Jukun arms & armour

[Iain]

I thought this might be an interesting topic, mainly because I have tried to find some information and come up with very little!

The Jukun are an ethnic group in the Benue and Adamawa states of Nigeria and formed the Kwararafa kingdom, a powerful state in the 15-18th centuries.

Like many other states at the time they made use of cavalry, lances and other forms of weapons. However, I have not been able to find anything in terms of spears, swords, daggers etc. attributed to the Jukun.

Does anyone out there have anything? :)

[colin henshaw]

Hi Iain

I can't personally remember seeing arms & armour specific to the Jukun, (which doesn't mean they don't exist !). However, there is a book written by the anthropologist C K Meek in 1931, "A Sudanese Kingdom : An ethnographic study of the Jukun-speaking peoples of Nigeria". Regret I don't have a copy, but suggest it would make a suitable starting point for research.

Regards.

[Iain]

Hi Colin,

Thanks taking an interest. :) I was hoping someone would have the book on the forum. Unfortunately it's quite expensive (over $100) and not something I want to invest in without knowing how well it covers weaponry. Most of the journal reviews I could find don't mention this, rather the ethnic history and religious elements covered.

[Andreas]

A Jukun dagger from the Met collection (B&W). This type seems fairly typical of the Benue- Adamawa region, with lost-wax cast brass hilts. The colour pic is from the Quai Branly Museum, Paris, a Benue dagger.
Regards,
Andreas

[Iain]

Hi Andreas,

Very interesting, thanks for posting the Met example. I'd looked through the British Museum collections but had forgotten to check the Met!

These daggers do indeed appear very typical for the Benue region. They seem to extend into Cameroon as well with similar cast hilts.