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Uele District
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Uele District
Uele District (French: District de l'Uele, Dutch: District Uele) was a district of the Congo Free State and the Belgian Congo. It roughly corresponded to the current provinces of Bas-Uélé and Haut-Uélé.
The Uele District, shown as the Uellé District on an 1897 map of the Congo Free State, was named after the Uele River. The river flows though the district and further west joins the Mbomou River (or Bomu River) to form the Ubangi River, which defined the northeastern border of the Belgian Congo. The French colonies were to the north of the district and the British-controlled Lado Enclave to the east, on the west bank of the Nile. To the west were the Ubangi and Bangala districts, and to the south were the Aruwimi and Stanley Falls districts.
A 1956 description of the district said the north of Uele is covered with shrub savannas interspersed with galleries and fragments of forest. Savannas with Encephalartos septentrionalis occupy the central part while the east and west are characterized by savannas of Lophira. The southern part of the District is covered by a dryland rain forest of Macrolobium (Gilbertiodendron dewevrei). Its boundary with the northern savannas lies a little north of the Uele then approximately follows the Bomokandi River. Along this boundary the forest is marked by deep anthropogenic alterations.
The forest region is a gently undulating plain with a slight slope to the southwest towards the center of the basin. The northern grassy plain has better marked valleys. Rocky sills and rapids cut the streams, which can be dammed. From 400 metres (1,300 ft) at Aketi, the altitude gradually rises to the north and east to reach 650 metres (2,130 ft) at Ango and over 800 metres (2,600 ft) in the east.
Peoples such as the Azande and Mangbetu migrated into the Uele region long before the Europeans arrived. The Ababua and most of the Azande live in the lower Uele, while the Logo and Bodo, and most of the Mangbetu live in the upper Uele.
There do not seem to have been any strong connections with the Arabs or Nubians of Sudan until around 1860, when traders started to visit in search of slaves and ivory. Some of the local chiefs welcomed the traders, while others fought them. Arabic speakers in the region included Egyptian government representatives, traders, soldiers and Faqīhs. Some Azande worked for the Sudanese merchants or even visited Sudan, either voluntarily or as slaves. Some of the local chiefs became Muslims, and styled themselves sultans. The conversions were not always sincere, but some took the religion very seriously and abstained from alcohol, fasted during Ramadan, prayed and adopted Arabic dress. Charles de la Kethulle, who spent two years in the Zande town of Rafaï, wrote in an 1895 article Le sultanat de Rafaï (Le Congo illustré) that almost all the inhabitants could speak Arabic, including the sultan, chiefs and soldiers.
The first Europeans to reach the Uele region were the German botanist and ethnologist Georg August Schweinfurth, who discovered the Uele River in 1870, and the Italian Giovanni Miani. In 1871 Wilhelm Junker (1840–1892), a Russian explorer of German origins, explored the Bomu-Uele region thoroughly. These visitors entered from the north or the east rather than the Congo River. In the 1870s the Egyptians decided to strengthen their control of the Bahr al-Ghazal and of the slave and ivory traders operating from there. Around 1880 many Azande chiefs placed themselves at the disposal of the Egyptians, who were represented by Europeans such as Frank Lupton and Romolo Gessi, in part to fight the slavers. The uprising of Muhammad Ahmad, the self-proclaimed Mahdi, against the Egyptian government in 1881 weakened the influence of the Arabs.
By 1896 King Leopold II of Belgium was becoming concerned that instability in the Bahr al-Ghazal would affect his Congo Free State, and that Sudanese slavers would penetrate further south and join up with the Arab and Swahili traders at Stanley Falls. In January 1888 Alphonse van Gèle explored the Bomu River and part of the Uele river. Leopold's decree of 1 August 1888 divided the Congo Free State into eleven districts, including Aruwimi-Uele with its headquarters in Basoko. Vangèle was instructed to explore the Ubangi River in 1889 and claim land for Leopold II. He was also told to "exploit the ivory of the state domain", and his journal includes many details of tusks he bought or was given by chiefs along the Ubangi, M'bomu and Uele rivers. He had obtained twelve tons of ivory by September 1890.
