Episode 2: Toha Zei, The Red Hunter, Is A Myth But Naa Gbewaa Is A Historical Reality

In episode 1 of this series, I discussed the popular 'received narrative' about the Red Hunter Legend supposed in those accounts as the ancestral father of all Dagbamba in Nanun, Dagbon, Mamprugu and Mossiland. The Buffalo/Bush cow/Beast account which began an adventure of a Red Hunter who some have referred to as Abdul-Azziz or Ndeega/Ndinga is one which needs more interrogation to ascertain its veracity. I made the point that this Chad or Zamfara narrative about our origin is one popular distortion which, like the many others, are kept in books authored by the colonial masters. They are in written archives originally authored by two groups of foreigners read over and over by the lettered and narrated to the present generation by non-griots as though they were oral tradition. Yesternight at Sankara Radio 103.1 discussion on same topic, I repeated a challenge which I have been throwing to narrators who hold this myth about the Red Hunter Legend. I asked for names of elder griots with titles they have met narrating to them the Red Hunter Legend. Identifying additional griots is essential to understanding the more nuanced aspects of the topic for a review of my book: " The Untold History of the Dagbamba People "

The British, Germans and French colonised West Africa and their first attempt was to write about the origin, chieftaincy and culture of the indigenous African societies. The unending appetite for penning down these information was undoubtedly met with rivalrous resistance; first from the griots (baansi) and in general from the chiefs and the commoners. These local people could not trust the Whiteman, let alone to share their history and traditions with them. In situations when the persistence yielded dividends, the elders had an option of giving out only shareable aspects mixed with untruths so as to end the persistence of the colonial masters. Most culpable in the business of giving out something to represent something were generally the non-griots. The griots even today would often keep mute except in situations when the chief assembled them to sing to praise their ancestors for their exploits. The Whiteman in few places had the opportunity to record such drum chants. An example in Dagbon is 1930 when about three to four days tape recording of the drum chants was helpful to their lust for documenting things about the local people.

Most helpful to the British, the French and the Germans were the Hausas, Dyulas and other groups who had lived with the local people much earlier than the colonial masters. These were Islamic clerics, locally called Mallams, who arrived in the 1600s to the 1800s, or much earlier or later, for theological service to bring the people to the light of Islam. These Hausas and other groups earlier engaged in trade with the local people. They came from the direction of the Hausaland of Borno. Some of these traders had taken much travels within the Kanem-Borno, Mali and Songay Empires and knew much about traditions and proses or folktales told in those places. The Mallams opened 'makaranters' and wrote the earliest scripts about medicine, poetry, literature, trade, religion and many others including what was called the tarikhul scripts. They used what was called the Ajami writing skills which could be understood by only those who were taught how to read them. Ajami or Ajamiya is roughly translated as "foreigners' writing". So these early foreigners wrote topics related to Gonja, Dagomba, Hausa, Grushis, Mamprusis, Mossi, Yoruba, Malinke, Tuareg, Akan, Guan, Wolof, among others within the West African belt.

It must be emphasized that the earliest written history of the Dagbamba people can be found in the Hausa Ajami Scripts. The colonial masters' appetite for writing about the history of the Dagbamba and most other groups within West Africa utilized these early 'friends' of the local people. They therefore turned to the Mallams to turn their focus on writing in Hausa Ajami the traditions and histories of the people. Notable Mallams in the case of Dagbon were Mallam Muhammad Ibn Mustapha who was at Salaga. He wrote a lot of topics in history of Gonja with reference to Dagomba, Asante, Mamprusi, Fulani etc in 1751/2. His work is popularly referred to as Kitaabu Gbunja i.e. Chronicles of Gonja which most British, French and German writers depended. Ibn Mustapha wrote in reference to Dagomba that the Asante invaded and subdued Dagbon under the Asante king.

A Mallam who wrote copiously about the Dagbamba, the Mossi, the Gurunsi and other groups was Alhaji Imoru Ibn Abi Bakr (1858 - 1934). Alhaji Imoru was born in Kano but stationed in Salaga and later Kete Krachi. When Alhaji Imoru was at Kete Krachi, a German government official, Adam Mischlich, arrived as Head of Kete Krachi at which time it's Muslim community was divided over who to be Chief Imam. A. Mischlich resolved it by giving an Arabic Dictionary, Qamus al-Muhit, to the contestants to read. Alhaji Imoru was the only one who could read it. He became the Chief Imam and a friend to A. Mischlich. A. Mischlich began to request the services of Alhaji Imoru for topics on Dagomba history which he obliged for remuneration. Alhaji Imoru is credited with over 50 subjects on poems, diseases, medicine and history of the Dagbamba sometimes credited to one Mallam Al-hassan, Hausa from the Djougou territory. In one of Alhaji Imoro's scripts, he wrote about Gonja subduing Dagbon under it's rule, imposing a sort of levy upon Dagbon and influencing their internal matters.

