Bida expedition (1897)

Bida expedition
Part of the Scramble for Africa
Date6–29 January 1897
Location
Bida, Nupe (present-day Niger State, Nigeria)
Result Royal Niger Company victory
Belligerents
Royal Niger Company Nupe Empire
Commanders and leaders
Sir George Taubman Goldie
Major A. J. Arnold		 Abubakar of Nupe
Strength
513 African rank and file
European officers and personnel
7 artillery pieces
6 Maxim guns		 Approximately 30,000
(contemporary British estimate)
Casualties and losses
8 killed
9 wounded		 Approximately 600 killed
1,000 wounded
(British estimate)

The Bida expedition was a military campaign undertaken by the Royal Niger Company against the Nupe Empire in January 1897. The expedition culminated in the defeat of the Nupe army outside Bida, the capital of Nupe, and the occupation of the city by the Company's forces. The campaign was one of the principal military operations undertaken by the Royal Niger Company during its final years as a chartered company and was followed by a campaign against the neighbouring Ilorin Emirate.[1][2]

The Royal Niger Company force was commanded in the field by Major A. J. Arnold, while Sir George Taubman Goldie, the Company's Governor, exercised overall political and strategic direction. The expedition consisted principally of African troops of the Royal Niger Company Constabulary supported by European officers, artillery and Maxim machine guns.[3]

Contemporary British accounts estimated the Nupe force opposing the expedition at approximately 30,000 men. The figure was an estimate rather than a precise census of the Nupe army.[4]

The defeat of the Nupe army enabled the Royal Niger Company to occupy Bida and temporarily displace the emir, Abubakar of Nupe. The Company subsequently attempted to establish an administration under a ruler favourable to its interests. The occupation was not permanent, however, and Abubakar subsequently returned to Bida after the Company's withdrawal. Effective permanent British control was established only after the territories of the Royal Niger Company were transferred to the British government at the end of 1899.[5]

Background

During the late nineteenth century the Royal Niger Company expanded its commercial and political influence along the Niger River and its tributaries. The Company sought to secure navigation of the river, establish commercial treaties with local rulers and protect its interests against competing European powers, particularly France.[6]

The Nupe Empire occupied a strategically important position along the middle Niger. Bida was its political capital and was situated near routes connecting the Niger valley with the interior of what became northern Nigeria. Relations between the Nupe government and the Royal Niger Company deteriorated during the 1890s as the Company attempted to extend its political and commercial influence inland.[7]

The dispute intensified in 1896. The Royal Niger Company regarded Nupe military activity and interference with its commercial operations as a threat to its position along the Niger. The Company also presented military intervention as necessary to suppress slave raiding and protect trade.[8]

Goldie consequently decided that a military expedition against Bida was necessary. The operation was undertaken at a time when the Royal Niger Company was also concerned about French expansion in the region. Contemporary accounts therefore placed the expedition within both the immediate dispute with Nupe and the wider Anglo-French competition for influence in the Niger region.[9]

The Nupe ruler, Emir Abubakar, mobilised his forces in anticipation of a Company advance. A large Nupe force was deployed in the vicinity of Bida, while other forces operated elsewhere in the emirate.[10]

Expedition

The Royal Niger Company expedition departed from Lokoja on 6 January 1897. Major A. J. Arnold commanded the field column, while Goldie accompanied the expedition and exercised overall direction.[11]

The force assigned to the Bida operation consisted of approximately 500 African rank and file supported by European officers and other personnel. It was equipped with artillery and Maxim machine guns. A later reconstruction of the expedition gives the force at 513 African rank and file, accompanied by European officers and supported by seven artillery pieces and six Maxim guns.[12]

The Company's armed river flotilla supported the land force and helped maintain control of the Niger. The expedition's strategy was to prevent the Nupe forces from concentrating against the comparatively small Company force and to defeat the emirate's military forces in detail before advancing on Bida.[13]

