Azaghvana E-Book 2003 - Flipbook - Page 108
the years of World War One, followed by the beginning of the British mandateship, there had
not been much direct colonial impact in the hills. This historical background presumably
made the memory of Hamman Yaji in the public imagination of the Dghweɗe even more
prominent as an extremely disempowering experience. Throughout much of this period, from
1902 until 1927, Hamman Yaji had been emir of Madagali ‘keeping order' in the hills. The
few times he made it to Dghweɗe certainly left a lasting negative impression.
When I first arrived in Korana Basa in 1995, an old man
thanked me for having freed his people from Hamman Yaji. I
stood for the image of 'the white man' to whom the Dghweɗe,
in their account about his arrest, had finally turned. According
to the legendary narrative, this was after an unsuccessful
attempt to call on the Wandala of Kirawa and Mora who were
their former pre-colonial overlords.
Plate 13a: Hamman Yaji
as a young man in Wanday
(Strümpell 1912:87)
In the context of this, it is important to note that the
delegation gathered in Ghwa'a and not in Korana Basa. The
narrators of the oral account, who were from Ghwa'a, refer
not to Korana Basa but 'Gharguze'. Zimmermann refers in
1906 to 'Goso' and Moisel (1912/13) and lists on his map
'Hirguse' in the hills. It was common for the older generation
of Ghwa'a to refer to administrative Korana Basa as
Gharghuze, which was a reference to the expanding
Vaghagaya lineages among whom 'Korana' was the founding
ancestor of Korana Basa. We will understand in due course,
how Korana Basa took shape as the latest pre-colonial
change. That our Dghweɗe friends from Ghwa'a still referred
to it by its pre-Korana name could indicate the survival of late
pre-colonial sentiments.
The fact that Hamman Yaji was only arrested in 1927, at least five years into British rule,
does not seem to matter. The Dghweɗe account of his arrest appears to be chronologically
telescoped from their feeling of being devastated by his visits, most likely before 1920 or
even earlier, perhaps still during the hostilities of the war, which had left not only Dghweɗe
itself but the whole of the Gwoza hills somewhat untouched. We do not know when the oral
narrative was shaped, but presumably it was after 1927, when they must have heard of his
arrest. Does Hamman Yaji therefore also stand for something else, and if that is the case, what
could it be? We will first present the narrative, and then discuss possible interpretations.
Below we find an English translation of the most significant passages of the Dghweɗe oral
narrative, as told to us by Zakariya Kwire and Dada Ɗga of Dzga in Ghwa’a in 1996:
Plata’s [Hamman Yaji's] downfall began when he raided Kasaghwa [Hiɗkala]. Next he invaded
Kwalika and from there he came to Korana Basa. It was three men from Lamang, Ndaz Gawiche,
Kadu Gakwinze and Vazile, who had guided him up to Kwalika. From Kwalika he was guided to
Gharguze [Korana Basa from Ghwa' perspective]. As a result some people fled from Gharguze to
settle in Ghwa’a, Raha [Chikiɗe] and Gudupha [Guduf]. People now heard rumours that he also
planned to invade Ghwa’a, and one early morning at dawn they could hear the sound of a gun
heralding his arrival. When he arrived at the border of Ghwa’a, he was confronted with a magical
storm which beat his people so strongly that he had to flee, but he was followed by the people of
Ghwa'a and some of his people were almost killed.
When Plata came a second time, the people of Ghwa’a could again hear his gun and they went to
get their weapons ready to fight. They moved towards him, and he fled towards Gharguze, but
then turned around for a counter-attack. It was Dgule ga Gudza, from Ghwa’a, who died first,
followed by Kalakwa ga Gdasa, Ghuna ga Dawishe, Madakwa ga Dzuwadize, and Hzak ga
Meghwe. After the people of Ghwa’a had buried their dead, they sat down and discussed what
they could do about the Plat-ha. They decided to hide their animals at Durghwe [see Figure 3], but
the Plat-ha arrived a third time after they found people who guided them. Their soldiers went to
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