There was a Kingdom of Biafra Kurt Vonnegut

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"THERE is a "Kingdom of Biafra" on some old maps which were made by early white explorers of the west coast of Africa. Nobody is now sure what that kingdom was, what its laws and arts and tools were like. No tales survive of the kings and queens.--Ikhide

 

 

Hi Ikhide:

 

The fact that a european author wrote that there was a "Kingdom of Biafra" in our corner of the world does not necessarily mean there was one

 

The word Biafra as in Bight of Biafra was coined by Portuguese explorers in the early 16th century.There could have been kingdoms in that region (e.g. Nri Kingdom etc) but there was no such kingdom that was names Biafra.

 

Let us not simply accept any rubbish written by some ignorant and lazy European writers because it suits our purpose.

 

Biafra, just like Lagos was named by the Portuguese! There was neither a Kingdom of Lagos nor a Kingdom

of Port Harcourt before the Europeans arrived on our shores.

 

The hapless Kurt Vonnegut was just speculating.

 

Bye,

 

Ola

 

http://www.nairaland.com/520493/what-does-word-biafra-mean/1

Re: What does the word 'Biafra' mean? by amazonia(m): 10:12pm On Oct 17, 2010

@ All The word "bight" , as in bight of Biafra, is a cartographic indication for the word "exit". Body of water that serve as a particular exit from the international shipping lanes,to a bighting station. That is a long curve in a coast-line. A bay formed by this curve. Passager voyages was the only means of international travel for most of human history. Most of the earlier travels overseas were done thru either one of these bights to international trans Atlantic water lanes. So, the word Biafra, like the words; port-Harcourt, Lagos, Badagry etc. are of western European origin.

 

 

-----Original Message-----
From: Ikhide <xok...@yahoo.com>
To: Toyin Falola <USAAfric...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Sun, Oct 28, 2012 10:54 pm
Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Kurt Vonnegut: Biafra: A People Betrayed

"THERE is a "Kingdom of Biafra" on some old maps which were made by early white explorers of the west coast of Africa. Nobody is now sure what that kingdom was, what its laws and arts and tools were like. No tales survive of the kings and queens.

As for the "Republic of Biafra" we know a great deal. It was a nation with more citizens than Ireland and Norway combined. It proclaimed itself an independent republic on May 30, 1967. On January 17 of 1970, it surrendered unconditionally to Nigeria, the nation from which it had tried to secede. It had few friends in this world, and among its active enemies were Russia and Great Britain. Its enemies were pleased to call it a "tribe."

Some tribe.

The Biafrans were mainly Christians and they spoke English melodiously, and their economy was this one: small-town free enterprise. The worthless Biafran currency was gravely honored to the end.

The tune of Biafra's national anthem was Finlandia, by Jan Sibelius. The equatorial Biafrans admired the arctic Finns because the Finns won and kept their freedom in spite of ghastly odds."

 

- Kurt Vonnegut

 

Read the rest of the essay here:

 

http://journeytoforever.org/rrlib/biafra.html

 

- Ikhide

 

Stalk my blog at http://www.xokigbo.com/

Follow me on Twitter: @ikhide

Join me on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ikhide

[Mobolaji Aluko]

Ola:

In the Ahiara Declaration, General Ojukwu made a cryptic reference:

QUOTE

From the moment we assumed the illustrious name of the ancient kingdom of Biafra, we were rediscovering the original independence of a great African people. 

UNQUOTE

The romantic KVJ, in his quick January 3 - 9, 1970  visit to Biafra - a few days before its collapse on January 12 - must have picked that reference up from Ojukwu's speech and romanticized it with some little incredulity spliced in.  However, while the word "Biafra" may have been corruptions of words like Biafar/Biafada [people of Guinea Bissau  http://www.joshuaproject.net/people-profile.php?peo3=10824&rog3=PU , reasonably far away from Nigeria ]

However, the only well-known "Kingdom of Biafra" was Muslim, with Capital Bijapur in India..

QUOTE

http://www.encyclo.co.uk/define/Bijapur

Bijapur
Ancient city in Karnataka, Republic of India. It was founded around 1489 AD by Yusuf Adil Shah (died 1511), the son of Murad II, as the capital of the Muslim kingdom of Biafra.

UNQUOTE

That is ironical......Biafra identified with an ancient Muslim kingdom?

And there you have it.

Bolaji Aluko

Shaking his head

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