Body Guard of the Sheikh of Bornou
This engraving shows a horse-mounted warrior holding a spear and clothed in armor. Denham explained how "the black chiefs. . . were habited in coats of mail composed of iron chain which covered them from the throat to the knees. . . their horses' heads were also defended by plates of iron, brass, and silver" (Denham, p. 64). This engraving is based on a sketch by Denham of soldiers who served the Sheikh of Bornu. Dixon Denham (1786–1828) was an English soldier and explorer. After serving in the Napoleonic Wars, Denham volunteered in 1821 to join Walter Oudney and Hugh Clapperton on an official expedition across the Sahara from Tripoli to in the Lake Chad basin of the Central Savanna region. After enduring danger and privation, they arrived at Kuka, the capital of Bornu, in 1823. While Clapperton and Oudney set out on a journey westward, Denham traveled the shores of Lake Chad and the lower courses of the Waubé, Chari and Logone rivers. After returning to England in 1825, Denham became the superintendent of Liberated Africans in Freetown in 1827, and the year after, he became governor of Sierra Leone.
Image Title
Body Guard of the Sheikh of Bornou
RegID
SI-OB-835
Date
1822-1824
Title
Body Guard of the Sheikh of Bornou
Source
Dixon Denham, Narrative of Travels and Discoveries in Northern and Central Africa, in the years 1822, 1823, and 1824 (London: John Murray, 1826), facing p. 64.
Language
English
Item sets
Pre-Colonial Africa: Society, Polity, Culture
Spatial Coverage
Africa--Central Savanna
Researchers
Jerome Handler; Michael Tuite; Henry B. Lovejoy Graduate Research Assistants: Tiffany Beebe; Travis May
Last Updated
5-Apr-16; 26-Aug-19
Identifier
Denham006