibliography

Abú Bekr eṣ ṣiddíḳ. “Routes in North Africa, by Abú Bekr Eṣ Ṣiddíḳ.” The Journal of the Royal Geographical Society of London 6 (1836): 100–113. https://doi.org/10.2307/1797559.

Barth, Heinrich. Travels and Discoveries in North and Central Africa: Being a Journal of an Expedition Undertaken Under the Auspices of H.B.M.'s Government in the Years 1849-1855. New York: D. Appleton, 1857.

Cohen, Ronald. The Kanuri of Bornu. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1967.

Curtin, Philip D. Africa Remembered; Narratives by West Africans from the Era of the Slave Trade. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1967.

Davidson, John. Notes Taken During Travels in Africa. London: J.L. Cox and Sons, 1839.

Dewière, Rémi. Du Lac Tchad À La Mecque: Le Sultanat Du Borno Et Son Monde (XVIe - XVIIe Siècle). Paris: Publications de la Sorbonne, 2017.

Gomez, Michael A. Black Crescent: The Experience and Legacy of African Muslims in the Americas. Cambridge ; New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005.

Lovejoy, Paul E. “The Kambarin Beriberi: The Formation of a Specialized Group of Hausa Kola Traders in the Nineteenth Century.” The Journal of African History 14, no. 4 (1973): 633–51. http://www.jstor.org/stable/180905.

Lucas, Paul, Lédyard, John, Lallemant, Antoine J. (trans.), Voyages de MM. Lédyard et Lucas en Afrique, entrepris et publiés par ordre de la Société anglaise d’Afrique ; avec le plan de fondation de cette Société, et une carte du nord de l’Afrique, par le major Rennel : suivis d’extraits de Voyages faits à la rivière de Gambie, par ordre de la Compagnie anglaise d’Afrique, et d’un mémoire écrit sous le règne de Charles II, concernant la grande quantité d’or qu’on trouve près de cette rivière ; avec une carte de ce fleuve et de ses environs, tracée sur les lieux. Paris: Xhrouet, 1804.

Wilks, Ivor. The Northern Factor in Ashanti History. [Legon]: Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana, 1961.