LA CITÉ ANCIENNE DE SILA

The ruins of the ancient city lie at the heart of a schist cirque. These are the dry-stone remains, cemented with earth, of the sultan's former palace, surrounded by thick walls. You can still make out the sultan's chamber at the center of the ruins, as well as the chambers of his wives and concubines all around. In the distance, to the north, we can see the Sila peak, named after a mountain in Yemen, near which our distant Dadjo ancestors are said to have lived. A valley to the north, also enclosed by a wall, offers a fine view of Goz Beïda and the surrounding area on a clear day. The Dadjo are fervent Muslims from Yemen, descendants of Abdoullaye, one of the Prophet's closest relatives. Their origins are probably close to those of the Tama and Zaghawa. They remained in Yemen from 619 to 892, before fleeing to Sudan's Darfur region, where they remained until the 17th century. There, they moved from Jebel Marra to Hadjar Kadjano. At that time, it was customary for each sultan to raise a different tata from his predecessor within five years of his enthronement. The Dadjo were then vassals of the Sultan of Darfur, to whom they paid tribute. Urged on by numerous Dadjo who had carried out reconnaissance missions to the west and discovered a fertile, game-filled country, Sultan Saleh, who reigned from 1664 to 1703, left Darfur to set up his tata at Anostoua, several dozen kilometers east of where Goz Beïda stands today. His son, Sultan Charaf, who reigned from 1703 to 1735, felt that Anostoua was still too close to the Darfur sultan's zone of influence, and moved his court to an isolated, hard-to-reach site, which he named Hougouné, meaning "the mountainous cirque". In memory of Yemen and the Sila mountain that dominates the land of his ancestors, he called the peak near the new city Sila. Similarly, the new land, which he ruled alone, was named Dar Sila, meaning "the land of Sila". He brought together all the Dadjo and organized his country under the aegis of four noble chiefs, the kamakilié, who were to oversee the village chiefs, the firshé. His successor, Issa Hadjar, who reigned from 1735 to 1779, built a triple enclosure around his tata. This construction saved the Dadjo from attack by the Ouaddaïans. The latter were never able to cross the third enclosure and fled, giving the Dadjo a reputation as fearsome warriors. However, the following dynasty suffered a second war against the Ouaddaïans, sparked by a disgruntled pretender to the throne. The battle took place at Gaciré, 20 km east of Hougouné. Once again, the Dadjo were victorious. Sultan Mohamed Bolad, who reigned from 1851 to 1879, definitively confirmed the borders with his powerful neighbors; the Sultan of Darfur even granted Sila the regions of Dar Sinyar and Fongoro, which were pacified by force of arms. Sila's heyday came under the reign of Sultan Mohammed Bakhit (1900-1916), whose sultanate had been established in Goz Beïda by Bakhit's father, Ishaq Abou Rishe (1879-1900) in 1879. However, Sultan Doudmourah of Ouaddaï took umbrage at the lucrative elephant hunting and ivory harvesting expedition organized by Sultan Bakhit on his lands, and was preparing to attack when the French arrived, with their reputation as invincible soldiers who had even defeated Rabah's armies. The sultan then sent emissaries to the French, to place his country at their disposal. In 1909, the first French lieutenant, Georges de Meef, arrived, followed on January 1, 1912 by Colonel Largeau. The Dadjo had to pay a tax to the French, stop the captive trade and relinquish certain powers to the administration. But in 1914, the French were all mobilized for the Cameroon campaign, and did not return until the following year. The new colonel, Hilaire, was hostile to the sultan, and the two men clashed in May 1916. The Dadjo were quickly defeated, and the sultan fled to Darfur, where he was taken prisoner and deposed. He was later replaced by one of his obscure sons, Yacoub, who was soon deposed and replaced by Sultan Mustapha, the younger son and legal heir of the former sultan. By this time, however, his powers had become negligible, his sources of income almost nil, and the unlucky sultan, who was very pious, courageous and loyal, was much maligned by the city's various administrators. The current sultan is his grandson. The Sultanate of Sila was Muslim and slave-owning, but less cruel than that of Ouaddaï; pretenders to the throne were not blinded, and those closest to the sultan were not sacrificed. The sultan's income came from the zakka, an annual tax consisting of one-tenth of the harvest for sedentary people, and one-thirtieth of the livestock for nomads. He was also entitled to the fotra, around three kilos of millet per inhabitant, but usually left it to his imam and village chiefs; the rest was used to help the poor. The sultan was also entitled to a strip of gabak per head of household, to benefits in kind from merchants, and to the products of hunting, particularly ivory. But the bulk of his income came from raids, the sale of captives and fines imposed on chiefs for breaches of Koran and custom.