Makary was part of the indigenous[8]Sao civilisation[9] that occupied the land south of Lake Chad from about the Sixth Century A.D.[10] going into decline by at least the Fourteenth Century.[7] With the decline of the Sao confederation, Makary was an independent kingdom,[11] one of the Kotoko kingdom city-states.[7] In the early Fifteenth Century, Makary went from being an ally of King Idris Alooma[12] to being a part of the Bornu Empire,[7] and soon converted to Islam.[7] However, by the late Eighteenth Century, although nominally still part of Bornu, the city states had reasserted themselves, and by 1800 Makary had formed a federation of seven fortified towns under the prince (Mé) of Makary.[7]
In March 1846 Umar of Borno, nominal general of the Bornu sultan Ibrahim, suffered a defeat at Kousséri by the forces of the Kingdom of Baguirmi, itself weakened by attacks from the Wadai Empire.[13] By the 1890s Rabih az-Zubayr was able to move into the power vacuum created by these contending forces and took first Oubangui-Chari, then Baguirmi, and then in 1894 Bornu.[14] This soon brought Makary under Rabih's control. After Rabih was killed by the French in 1900, Makary fell under the German sphere of influence.[7][15]
Despite the changes in rulers and religion the culture of Makary seems to represent an uninterrupted continuation of the original Sao culture.[16][17]
Makary sits on the delta; however the river bed of the Chari River is dry most of the year, only filling with the onset of the rainy season in July and drying up again by the end of October.[18]
Climate
Makary has a hot desert climate (KöppenBWh), bordering on a hot semi-arid climate (KöppenBSh), with little to no rain outside of the wet season (July to September) and the temperature being hot year-round. The average annual mean temperature is 27.5°C (81.5°F), the average annual high temperature is 35.1°C (95.2°F) and the average annual low temperature is 20.0°C (68.0°F). The hottest time of year is from April to June, just before the wet season starts. April and May are the hottest months, with April having the highest average high at 40.0°C (104.0°F), while May has the highest mean at 31.8°C (89.2°F) and average low at 24.6°C (76.3°F). August and January have the lowest average highs at 31.2°C (88.2°F) and 31.4°C (88.5°F) respectively, with January having the lowest mean at 22.3°C (72.1°F) and lowest average low at 13.3°C (55.9°F).
Makary receives 397 millimetres (15.6in) of rain, with a distinct wet and dry season like most of Cameroon. Almost no rain falls from November to April. August, the wettest month, receives 140 millimetres (5.5in) of rainfall on average, followed by July with 114 millimetres (4.5in).
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Hansen, Mogens Herman (2000). "The Kotoko City-States". A Comparative Study of Thirty City-state Cultures: An Investigation. Historisk-Filosofiske Skrifter, volume 21. Kgl. Danske Videnskabernes Selskab. pp.531–546. ISBN978-87-7876-177-4.
↑ Fanso, V. G. (1989). Cameroon History for Secondary Schools and Colleges, Vol. 1: From Prehistoric Times to the Nineteenth Century. Hong Kong: Macmillan. p.18.
↑ Holl, Augustin F. C. (2001). "500 Years in the Cameroons: making sense of the archaeological record". In DeCorse, Christopher R. (ed.). West Africa During the Atlantic Slave Trade: Archaeological Perspectives. London: Leicester University Press. p.168. ISBN978-0-7185-0247-8.
↑ Sources are not agreed upon the commencement date of Sao Civilization. For example urbanization occurred in the period 1100 a 1400Lebeuf, Annie Masson-Detourbet (1981). "L'origine et la constitution des principautés Kotoko (Cameroun septentrional)". In Tardits, Claude (ed.). Contribution de la recherche ethnologique à l'histoire des civilisations du Cameroun (The contribution of enthnological research to the history of Cameroun cultures) (in French). Paris: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique. pp.209–218, page 213. and traditionally the culture started about the tenth century A.D.Davies, Oliver (1967). West Africa Before the Europeans: Archaeology & Prehistory. Methuen's Handbooks of archaeology. London: Methuen. p.318. OCLC192657.
↑ This kingdom and the later princedom under Bornu are sometimes called the "Maccari Kingdom". Holl 2001, p.168
↑ Helmolt, Hans F., ed. (1903). The history of the world; a survey of a man's record, Volume III: West Asia and Africa. New York: Dodd, Meade and Company. p.536. OCLC1193060.
↑ The boundary between the French and German spheres was defined by the Convention between the French Republic and Germany for the Delimitation of the Colonies of French Congo and of Cameroon and French and German Spheres of Influence in the Region of Lake Chad, signed at Berlin on 15 March 1894. This boundary was confirmed by the Convention Confirming the Protocol of 9 April 1908 Defining the Boundaries between the French Congo and Cameroon, signed at Berlin on 18 April 1908.
↑ Batello, Caterina; Marzot, Marzio; Touré, Adamou Harouna & Kenmore, Peter E. (2004). The Future is an Ancient Lake: Traditional Knowledge, Biodiversity and Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture in Lake Chad Basin Ecosystems. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). p.41. ISBN978-92-5-105064-4.
↑ Hudgens, Jim & Trillo, Richard (2003). The Rough Guide to West Africa. London: Rough Guides. p.1252. ISBN978-1-84353-118-0.
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