Azaghvana E-Book 2003 - Flipbook - Page 166
last to have been in charge of DGB1. We know that DGB1 was excavated by Scott
MacEachern (2012:52), who reports archaeological evidence of activity there as far as into
the early 17th century. This would make the late 1600s, and perhaps the early 1700s, a
possible time frame to be considered, not only for the Godaliy leaving the DGB area, but also
for the Mafa spreading in our wider subregion. Fulani pastoralists were present in the area
south of Lake Chad throughout the 17th century, while the Fulbe jihad began to take place the
following century. The expanding Mafa may have adopted the word Godaliy from the Fulani
pastoralists.
To recapitulate, we think it is reasonable to infer that a hundred years of consistantly higher
rainfall in the more arid north triggered a south-to-north migration, which presumably led to
population pressure, not only in the Gwoza hills but also in the DGB area. We would like to
suggest that one of the oral historical results of that population pressure was not only the
formation of the Mughuze-Ruwa in southern Dghweɗe, but also that of the Mafa in and
around the DGB area. This long wet period also marked the end of the DGB period, in which
DGB1, as the by far largest site, survived the longest, leading to the Godaliy leaving
northwards.
Although there is very good oral evidence that Ghwa'a as an early arrival zone might well
have existed in one form or another during the 16th century, there is none for the Godaliy
tradition in that early period. The only oral evidence we have for the Godaliy is from the
Mafa, who see them as the last ritual owners of DGB1. Considering that such an earlier phase
of what would become Ghwa'a might not have allowed for a Godaliy tradition to exist, as this
was a pre-Mafa era, it is very difficult to see how the name could have existed during the 16th
century. In Chapter 3.13 we will discuss how the bull festival of the Dghweɗe connects them
with the already mentioned Gudur tradition, which seems to have spread with the expansion
of the Mafa. In the context of this, we will revisit some of the contradictions in connection
with our discussion of the Godaliy tradition of the Mafa. What we acknowledge here, is that
the ethnonym Godaliy is perhaps a more recent development, but the connections between the
Gwoza hills and the DGB sites are likely more ancient. One of the purposes of this book is to
describe the underlying circumstantial oral history of that hypothesis.
In our next and final chapter section we will make the case for 'Johode' (Ghwa'a) of northern
Dghweɗe, to be seen as an early arrival zone in the context of its connections to the Tur
tradition within and around the Gwoza hills.
'Johode' as an early arrival zone for migrants coming from 'Fitire'
Mathews (1934:2) writes of: 'The Azorvana [Azaghvana] speaking people [who] consist of
four groups, two of which are descended from a common ancestor, Dofede [Dghweɗe]. The
other two, the Hembe and Gudule, like the Dofede, came from the south, and think that there
is some kind of distant common origin between them and the others. But if this is the case, it
is very vague.' He says that 'They are often known as Johode, but not by themselves' and he
claims that 'this is really the name of the hill on which the Wa'a [Ghwa'a] live.' Mathews also
points in the same context to the 'Zlediva' (Zelidva), who 'came originally from Johode.'
Mathews only speaks of 'Fitire in the Wula hills', but never equals it to Tur. Mathews also
speaks of the 'Wula hills' as the place where his 'Fitire' is allegedly found. We know that he
means the Mafa when he speaks of the 'Wula', which is underpinned by the fact that he refers
at one point to the Moskota hills as 'Wula hills'. Mathews was most likely wrongly informed
there, and I was able to firmly establish that 'Fitire' did indeed mean Tur in Dghweɗe, and that
it was not a reference to the Mafa. We pointed out earlier that Mathews mentions 'Ngra' in the
context of the 'Ngoshi' (Gvoko) as having originated from 'Tur' (ibid), but unfortunately in our
opinion he misses identifying 'Fitire' with Tur, especially in the context of 'Johode' as an early
arrival zone for many groups of the Gwoza hills.
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