Last modified: 2010-02-19 by rob raeside
Keywords: senegal | book of all kingdoms | tocoron | buda | guinoa | organa | tauser | tremecin | amenuan | gotonie |
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![[Flag of Tocoron]](../images/s/sn-h14f.gif)
image by António Martins-Tuválkin, 30 November 2007
The 68th flag mentioned and illustrated in the
Book of All Kingdoms is attributed
to Tocoron, a city-state across the Sahara from Sijilmasa. This as depicted in
the
2005 Spanish illustrated transcription, a white
flag with black mountain outline, with seven trees (?), in the ogival default
shape of this source. The anonymous author of
Book of All Kingdoms describes the
flag thus: "E el rey d’esta Tocoron á por seńales un pendón blanco e en medio un
monte prieto, commo el rey de Guinoa." (And the king of this Torocon has for
device a white pendon and on its middle a black hill, just as the king of
Guinea.)
António Martins-Tuválkin, 30 November 2007
The Halkyut Society edition refers to Tocoron as being Tammergrut on the
banks of the Draa river. Could this be Tamegroute in Morocco?
Phil Nelson, 30 November 2007
![[Flag of Buda]](../images/s/sn-j14f.gif)
image by António Martins-Tuválkin, 30 November 2007
The 69th flag mentioned and illustrated in the
Book of All Kingdoms is attributed
to Buda, a city-state in the Sahel. This as depicted in the
2005 Spanish illustrated transcription, a white
flag with a red crescent (with black lining visible) pointing to the hoist but
not in the ogival default shape of this source: the flag is quadrangular
with eight round shallow scallops on the fly edge, and shows a black line where
the said ogival shape would be in other flags. The anonymous author of
Book of All Kingdoms describes the
flag thus: "E sus seńales son un pendón blanco con una luna bermeja tal como
esta." (And its device is a white pendon with a red moon like this one.)
António Martins-Tuválkin, 30 November 2007
The only thing I can find is a reference in the
Halkyut Society edition of
Buda being an oasis south of the Atlas.
Phil Nelson, 30 November 2007
![[Flag of Guinoa]](../images/s/sn-k14f.gif)
image by António Martins-Tuválkin, 30 November 2007
The 70th flag mentioned and illustrated in the
Book of All Kingdoms is attributed
to Guinoa - Guinea, but not matching the current countries of the same name. This
is, as depicted in the
2005 Spanish illustrated transcription, a
yellow flag with black mountain outline, with seven trees (?), in the ogival
default shape of this source. The anonymous author of
Book of All Kingdoms describes the
flag thus: "El rey d’esta Guinoa ha por seńales un pendón de oro e en medio un
monte prieto." (The
king of this Guinea has for device a golden pendon and on its middle a black
hill.)
António Martins-Tuválkin, 30 November 2007
The Halkyut Society edition attributes this Guinea to Senegal.
Phil Nelson, 30 November 2007
And as a further clarification, the 1912 attribution of Senegal probably
refers more to present day Mali, then the French colony of Upper Senegal and
Niger, rather than to modern-day Senegal. "Guinea" to medieval Europeans meant
what is now usually called "the Empire of Ghana" -not located in present Ghana,
nor much of Guinea, but mostly in what is now Mali, extending a bit into modern
Mauretania, Senegal, and Guinea. For maps of the Empire of Ghana see
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Ghana_empire_map.png and
http://www.metmuseum.org/TOAH/hd/ghan/hd_ghan.htm#. For a map of 1912 Upper
Senegal & Niger see
http://www.terra.es/personal7/jqvaraderey/191206af.gif.
Ned Smith, 30 November 2007
![[Flag of Organa]](../images/s/sn-og14f.gif)
image by Eugene Ipavec, 6 January 2010
The 70th flag mentioned and illustrated in the
Book of All Kingdoms is attributed
to Organa, which the notes of the Halkyut edition
locate in current northern Senegal. This
is, as depicted in the 2005 Spanish illustrated transcription, a white
flag with a green palm issuant from the bottom between two yellow upright keys
pointing downwards, the flag in the ogival default shape of this source.
According to the Halkyut edition (which shows a
more detailed depiction), this image comes from manuscript "S". The anonymous author of
Book of All Kingdoms describes the
flag thus: "E el rey d’esta Organa ha por seńales un pendón blanco con una palma
verde e dos llaves d’esta manera." (The King of Organa has for his device a
white flag with a green palm tree and two keys, as translated in the
Halkyut Society edition.
António Martins-Tuválkin, 1 December 2007
The
National Geographic (1917) says
"on the upper Senegal", which would
place it in modern Mali. However some other sources suggest it was
even further east, probably in modern Niger and Nigeria.
Organa appears on some portolano maps roughly contemporary with the
Book of Knowledge, and is shown to the east of the Mali Empire. For
example see
http://www.bnf.fr/enluminures/images/jpeg/i8_0000m.jpg. [Organa is represented by the monarch
with blue robe, red shield, and scimitar.]
In addition, the "teasers" from some academic journals at J-STOR seem
to support this. I cannot open the articles without a subscription
but excerpts from some of the articles include:
"A kingdom of "Organa" appears regularly on fourteenth-century
Catalan and Italian maps of west Africa in the land east of Mali."