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Uele District
Uele District (French: District de l'Uele, Dutch: District Uele) was a district of the Congo Free State and the Belgian Congo. It roughly corresponded to the current provinces of Bas-Uélé and Haut-Uélé.
The Uele District, shown as the Uellé District on an 1897 map of the Congo Free State, was named after the Uele River. The river flows though the district and further west joins the Mbomou River (or Bomu River) to form the Ubangi River, which defined the northeastern border of the Belgian Congo. The French colonies were to the north of the district and the British-controlled Lado Enclave to the east, on the west bank of the Nile. To the west were the Ubangi and Bangala districts, and to the south were the Aruwimi and Stanley Falls districts.
A 1956 description of the district said the north of Uele is covered with shrub savannas interspersed with galleries and fragments of forest. Savannas with Encephalartos septentrionalis occupy the central part while the east and west are characterized by savannas of Lophira. The southern part of the District is covered by a dryland rain forest of Macrolobium (Gilbertiodendron dewevrei). Its boundary with the northern savannas lies a little north of the Uele then approximately follows the Bomokandi River. Along this boundary the forest is marked by deep anthropogenic alterations.
The forest region is a gently undulating plain with a slight slope to the southwest towards the center of the basin. The northern grassy plain has better marked valleys. Rocky sills and rapids cut the streams, which can be dammed. From 400 metres (1,300 ft) at Aketi, the altitude gradually rises to the north and east to reach 650 metres (2,130 ft) at Ango and over 800 metres (2,600 ft) in the east.
Peoples such as the Azande and Mangbetu migrated into the Uele region long before the Europeans arrived. The Ababua and most of the Azande live in the lower Uele, while the Logo and Bodo, and most of the Mangbetu live in the upper Uele.
There do not seem to have been any strong connections with the Arabs or Nubians of Sudan until around 1860, when traders started to visit in search of slaves and ivory. Some of the local chiefs welcomed the traders, while others fought them. Arabic speakers in the region included Egyptian government representatives, traders, soldiers and Faqīhs. Some Azande worked for the Sudanese merchants or even visited Sudan, either voluntarily or as slaves. Some of the local chiefs became Muslims, and styled themselves sultans. The conversions were not always sincere, but some took the religion very seriously and abstained from alcohol, fasted during Ramadan, prayed and adopted Arabic dress. Charles de la Kethulle, who spent two years in the Zande town of Rafaï, wrote in an 1895 article Le sultanat de Rafaï (Le Congo illustré) that almost all the inhabitants could speak Arabic, including the sultan, chiefs and soldiers.
The first Europeans to reach the Uele region were the German botanist and ethnologist Georg August Schweinfurth, who discovered the Uele River in 1870, and the Italian Giovanni Miani. In 1871 Wilhelm Junker (1840–1892), a Russian explorer of German origins, explored the Bomu-Uele region thoroughly. These visitors entered from the north or the east rather than the Congo River. In the 1870s the Egyptians decided to strengthen their control of the Bahr al-Ghazal and of the slave and ivory traders operating from there. Around 1880 many Azande chiefs placed themselves at the disposal of the Egyptians, who were represented by Europeans such as Frank Lupton and Romolo Gessi, in part to fight the slavers. The uprising of Muhammad Ahmad, the self-proclaimed Mahdi, against the Egyptian government in 1881 weakened the influence of the Arabs.
By 1896 King Leopold II of Belgium was becoming concerned that instability in the Bahr al-Ghazal would affect his Congo Free State, and that Sudanese slavers would penetrate further south and join up with the Arab and Swahili traders at Stanley Falls. In January 1888 Alphonse van Gèle explored the Bomu River and part of the Uele river. Leopold's decree of 1 August 1888 divided the Congo Free State into eleven districts, including Aruwimi-Uele with its headquarters in Basoko. Vangèle was instructed to explore the Ubangi River in 1889 and claim land for Leopold II. He was also told to "exploit the ivory of the state domain", and his journal includes many details of tusks he bought or was given by chiefs along the Ubangi, M'bomu and Uele rivers. He had obtained twelve tons of ivory by September 1890.