The advance was conducted through difficult country. The movement of troops, artillery, ammunition and supplies was complicated by poor roads, streams and marshy ground. Nupe cavalry observed the advancing column and engaged its advance elements during the approach to Bida.[14]

The expedition eventually reached the vicinity of Bida in late January. By this stage the Nupe government had assembled a large army to defend the capital.[15]

Battle

The principal fighting outside Bida took place on 27 January 1897. Contemporary British sources estimated that approximately 30,000 Nupe troops had assembled to oppose the Royal Niger Company force. The accuracy of this figure is uncertain, and modern accounts generally treat it as a contemporary British estimate rather than an established figure.[16][17]

The Company troops advanced in a square formation. Infantry formed the exterior of the formation, while artillery, ammunition and other equipment were protected within it. The formation allowed the comparatively small force to defend itself against attacks from several directions.[18]

The Nupe army employed both infantry and cavalry. The Royal Niger Company force possessed a substantial technological advantage in the form of modern rifles, artillery and Maxim machine guns. Nupe attacks were subjected to concentrated rifle and machine-gun fire before the attackers could close with the Company formation.[19]

The fighting eventually resulted in the defeat and dispersal of the Nupe army. The Company force then continued its advance towards Bida.[20]

The disparity between the two forces was reflected in their casualties. The Royal Niger Company suffered comparatively few casualties. Dusgate records eight men killed and nine wounded among the rank and file and carriers during the advance from Egbon and the fighting at Bida, in addition to the injury of an under-officer in an ammunition accident.[21]

Nupe casualties were considerably heavier according to contemporary British estimates. Official figures subsequently placed Nupe losses at approximately 600 killed and 1,000 wounded, although the actual figures cannot be independently established.[22]

The battle demonstrated the effectiveness of a relatively small, disciplined force equipped with modern firearms against a substantially larger army. It also exposed the severe military disadvantage faced by forces attempting to attack a concentrated infantry formation equipped with Maxim guns and artillery.[23]

Capture of Bida

On 28 January the Nupe army was reported to have dispersed over a wide area. The Royal Niger Company conducted reconnaissance around Bida in preparation for entering the city.[24]

On the following day the Company's force entered Bida. Goldie took up residence in the emir's damaged palace, over which the Company's flag was raised.[25]

Emir Abubakar had withdrawn following the defeat of his army. The Royal Niger Company consequently attempted to establish a political administration based upon indirect rule through a ruler prepared to recognise Company authority.[26]

Goldie recognised a successor to the emir who was expected to govern in accordance with directions issued by the Company. Vandeleur described the Company's intention as governing, as far as practicable, through native rulers rather than administering the emirate directly.[27]

The Company's occupation was not permanent. Its military resources were insufficient to maintain effective permanent control over the conquered emirate, and Abubakar subsequently returned to Bida after the withdrawal of the Company's forces.[28]

Campaign against Ilorin

The capture of Bida was followed by a Royal Niger Company expedition against the neighbouring Ilorin Emirate. The Ilorin operation formed part of the same wider campaign to consolidate Company control over the territory south of the middle Niger.[29]

The Company force attacked Ilorin in February 1897. The campaign against Ilorin was closely connected with the preceding operation against Bida and further weakened resistance to the Company's expansion in the region.[30]

Aftermath

The Bida expedition greatly increased the Royal Niger Company's influence over the middle Niger region. The Company's military success demonstrated the ability of its African forces, operating under European officers and equipped with modern firearms, to defeat much larger armies.[31]

The victory did not, however, produce permanent Company control over Nupe. The Royal Niger Company remained a chartered commercial organisation and lacked the resources necessary to maintain large permanent garrisons throughout the territories it had conquered.[32]

The British government increasingly assumed responsibility for the political and military administration of the Company's territories. On 31 December 1899 the Royal Niger Company's charter was terminated, and its territories were transferred to the British government.[33]

The Northern Nigeria Protectorate was subsequently established under British administration. Further military operations were undertaken to consolidate British authority over territories that had previously been conquered by the Royal Niger Company.[34]