Like Alhaji Imoru and Mallam Ibn Mustapha, both of Hausa origins, many of these Ajami authors were aggregative in theme and class connecting all the different groups. There were copied traditions of the Kusugu Well of Daura (or Do) in Nigeria which had already been transported to the old Mali Empire about the origin of Sundiata Keita from the Buffalo Woman of Daura (or Do).

The Hausa Ajami script authors from Nigeria already had a tradition from the Hausaland about a RED HUNTER arriving from somewhere to meet an old woman and requesting water from same. That story has different versions in the Kanem-Borno territory but the popular version narrates about Daura (Do) tradition and the Kusugu Well. The original documented archive appear to point to Arab authors who had arrived from the direction of Saudi Arabia to spread Islam around 1000s or 1100s. Aside the teaching of Islam, these clerics began to write poems, stories and mythical sayings about the people. Whether their documentations were based on Hausa griots or not is left to the griots and Hausa historians to debate authough Hausa academics and historians have rejected the authenticity of the story.

The story goes that in Bagdad i.e. today's capital city of Iraq, a Prince who had contested to be a king was unsuccessful. He then traveled towards Daura (Dau or Do) where the people there fetched water from their only water source i.e. ancient Kusugu Well. The name of the Bagdaddi LIGHT-SKINNED stranger was ABU YEZID. Abu Yezid disguised as a HUNTER. The brave Hunter, after lodging in the house of one old woman in the name of Ayyana, requested water, but the old woman told him that they had no water for days because their only water source was taken over by a wild snake called Sarki. He then requested to be shown the well. The RED HUNTER was shown the well and he went and killed Sarki. He returned and showed the woman that he had killed Sarki with a dagger. The woman was very happy and announced this news to the king and the RED HUNTER was gifted a princess who gave birth to a son who later became the king. Some narrate that it was rather the queen who married the HUNTER and he became a King. Because he could not speak Hausa before, people started calling him Bayajidda, meaning, someone who doesn't understand their language. He had seven children who grew up to rule over the seven Hausa states that are called Hausa Bakwai.

This story appear to have been copied, retold over and over in the old Mali Empire that the legend, Sundiata Keita, was linked to it. Although there are different versions too, the popular one narrates about an old woman from the land of Dau who was changing to a buffalo and had taken over their only water source and anybody who went close was killed. A hunter, though some say two hunters, met the old woman and she requested food which the hunter, or the two hunters, gave to her. The old woman blessed them to be able to kill the Buffalo although she was the same shape-shifting Buffalo disguised as the old woman. The hunter, or the two hunters, killed the Buffalo and the king of Do assembled his princesses for them to select but he, or they, chose a hunchback woman, Sogolon. They traveled towards another land i.e. ancient Mali Empire where King Maghan Kon Fatta was ruling and destined to marry Sogolon so that she will give birth to Sundiata Keita.

As may be seen from above, the story originating from the Hausaland became a central theme for a lot of Hausa Ajami writers that it became a common story told over and over for centuries across the West African belt. This copied story in the Ajami scripts became the written archives which the British, French and German relied upon to translate the history and traditions of Dagbamba. In one way or the other, these early translated versions had similarities with Christian authors' belief in human origin in Biblical Tower of Babel (Genesis 11:1-9). This appears to have been the origin of most distortions of the history of the Dagbamba in the Gbewaa States of Nanun, Dagbon, Mamprugu and Mossiland. English, French and German writers translated from Ajami, incorporated Biblical elements and early Dagbamba readers in the 60s -90s read in English the RED HUNTER story and it became a common narrative among lettered non-griots that the unlettered became parties in the narration. RED HUNTER translated into Dagbani became TOHA ZEI. Abu Yezid has changed to Abdul-Aziz in some of the accounts, Mali became the origin where TOHA ZEI was said to have killed the Buffalo/Bush cow/beast, princess Sogolon became Mali Nabipuginga to some narrators and many other names were injected to make the story a complete and credible one. The Samarian Annunaki theory of human origin pointing to Egypt became the central theme for some to postulate that the supposed father of TOHA ZEI was TIYAWUMYA from Kemet dynasty of Egypt.

There is certainly a lot to talk about the Legend or mythological TOHA ZEI but the disconnect between it's reality and it being a myth exists for readers and researchers. If it is real at all, it must be referring to the ruling class other than the aboriginal Dagbamba origin. It suffices to say that this theory about Dagbamba origin from Chad or Egypt or Zamfara is immaculately mythical than the eye and mind can imagine. Most assuredly, it did not emanate from the griots. These early written accounts have confused our generation that we seem helplessly connected to the Red Hunter Legend origin from Chad or Nigeria. It undoubtedly did not emanate from the griots, chiefs or Dagbamba elders.

...TO BE CONTINUED..'
Assalaamu alaikum!
Shalom!
Peace!
Author of " The Untold History of the Dagbamba People "

Abubakari Is-haq Motariga
Yendi
0244903765
Email: ishaqbukari2016@gmail.com

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