A FULANI DESIGN, POPULARISED BY HAUSA MERCHANTS AND ADOPTED BY WEST AFRICANS.

A fashionable male traditional attire (clothing) that is symbolic to west Africa, its origin is west African, sewn and worn by flamboyant west Africans especially the Rich, the people of power, the royalty, the clerics and even the not so rich. This traditional dress is called "Boubou" by the Francophone west Africans and "Gown" by their Anglophone counterparts. The Hausa call it " Babbar riga" , the Yoruba call it "Agbada", "Gmajekura" by the Kanuri," "Mbubb" by the Wolofs of Senegal, "Gandora " by the Tuaregs and."Linshi-manga" by the Fulani.

Despite the popularity of this beautiful traditional attire, most of us are oblivious of the origin of this symbolic West African clothing. Many would be surprised to know that this clothing originated from the semi-sedentary Fulani cleric clan called "Torodbe" of the Fulani Takrur Empire ( Later Fuuta tooro in present day Senegal) of the 8th-12th century B.C.

The use of this attire become widespread throughout west Africa primarily due to the migration of the semi-nomadic Fulani clerics and secondarily by the merchant class of the Hausa people ( to a large extent ) and the "Dyula" ( who are a mandingo merchant clan of the Mali Empire) to a lesser extent.

Historically, this clothing has an Islamic identity because initially, it use was limited to the Islamized sections of west Africa. But gradually with the increase in trade and interaction between different parts of west Africa it's usage gained wide acceptance.

Today this traditional dress has broken the Islamic barrier, in that its usage is no more restricted to the Islamic population of west Africa, and has become widespread across the length and breath of west Africa irrespective of religion or ethnicity.

The "Linshi-manga" has become popular to the extent that the world of fashion consider it as a traditional symbol/identity of west Africans.

In Nigeria it is the most popular and most widely worn traditional outfit adorn by almost all Nigerian religions, tribes and ethnicities ( with the exception of the Niger-deltans ).

The "Babbar-riga" is very common among the Hausa population and it is worn as a symbol of power and wealth among most Southern (Nigerian) tribes especially amongst their elites. Historically it was worn by Yoruba chiefs like Chief Obafemi Awolowo and Chief Samuel Ladoke Akintola, Chief Olusegun Aremu Obasanjo love this attire alot. Amongst the Ibo chiefs, Chief Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe was a typical adorner of this beautiful gown.

It is beautiful,
It is fashionable,
It is delightful to behold.

Proudly West
African.

nice work,keep it up

gisthit:
nice work,keep it up

Gratitude for the compliment.

All very interesting but I think the songhai origin and influence of this makes more sense, I might be wrong but I always believed it crept in from the songhais when they invaded major Hausa states.

VomeSchakleton:
All very interesting but I think the songhai origin and influence of this makes more sense, I might be wrong but I always believed it crept in from the songhais when they invaded major Hausa states.

Note: From the screen cut you posted, The "Torodbe" are referred to as "Tukulor" by some writers.


About the songhais there is a controversy as to wether or not the Songhais had ever invaded Hausaland, bc there is no any documented History written or verbal to support that assertion which was only made by the traveler Leo Africanus. Here is an excerpts from H.A.S. Johnston's "The Fulani Empire of Sokoto " regarding this controversy.


LEO AFRICANUS AND THE SONGHAI INVERSION OF HAUSALAND

" Leo's credibility as a witness is sometimes questioned because his account of his African travels was written many years after the event and because his famous mistake about the direction of the Niger's flow showed how deep into error he could fall.
For the Songhai annexation of Agades there is independent evidence, but the supposed invasion of Hausaland in A.D. 1513 rests almost entirely on his evidence. Most historians have accepted it, but some have remained sceptical and have pointed out that The Kano Chronicle makes no mention of the invasion. This is perfectly true, but the Chronicle does state (Palmer, p. 112) that the Sultan of Bornu brought an army against the city in the time of Abdullahi (A.D. 1499-1509) who was compelled to go out and humble himself. As the slight discrepancy in dates is within the tolerance of historical error, this may well be a garbled account of the Songhai invasion. On balance, this explanation certainly seems more probable than the alternative theory that Leo's account of the Songhai invasion, which goes into some detail, was all an invention."