In 1901 British forces again advanced against Bida. Abubakar withdrew towards Kano without offering a major battle, and a new emir was appointed. Bida subsequently became part of the British administrative system in Northern Nigeria.[35]

Historical significance

The Bida expedition was one of the most important military operations conducted by the Royal Niger Company. Together with the subsequent campaign against Ilorin, it helped establish British predominance over a substantial area of the middle Niger region.[36]

The campaign also demonstrated the distinction between military conquest and effective colonial occupation. The Royal Niger Company was capable of defeating the Nupe army and occupying Bida, but it was unable to maintain permanent political control after withdrawing its military force. Direct British administration therefore followed the Company's military expansion rather than immediately resulting from it.[37]

Contemporary British accounts presented the campaign in terms of the suppression of slave raiding, protection of trade and establishment of order. Modern historical accounts have additionally emphasised the Company's commercial interests, the strategic importance of the Niger valley and British competition with France for influence in West Africa.[38][39]

Contemporary accounts and cartography

The principal contemporary published account of the expedition was written by Seymour Vandeleur, a Royal Niger Company officer who participated in the campaign. His Campaigning on the Upper Nile and Niger, published in 1898, contains a detailed narrative of the expedition as well as maps and plans relating to Bida and the surrounding region.[40]

Vandeleur's account was supplemented by official reports published in the British press and in the London Gazette. The official dispatches concerning the Bida and Ilorin operations were published in June 1897.[41]

A contemporary map of the Nupe and Ilorin region, including plans of Bida and Ilorin, was published by Vandeleur in the Geographical Journal in 1897. The map provides a contemporary representation of Bida and the surrounding theatre of operations.[42]

