GRANDE COMORE / NGAZIJA
SULTANATE OF GRANDE COMORE
In the course of the 16th century several Sultanates were established on the
island of Grande Comore.
Most of them were united in a very lose confederation, covering the largest
part of the island, but real unity was only achieved after the establishment
in 1886, of a French protectorate and the abolition, in 1892, of the last
local Sultanates. (1)
(1) A first French mission reached the island in 1844. In the course of
the following years French influence increased and several military
interventions toke place (1864, 1871)
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FRENCH REPRESENTATIVES
Residents
Résidents
(subordinated to the French administrators of Mayotte)
1886 - 1887 Loius Edmond Weber 1855 -
1888 Jules Le Corney 1860 -
1889 Claude Jean "Henri" Pupier 1860 -
1889 - 1896 Henry Joseph "Léon" Humblot (2) 1852 - 1914
1896 - 1897 Eugène Louis Frédéric Decazes 1844 -
1897 - 1899 Charles Henri Olivier Pobequin 1856 -
1899 Emilien Célestin Nicolas du Plantier 1871 -
1899 Jean-Louis Edmond Alby 1865 -
1899 - 1900 ... de Bellemare
1900 ... Sallefranque
1900 - 1901 ... Gratian
1901 - 1902 ... Veisseyre
1902 - 1903 René Pierre
1903 ... Mainguy
1903 Louis Lemaire
1903 - 1904 ... Massol
1904 - 1907 ... Feuillard
1907 - 1909 Pierre Martin
1909 - 1911 ... Lachat
1911 - 1913 Pierre Martin (2x)
(2) Léon Humblot, the "White Sultan" was a French trader, who in exchange
for his assistance, obtained in 1885, from Saidi Ali, the "Black Sultan"
a large concession covering "as much lands as he could exploite" (in
fact the whole island)
In 1887 he became director of the newly established Socièté de la
Grande Comore - Léon Humblot et Cie, which was also granted some
administrative tasks.
When he was also appointed resident in 1889 he became the real ruler
of the island until 1896 when he was deposed.
In 1897 the powers of his company and the extension of its concession
were also somewhat limited, but it was only in 1912 that it lost its
last administrative powers.
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HEADS OF STATE
Sultan Tibé
(The Sultan Tibé was the Head of the Confederation which covered most of the
island. Formally the Sultans of Bambao and Itsandra alternated in holding the
office. In practice however all succession was decided by war)
1870 - 1871 Mussafumu bin Fey Fumu, Sultan of
Itsandra (2x) 1... - 1883
1871 Tibé Bamba, Sultan of Itsandra (2x)
1871 - 1881 Mussafumu bin Fey Fumu, Sultan of
Itsandra (3x)
1881 - 1882 Saidi Ali bin Saidi Omar, Sultan of
Bambao 1856 - 1917
1882 - 1883 Mussafumu bin Fey Fumu, Sultan of
Itsandra (4x)
1883 - 1892 Saidi Ali bin Saidi Omar, Sultan of
Bambao (2x) (3)
Sultan of Grande Comore
1892 - 1893 Saidi Ali Bin Saidi Omar, forced to
abdicate (4) s.a.
(3) It was probably now that Saidi Ali started to use the English style
of "King of the Comoro" and that he also started claiming the islands
of Anjouan and Mohéli.
(4) At the moment of his forced abdication he transferred all the powers
invested in the dignity of Sultan to the French resident.
In 1909 a French court decided that the deposition of Saidi Ali had
been illegal. He was however not allowed to return and received a
financial compensation.
REGIONAL SULTANATES
There is no general agreement on the number of Sultanates existing on the
island before the French intervention as the ancient European sources gave
numbers ranging from 20 (Lobo de Souza in 1527) to 9 (Lelieur de Ville-sur-
Arce in 1819) and traditional sources usually listed 10 to 12 Sultanates :
- Badgini : major sultanate, not a member of the confederation
- Bambao : major sultanate, one of the two leading sultanates of the
confederation
- Dimani : sultanate subordinated to Itsandra. Seems to have had a
very brief existence in the early times.
- Doma : sultanate subordinated to Badgini
- Hamahane : sultanate subordinated to Itsandra
- Hamanvu : sultanate existing briefly in the early days.
- Hambu : sultanate subordinated to Bambao
- Itsandra : major sultanate, one of the two leading sultanates of the
confederation.
- M'Boinku : sultanate subordinated to Bambao
- M'Budé : sultanate subordinated either to Bambao or to Itsandra
- Mitsamihuli : sultanate subordinated to Bambao
- Oichili : sultanate subordinated to Itsandra
A French description of the island, ca 1850, listed seven Sultanates :
- Badgini
- Bambao
- Hamahane
- Itsandra
- M'Budé
- Mitsamihuli
- Oichili
In 1875 a French official report only listed five, a number confirmed by the
Treaty of protectorate of 1886 :
- Badgini
- Bambao
- Itsandra
- M'Budé
- Mitsamihuli
note
It's possible the French lists only toke account of sultanates which were in
some kind of relation to them and that at least some of the other sultanates
continued an informal existence :
- the last Sultan of Oichili, Fumu Mwanda bin Higne, is said to have ruled
until 1892,
- in 1891 the French resident Humblot reported that 19 sultans (pretenders)
were fighting over the 10 traditional sultanates ...
Whatever the situation may have been, all sultanates were abolished in 1892
Below are the lists of the rulers of the five recognized sultanates , based
on French research. They are possibly not complete. They also not fully
concur with the traditional lists (in the case of Mitsamihuli there even is
a complete discordance)
Co-rulers didn't usually rule at the same time but succeeded each other in
a yearly (?) rotation.
