Chronicles of Songhay Empire's Askyas (Kings) 1493-1599
Gao (Gawgaw, Kawkaw)
Title
The "drum of authority" played to announce the enthronement
Short description
In the context of a conspiracy, playing the drum of authority is mentioned as a sanction of actual enthronement.
Text on source
ونرى نحن أن تولّى السلطنة الساعة قبل ان يفطنوا بموته وتنادي جميع المعاندين منهم وعفاريتهم واشرار الناس فيهم وترسل لكلِّ واحد منهم رسولًا ويقول اسكي هو الذي يناديه وكلّ من جاء منهم تامرنا بقبضه وثقفه بالحديد ومن يستحق القتل منهم فنقتله الآن بامرك حتى يتمّوا ثم نضرب عليك طبل السلطنة فنطلعك فتكون اسكي بلا منازعة أحد [ص. ١٣٢-١٣٣]
English translation
We advise that you become invested with royal powers right away, before the others learn of the death of the askiya, and that you summon all those who are inclined towards rebellion and other mischief, as well as those who are wicked, sending an envoy to each of
them who is instructed to say that it is the askiya who wants to see him. Each time that one of them presents himself before us, you will give us the order to arrest him and place him in irons. As for those who deserve to die, we will kill every single one of them on the spot, after you give us the order. Once this is done, we will order the royal drum [ṭabl al-sulṭana] to be beaten in your honor. We will elevate you to the throne, and you will become askiya without any one able to oppose you.
Folios/Pages
241-242
Date
1588 circa
Observations on the events description
According to Gomez (2018), askias owned specific drums that could only be sounded on their order and in their presence, the "royal drum", lit. "the drum of authority" [ṭabl al-sulṭana], mentioned here.
The dots on the map indicate the places where sound and music events were described. They don't represent travel stages.
Participants
No other participants in this event description.
How to quote
Pintimalli A., "The "drum of authority" played to announce the enthronement" (Event description), Echos. Sound Ecosystems in Travelogues. Published 2024 09 11.doi: 10.25430/echos.travels.137
This work is licensed under CC-BY-SA 4.0 