Contemporary British illustrated periodicals also published drawings relating to the Royal Niger Company's operations in the Niger region. Such illustrations should be distinguished from photographs and from later artistic reconstructions of the campaign.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Vandeleur, Seymour (1898). Campaigning on the Upper Nile and Niger. London: Methuen & Co.
  2. ↑ Dusgate, Richard H. (1985). The Conquest of Northern Nigeria. London: Frank Cass.
  3. ↑ Vandeleur, Seymour (1898). Campaigning on the Upper Nile and Niger. London: Methuen & Co.
  4. ↑ Dusgate, Richard H. (1985). The Conquest of Northern Nigeria. London: Frank Cass. pp. 70–83.
  5. ↑ Adeleye, R. A. (1971). Power and Diplomacy in Northern Nigeria, 1804–1906: The Sokoto Caliphate and Its Enemies. London: Longman.
  6. ↑ Flint, John E. (1960). Sir George Goldie and the Making of Nigeria. London: Oxford University Press.
  7. ↑ Adeleye, R. A. (1971). Power and Diplomacy in Northern Nigeria, 1804–1906: The Sokoto Caliphate and Its Enemies. London: Longman.
  8. ↑ Dusgate, Richard H. (1985). The Conquest of Northern Nigeria. London: Frank Cass.
  9. ↑ Flint, John E. (1960). Sir George Goldie and the Making of Nigeria. London: Oxford University Press.
  10. ↑ Vandeleur, Seymour (1898). Campaigning on the Upper Nile and Niger. London: Methuen & Co.
  11. ↑ Vandeleur, Seymour (1898). Campaigning on the Upper Nile and Niger. London: Methuen & Co.
  12. ↑ Dusgate, Richard H. (1985). The Conquest of Northern Nigeria. London: Frank Cass.
  13. ↑ Vandeleur, Seymour (1898). Campaigning on the Upper Nile and Niger. London: Methuen & Co.
  14. ↑ Vandeleur, Seymour (1898). Campaigning on the Upper Nile and Niger. London: Methuen & Co.
  15. ↑ Dusgate, Richard H. (1985). The Conquest of Northern Nigeria. London: Frank Cass. pp. 70–83.
  16. ↑ Vandeleur, Seymour (1898). Campaigning on the Upper Nile and Niger. London: Methuen & Co.
  17. ↑ Dusgate, Richard H. (1985). The Conquest of Northern Nigeria. London: Frank Cass. pp. 70–83.
  18. ↑ Vandeleur, Seymour (1898). Campaigning on the Upper Nile and Niger. London: Methuen & Co.
  19. ↑ Dusgate, Richard H. (1985). The Conquest of Northern Nigeria. London: Frank Cass. pp. 76–82.
  20. ↑ "The London Gazette". HM Government. 11 June 1897: 3251–3255. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  21. ↑ Dusgate, Richard H. (1985). The Conquest of Northern Nigeria. London: Frank Cass. p. 81.
  22. ↑ Dusgate, Richard H. (1985). The Conquest of Northern Nigeria. London: Frank Cass. p. 81.
  23. ↑ Flint, John E. (1960). Sir George Goldie and the Making of Nigeria. London: Oxford University Press.
  24. ↑ Dusgate, Richard H. (1985). The Conquest of Northern Nigeria. London: Frank Cass. p. 81.
  25. ↑ Vandeleur, Seymour (1898). Campaigning on the Upper Nile and Niger. London: Methuen & Co. pp. 202–204.
  26. ↑ Vandeleur, Seymour (1898). Campaigning on the Upper Nile and Niger. London: Methuen & Co.
  27. ↑ Vandeleur, Seymour (1898). Campaigning on the Upper Nile and Niger. London: Methuen & Co. p. 239.
  28. ↑ Adeleye, R. A. (1971). Power and Diplomacy in Northern Nigeria, 1804–1906: The Sokoto Caliphate and Its Enemies. London: Longman.
  29. ↑ Dusgate, Richard H. (1985). The Conquest of Northern Nigeria. London: Frank Cass.
  30. ↑ Adeleye, R. A. (1971). Power and Diplomacy in Northern Nigeria, 1804–1906: The Sokoto Caliphate and Its Enemies. London: Longman.
  31. ↑ Dusgate, Richard H. (1985). The Conquest of Northern Nigeria. London: Frank Cass.
  32. ↑ Flint, John E. (1960). Sir George Goldie and the Making of Nigeria. London: Oxford University Press.
  33. ↑ Flint, John E. (1960). Sir George Goldie and the Making of Nigeria. London: Oxford University Press.
  34. ↑ Adeleye, R. A. (1971). Power and Diplomacy in Northern Nigeria, 1804–1906: The Sokoto Caliphate and Its Enemies. London: Longman.
  35. ↑ "Bida" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 3 (11th ed.). 1911. p. 917.
  36. ↑ Dusgate, Richard H. (1985). The Conquest of Northern Nigeria. London: Frank Cass.
  37. ↑ Flint, John E. (1960). Sir George Goldie and the Making of Nigeria. London: Oxford University Press.
  38. ↑ Flint, John E. (1960). Sir George Goldie and the Making of Nigeria. London: Oxford University Press.
  39. ↑ Adeleye, R. A. (1971). Power and Diplomacy in Northern Nigeria, 1804–1906: The Sokoto Caliphate and Its Enemies. London: Longman.
  40. ↑ Vandeleur, Seymour (1898). Campaigning on the Upper Nile and Niger. London: Methuen & Co.
  41. ↑ "The London Gazette". HM Government. 11 June 1897: 3251–3255. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  42. ↑ Vandeleur, Seymour (1897). "Map of Nupe and Ilorin, also showing the plans of the cities of Bida and Ilorin". The Geographical Journal. 10.

Further reading

  • Adeleye, R. A. (1971). Power and Diplomacy in Northern Nigeria, 1804–1906: The Sokoto Caliphate and Its Enemies. Longman.
  • Dusgate, Richard H. (1985). The Conquest of Northern Nigeria. Frank Cass.
  • Flint, John E. (1960). Sir George Goldie and the Making of Nigeria. Oxford University Press.
  • Perham, Margery (1962). Native Administration in Nigeria. Oxford University Press.
  • Vandeleur, Seymour (1898). Campaigning on the Upper Nile and Niger. Methuen & Co.
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