As for me in all my research and digging I never came across the mention of songhai inversion of Kano or any other Hausa state.

Baaballiyo:


Note: From the screen cut you posted, The "Torodbe" are referred to as "Tukulor" by some writers.


About the songhais there is a controversy as to wether or not the Songhais had ever invaded Hausaland, bc there is no any documented History written or verbal to support that assertion which was only made by the traveler Leo Africanus. Here is an excerpts from H.A.S. Johnston's "The Fulani Empire of Sokoto " regarding this controversy.


LEO AFRICANUS AND THE SONGHAI INVERSION OF HAUSALAND

" Leo's credibility as a witness is sometimes questioned because his account of his African travels was written many years after the event and because his famous mistake about the direction of the Niger's flow showed how deep into error he could fall.
For the Songhai annexation of Agades there is independent evidence, but the supposed invasion of Hausaland in A.D. 1513 rests almost entirely on his evidence. Most historians have accepted it, but some have remained sceptical and have pointed out that The Kano Chronicle makes no mention of the invasion. This is perfectly true, but the Chronicle does state (Palmer, p. 112) that the Sultan of Bornu brought an army against the city in the time of Abdullahi (A.D. 1499-1509) who was compelled to go out and humble himself. As the slight discrepancy in dates is within the tolerance of historical error, this may well be a garbled account of the Songhai invasion. On balance, this explanation certainly seems more probable than the alternative theory that Leo's account of the Songhai invasion, which goes into some detail, was all an invention."



As for me in all my research and digging I never came across the mention of songhai inversion of Kano or any other Hausa state.

Huh! History and mystery are synonymous. Too many different accounts of one same event.

You are totally misinformed. Look very well with your korokoro eyes again and come up with Fulani or Arabs wearing AGBADA. Don't you know the difference between Agbada, Bubu and Babariga?

Agbada is exclusively Yoruba invention before being adopted everywhere else. Olodo!

banku:
You are totally misinformed. Look very well with your korokoro eyes again and come up with Fulani or Arabs wearing AGBADA. Don't you know the difference between Agbada, Bubu and Babariga?

Agbada is exclusively Yoruba invention before being adopted everywhere else. Olodo!

Lol! Charlatan here. Please if you don't know what you're talking about, just shuut up.


The "Agbada" is generally believed to be of sahelian origin, the particular ethnic group responsible is not clear but the only logical explanation is you actually got this from your neighbours up north. You're welcome. Even the dashiki or what not is from the north, gotten from the Hausa words "dan ciki".

Just like we can't lay claim to the aso oke head tie that's now very popular in the north, don't claim what is not yours.

VomeSchakleton:


Huh! History and mystery are synonymous. Too many different accounts of one same event.

Yeah that's right, but the Tukulors are Fulani they are only different from main stream Fulani basically because they have a mix-blood, and they speak only the Fulbe language. If you read to the end of the "screen cut" you posted you will understand that. Besides the Torodbe movement ( which is the first Islamic movement in West Africa ) was only concerned with Islam not race or ethnicity that's why their actions gave rise a Tukulor population. Here is an excerpt from Wikipedia on Torodbe:



