Bagirmi

Bagirmi, or BAGHERMI, a country in Central Africa, bounded on the W. by Bornu and a portion of Lake Tsad, and with the powerful sultanate of Wadai to the NE. Its area is estimated at nearly 71,000 sq. m. The surface is flat, with a gentle rise towards the north—its general elevation being about 1000 feet above sea-level. It is traversed and watered by the Shari and its affluents. The soil yields durra and millet, which the natives barter for tobacco, pearls, and cowry shells. The total population is about a million and a half. Mohammedanism has been introduced among them, but gross superstitions still prevail. Dr Nachtigal describes the natives as of the Sonrhai type, of low stature, and not of pleasant features. Though they wear almost no clothing, they are in many respects semi-civilised, having a regular government in the capital Maseña, as well as a military system. The sultan of Wadai took the capital in 1871, reducing the sultan of Bagirmi to a more complete state of vassalage to him. The country was first visited by Barth in 1852. Most of it was recognised as in the German sphere (as Hinterland of Cameroon, q.v.) by the Anglo-German agreement of 1893.