Society-KANURI The Kanuri are the dominant ethnic group of Bornu Province in northeastern Nigeria. They are called Beri-beri by the Hausa, but seldom use the term themselves. Bornu Emirate, the major division of the province and the Kanuri homeland, has a history as a distinct political entity stretching back at least 1,100 years. It has been a Muslim emirate since the eleventh century. Bornu Emirate is located at lat. 11 degrees-13 degrees N and long. 11 degrees-13 1/2 degrees E. It is bordered on the north by the Republic of Niger, on the northeast by Chad, and on the east by Cameroon. The Kanuri language has the largest number of speakers in the Central Saharan language family spoken from northern Nigeria to the Central Sudan. Hausa, however, is the most common language spoken in northern Nigeria, and most Kanuri schoolchildren can speak some Hausa. There are approximately 2.2 million Kanuri, according to the 1967 census (Nelson et al. 1972: 116). They may be found in all of the major cities of northern Nigeria and in neighboring sections of Chad and Niger. In fact, the southwestern section of the Republic of Niger is predominantly Kanuri. (A population map of Nigeria, showing the location of the Kanuri in 1963 (and an ethnic distribution map) may be found in Nelson et al. (1972: 84, 104). The climate of the Kanuri region is typical sub-Saharan savannah. Rainfall averages 22 to 27 inches per year, nearly all of it falling from June to September (Cohen 1967: 2). The Harmattan, the wind off of the Sahara, blows cool from mid-December to mid-March, and then may heat up to 100 degrees. The temperature may remain there for weeks at a time, until the rains start in June. Most of Bornu is flat, except for the southwest, where the rugged Bauchi Plateau rises steeply. The eastern part, on the shores of Lake Chad, is marshy. Because of the flatness of the terrain, the summer rains create swamps, and travel becomes impossible. The soil is sandy and covered with scrub bush, scattered thorny trees, and occasional baobabs. There are also large flat surfaces of hard grey clay at the bottoms of ridges, which provide material for buildings and pottery. The Kanuri are sedentary hoe agriculturalists, although almost all of the men practice some other occupation as well. Millet is the staple food crop, followed by guinea corn (sorghum). Ground nuts (peanuts) are grown for sale. Hunting is of minor significance, but fish are an important resource to villages along the shores of Lake Chad and the Yoke River. Horses are a symbol of prestige. Most households use donkeys as draft animals. Sheep and goats are commonly kept. For beef, most rely on the pastoral Shuwa and Fulbe (Fulani, Peul) cattle herders, with whom they exchange grain and craft work. In a few areas, the Kanuri keep large herds of cattle. The Kanuri diet consists of large quantities of millet, served either as porridge or as dumplings. A vegetable soup, also containing meat, ground nut oil, salt, and other condiments--especially red peppers--is poured over the millet. The diet is universal, but the soup contents vary with socioeconomic class. Cooked foods are sold in the markets, and a wide range of canned foods are available to city dwellers. Goats and sheep are slaughtered for religious ceremonies. Islamic food taboos are observed. The basic socioeconomic unit is the virilocal extended family which occupies a single walled compound. Rosman (1962:74) states that while this is the ideal, neolocality is actually more common. Cohen disagrees, and this difference may reflect the different kinds of settlements or the different areas in which they worked (Cohen 1967: 49). In the case of aristocracy and royalty, the household includes slaves, concubines, and numerous retainers and adopted children, as well as the nuclear family. At this social level, the household is not basically a kin group, although the relations are patterned on kin relations, and kin terms are used. Social relations in Kanuri society are generally patterned upon those of the idealized family, the most common being the father-son/ superior-subordinate relation. A man's prestige is based on the size of his household and the number of his patron-client relationships. His followers provide farm and household labor, support and defense, while he provides food, clothing, bride-price, and possibly a bride to each of them. Since an individual's status increases or diminishes with that of the household, regardless of his position within it, there is a premium on loyalty to the master. The preferred marriage for a man is to a young virgin, 10 to 14 years of age. But this is a very expensive form of marriage, and most men cannot afford it as a first marriage when they are themselves usually in their late teens to mid-twenties. The more common first marriage is to a divorcee, for whom the bridewealth payments are much lower. Marriage between cousins also reduces the required bride-price. In case