Organization
The Torodbe at first recruited members from all levels of Sūdānī society, particularly the poorer people.
[5] Torodbe clerics included people whose origin was Fula , Wolof , Mande ,
Hausa and Berber . However, they spoke the Fula language , married into Fulbe families, and became the Fulbe scholarly caste. [6] As with the Zawaya and Mandé clerisies, the early Torodbe clerics were looked down upon by the warrior groups in their societies, which usually had little interest in Islam. [7] The Torodbe originally lived on charity, as shown by sayings such as "the Torodo is a beggar" and "if the calabash did not exist, the Torodo would not survive". [8] The term
Torodo is derived from tooraade, meaning "to ask for alms." The Torodbe lived in settled communities and would not follow any caste-based trade such as being fishermen, smiths, weavers or tanners.[2]
The jihads launched by the Torodbe leaders were in response to declines in Islamic practices coupled with oppression by the ruling classes. They aimed to eliminate relics of traditional religious beliefs, and to elevate Islam from a personal belief into the law of the land, creating theocratic states.

banku:
You are totally misinformed. Look very well with your korokoro eyes again and come up with Fulani or Arabs wearing AGBADA. Don't you know the difference between Agbada, Bubu and Babariga?

Agbada is exclusively Yoruba invention before being adopted everywhere else. Olodo!

In this picture Awolowo is wearing a completely sewn Northern Agbada, looking at the embroidery it's either from Kano or Zaria. The embroidery was hand made and it's called " Kwado da Linzami" .

Baaballiyo:


Yeah that's right, but the Tukulors are Fulani they are only different from main stream Fulani basically because they have a mix-blood, and they speak only the Fulbe language. If you read to the end of the "screen cut" you posted you will understand that. Besides the Torodbe movement ( which is the first Islamic movement in West Africa ) was only concerned with Islam not race or ethnicity that's why their actions gave rise a Tukulor population. Here is an excerpt from Wikipedia on Torodbe:



Organization
The Torodbe at first recruited members from all levels of Sūdānī society, particularly the poorer people.
[5] Torodbe clerics included people whose origin was Fula , Wolof , Mande ,
Hausa and Berber . However, they spoke the Fula language , married into Fulbe families, and became the Fulbe scholarly caste. [6] As with the Zawaya and Mandé clerisies, the early Torodbe clerics were looked down upon by the warrior groups in their societies, which usually had little interest in Islam. [7] The Torodbe originally lived on charity, as shown by sayings such as "the Torodo is a beggar" and "if the calabash did not exist, the Torodo would not survive". [8] The term
Torodo is derived from tooraade, meaning "to ask for alms." The Torodbe lived in settled communities and would not follow any caste-based trade such as being fishermen, smiths, weavers or tanners.[2]
The jihads launched by the Torodbe leaders were in response to declines in Islamic practices coupled with oppression by the ruling classes. They aimed to eliminate relics of traditional religious beliefs, and to elevate Islam from a personal belief into the law of the land, creating theocratic states.

Ahhh! Guess I didn't read the whole article. Thanks.

Baaballiyo:


In this picture Awolowo is wearing a completely sewn Northern Agbada, looking at the embroidery it's either from Kano or Zaria. The embroidery was hand made and it's called " Kwado da Linzami" .

The funny thing is almost all "Yoruba Agbada" incorporates the famous Hausa eternal knot, so I guess the question of who they adopted it from has been answered.

VomeSchakleton:


The funny thing is almost all "Yoruba Agbada" incorporates the famous Hausa eternal knot, so I guess the question of who they adopted it from has been answered.

I never saw a generous and honest Race like our Hausa people especially the "Talakawa" very humble, honest and accommodating, as you earlier stated the aso oke head tie ( Gwaggwaro ) is widely used by us and you would not find any Hausa person claiming it's of Hausa Origin, bc almost everyone knows it of Yoruba origin, infact here in Kano most brides and her friends usually visit the "Sabon gari" market to have their Gwaggwaro tied by Yoruba women for about N2000 and above.

Baaballiyo:


I never saw a generous and honest Race like our Hausa people especially the "Talakawa" very humble, honest and accommodating, as you earlier stated the aso oke head tie ( Gwaggwaro ) is widely used by us and you would not find any Hausa person claiming it's of Hausa Origin, bc almost everyone knows it of Yoruba origin, infact here in Kano most brides and her friends usually visit the "Sabon gari" market to have their Gwaggwaro tied by Yoruba women for about N2000 and above.