BADGINI
Sultans
Clan of M'Dombozi
1852 - 1884 -Uma Dari (Uma wa Dari) (2x) 1... - 1884
-Mzade Badgini° (Mzade binti Mugné
Mwembwani)(until 18..)
-Khadija binti Mugné Mku° (since 18..)
-Hachimu bin Mugné Mku (since 18..) 1... - 1889
1884 - 188. Khadija binti Mugné Mku° (5) s.a.
1885 - 1887 Hachimu bin Mugné Mku s.a.
1887 - 188. Khadija binti Mugné Mku° s.a.
1889 Hachimu bin Mugné Mku s.a.
1889 - 18.. Alidi bin Mugné Mku
(5) It's not clear what happened to Khadija after Hachimu seized power
in 1885. After he had been driven out in 1887 she was first arrested
but later reinstalled as Sultane by Saidi Ali and the French.
Later she is known to have been in exile (in 1888) and to have joined
Hachimu in 1889.
As to Hachimu himself, he was never formally recognized as Sultan
and was always in revolt against Saidi Ali. He tried to convince
the French to consider Badgini as a separate protectorate but they
refused.
In 1886 he also tried to place Badgini under the protection of the
Deutsche Ostafrikanische Geselschaft. At first the Germans accepted,
but when Karl Wilhelm Schmidt (1... - 1...), the agent of the company
in Badgini learned that Hachimu was only a rebel fighting the already
existing French protectorate they withdrew.
BAMBAO
Sultans
Clan of Higna Pirusa
1850 - 1875 Mugné Mku "Sultan Ahmed" (4x) (6) 1793 - 1875
1875 - 1881 -Abdallah bin Saidi Hamza
-Mugné Mugi
-Saidi Bakar bin Mugné Mku
1881 - 1882 Saidi Ali bin Saidi Omar s.a.
1882 - 1883 Abdallah bin Saidi Hamza (2x)
1883 - 1892 Saidi Ali bin Saidi Omar (2x)
(6) At some time in the fifties Mugné Mku associated his sons Saidi Bakar
(1... - 1...) and Mohamed (1... - 1...) and his son-in-law Mugné Mugi
(1... - 1...) to the throne.
In the sixties they were deposed following a revolt and since 1867
Mugné Mku again ruled alone for a time.
Later they were however again mentioned as Sultans and during the
last years of the reign, Mugné Mugi seems to have been the major
ruler.
ITSANDRA
Sultans
Clan of Higna Fombaia
1870 - 1871 Mussafumu bin Fey Fumu (2x) s.a.
1871 Tibé Bamba Sujaoma(2x) s.a.
1871 - 1881 Mussafumu bin Fey Fumu (3x) (7)
1881 - 1882 Tibé Bamba Sujaoma (3x)
1882 - 1883 Mussafumu bin Fey Fumu (4x)
188. - 188. Abudu Sujaoma
188. - 188. Kaleheza Sujaoma
188. - 18.. Fumu Mwanda bin Higne (8)
(7) Later jointly with Tibé Bamba Sujaoma (1872 - 18..)
(8) Fumu Mwanda was also the last sultan of Oichili, so it's possible he
ruled untill 1892.
M'BUDE
This frontier Sultanate was contested between Bambao and Itsandra :
1860 - 1873 : subordinated to Itsandra
1872 - 1873 : subordinated to Bambao
1873 - 1880 : subordinated to Itsandra
1880 - 1892 : subordinated to Bambao
Sultans
(rulers belonged either to the Higna Pirusa or the Higna Fombaia clan)
1860 - 1872 Kaleheza (M'Haza Kaleheza)
1872 - 1873 Singa Madi Jimba "Aicha"° (2x) (9)
1873 - 187. Jumbe Bwana Fumu
187. - 18.. Singa Madi Jimba "Aicha"° (3x)
last rulers according to the traditional list :
18.. - 18.. Jema Niema bint Jumbe Fumu°
18.. - 18.. Fey Fumu Bwana Haji
(9) In 1873 Aicha was taken as a captive to Itsandra. As she was however
treated well and even married Mussafumu it's possible she continued
to be Sultane in name. In this case Jumbe Boina Fumu was possibly
only a kind of governor.
In 1880 she submitted volontary to Saidi Ali.
MITSAMIHULI
Sultans
Clan of Higna Moitsa Pirusa
1869 - 18.. Mbafumu
...
1881 - 188. Mouna Chamou bint Mugné Mku° (2x?)
188. - 1888 Bwana Fumu
...
188. - 1889 Salim
1889 Alidi bin Mugné Mku s.a.
1889 - 18.. Saidi Bakar bin Mugné Mku s.a.
Traditional list I :
18.. - 18.. Mbafumu bin Jumbe Fumu (= Mbafumu ?)
18.. - 18.. Fumu
18.. - 18.. Msafumu bin Tambwe
18.. - 18.. Uma bin Dari Bamba
18.. - 18.. Higne bin Dari Bamba
18.. - 18.. Higne bin Madi Jimba
18.. - 18.. Mbantsi bin Bwana
18.. - 18.. Abdallah bin Mugné Mku (= Alidi bin Mugné Mku ?)
18.. - 18.. Bwana Fumu Mbafumu (= Bwana Fumu ?)
18.. - 18.. Tambavu bin Mbafumu
Traditional list II :
18.. - 18.. Jumbe Fumu bin Jumbe (= Mbafumu bin Jumbe Fumu of list I ?)
18.. - 18.. Fumu (= list I)
18.. - 18.. Msafumu bin Tambwe (= list I)
18.. - 18.. Mbhandi bin Bwana Haji (= Mbantsi bin Bwana of list I)
18.. - 18.. Abdallah bin Mugné Mku (= Alidi bin Mugné Mku ?)
18.. - 18.. Bwana Fumu
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