Fula are settled in Bornu, Bagirmi, Wadai and the upper Nile Valley,' but have no political power in those countries.
Kanem, a country north of Bagirmi and subject in turn to it and to Wadai, was at the same time brought under French control.
Polygamy is general in upper Bagirmi, where some traces of a matriarchal stage of society linger, one small state being called Beled-el-Mra, "Women's Land," because its ruler is always a queen.
Such are the Mandingo, the Songhai, the Fula, Hausa, Kanuri, Bagirmi, Kanembu, and the peoples of Wadai and Darfur; the few aborigines who persist, on the southern fringe of the Chad basin, are imperfectly known.
The first expedition led thither through Bagirmi met with disaster, its leader, Paul Crampel, being killed by order of Rabah.
The population of Bagirmi is mixed.
The third or central group of Sudanese states is formed of the sultanates of Bagirmi with Kanem and Wadai.
Where the forest thins to the savanna and steppe, and communication is easier, are found the larger kingdoms and " empires " such as, in the north those established by the Songhai, Hausa, Fula, Bagirmi, Ba-Hima, &c., and in the south the states of Lunda, Kazembe, the Ba-Rotse, &c.