Yeah! Exactly! I am happy that we are satisfied with what is ours and secure enough to admit what we borrow. No offense to yorubas reading this but it seems they have a knack for twisting and changing history and well established facts to their favor and sticking by their innovations based on what I've seen on this forum.

VomeSchakleton:


Yeah! Exactly! I am happy that we are satisfied with what is ours and secure enough to admit what we borrow. No offense to yorubas reading this but it seems they have a knack for twisting and changing history and well established facts to their favor and sticking by their innovations based on what I've seen on this forum.

Gaskiya kam, as you said "no offense intended" I agree with you.

VomeSchakleton:


Yeah! Exactly! I am happy that we are satisfied with what is ours and secure enough to admit what we borrow. No offense to yorubas reading this but it seems they have a knack for twisting and changing history and well established facts to their favor and sticking by their innovations based on what I've seen on this forum.

can you give examples of this?

It's true Black Africans muslims were the first to wear the "boubou" but it was brought by the North Africans Moors not the Fulanis.

curi00:
It's true Black Africans muslims were the first to wear the "boubou" but it was brought by the North Africans Moors not the Fulanis.

Moors wear different types of kaftan. Boubou, babanriga, agbada are Sahelian clothings, not Arabic ones

GorkoSusaay:


Moors wear different types of kaftan. Boubou, babanriga, agbada are Sahelian clothings, not Arabic ones

Yes but boubou were brought by them

GorkoSusaay:


Moors wear different types of kaftan. Boubou, babanriga, agbada are Sahelian clothings, not Arabic ones

Plus Moors are not arabs !

curi00:

Plus Moors are not arabs !

Yes, you are right

curi00:

Yes but boubou were brought by them

No, I don't think so. Moorish clothing favours the jellaba.
I think the boubou spread out during the Ghana/Mali/Songhai empire. But that is a hypothesis

GorkoSusaay:

No, I don't think so. Moorish clothing favours the jellaba.
I think the boubou spread out during the Ghana/Mali/Songhai empire. But that is a hypothesis

This empire was in contact with the moors and when I talk about Moors I talk about the moors of Mauritania (I didnt precise sorry) but we can disagree on that, it does not really matter. What is important to me is that muslim people wether Moors or Sahelian brought this first.
I say that because a lof of non muslim black criticize black muslim for being muslim

curi00:
It's true Black Africans muslims were the first to wear the "boubou" but it was brought by the North Africans Moors not the Fulanis.

You might say that, " the first designers of the Boubou draw their inspiration from the Moorish or North Africans' mode of dressing" that would have been more plausible. But to say the boubou was brought by them ? Nay. The moors and other North Africans mostly use outer garments classified as either Cloaks or Tunics. While the Cloak is a sleeveless overgarment that hangs loosely from the shoulders the tunic is a loose garment, typically sleeveless and reaching to/beyond the knees. And of all the tunics worn by the North Africans the Isawiyya tunic is the one similar in appearance to the boubou. In that it is simple, wide and consist of a hole in the center for the head and one at each side for the arms, made of striped wool and worn by men.

Here's a 16th century depiction of the Moors.

The Moor ( Moorish Moors North Africa ) - Various Styles of Clothing 16th Century Francois Desprez 1562 woodcut published by: Richard Breton ( 1524-1571 ) France French Paris.

Baaballiyo:


You might say that, " the first designers of the Boubou draw their inspiration from the Moorish or North Africans' mode of dressing" that would have been more plausible. But to say the boubou was brought by them ? Nay. The moors and other North Africans mostly use outer garments classified as either Cloaks or Tunics. While the Cloak is a sleeveless overgarment that hangs loosely from the shoulders the tunic is a loose garment, typically sleeveless and reaching to/beyond the knees. And of all the tunics worn by the North Africans the Isawiyya tunic is the one similar in appearance to the boubou. In that it is simple, wide and consist of a hole in the center for the head and one at each side for the arms, made of striped wool and worn by men.