...Traditions, Documents, and the Ife-Benin Relationship
John K. Thornton,
History in Africa, Vol. 15, 1988 (1988), pp. 351-362
"In the Catalan Atlas of 1375 A.D. Bornu itself is called the Regnum
Organa, or kingdom of the Rex Organa, a name which may be meant for
Arkana" ...Trident-Gods in Sahara and Western Sudan
H. Richmond Palmer,
Man, Vol. 41, May - Jun., 1941 (May - Jun., 1941), pp. 60-62
"Africa in European eyes became a land of principalities and powers-
the Rex Malli (Melle), the Rex Organa (Bornu), Prester John, Ganuia
(Guinea), etc.,..." ...Review: [Untitled]
Reviewed Work(s):
Caravans of the Old Sahara: An Introduction to the History of the
Western Sudan by E. W. Bovill
Author(s) of Review: H. R. P.
Journal of the Royal African Society, Vol. 32, No. 128 (Jul., 1933),
pp. 328-329
Bornu was a kingdom whose core was in southern Niger and northeast
Nigeria, bordering Lake Chad.
And for just one more possibility- if "Organa" is related to "Arkana"
as one of the excerpts suggests, it might be of interest to note that
about the relevant time, a ruler of the Songhai Empire, also in Niger
was named Mar-Arkana.
See http://starnarcosis.net/obsidian/noafrica.html#Songhai.
Ned Smith, 2 December 2007
Apart from color, this differs from the other "palm tree between two keys"
flag in the Book, Tripoli (Libya) in that the keys are differently shaped and
face in the same direction, not mirrored, and the palm tree bears fruit on its
fronds, not in clusters hanging beneath the crown, which presumably means it is
of a different species.
Eugene Ipavec, 6 January 2009
![[Flag of Tauser]](../images/s/sn_m14f.gif)
image by Eugene Ipavec, 23 December 2009
The 72nd flag mentioned and illustrated in the
Book of All Kingdoms is attributed
to Tauser, an oasis state probably somewhere in current Mauritania or Mali. This
is, as depicted in the 2005 Spanish illustrated transcription,
a yellow flag with black mountain outline, with seven trees (?), in the ogival
default shape of this source. This is identical to the 70th flag, Guinoa, and
the Halkyut edition does not illustrate it
separately. The anonymous author of
Book of All Kingdoms describes the flag
thus: "El rey d’este reinado Tauser "…"á por seńales un pendón de oro con un
monte prieto como el rey de Guinoa." ("The King of this kingdom of TAUSER"…"has
for his device a flag of yellow with a black mountain, like the King of GUYNOA",
as translated in the Halkyut edition.)
António Martins-Tuválkin, 4 December 2007
![[Flag of Tremecin]](../images/s/sn_n14f.gif)
image by Eugene Ipavec, 6 December 2007
The 73rd flag mentioned and illustrated in the
Book of All Kingdoms is attributed
to Tremecin, an oasis state probably somewhere in current Mali or Niger. This
is, as depicted in the 2005 Spanish illustrated transcription,
a grey (standing for purple) flag with a
white crescent (with visible black lining) facing the hoist, the flag in the ogival default shape of this source. The anonymous author of
Book of All Kingdoms describes the flag
thus: "E el rey d’este reinado á por seńales un pendón cárdeno con una luna
blanca atal." ("The King has for his device a purple flag with a white moon", as
translated in the Halkyut edition.)
António Martins-Tuválkin, 4 December 2007
![[Flag of Amenuan]](../images/s/sn_q14.gif)
image by Eugene Ipavec, 7 December 2007
The 77th flag mentioned and illustrated in the
Book of All Kingdoms is attributed
to Amenuan, which according to the Halkyut edition
is "Miniana and Amina, regions north of the Kong mountains." This
is, as depicted in the 2005 Spanish illustrated transcription,
a white flag with a black human contour, suggesting nakedness, facing the hoist
and pointing towards it with his downward stretched right arm, the flag in the
ogival default shape of this source. The anonymous author of
Book of All Kingdoms describes the flag
thus: "E el rey dende á por seńales un pendón blanco con una ídola tal." ("The
King has a white flag with an idol", as translated in the
Halkyut edition.)
António Martins-Tuválkin, 6 December 2007.
This may be difficult to place as what information I've been able to derive
about the Kong Mountains appears to point out that these were not a real
mountain range. They appeared on several period maps as a range that divided
Africa, but according to "The warped world of mental maps; students worldwide
share a skewed vision of the continents" (http://www.thefreelibrary.com/The+warped+world+of+mental+maps%3B+students+worldwide+share+a+skewed...-a012735579)
is described as a fictitious mountain range, possibly in southern Mali. A French military officer, Louis-Gustave Binger, finally wiped the Kong
Mountains off the maps after his well-publicized expedition to this region
in the late 1880s.
Phil Nelson, 6 December 2007
![[Flag of Gotonie]](../images/s/sn_p14f.gif)
image by Eugene Ipavec, 7 December 2007
The 76th flag mentioned and illustrated in the Book of All Kingdoms is attributed to Gotonie. This is, as depicted in the 2005 Spanish illustrated transcription, a spear with a yellow cravatte with black pattern attached to its point and possibly a white flag in the ogival default shape of this source. The [original] image includes an ogival flag outline, but solid, not dashed; I can't decide if this is a white flag with yellow cravatte, as depicted, or just the cravatte with a black placeholder for a non existing flag. Anyway, this image is fully identical to the 51st, Ptolemais / Tolmeitha in Libya, which may indicate a placeholder, all-purpose image, not an observed design.
The anonymous author of
Book of All Kingdoms describes the flag
thus: "E sus seńales son unos tovajones de oro en una lança." ("Its device is
some yellow sashes on a spear", as translated in the
Halkyut edition.)
António Martins-Tuválkin, 6 December 2007.
The
Halkyut text lists this kingdom in "Soudan and
Senegambia".
Phil Nelson, 6 December 2007