of divorce, children stay with the father. While agnatic relations take precedence for legal matters and inheritance, kin relations are recognized through both lines. Kin terms make no distinctions for agnates above the parental generation or for cousins, who are all classed as brothers and sisters. Agnates generally live together in their own wards within a city, town, or village. Although there are no corporate lineages as such, in the eyes of the law these groups of neighboring agnates are treated as corporate units, in the sense that they are responsible for the actions of their members. People without agnates upon whom they can depend are social outcasts. The Kanuri live in "306 named and variously sized settlements, ranging from Maiduguri, the capital with its 80,000 population, down to tiny hamlets of three to four households" (Cohen 1967: 5). About two-thirds of the population live in 248 villages of from 1,000 to 5,000 people. About one-quarter live in cities over 10,000. Hamlets are found about every one to two miles, and larger villages every five to six. Settlements are composed of walled compounds, make up of mud- or grass-mat-walled houses, with thatched conical roofs. Farms extend in a circle from the settlement, with scattered farms, pastures, and free land beyond. Before European contact, Bornu was a feudal state, with royal lineages, a land-holding aristocracy, peasants, and slaves. Today important political leaders are in almost all cases descendants of the aristocratic lineages, but popular elections have added commoners to their ranks. When the English took control at the beginning of this century, they abolished slavery and usurped the top decision-making positions, but left most of the social system intact. In small villages, there is little or no labor specialization, and differences in wealth are slight; social classes do not exist. In towns and cities, however, social stratification is pronounced, and wealth differences may be great. New trading opportunities, Western education, and political power through election and financial support of others, have created a situation in which there are many commoners today who are as wealthy as the aristocrats. The Bornu Emirate is a political entity and is viewed as such by its inhabitants. Its present political structure is a result of the colonial era, but is still largely based on pre-colonial values, traditions, and ideology. The shehu, or king, is both the political and religious leader of the emirate. There are 21 districts, each with a District Head--usually a member of the aristocracy--and a district capital. The districts are composed of villages, each with its own headman (lawan), and of towns or cities, which may have several lawan. Villages, towns, and cities are composed of wards and surrounding hamlets. Both are run by Bullama, usually the founders or senior males. The Kanuri have been Muslims since the eleventh century. Unlike the neighboring Hausa, there are no pagan Kanuri. Law, education, and social organization are the parts of the culture that have been most affected by Islam. The Malakite version of Islamic law is administered by alkalis trained at the Kano Law School. Traditional education is in the Quran. Social organization emphasizes the importance of the nuclear family and the supreme authority of the father. The Kanuri have had a strong influence on the surrounding peoples, which include the Budum of Lake Chad, the Mandara and Kotoko (or Mogori) southeast of the Kanuri, the Marghi of the Damboa district, the Babur in the hills south of the Kanuri, the Bolewa southwest of the Kanuri, and the Bede of Gashua, within the Kanuri territory. All of these groups have acquired various aspects of Kanuri culture, mainly the Kanuri language and Islam. Many, including the Hausa, were at one time subjects of the Kanuri empire. There are several good works providing an orientation to the Kanuri. Cohen: (1967) is a general monograph covering history, social relations, economics, and politics. There is special emphasis on the effect of family relations on other social relations. Rosman (1962) is a discussion of how acculturation differentially affects social groups and how the social structure itself affects the acculturation process. But as background, the author discusses economics, political organization, religion, and kinship, emphasizing again the role of the family. Culture summary by Martin J. Malone Cohen, Ronald. The Kanuri of Bornu. New York, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1967. 10, 115 p. illus., map Nelson, Harold D. Area handbook for Nigeria. By Harold D. Nelson et al. Washington, D.C., U.S. Government Printing Office, 1972. Rosman, Abraham. Social structure and acculturation among the Kanuri of northern Nigeria. Ann Arbor, University Microfilms, 1966. 5, 379 l. illus., tables. (University Microfilms Publications, no. 66-2677). Dissertation (Anthropology) -- Yale University, 1962. 7850