You might say that, " the first designers of the Boubou draw their inspiration from the Moorish or North Africans' mode of dressing" that would have been more plausible.

You're right for that

VomeSchakleton:


Lol! Charlatan here. Please if you don't know what you're talking about, just shuut up.


The "Agbada" is generally believed to be of sahelian origin, the particular ethnic group responsible is not clear but the only logical explanation is you actually got this from your neighbours up north. You're welcome. Even the dashiki or what not is from the north, gotten from the Hausa words "dan ciki".

Just like we can't lay claim to the aso oke head tie that's now very popular in the north, don't claim what is not yours.

I stand to be corrected but I doubt dashiki is of Hausa origin.

Lilyomi2:

I stand to be corrected but I doubt dashiki is of Hausa origin.

Like I said, even the word dashiki is gotten from the Hausa words dan ciki (worn inside).

VomeSchakleton:


Like I said, even the word dashiki is gotten from the Hausa words dan ciki (worn inside).

ok

Baaballiyo:


Yeah that's right, but the Tukulors are Fulani they are only different from main stream Fulani basically because they have a mix-blood, and they speak only the Fulbe language. If you read to the end of the "screen cut" you posted you will understand that. Besides the Torodbe movement ( which is the first Islamic movement in West Africa ) was only concerned with Islam not race or ethnicity that's why their actions gave rise a Tukulor population. Here is an excerpt from Wikipedia on Torodbe:



Organization
The Torodbe at first recruited members from all levels of Sūdānī society, particularly the poorer people.
[5] Torodbe clerics included people whose origin was Fula , Wolof , Mande ,
Hausa and Berber . However, they spoke the Fula language , married into Fulbe families, and became the Fulbe scholarly caste. [6] As with the Zawaya and Mandé clerisies, the early Torodbe clerics were looked down upon by the warrior groups in their societies, which usually had little interest in Islam. [7] The Torodbe originally lived on charity, as shown by sayings such as "the Torodo is a beggar" and "if the calabash did not exist, the Torodo would not survive". [8] The term
Torodo is derived from tooraade, meaning "to ask for alms." The Torodbe lived in settled communities and would not follow any caste-based trade such as being fishermen, smiths, weavers or tanners.[2]
The jihads launched by the Torodbe leaders were in response to declines in Islamic practices coupled with oppression by the ruling classes. They aimed to eliminate relics of traditional religious beliefs, and to elevate Islam from a personal belief into the law of the land, creating theocratic states.

The actual difference from the Toorobe and other Fulani sub-groups is that the Fulani of Fouta Tooro are mainly fishermen. They do however speak the purest form of Fulani language today

Fulaman198:


The actual difference from the Toorobe and other Fulani sub-groups is that the Fulani of Fouta Tooro are mainly fishermen. They do however speak the purest form of Fulani language today

Noi suumay ?

"Actual difference" Are you saying they are full blooded Fulani ?

Baaballiyo:


Noi suumay ?

"Actual difference" Are you saying they are full blooded Fulani ?

Sumaaye jam e an bo? noy sumaaye derdam? Ada selli? A nani Fulfulde?

The Tukulor/Toucouleur or Toorobe are not Full-blooded Fulani, but they speak pure Pulaar/Fulfulde (the least unadulterated Fulani language). They are able to understand every region of Fulani from Senegal to Sudan which is amazing. Most Fulanis (myself included sometimes) may have difficulty understanding someone from a further away country. Like from time to time, I may have issues with someone from Senegal or Mauritania understanding what they say. But for the most part, I understand about 80% of what they say because of regional dialectal differences.