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Kingdom divided · 1894–1898

Borgu divided

Borgu was a family of Wasangari kingdoms, with Bussa honoured as the senior seat and Nikki as the most powerful.

See it on the old map

Overview

Borgu was a family of Wasangari kingdoms, with Bussa honoured as the senior seat and Nikki as the most powerful. In 1894 Britain and France raced to sign treaties with Nikki, and the Anglo-French Convention of 14 June 1898 cut Borgu in two. The eastern kingdoms, Bussa, Kaiama and Illo, went to Britain and became Borgu Province of Northern Nigeria in 1900. Nikki, Kandi, Parakou and the western kingdoms were joined to French Dahomey, now the Republic of Benin. In 1968 the waters of Kainji Lake covered old Bussa itself, and its people were moved to New Bussa.[1],[2],[4],[3]High confidence

The Dahomey piece reuses the rough ring of the Borgu polity, clipped at the border. The pieces show where the kingdoms went, simplified to today’s LGAs.

Who took part

What happened

  1. 1894 · Nikki

    The race for Nikki

    Frederick Lugard, for the Royal Niger Company, hurries to Nikki to sign a treaty before the French can. A French mission follows, and both sides claim Borgu.[1],[2]High confidence

  2. 14 June 1898

    The line is drawn

    The Anglo-French Convention fixes the frontier from the coast north to the Niger, through the middle of Borgu. Nikki’s king goes to France and Bussa’s to Britain.[3],[1]High confidence

  3. 1915 · Bussa (old town)

    Bussa rises

    Bussa rises against the British system of indirect rule.[4]Medium confidence

  4. 1954 · Kaiama

    One emirate of Borgu

    Kaiama and Bussa are joined, and the emir of Bussa becomes the first emir of Borgu.[2],[5]Medium confidence

  5. 1968 · New Bussa

    Bussa under the lake

    Kainji Lake floods old Bussa, the spiritual seat of Borgu, and other towns along the Niger. The emir’s seat moves to New Bussa.[4],[2]High confidence

Kingdoms involved

Sources

Every claim carries a confidence level: high (well attested), medium (one source or approximate) or disputed (sources disagree).

  1. Wikipedia contributors. Borgu
  2. Borgu (emirate, Nigeria). Encyclopaedia Britannica (cited elsewhere, not yet checked directly)
  3. Wikipedia contributors. Benin–Nigeria border
  4. Wikipedia contributors. Bussa, Nigeria
  5. Wikipedia contributors. Borgu Emirate (cited elsewhere, not yet checked directly)
  6. Stewart, Marjorie Helen. (1993). Borgu and Its Kingdoms: A Reconstruction of a Western Sudanese Polity. Edwin Mellen Press, Lewiston (cited elsewhere, not yet checked directly)